Chocolate salame or Salame di Cioccolata

Very quick and humble recipe to use leftover biscuits

Recipe(x10 slices)

150g plain biscuits

2 egg yolks

4 full tbsp sugar

3 full tbsp dark cocoa powder

50g butter

1tsp brandy

Melt the butter and let it cool down. Start mixing the 2 egg yolks with 2 tbsp of sugar until creamy, then add the remaining 2 tbsp of sugar, the cocoa powder, the brandy and the cooled melted butter and mix well.

 

 

Now the fun part break the biscuits into small pieces and add them to the chocolate mixture, mix well

 

 

Place the mixture on a piece of baking paper, mould it into a sausage shape just rolling the paper around it and squeezing  until you have a roll, twist the ends of the paper and put in the fridge for at least 2 hours, or for a quick set in the freezer.

 

Then slice it and ENJOY

 

 

 

Gnocchi or potato dumplings

There is nothing more rewarding then making your own if you have some time to spare.

Recipe (x2 generous)

500g potatoes

150g plain flour

1 tbsp olive oil

½ tsp salt

They go very well with a simple tomato sauce with basil or a butter and sage sauce.

Peal and boil the potatoes until soft, let them cool slightly then pass it through a potato ricer, I really like this part ;)

 

add the flour, salt and olive oil and start to work until you have a soft dough. Dust a work surface with some flour and start to cut the dough in stripes, roll them into sausage shapes. Then cut into 2cm wide segments. Now roll them over a fork to make an indentation, this is an important step if you want your sauce to marry happily with the gnocchi.  

 

Put them on a surface dusted with flour to rest until ready to boil.

 

Bring a large pan of water to boil add the salt and tip in the gnocchi. They are ready when start to float on top of the pan, remove them with a slotted spoon and carefully mix them with the sauce, they are really fragile, and you don’t want a mash! So my tip here is to pour a bit of sauce at the bottom of each plate, add the gnocchi and add more sauce on top.

 

 ENJOY

 

A bit of history: In the city of Rome, the dumplings are the traditional dish on Thursday, following the dictum "Thursday, gnocchi, Friday fish (or" chick peas and salt cod "), Saturday Tripe" (the proverb emphasizes for the christian the importance of the day Thursday as almost festive, requiring of a dish tasty in anticipation of the “fasting” the next day, Friday). Taverns (Osterie) around Rome that follow the ancient tradition still survive.

In Uruguay, Argentina and Brazil there is a tradition of eating gnocchi on the 29th of each month, with some people putting money beneath their plates to bring prosperity.

So today is 29^th and I will put money under my plate hoping for the best!

 

Sweet parcels

This is a quick, cheap recipe to use leftover of puff pastry/filo pastry!

I have used Nutella (the Italian chocolate spread) my favourite but you can fill them with anything sweet or sour.

Cut the pastry, fill it and make the parcels. Brush them  with some milk and put in the oven at 180^o C for 15/20 min or until the pastry is golden brown

 

 

Serve with icing sugar on top

 

ENJOY

Pasqualina or Spinach and cheese pie

It is an Italian recipe that usually is done during Pasqua (Easter) hence the name Pasqualina. It is also done with ricotta cheese instead of parmigiano.

Recipe (x2 main course) (x4 starter)

600g spinach

2 white onions

100g grated parmigiano reggiano

1 tsp nutmeg

3 eggs

Salt and pepper

375g ready rolled puff pastry

Butter for brushing

Milk for brushing

Cook the spinach until wilted then drain, squeeze dry and chop finely. Chop the onions. Heat a knob of butter in a frying pan and add the onions, cook until soft then add the spinach, the parmigiano, salt and pepper to taste, nutmeg and mix well, cook for1-2 minutes so to absorbe any water left in the spinach. Remove from heat. Once the spinach mixture has cooled slightly add one egg and mix to combine all the ingredients.

 

Brush some butter on a pie dish, lay the puff pastry and add the mixture, make two indentations in the filling, then place an egg in each. Cover with more puff pastry, brush with milk (It works well if you want to save on egg wash or save some calories when brushing with butter!).

 

 

 

Put in a preheat oven at 180^o C for 30 min or until the pastry is golden brown.

 

Before serving make sure the slices have a piece of egg or an egg in each especially when you are serving children or will be a war!!!

ENJOY

Cheese Tart with Courgette Flowers

This is the time, the courgette flowers are thriving and there is nothing better then pick them fresh from your garden. Because they flower in succession usually you never have enough for your recipe but you can store them in a zip-lock plastic bag in the fridge for 2-3 days until you have enough.

This is a variation never tried before but I can assure you that it worked well.

Recipe x 4 (starter)

16 Courgette flowers or the more the better

150g Mozzarella cube (now this is not the real deal but work well in this recipe because release less water when cooked)

5-6 anchovies or anchovies paste to taste

Pastry:

75g butter at room temperature

175g plain flour

25g parmigiano reggiano finely grated

Water enough to make a dough

1 beaten egg to seal the pastry

First make up the pastry by mixing the butter with the flour and the cheese then add just enough cold water to make a smooth dough. Place the dough to rest in the fridge for 20 minutes. Then roll it out on a tray as thin as possible and bake 15-20 minutes at 180^o C. Let cool and keep it until needed (is good on its own as well).

A good tip to prevent the pastry becoming soggy is to brush a little beaten egg on top and put back in the oven at 180^o C, for 5 minutes – this helps to provide a seal for the pastry before adding the other ingredients on top.

Now add the mozzarella and the anchovies and put in the oven until the mozzarella is melted then add the courgette flowers, brush them with the remaining beaten egg and olive oil, bake for further 5 minutes and

Enjoy

 

Chargrilled chicken with avocado and gem lettuce salad

All started with a very warm day, the 8^th of July.

Thinking back at a holiday in Costa Rica and the beautiful variety of fruits they have, I have been hunting for ripe avocadoes not so easy around here! I was lucky and found a variation of green that I really liked for a picture.

 

Recipe x 4

4 chicken breast

4 avocado

2 little gem lattuce

1 Lime

1tsp sugar

1 tbsp greek yoghurt

Olive oil, salt, chillies flakes to taste

First cut avocadoes in cubes and finely chop the gem lettuce, put them in two separate plates because the lettuce will eliminate water that you don’t want in your final salad.

Then add the juice of the lime (half in each plate), olive oil, a pinch of sugar and salt and chilli flakes to taste mix well and put in the fridge to marinate (1h is enough).

 

Now grill the chicken

Just before plating mix the greek yoghurt with the gem lattuce and taste again you may need to add more salt or chilli flakes drain any water and you are ready to built up the tower if you fancy that!

 

Put the gem lattuce at the base then add the avocado on top and finish off with slices of grilled chicken.

 

The warm chicken with the cold salad is a great combination on a warm day.

Enjoy

Ajo Blanco or White Gazpacho

I have to say that I read this recipe in the Guardian Weekend column by Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall, but he must have learn it from somebody else with a Spanish background so a fair acknowledgment to them all.

It is a popular Spanish cold soup typical from Granada and Málaga (Andalusia). It is also a common dish in Extremadura (Ajo Blanco Extremeño). This dish is made of bread, crushed almonds, garlic, water, olive oil, salt and sometimes vinegar. It is usually served with grapes or slices of melon.

Recipe for 2

70 g almonds, unblanched are better if possible

85g white bread (2slice/person)

1 garlic clove (2 if you really like garlic)

1 tsp Salt

110ml extra-virgin olive oil

2 tbsp sherry vinegar

Green grapes, to garnish

If using unblanched almonds a good tip to remove the skin is to dropping them into a pan of boiling water for 30 seconds/1 minute. Drain, refresh under cold water, it works magic they peel by squeezing between your thumb and forefinger ;)

Soak the bread in cold water (just enough to cover) while garlic and almond are in the food processor until smooth. Then add the bread drained of the water and some salt, blitz until smooth. Gradually trickle in the oil through the feed tube until the soup is the consistency of a cream, then add the vinegar. Add more salt or vinegar to taste.

For a fine texture, press through a sieve and pour into serving bowl or glass then refrigerate for a couple of hours. Serve chilled with green grapes (red this time) and almond flakes on top

 

 

Perfect for a warm day like today ;)

Enjoy

Deep fried stuffed courgette flowers

One of my favourite recipes. You can use female flowers (the one attached to the courgette) and male flowers the one with the long stem. In general the male one is bigger and easier to stuff.

 

 

Both flowers will open once for few hours often early morning and then will close and wilt if not picked, that is an unforgivable error! Try to pick them just about when they are closing so will be easier to stuff them.

This time I had 5 female and one male ready to pick, then what you need is some mozzarella and anchovies (although anchovies paste can do the trick).

 

So cut the mozzarella and anchovies in small pieces place them inside the flowers, deep in a light batter (flour, cold sparkling water no salt the anchovies are already salted enough) and deep fried
them in sunflower oil

 

And enjoy them warm ;)