Pesto Sauce

Di Ɱ - Opera propria, CC BY-SA 3.0, Collegamento

Ingredients

• Basil leaves 25 gr.
• Extra virgin olive oil 50 ml.
• Parmesan cheese to be grated 35 gr.
• Pecorino to grate 15 gr.
• Pine nuts (Pinoli) 8 gr.
• Garlic ½ clove
• Coarse salt 1 pinch

Preparation

To prepare the Genoese pesto it is first necessary to specify that the basil leaves are not washed, but cleaned with a soft cloth; in addition you must make sure that it is Ligurian or Genovese basil, with narrow leaves (and not the thick-leaved southern one, which often has a mint flavor). Start preparing the pesto by placing the peeled garlic in the mortar along with some grain of coarse salt. Begin to pound and, when the garlic is reduced to cream, add the basil leaves together with a pinch of coarse salt, which will serve to better break the fibers and keep a nice bright green color.

Then crush the basil against the mortar walls by rotating the pestle from left to right and at the same time rotate the mortar in the opposite direction (from right to left), taking it for the "ears", or the 4 rounded protrusions that characterize the mortar itself . Continue like this until a bright green liquid comes out from the basil leaves; at this point add the pine nuts (9) and start pounding again to reduce to cream.

Add the cheeses a little at a time, stirring constantly, to make the sauce even more creamy, and lastly the extra virgin olive oil that will be poured in flush, always mixing with the pestle. Mix the ingredients well until a smooth sauce is obtained. Your authentic Genoese pesto is ready to be used!

Storage

Keep the freshly prepared pesto in the refrigerator, in an airtight container, for 2-3 days, taking care to cover the sauce with a layer of oil.

It is possible to freeze the pesto in small jars and then thaw it in the refrigerator or at room temperature.

Curiosity

To obtain an excellent Genoese pesto, the basil leaves must necessarily be dry, and must not be wrinkled in any way, since the rupture of the vesicles containing the essential oils placed on the upper part of the leaves, would cause oxidation of the color and the aromas, making the dark green pesto with a herbaceous aroma.

For the preparation of Genoese pesto, use sweet and ripe oil because the latter, in addition to acting as a solvent for the aromatic substances, ensures the perfect amalgam, enhancing the aroma of basil and attenuating the spicy garlic.

Advice

Like apples and aubergines, basil is also oxidized, alas. If you do not want to find in your hands a pesto that, although good, looks like squid ink, you have to use two measures: 1. work it at the speed of light (exposure to oxygen is one of the causes of oxidation); 2. avoid overheating (high temperatures are the other). And here we have to talk about the blender. If you do not even want to see the mortar and pestle, you can use the blender (if possible, with plastic blades, the metal makes the leaves bitter): you will get a creamy pesto, but still very good. To avoid overheating, you can blend at the lowest possible speed and in jerks, ie blend a few seconds, stop and start again. Another trick: leave the cup and the blades in the fridge an hour before use, the coldest of it :)

Meliga Pastries

Di F Ceragioli - Opera propria, CC BY-SA 3.0, Collegamento

Ingredients

• 250 gr of cold butter
• 250 gr of flour 00
• 130 gr of flour corn floret
• 110 gr of caster sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 yolk
• 1/2 vanilla bean
• the rind of 1 grated lemon
• 1 pinch of salt

Prep Time: 30 min
Cook Time: 15 min
Servings: 40 cookies

Preparation

To prepare the corn pastes (meliga cookies), start by pouring in a bowl the 00 flour, the corn flour, the granulated sugar and the vanilla seeds. Stir with a spoon to mix.

Add the diced butter and the grated lemon peel. Start to knead, if you use the planetary, knead at low speed with the whisk K, until you obtain a crumbly mixture. Add the egg, the yolk and the salt and knead until a soft dough is obtained.

In this phase it is essential to pay attention to the consistency of the dough which should not be too tender (or the biscuits will melt during cooking), but not too hard (otherwise it will be impossible to squeeze it with a pastry bag). Transfer it to a sac à poche with a 15 mm star nozzle and form some 5-6 cm diameter crowns directly on two baking sheets lined with parchment paper. They will have to be well spaced.

Cook the meliga paste in the oven at 180 ° for about 15 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from the oven and let it cool completely before serving.

Paradise Pie

Ingredients

• Soft butter 170 gr.
• Powdered sugar 170 gr.
• Sugar 40 gr.
• Fine salt 2,5 gr.
• Potato starch 70 gr.
• Baking powder for desserts 3 gr.
• Flour 00 100 gr.
• Vanilla pod Bourbon ½
• Yolks 80 gr.
• Whole eggs 100 gr.
• Lemon peel ½
• Orange peel ½

to sprinkle the cake Powdered sugar j.e.

Preparation

To prepare the paradise cake, start by sifting flour, starch and baking powder into a bowl; then mix with a spoon to mix them best. In another bowl put the soft butter into pieces, pour the pulp of half a vanilla bean and grate half untreated lemon peel. Grate also half an orange peel, always untreated. 

Start working with the electric whisk the vanilla flavored butter, adding the icing sugar. When the mixture has assumed a soft and airy consistency, add also the 80 g of egg yolks (about 4 egg yolks medium) then pour the salt and continue to work the mixture with electric whips until you get a soft and creamy consistency.

Keep aside and in another bowl add the two whole eggs and add the granulated sugar; work everything with electric whips and as soon as this mixture of eggs and sugar will be light and smooth.

You can add it to the one with butter, sugar and egg yolks, alternating with the pour of the powders. Then pour a little egg and sugar mixture, mix well with a marisa. Then add a part of the powders and keep stirring.

Continue with the liquid part again and finish with the powders until they are finished. This alternation of poured and processing will serve to make the dough of the typical crumbly consistency of the paradise cake.

Take a mold of 24 cm in diameter and butter it with the help of a brush, flour it and pour the dough of the paradise cake. Level it with a spatula until the surface is homogeneous. 

Cook the paradise cake in a preheated oven at 170 ° for about 45-50 minutes (adjust according to the strength of your oven, cover the cake with aluminum foil after 30 minutes of cooking if you see that it darkens excessively and continue cooking).

Once ready (always test the toothpick), take it out and wait about 20 minutes before turning it over a serving dish.

Remove the mold very gently and let it cool completely for about 1 hour. Only once cold sprinkle with powdered sugar to create a homogeneous layer on the surface. Your paradise cake is ready to be tasted.

Storage

You can keep the paradise cake under a glass jar for a couple of days.

You can freeze without covering icing sugar.

Vegetable Soup

Minestrone di verdure

Ingredients

• 500 gr. tomatoes for sauce
• 500 gr. fresh peas
• 200 gr. rice
• 150 gr. dried beans (borlotti) soaked
• 100 gr. bacon
• 50 gr. lard
• 3 floury potatoes
• 2 zucchini
• 2 stalks celery
• 2 carrots
• a small onion
• parsley
• basil
• sage
• garlic
• parmesan
• salt

Time: 3 h 30 min
Servings: 6 persone

Preparation

For the recipe of vegetable minestrone, wash and clean celery, carrots, zucchini and reduce them into cubes. Free the tomatoes from peel and seeds and cut into small pieces too. Peel the potatoes, wash them but leave them whole.

Peel and wash the parsley, chop it finely with lard and a clove of garlic; put the mixture in a pot, add the chopped onion, 2 sage leaves and the pancetta into strips.

Let it fry and when the onion is dried, add all the vegetables, the popped beans, washed and cut into small pieces, the beans soaked for at least 8 hours and 8 basil leaves. Sprinkle with 3 liters of water, salt a little, then let it boil and cook in a covered pot for about 3 hours.

Half an hour before the end of cooking, add the peas and crush the potatoes; a quarter of an hour later add the rice. Serve the minestrone with parmesan.

Pasta with Asparagus

Pasta agli asparagi

Ingredients

• Penne Rigate 320 gr.
• Fresh Asparagus700 gr.
• Black Pepper j.e.
• Fine Salt j.e.
• Parmesan cheese to be grated 20 gr.
• Shallot (Scalogno) 80 gr.
• Thyme (Timo) 3 gr.

Preparation

To prepare the pasta with asparagus started by placing a pot on the stove with plenty of hot water; when it boils salatela: it will serve to cook the pasta. Continue with the asparagus cleaning. Wash them under running water and dry with a cloth. So, remove them from the hardest and light-colored ends by drawing them. Then remove the outer part of the stem, the most coriaceous, with a potato peel.

Take the asparagus and align them in a bunch, then cut the stems into small washers,
taking care to leave the tips intact (you can split them in half lengthwise if you prefer). At this point clean and finely chop the shallot. Proceed with a non-stick pan: pour in a little oil and fry the shallots gently. Mix from time to time and add a ladle of cooking water to make it soften more gently without the risk of burning.

Add the cut asparagus and the tips. Add salt and pepper, mix and pour one or two ladles of hot water and then cook with a lid for 10-15 minutes over a moderate heat.

While the asparagus cook, boil the pasta in the pot of boiling water. When it is al dente transfer it to the pan where you cooked the asparagus with a slotted spoon and stir.

Finally, flavored with the leaves of thyme and grated Parmesan, if necessary wet with very little cooking water, stir and then extinguish the fire. Finally serve your pasta with asparagus and ... enjoy your meal!

Storage

It is preferable to consume pasta with freshly cooked asparagus. If you go a little further, you can keep it in the fridge in a tightly closed container for a maximum of 2 days.