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

Scrippelle with honey and tofu

'Scrippelle' are the Teramo version of the most well-known French crêpes and there are several disputes on the original version of the recipe, between who affirms that French copied an Italian recipe turining it into one of the national dishes and who affirms that the transalpine influence found its way into the proverbially stubborn, also eno-gastronomical, Abruzzi mentality. Whatever, actually crêpes are usually prepared with milk, while scrippelle's main ingredients are eggs, water and flour. The density of the dough and the way it's cooked slightly differ, even if scrippelle are traditionally used in the preparation of baked dishes quite typical of the Italian cuisine, such as cannelloni and pasta al forno with tomato 'sugo' sauce or ricotta cheese and vegetables, while crêpes entered the international cuisine. Starting here a debate on the all French ability to communicate the grandeur and on the proudly prideful modesty of Italian culture won't be a good idea, for the moment let's use the inputs coming from the two impressive eno-gasstronomic European traditions and culture to re-elaborate recipes suitable to the vegetarian diet. 

Water
Flour
Eggs
Tofu
Honey

Provinciali herbs

Prepare a quite liquid batter with eggs, tepid water and flour, stand for at least 20', warm a  nonstick, not too big and especially without bends in the centre, pan, oil a towel and scour, pour with the dipper the batter, spreading with a flat wooden tool,  flip and cook the other scrippelle. Warm  slightly the honey to soften and savour with provinciali herbs  (thyme, lemon balm, peppermint and pennroyal, etc.), thin slice tofu, put in the scrippelle, add the honey and wrap, spinkle with honey and garnish with provinciali herbs flower, serve warm.

©2010.2021

Lentil annd potatoes rissoles

Sometimes you don't feel and you have no time for cooking, and if cheese sided with fresh vegetables, 'panino' sandwiches or  pizza can sometimes be a solution for a quick supper, sometimes you feel like eating something more 'cooked', more savory. A good habit, if you don't always want ready meals, is to prepare, from time to time, rissoles to freeze and bake when needed. Especially if you have time, when cooking legumes, is advisable to cook them in abundance, to store and re-elaborate them in various ways.

Lentils with tomato sauce prepared with the preferred recipe

Potatoes

Breadcrumbs

(Egg)

Cook the lentils in tomato sauce with the preferred recipe, delicious if a bit hot and spicy. Boil 4 or 5 potatoes, peel and mash with the grinder. Mash with the grinder also two or three dippers of lentils for 3 or 4 potatoes. Mix, taste, eventually add one egg to thicken. Make some balls with the hands and roll in bread crumbs. Put them in the freezer on a tray with a leaf of baking paper, freeze and then put in a plastic bag. To cook, bake in warm oven (220°C) in a oiled baking tray for about 30'. Serve sided with some leafes of fresh salad, duchess potatoes or a sweet-and-sour sauce.

©2010.2021

Ricotta and spinach girandole with field mushrooms cream

Autumn and mushrooms are an absolut union. Together with the colour of the leafs, the walks in the mountains, the chilli air, a few other ingredients can evoke Autumn as food made with this ingredient that vegetarians got to know in its different variations. True is that field mushrooms can be found all year round and can be used for spring and summer recipes, not only winterly, but some creams apparently contain the luminescences and the tastes of the colouful season, this is the recipe of a delicacy tasted today.

Butter, not much

Milk

Flour

Field mushrooms, one tray

Egg pasta Girandole filled with ricotta cheese and spinach

Salt

Provinciali herbs

Extra virgin PDO olive oil

 

Clean the mushrooms, roughly chop, put in a pan at a low heat with salt a sprinkle of oil, cook till when there is much natural mushrooms broth, mince. On a side prepare a light bechamel  with some butter, a spoon of mushroom cream, flour, milk. Mix with the remaining mushrooms cream, lay the girandole in a baking tray coverd with baking paper, cover with abundant cream and bake in warm oven (220°C) for approx. 30'.

©2010.2021

Savoury cake with chicory and juniper

A treat ideal for breakfasts, snacks, tea time and out-of-town short trips.

Flour 800 gr.

White wine  200 gr.

Water 200 gr.

Juniper

Field Mushrooms

Chicory boiled

Freshly picked provinciali herbs

Rosemary salt

Extra virgin PDO olive oil

Small eggs 2

Honey a spoon

Yeast

Sugar for the yeast

Wash and roughly chop the mushrooms, wash and boil chicory, knead, leaven the dough, possibly not in the kneader as the wine ferments, bake in warm oven 220°C for about 30'

©2010.2021

Pear and chocolate roll

Cakes filled with fruit are definetely gorgious and a roll with pears and chocolate to warm the mouth during the first aurumn cold sided with a huge cup of hot chocolate is one of those pleasure in which  we can also indulge sometimes, obviously always without exagerating.

Puff pastry, one pack
Pears
Chocolate in squares
Cocoa powder

Chocolate custard (eggs, milk, sugar, cocoa)
Cinnamon

(Yolk for coloring the dough)

Spread the dough in a rectangular baking tray, prepare a chocolate custard. Peel and roughly or finely chop the pears depending if you prefer the 'jammy' consistence or not, add the cinnamon powder and the chocolate crushed in irregular pieces. Pour the pears in the custard and then in the central part of the dough, close the dough being careful of not creating holes, brush with the yolk to color and bake in warm oven (220°C) for about  30''. Before serving sprinkle with cocoa powder and eventually icing sugar.

©2010.2021