Category: Recipes

Lepre in agrodolce con cioccolato, arancia candita e pinoli – Sour-sweet hare with chocolate, orange peels pine nuts

~ stefano arturi ~ 10 Comments

 

lepre in agrodolce - sour sweet hare
lepre in agrodolce - sour sweet hare

A long but highly rewarding, sumptuous cold months dish (forgive the bad pictures). It takes about 8-10 hours cooking on a very low oven and there is some prep to be made the day before; once done, it must be let to cool down and then the meat is taken off the bone and the sauce reduced. The dish must rest for 24 hours and only then the most voluptuous sour- sweet condiment is added to the meat: as I said, not a last minute dish, but an intriguing one, firmly rooted in Italian “special occasion” home cooking.  Continue reading “Lepre in agrodolce con cioccolato, arancia candita e pinoli – Sour-sweet hare with chocolate, orange peels pine nuts” →

I peperoni imbottiti alla napoletana (Neapolitan-style stuffed peppers)

~ stefano arturi ~ 22 Comments

“Blessed be the stuffed peppers! what a clever thing they are!…What are they made of? Not much: peppers, bread, a couple of aubergines cooked ‘fungitiello‘ style (i.e. deep fried),  a handful of capers and Gaeta black olives, some anchovies and, let’s not forget, a pinch of oregano and parsley, a clove of garlic and few bits of tomatoes. And from these humble ingredients, a masterpiece is born: one of those dishes that makes your mouth water just thinking about them. Continue reading “I peperoni imbottiti alla napoletana (Neapolitan-style stuffed peppers)” →

Scarpaccia salata di Camaiore (savoury and custardy courgette cake from Camaiore, Tuscany)

~ stefano arturi ~ 12 Comments
Scarpaccia
Scarpaccia

This is the savoury version of scarpaccia, that unusual courgette cake from North Tuscany I described in the previous post; in fact savoury scarpaccia is regarded as the original dish by Tuscan food authority Paolo Petroni, whose recipe I used as a template (the sweet version, he says, came later). Continue reading “Scarpaccia salata di Camaiore (savoury and custardy courgette cake from Camaiore, Tuscany)” →

Cavolfiori al pomodoro alla napoletana (Cauliflower with tomatoes, from Naples)

~ stefano arturi ~ 13 Comments

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A basic and yet rewarding dish from Naples, almost embarrassing in its simplicity. It comes from the splendid La Cucina Napoletana, the book that is considered the bible of Neapolitan cooking, written by Mrs Jeanne Carola Francesconi in 1965 – if you read Italian, you must get it.

I long resisted cooking this, as it always did sound too elementary. Can cauliflower florets cooked with tomatoes  be only few notches way from boring? Continue reading “Cavolfiori al pomodoro alla napoletana (Cauliflower with tomatoes, from Naples)” →