My Italian food
A delectable recipe from one of the best books about Italian food written in English Secrets from an Italian kitchen, by the wonderful Anna Del Conte. If you want to learn how to cook Italian, grab any book from Del Conte, one from Marcella Hazan and you are sorted for life. Continue reading “Zucchine ripiene con ricotta e amaretti (Courgettes stuffed with ricotta and amaretti)”
A delicious, “culinary joke” from Sicily. Mulinciani ‘mbuttunati is a typical summer dish of whole aubergines cooked in tomato sauce, with a twist though. A deep slit is made into the aubergine belly (turning it into a “button hole”) and the usual suspects of much Southern Italian cooking are inserted into it, garlic, pecorino cheese, basil/mint (the “buttons”). Here you have it: buttoned up aubergines!
Continue reading “Mulinciani‘mbuttunati (Buttoned up aubergines, a.k.a stuffed Sicilian aubergines)”
Parmigiana di zucchine/courgette parmesan is the lesser known cousin of aubergine Parmesan. The basic idea is of course the same: to alternate layers of fried or grilled courgettes, mozzarella and grated Parmigiano or pecorino, interlayered with tomato sauce. From this basic starting point, many variations have been devised: sometimes it is made in bianco, that is to say without tomato sauce, scamorza can be used instead of mozzarella, prosciutto cotto and/or sliced boiled eggs could be added, or béchamel sauce for a richer dish. It is a lovely, homely spring-summer dish that makes a perfect piatto unico, one meal dish, served with a a tomato salad, perhaps. Continue reading “Parmigiana di zucchine (Courgette Parmesan)”
Malfatti literally means “badly shaped” and the name fits perfectly these misshapen, fragile dumplings. Under different names (gnudi, strozzapreti, gnocchi verdi, rabaton) malfatti appear in many parts of northern and central Italy and they share the same logic: cooked, chopped leafy greens (chard, spinach, nettles) are mixed with a binding ingredient (eggs, ricotta, breadcrumbs, flour), formed into fragile gnocchi-like morsels, poached and dressed, generally, with melted butter and Parmigiano or with a light tomato sauce They are delicate but not insubstantial. Continue reading “Malfatti di spinaci e ricotta (Spinach and ricotta gnocchi)”
A simple, quick and delicious supper. Large Portobello mushrooms are stuffed with eggs, pecorino cheese, parsley and garlic and then roasted.Thirty minutes or so later they emerge from the oven with a light, cheesy crust and still juicy underneath. I had them with some prosciutto crudo and a little fennel and roquette salad. This recipe comes from Puglia, the heel of Italy, homeland of amazing vegetables and excellent vegetarian food and I have adapted it from one by food journalist Alessandro Molinari Pradelli, author of many notable cookery books. A liberal hand with the oil is what makes this humble dish stand out. Continue reading “Funghi al forno alla pugliese (roasted stuffed mushrooms Puglia-style)”
Italian home cooking 