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.

Ligurian Stuffed Zucchini

Zucchine ripiene alla Ligure

Ingredients

• Zucchini 700 gr.
• White onions 60 gr.
• Medium eggs 2
• Stale bread 40 gr.
• Capers under salt 8 gr.
• Pine nuts 20 gr.
• Parmesan cheese to be grated 50 gr.
• Extra virgin olive oil 30 gr.
• Black pepper 1 pinch
• Anchovies (alici) 10 gr.
• Whole milk 60 gr.
• Tuna in drained oil 150 gr.
• Thyme 1 spoon
• Bread crumbs 60 gr.

Preparation

To prepare the stuffed zucchini to the Ligurian, first wash the courgettes and boil them in salted water for about 10 minutes and let them cool. Meanwhile, cut the stale bread until it is squeezed into small squares, then pour it into a small bowl and add the milk; let soften while continuing the recipe.

Peel and chop the white onions finely and then chop the anchovies well drained from the preservation oil. Sprinkle a large pan with two tablespoons of oil and fry the onion and anchovies over low heat, taking care not to burn the sauté, stirring occasionally and adding water if necessary.

Meanwhile, drain the zucchini put them in a basin with ice to cool quickly without losing the beautiful bright green. Then remove the ends of the zucchini, then cut them in half lengthwise and empty them with a scoop. Add the pulp obtained from the zucchini to the fried onion and anchovies, letting it cook for a few minutes. Once cooked, put aside the sauté with zucchini in a bowl.

In the meantime, chop the pine nuts and the desalted capers in a mixer and finally add the stale bread cut into cubes and blended to obtain a homogeneous mixture. Add the mixture to the base of onions, anchovies and zucchini pulp.

Add the grated Parmesan, the beaten eggs and then season with salt, pepper and thyme, then add the breadcrumbs and mix well with a spatula. Then fill the zucchini with the mixture and place in an oiled pan, sprinkle with breadcrumbs and cook in preheated oven at 250 ° in grill mode, for about 10-12 minutes, until they have a nice golden crust. When you take them out of the oven, let them rest for 5 minutes and your stuffed Ligurian zucchini will be ready to be tasted!

Storage

We recommend eating the freshly prepared Ligurian courgettes, but if you wish you can keep them in the refrigerator, airtight, for a couple of days at most. Freezing is not recommended.

Advice

The zucchini mixture should be compact but not too dry. To empty the zucchini, as an alternative to the digino, you can use a teaspoon; however, be careful not to overdo it too much; the zucchini must not be too thin! If you want to avoid greasing the pan with oil, you can line it with baking paper!

Tomato Soup

Ingredients

• Tomatoes San Marzano: 400 gr.
• Extra virgin olive oil: 30 gr.
• Basil: 5 leaves
• Garlic: 1 clove
• Fine salt; j.e.

Preparation

To prepare the tomato soup in your home kitchen, the first thing to do is finely chop a red onion and let it dry in a saucepan together with a clove of garlic and a little extra virgin olive oil.

In the meantime, the red tomatoes are cut in half (about 400 grams for two people) and, once the garlic has been removed, they are added to the sautéed mixture. 

Pour half a liter of water into the pot, adjust to salt and mix well. While the tomatoes are softened in the saucepan, halfway through cooking, a glass of puree is added. 

You continue to mix gently for a few minutes and then you just have to serve the tomato soup, perhaps with a little basil leaves in the plate and some croutons of bread.

Penne Pasta with Arrabbiata Sauce

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

Ingredients

• 400 g di pomodori maturi
• 400 g di penne
• 1 peperoncino rosso
• 2 spicchi d'aglio
• olio
• prezzemolo qb
• pecorino romano qb

Prep Time: 5 min
Cook Time: 10 min

Preparation

Cut the garlic into thin slices and in a pan I make the oil flavor.

Add the chili in strips. Meanwhile, remove the peel of tomatoes (with the appropriate tool or blanched for a few moments), remove seeds and filaments, then reduce the pulp into strips.

Before adding tomatoes to the pan, remove the garlic.

Cook the pasta in plenty of salted water. Meanwhile, let's go the sauce on a sweet flame. After six minutes drain the penne and finish cooking in the pan, with the sauce.

Plate and complete the penne with grated pecorino cheese and chopped parsley.

Lady's Kisses

Baci di dama



Di Caravita81 - Opera propria, Pubblico dominio, Collegamento


Ingredients

• 150 gr of flour 00
• 150 gr of peeled almonds
• 150 gr of caster sugar
• 150 gr of cold butter
• dark chocolate j.e.

Prep Time: 30 min
Cook Time: 15-17 min
Rest Time: 3h
Servings: 8 / 40 pieces

Preparation

Arrange the almonds on a baking sheet and leave to toast in a preheated oven at 180 degrees until lightly browned. They will not have to brown too much or they will be bitter. Let them cool and transfer them, together with half the granulated sugar, into a mixer's jug. Chop them at the highest speed proceeding several times, to prevent the almonds from releasing an excessive amount of their oil. You will need to obtain a fine and homogeneous flour.

Collect the mixture inside the planetary bowl with the flour, the diced butter and the remaining sugar. Assemble the hook K and work the mixture at a low speed until a homogeneous paste is obtained.

Give it the shape of a loaf, wrap it in the food film and place in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours. After this time remove the dough from the refrigerator and, with your hands, form balls about 1 cm. Arrange them by hand on several baking sheets lined with parchment paper, spacing them appropriately. Let it cool in the freezer for at least 1 hour. After this time cook the biscuits in the preheated oven at 140 ° for 15-17 minutes.

Remove from the oven and let them cool, leaving them inside the pans. Meanwhile, melt the chocolate in the way you like (in a bain-marie or in the microwave) and, using a teaspoon, take a small amount necessary to couple the biscuits. Let the chocolate solidify and the lady's kisses are ready to serve.

Chicken Soup

Ingredients

• Chicken or hen 1 kg.
• Water 2 l.
• Celery 80 gr.
• Carrots 120 gr.
• Golden onions 120 gr.
• Garlic 2 cloves
• Laurel 2 leaves
• Parsley 1 tuft
• Mixed pepper in grains j.e.
• Fine salt j.e.

Quantity: 1,5 l

Preparation

To prepare the chicken (or chicken) broth, start by removing any remaining feathers that have been attacked and flaming the others to eliminate them permanently (you can use a torch or pass the chicken on the gas flame). Then rinse thoroughly and dab with kitchen paper, then keep aside.

Dedicate yourself now to the cleaning of the vegetables, then peel the carrots and cut them into pieces. Take the celery steaks off the edges and cut this too, and finally take care of the onion, mopping it and cutting it in half, then remove the central part.

To enhance the taste of the onion, place it in a non-stick pan and let it toast over a high heat for 4 minutes, turning it occasionally. At this point, then you are ready to cook the stock. In a large saucepan pour the chicken, or chicken, and add the celery, carrot and the scalded onion.

Add the parsley, garlic and bay leaf and pepper, then pour the water and cover with a lid, letting it simmer for 50 minutes. It is preferable during cooking, to froth the broth to eliminate impurities and excess fat.

The chicken broth, at this point will be ready, add salt and let it cool in the pot. At this point you can keep the meat aside and drain the vegetables and filter the broth to use it in your preparations. If, on the other hand, you want to cook the pasta, simply boil the broth and then cook it.

Advice

If you are using a free-range hen it is likely that cooking will be prolonged, as the meat will be much firmer. Use other vegetables at your convenience to enrich their taste and aroma! The fat of the free-range hen could be excessive, collect it or remove it with a colander.

Green Beans in Sweet and Sour Sauce

Ingredients

• 600 gr Green beans 
• 40 gr Sugar
• 2 Egg Yolks
• White vinegar
• Basil
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Salt

Time:  30 min
Servings: 4

Preparation

For the recipe of green beans in sweet and sour sauce, clean the green beans and boil them in boiling salted water for 8 ', then drain and cool them in a bowl of cold water.

Pour the egg yolks, sugar, 4 g of salt, 2 tablespoons of vinegar and 2 tablespoons of water into a small saucepan; place on very soft heat and carefully emulsify the mixture with a whisk for 5 ', obtaining a sweet and sour sauce.

Be very careful that the egg yolks do not coagulate: for safety, you can cook them even more gently in a bain-marie, checking that the water just starts to simmer.

Drain the green beans, arrange them on the plate and season with some chopped basil leaves, a little oil and the sweet and sour sauce still warm.

Roast Veal

Ingredients

• 800 gr di calf meat (veal - knuckle)
• 1 glass of aromatic white wine
• 1 rosemary branch
• 1 sage leaf
• 1 spoon of flour
• 2 tablespoons of hot water
• hot meat broth
• 20 gr of butter
• oil
• salt
• pepper

Prep Time: 20 min
Cook Time: 1h30min
Servings: 4

Preparation

The first step to prepare the roast veal is to wash and dab the meat with kitchen paper. Massage with salt and pepper and bind it with string. Alternatively you can have this done by your trusted butcher. Sauté the meat over high heat in a saucepan with 3 tablespoons of oil and butter, never pierce it (using spoons or wooden scoops).

When the meat is browned evenly on all sides, blend with white wine. Let it evaporate over high heat, add the aromatic herbs and a couple of ladles of hot stock. Cover, lower the heat and cook the meat for about 1 hour taking care to turn it often and add more hot broth if necessary.

Remove the roast from the container and keep warm. Blend the cooking base, first removing the aromatic herbs, until you get a homogeneous sauce and transfer it into a saucepan.

In a small bowl pour hot water over the sieved flour. Stir until a homogeneous mixture is obtained and add the mixture prepared to the cooking sauce. Put on the heat and thicken until reaching a creamy consistency, mixing with a small whisk.

Until the roast and cut it into slices. Appetize your roast veal with the sauce, before serving.

Amaretti

Prep Time: 20 min

Cook Time: 15/18 min

Ingredients

• 300 g di caster sugar
• 50 g di rough bitter almond
• 50 g di sweet almond
• 1 pinch of ammoniaca per dolci (ammonium bicarbonate)
• vanilla extract just enough
• 2 egg white
• powdered sugar to dust

Preparation

In the mixer, combine the almonds (both types), half the sugar, an egg white and vanilla extract and ground everything. Also add the egg white and the remaining sugar together with the ammonium carbonate and ground until obtaining a fine, somewhat consistent mass.

Transfer the mixture into a sac à poche with a smooth 13 mm diameter nozzle and mold the amaretti biscuits on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. You will have to hold the nozzle in a position perpendicular to the work surface, forming puddles of dough of 2.5 cm in diameter well spaced from each other.

Smooth the amaretti with the tip of the index just moistened in water, sprinkle with icing sugar and cook in a preheated oven at 170 degrees for about 15-18 minutes. Remove from the oven and let it cool completely.