Roman Artichokes

Roman Artichokes

Ingredients:

8 artichokes
1 lemon

1/4 cup bread crumbs

1/4 cup parsley, chopped
1/4 cup mint, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup of olive oil plus extra for finishing
dash of dry white wine

1. Discard the tough outer leaves and chop the stems of the artichokes off just below the bases. Firmly press each artichoke upside down on the counter to make it “bloom.” Scoop out the choke (the hairy white part) and place the cleaned artichokes in a bowl of water with the juice of 1 lemon squeezed in. This prevents the inside of the artichokes from becoming an unappetizing greyish-brown when exposed to the air.

2. Mix together garlic, lemon, herbs, bread crumbs, and olive oil. Take artichokes out of lemon bath, rub the mixture inside, spooning any extra inside. Salt and pepper liberally.

3. Place artichokes side by side, like soldiers at attention, upside in a heavy-bottomed pot with 1 1/2 – 2 inches of water and a dash of wine. You want the artichokes close enough together so that they can”t tip over and bob around.

4. Cover the top of the pot with a damp paper towel and place a tight-fitting lid over that – this is to prevent any steam from escaping. Cook on medium for 30-40 minutes. The artichokes are ready when a fork pierces them easily. Remove the artichokes from the pot and set on a plate to cool. Once they are lukewarm, drizzle olive oil over them. You want to wait to add the oil until the artichokes have cooled a bit so that they don’t immediately suck it up and become soggy.

Whole grain French style bread

 Whole grain French style bread

1 1/2 cup of 00/cake flour
1 cup of whole grain flour1 cup of milk
2 table spoon of apple or white vinegar
1 Table spoon of sugar
1 table spoon of butter
1 table spoon of salt
1 table spoon of sugar
1 sachet of dried yeast (1 table spoon)


Mix the yeast, the warm milk, melted butter and the sugar in a bow.  Mix very well until the yeast is dissolved.
Add the flours, salt and the vinegar. Mix very well, work with this dough a lot and very energetic for at list 10 minutes.  Add more flour if necessary.
Divide this dough in two and make two bagetes like the picture below.  Don't forget to cut the bread dough before they raises.
let raise for at list 1 hour in warm days or 3 hours in cold days.

Bake at 350F for approximately 20 minutes.

Baked trout filets

Baked trout filets

4 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1/2 lb. mushrooms, sliced

2 cloves garlic, finely minced
2 tbsp. minced fresh parsley
salt and pepper, to taste
4 trout 
lemon wedges

Rosemary

Oil or spray a shallow baking dish with olive oil non-stick spray. Add sliced mushrooms, 1 tablespoon of parsley and garlic. Arrange fish in dish. Season lightly with salt and pepper; brush with olive oil.Toss with bread crumbs. Sprinkle over fish.
Bake at 375°F for 20-25 minutes, or until fish is tender, opaque and flaky and crumbs are lightly golden. Sprinkle with remaining parsley.
Sprinkle with parsley, and garnish with lemon wedges.
Makes about 4 servings.

Pesto Genovese

Pesto Genovese Here you will find two ways to make pesto, the classic and the modern.

The classic

Essential equipment

• 1 marble mortar
  
• 1 wooden pestle

Ingredients

• 100 gm of fresh Genovese basil. 
• 30 gm pine nuts ( Sicilian are the best but also in California there is a great quality of this product)
• 60 g aged Parmigiano Reggiano
  40g Pecorino
• 2 garlic cloves
• 10 gm flaky salt
• 80 cc Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Procedure

1. The marble mortar and wooden pestle are the tools traditionally used to make pesto.
2. Wash the basil leaves in cold water and dry them on a paper towel but don’t rub them.
3. In a mortar finely crush the basil leaves the garlic clove and pine nuts, add  the salt  and cheese to he mixture and keep pounding using a light circular movement of the pestle, add some of the Extra Virgin Olive from time to time and keep pounding  and mixing until  you obtain a very fine and smooth creamy sauce, pesto should not be greasy and the amount of oil used must be well absorbed and not floating on top
4. The preparation must be done as quickly as possible to avoid oxidation problems.

NOTE: The reason why, you should not use a blender, is because rather than having its juices released by crushing action of the wooden pestle, the metal blade of the blender will chop the leaves and this action will compromise the flavor.

Modern Pesto

Essential equipment
100 gm of fresh Genovese basil. 
30 gm pine nuts ( Sicilian are the best but also in California there is a great quality of this product)
60 g aged Parmigiano Reggiano 
40g Pecorino
2 garlic cloves
10 gm flaky salt
80 cc Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Blender or immersion blender

Combine all the ingredients on the blender. Blend until paste forms, stopping often to push down basil. You can store in a jar and keep it for two months after you made.

Trofie dough

Trofie dough (one portion)

1/2 cup of semolina flour

50ml of water 

1 pinch of salt

Place the flour and salt in a bowl and add 3/4 cup water to start. Use a fork and mix together, adding the rest of the water as needed to create a dough.

Dump the dough onto a lightly floured surface.

Use your hands and knead the dough, adding a little additional flour as needed until you create a smooth, non-sticky dough.

Wrap your dough with plastic wrap and let it rest for at least 30 minutes at room temperature. This step allows the dough to relax and allows it to be shaped much easier than if you began to work with it immediately.

Once the dough has rested, break off about 1/4 of the dough keeping the rest wrapped. On a lightly floured surface use your hands to roll the dough into a tube about 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch arund. Keep the dough lightly floured to prevent sticking.

Watch the video to learn how to make the shape! :)

(Video will be here soon!)

Caserecce with Sword fish and mint sauce

Sword fish, eggplant and mint sauce

3 cloves of garlic

1lb of sword fish (In cubes)

1 small eggplant (In cubes)

15 cherry tomatoes (in half)

1/4 cup of chopped mint 

1/4 cup of chopped parsley

Olive oil

Salt & Pepper to taste

In a frying pan, sauté  the eggplant in olive oil and reserve the eggplant.

In another frying pan with abundant olive oil, add the garlic and the fish.  When the fish is cooked add tomatoes, eggplant, mint, parsley salt & pepper.  You can also serve this dish as a pasta salad after is cold.

Potatoes Gnocchi (Nonna's recipe!)

Potato Gnocchi

Ingredients

• 4 potatoes
• Flour 1 cup (you might need more)
• Butter 1 Tbsp  
• Salt 1 Tbsp 
• Nutmeg (optional)

1. Put potatoes with the skin in a pot with cold salty water
2. Bring to boil and cooked until soft
3. Peel the potatoes
4. Mash the potatoes with a good potato masher
5. Add the butter, flour and the salt , do not overwork...
6. Cut the dough in 3 pieces, roll each in order to form a string 1.5 cm thick
7. Cut the strings with a sharp knife to form dowels; you can choose the dimension of your gnocchi.
8. Boil until floats.

Tips:

-After cook the potatoes, let the potatoes to

cool down without add any water on top!

-Work with the potatoes while the potatoes are still warm.
-After you cut the gnocchi DO NOT pile up or they will stick together!

-Use the best potatoes you can find. (In Italy, use patate gialle, in USA Yukan Gold Potatoes)

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Garganelli dough

Garganelli dough

2 egg yolks

2 eggs

1 1/2 of semolina flour

1 pinch of salt

Using a fork begging mixing in the egg with the semolina.  Once egg has been mixed in enough, begin using your hands to work the dough.  Continues until reaches a smooth consistency, adding a light dust of flour if necessary.  Cover the dough with plastic wrap to protect from drying.  For best results, let the dough rest for at least 10 minutes.  Open the pasta and cut in small squares.  Roll these pasta squares at the garganelli board.

This person could not afford to buy the garganelli board....

Spicy Tuna and anchovies sauce

Baked Orecchiette with Spicy Tuna and anchovies sauce

3 cloves of minced garlic

1 chopped onion

2 anchovies 

1 can of tuna under olive oil

1 cup of tomato paste

1 buffala mozzarella ball

Olive oil

Pepper corns 

Chopped parsley

Salt & Pepper to taste

 In a big sauce pan, brown the onions, garlic and the pepper corns. Add the anchovies and fry for a little bit, add tomato paste, the chopped parsley and the tuna. Toss with the already cooked orecchiette and place the pasta in a baking tray.  Put the mozzarella at the top and broil until gets brown and crispy.

Orecchiette dough

Orecchiette dough

1 pound of Semolina

1 cup of warm water

1 Tblsp of salt 

Simply mix the semolina and warm salty water mixing until you obtain a stiff dough. Once you obtain a workable dough, knead on a lightly floured surface for 10 to 15 minutes until the dough is very smooth and stiff (add more semolina if necessary). Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for a minimum of 2 hours or up to 8 hours. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and follow the steps below.

Cannoli

For the Cannoli Shels

            1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tbsp white sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons shortening or butter
1 egg
1/4 cup sweet Marsala wine 
1/2 teaspoon distilled white vinegar
1 tablespoons water (if necessary)
1 egg white
1 quart oil for frying, or as needed

1.            In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, sugar and cinnamon. Cut in the shortening until it is in pieces no larger than peas. Make a well in the center, and pour in the egg, egg yolk, Marsala wine, vinegar and water. Mix with a fork until the dough becomes stiff, then finish it by hand, kneading on a clean surface. Add 

a bit more water if needed to incorporate all of

 the dry ingredients. Knead for about 10 minutes, 

then cover and refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours.

2.            Divide the cannoli dough into thirds, and flatten each one just enough to get through the pasta machine. Roll the dough through successively thinner settings until you have reached the thinnest setting. Dust lightly with flour if necessary. Place the sheet of dough on a lightly floured surface. Using a form or large glass or bowl, cut out 4 to 5 inch circles. Dust the circles with a light coating of flour. This will help you later in removing the shells from the tubes. Roll dough around cannoli tubes, sealing the edge with a bit of egg white.

3.            Heat the oil to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) in a deep-fryer or deep heavy skillet. Fry shells on the tubes a few at a time for 2 to 3 minutes, until golden. Use tongs to turn as needed. Carefully remove using the tongs, and place on a cooling rack set over paper towels. Cool just long enough that you can handle the tubes, then carefully twist the tube to remove the shell. Using a tea towel may help you get a better grip. Wash or wipe off the tubes, and use them for more shells. Cooled shells can be placed in an airtight container and kept for up to 2 months. You should only fill them immediately or up to 1 hours before serving

For the filling

2 pounds of ricotta

1/2 pound of sugar

1/2 cup of chocolate chips

1 Tbsp of vanilla extract
Zest of one lemon or Orange

To make the filling, pass Ricotta thru a sift. Then stir together the ricotta cheese and confectioners' sugar. Fold in lemon zest and chocolate. Use a pastry bag to pipe into shells, filling from the center to one end, then doing the same from the other side. Dust with additional confectioners' sugar and grated chocolate for garnish when serving.

           

Gluten free Gnocchi

Gluten free Gnocchi

Ingredients

• Potatoes: 150 g
• Cornflour: 50 g
• Salt: 2 g   

1. Put potatoes with the skin in a pot with cold salty water
2. Bring to boil and cooked until soft
3. Peel the potatoes
4. Mash the potatoes
5. Put the cornflour and the salt on a surface, make an hole in the center
6. Cut the dough in 3 pieces, roll each in order to form a string 1.5 cm thick
7. Cut the strings with a sharp knife to form dowels; you can choose the dimension of your gnocchi
8. If you like, roll gnocchi on a for to give them the tipical "rigatura"; it's good to make the shape that absorbe the sauce

Pasta al pesce spada (Pasta with Swordfish)

Ingredients (serves 4-6 people)    

500g (1 lb) pasta of your choice 

250g-500g (1/2-1 lb) swordfish, boned and skinned and cut into small cubes

1 or 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and slightly crushed

250g (1/2 lb) cherry or grape tomatoes, cut in half

A handful of black olives

A spoonful or two of capers

A handful of fresh parsley, chopped

A sprig of fresh oregano, stem removed (or a pinch of dried)

Salt and pepper 

Olive oil

Optional:

A pinch of hot red pepper flakes

Directions

Put a large pot of water on to boil, salt well, and throw in your pasta. Cook al dente. 

While the water is coming to a boil, start your condimento:  Sauté the garlic in abundant olive oil until it is lightly browned, then raise the heat to high and add the swordfish. Mix the swordfish from time to time so it browns evenly, seasoning generously. 

When the swordfish is browned to your liking, add the tomatoes, olives and capers, lowering the heat a bit so the ingredients simmer rather than sizzle. Cook for 5 minutes or so, until the tomatoes have softened but not entirely disintegrated. Turn off the heat and mix in the parsley and oregano, and the red pepper flakes if using. (Reserve a bit of the parsley if you like for garnish.) 

When the pasta is done, transfer it to the sauté pan and mix everything well over gentle heat. Don’t drain the pasta too well, you’ll need a bit of pasta water to make a proper sauce. If the pasta is too dense, add some more pasta water to loosen things up. 

Serve immediately, with some parsley sprinkled on top for garnish if you like.