Filled bell peppers

We should use season's fruit and vegetables as much as possible, but it's also true that bell peppers are one of the main ingredients of vegetarian diets, nourishing and low-calorie, ideal for all the occasions. In the holiday menus, can be a perfect solution for a delicious main course.

Bell peppers

Breadcrumbs (pangrattato)
Grated cheeses

Provinciali herbs and juniper

Tofu

Shoyu

Sesame seeds

(Garlic)

Extra virgin PDO olive oil
Salt

Prepare the evening before the so-called 'mollica condita', the breadcrumbs (pangrattato) with a mince of provinciali herbs, garlic if you like, grated cheeses, extra virgin PDO olive oil and refrigerate. Cut the todu in cubes and season with shoyu and sesame seeds, mix with the 'mollica condita.' Wash the bell peppers and cut them on the long side, fill with the mollica condita and the tofu, salt bake in warm oven 220°C for about 30'.

©2010.2021

Ricotta cheese and season's fruit cake

The sparkling lights and Christmas decorations blinks from the shops displays, from the 'piazzas' that would like to find again their functions of social places and from the confectioners already full of seasons sweets and inevitably you start thinking of what could be prepared for the holidays without lard, gelatin leaves (or fish glue) or other ingredients definetely not good for a vegetarian diet. Regional Italian recipes are obviously a great resource for 0miles delicacies. Romans and Pre-Romans recipes are not always the most simple thing to find, but it's always possible to use typical elements and seasons fruit for the holiday menus.

Shortcrust pastry (pasta frolla), one pack, if handmade, for a tart

Ricotta chees, abundant  (not less than 500gr)

Sugar

Butter and wheat for the baking tray

Yolk for the upper part of the cake
Season's fruit (such as pears or chestnuts)
Lemon grind

Spread the dough, handmade or ready, and in the latter case read the ingredients carefully. Mix the ricotta cheese with lemon grind and some sugar to sweeten, but not too much, spread the dough in a buttered baking tray (with wheat or without butter and only breadcrumbs as the pasta frolla has already quite a high quantity of butter), put the pears roughly sliced or the chestnuts boiled and peeled , pour the ricotta chees and cover with a layer of dough, brush with the yolk for the color, make some very few small holes with the fork on the upper layer and bake in warm oven (200°C) forc about  30'.

©2010.2021

 

Scrippelle ortolane, greengrocery scrippelle

Scrippelle, as written before, ,are the Teramo's version of French crêpes, probably invented even before the quick transalpine dish. One of the carachteristics of the Abruzzi's recipe is to be used also to elaborate the typical baked 'al forno' holiday dishes. Even if the Teramo recipes are generally with meat and fish, there are also vegetarian recipes or others that can be re-elaborated.

Water
Flour
Eggs
Bell peppers
Aubergines, Eggplants

Capers
Oregano
Salt

Extra virgin PDO olive oil
Potatoes
Carrots
Mild hot 'sugo' tomato sauce

Bechamel sauce
Basil
Onion
Juniper
Chilli pepper

Wine

Prepare a quite liquid batter with eggs, not cold water and flour,  stand for at least 20', warm a non  sticky not too big pan flat in the middle, oil with a napkin, pour with a dipper the batter, spreadinf with a wooden flat tool, flip when completely peeled off and cook the number of scrippelle needed. On a side wash  the bell peppers taking the seeds away, peel the potatoes and the carrots and chop in small cubes. Prepare a mild hot sugo and a not dense bechamel. Lightly brown the onion in the oil with the chilli pepper, the carrots and the juniper, put the aubergines in cubes and the bell peppers.  salt and cook on high heat, sprinkle with wine and evaporate the alcohol, add the potatoes in small cubes precedently salted in the dishcloth, capers and oregano, lower the flame, cover and cook. When ready pour the vegetables in the scrippelle and wrap, put in a baking tray till filling, cover with sugo, bechamel and eventually grated cheese. Bake in warm oven 220°C for about 30'. Garnish with basil flowers and oregano, serve hot.

©2010.2021

Orecchiette and broccoletti

Christmas holidays are an occasion to find again that deeply christian spirit of rejoining and social union and to celebrate what for believers is one of the fundamental moments of religious life, and is also an occasion to prepare delicious meals. Generally speaking menus are full of meat and fish based dishes, but in the Italian tradition there gorgeous recipes can be found to prepare great dinner and lunches. A gentle lady from Apulia told me this one from her region.

Fresh made orecchiette pasta

Broccoletti (or green broccoli)

Extra virgin PDO olive oil (possibly from Southern Italy)

Salt

Chilli
Bread

Accurately clean the broccoletti or wash the broccoli and chop in approx. 3x6cms 'flowers', boil abundant salted water, put the broccoletti and almost at the same time the orecchiette, or the broccoli, cook for a few minutes and then the orecchiette. On a side warm some oil with chilli, lightly brown till crunchy cubes of bread of about 1cm, drain the pasta with vegetables and saute in the pan with the oil. Pour in a bowl cover and let stay for a few minutes before serving.

©2011.2021

Pasta Norma

Holidays approaching, and the preparation of the main meals of the festivities becomes the leit-motiv, in Italy are usually meat or fish based, even if looking into the regional recipes there are delicious vegetarian recipes for holidays menus that put together the entire BelPaese with all its peculiarities. In the South we find obviously many dishes vegetables based that remind us of the warmth of the summer and of Mediterranean generosity, such as aubergines (eggplants) with a dish named after an opera composed by the Catanese Vincenzo Bellini. Apparently the playwriter and 'uomo di teatro' from the very same Sicilian city, Nino Martoglio, commented 'this is a Norma!' when he tasted the pasta.

Pasta

Aubergines (Eggplants)

Extravirgin PDO olive oil
Light 'sugo', tomato sauce, or tomatoes
Onion
Basil
Chilli
Sicilian Ricotta salata al forno cheese

Wash and slice the aubergines, salt them and let them stay covered with something heavy to squeeze away the bitterness, fry. On a side, prepare a silmple tomato sauce (sugo), lightly browning the onion and the chilli and adding chopped tomatoes, salt and basil. Mince the toomatoes in the grinder add the fried aubergines, when almost ready the basil. Boil the pasta in abundant salted water, strain and saute in the sugo, add abundant Sicilian ricotta salata al forno cheese, garnish with basil blossoms and serve.

©2010.2021

Fried vegetables 'al cartoccio'

In Italy you can't call it an holy day without the typical 'al cartoccio' fried food, vegetables, zucchini flowers stuffed with mozzarella and anchovies. ascolane olive, fish and all that delicacies that can be prepared mainly with meat or fish. Fried food, 'frittura' in Italian, can be delicious also if prepared with battered vegetables of the Italian cuisine with some incursion in the Indian tradition. 

Broccoli

Cauliflower

Apple

Artichokes
Mushrooms
Peas

Potatoes
Curry

Wheat
Water
Oil for frying

Salt

Cinnamon

Caraway seeds or fresh coriander
Egg

Extra virgin PDO oil
Breadcrumbs (pangrattato)

Boil or steam cook broccoli and potatoes, cook the peas, accurately clean the artichokes and finely slice, peel and chop the apple. Prepare three types of batter: one with the egg to batter the arthichokes before rolling them in the wheat and fry in hot oil, one with tepid water dense for the broccoli and the samosa, another less dense for the apple. Batter the broccoli and deepfry in abundant hot oil, chop the potatoes in cubes, mix to the peas, season with curry, extra virgin PDO oil, caraway seeds or leaves of fresh coriander, batter in the egge and then in the dense batter, deepfry. For the apple, when ready sprinkle with cinnamon powder. Slice in triangles the field mushrooms, batter in the egg, roll in the breadcrumbs and deepfry. Serve in the tpical 'cartoccio' foil or garnish with thyme flowers and honey.

©2010.2021