(Italiano) Tortellini…rigorosamente in brodo!

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New Year’s Eve menù: lenticchie e cotechino

Every New Year’s Eve dinner is different depending on how and where you are celebrating. One item that is never missing from any Italian New Year’s Eve menu is Lentils. Lentils are considered good luck and the more you eat of them, the better luck you will have. Lentils are supposed to bring prosperity (they look like coins) and this current recession has got everyone looking for help

Together with lentils we eat either Zampone or Cotechino. Zampone is really a stuffed pig’s trotter. It is stuffed with ground pork, pork rinds, and spices. Cotechino  is made using a meat mixture similar to that of zampone but then stuffed into a pig intestine skin. To cook them you have just to boil in water for 2 or 3 hours and then slice into thick round

Ingredients:

• 350grams of lentils
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 stalk celery, finely chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 chili pepper
• 200ml of tomato puree or ripe fresh tomatoes
• extra virgin olive oil
• salt and pepper

In a saucepan sauté with olive oil the onion with garlic, hot chili pepper and the finely chopped celery. When they are golden add the tomatoes with bay leaves and cook for a few minutes. Add the lentils and a liter of boiling water; cover and let it cook on medium heat for about one hour. Remove the garlic and season with salt and serve warm

Buon Appetito and Happy New Year !!!

BATTUTO e SOFFRITTO

I know that it can seem “too simple” but battuto and soffritto are the fundamental essence in Italian dishes

a BATTUTO is a flavor base of finely chopped raw ingredients so that the flavor of the vegetables can be imparted to the fat. I suggest you to use the traditional mezzaluna for chopping vegetables and herbs as our grandmothers did in the past; there is no measuring, you have to find the combination you like; it can sometimes includes a fat meat like bacon or lard;

here are some ideas:

• celery, carrots and onions

• rosemary, sage, thyme and garlic

• garlic, parsley and hot chili pepper

a battuto becames a soffritto when is gently sautéed in fat; so the SOFFRITTO is a mixture of vegetables sautéed in olive oil or butter until they become golden and caramelized imparting their flavors to any ingredient that fallows

Now heat a little olive oil or butter in a skillet and add the battuto, once it is golden and the scent of herbs filled the kitchen add the remaining ingredients for a dish and finish cooking it.

Gnocchi di Patate

Easy to make and…good to eat  !!!

ingredients per 2-3 people

500 g white potatoes  (they must be old ), 150 g white flour, 1 egg, salt

instructions:

First prepare the gnocchi cooking 500 g of potatoes whole in plenty of boiling salted water. Peel and, while they are still hot, crush them with the potato masher. The Italian one looks like a very large garlic crusher. Add 1 egg, about 150 g of flour, a pinch of salt and work it into the mixture. Form long thin rolls with this mixture, divide it into several pieces, placing them on a work floured surface and rolling the palm of your hand backwards and forwards on them.

When they reach the thickness of a finger, cut into 1/2 inch - 2 cm knobs.

To make them into a pleasant shape you can either pass them gently over a cheese grater, pressing with your thumb, or over a fork. This helps to curl them slightly.
Bring water to the boil in a large saucepan and throw in the gnocchi. They are ready when they float, after a minute or two.

Remove them from the water with a skimmer and put them into the a large bowl to dress with a very rich sauce like: pesto, sausages and tomato, gorgonzola cheese …and don’t forget a generous handful of  parmigiano

Anita and Imma from Canada sent me photos of their cooking lesson; we spent a beatiful day together preparing and eating ravioli, tortelli and gnocchi

Florentine Spring Peas

Tender, sweet-smelling garden peas are one of the pleasures of spring dishes in Florence. The best time to find them on market stalls is from around the middle to the end of April, together with the fresh garlic, one small spring onion and fresh parsley that are the other essential ingredients in this traditional recipe.

Heat the olive oil in medium pot, add the chopped onion with garlic and sauté until are lightly golden. Add the peas and stir them for a couple of minutes to coat with the onions, garlic and oil. Add as much cold water as is required to cover the peas and cook uncovered on a low flame.
When the peas are almost cooked and most of the water has evaporated, that is after about 15 minutes, season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve immediately.