Brussel waffles ... so light, you can't stop!

(Photo@TheFoodTraveller.com - Nikon D200)

One day my parents came over to Belgium and wanted a waffle. And we Italians got baffled by the fact that, apparently, there are two types of waffles in Belgium: Liege and Brussels waffles. The former are soft, sugary and sticky. The latter are crunchy and very light. I love both, but this time I will share the one my fiancee Elke does more often. Brussel waffles. Eat them for breakfast, with powder sugar, icecream, whipped cream, almost anything ... even nutella!!

Serves: 16
FlexiPoints: 2.5

Suggested wine: none !!
Necessary equipment: waffle maker or similar

Ingredients:
- 300g flour
- 500ml UHT milk
- 75g caster sugar
- 100g butter
- 2 eggs
- 10g instant yeast
- salt as needed

How-to:
1. Melt the butter avoiding to get it burned.
2. Mix the flour, yeast, sugar and butter. Add the eggs and whick well.
3. Warm up the milk to room temperature and add it to the flour a bit at the time working it until a smooth batter is obtained.
4. Let it rest for 1 hour. Bake in a hot waffle machine in 16 batches following the machine instruction.
5. Best when just made, they will stay tasty for a couple of days!

Paccheri, salsiccia e vino

(Photo@TheFoodTraveller.com - Nikon D200)

A sauce for pasta based on sausage is something too normal to post for an italian. However, to try and make the same outside Italy ... well, it is a challenge as it seems that Italian sausages have some spices (like cumin seeds) nobody else likes in them. What to do ?! Add the spices directly in the sauce? Yes ... erg, actually no. I simply changed the recipe adding some red wine (as in the bolognese) and some hard ricotta (as in the purple string bean sauce). Nice!!!

Serves: 3
FlexiPoints: 9

Suggested wine: despite looking like a red wine dish, I would suggest a white wine like a falanghina. Red wine tends to magnify out the hot chilli!

Ingredients:
- 300g paccheri pasta
- 2 half-pork half-beef sausages (300g)
- 2 garlic cloves
- 200ml red wine (possible aged in american oak)
- 200ml vegetable stock
- 2 400g cans of plum tomatoes
- 1 dried chilli
- Oil, salt and hard ricotta cheese.

How-to:
1. Remove the skin from one sausage. Chop both sausages.
2. Clean and chop the garlic cloves in big pieces.
3. Sauté in hot oil and medium heat the garlic and the broken chilli for 2’. Add the sausage and keep cooking stirring well until the meat has not fully taken color. Do not worry if it sticks at the bottom of the pan, just be careful that the garlic does not get burnt.
4. Add the plum tomatoes and the stock. Season with salt and 1 tbsp of oil. Bring it to boil and let it simmer for 10’. Add the wine and let simmer until reduced to about half. This might take up to 60’ or 90’ depending on the stove and the used pan. Use a potato masher to break up the tomatoes and (a bit) the sausage while it simmers.
5. Let the sauce rest (ideal overnight).
6. When it is time to eat, warm up the sauce on gentle heat and boil the paccheri. Serve the paccheri with the sauce and some grated hard ricotta on top.

Belgian bread pudding

(Photo@TheFoodTraveller.com - Nikon D200)

We had quite some bread left and, since I could not stop eating it, Elke decided to make a pudding out of it. Of course, we did not have one ingredient and we ended up driving around to find it .... or better driving to the local hypermarket and queueing for just one little thing! The belgian recipe reminds a lot of the Christmas Pudding I have eaten a few times in England. Chewy, tasty and heavy! Served with some power sugar on top ... perfect breakfast!!

Serves: 15
FlexiPoints: 4.5

Suggested wine: none!

Ingredients:
- 300g old bread
- 500ml UHT milk
- 75g caster sugar
- 75g brown sugar
- 5 free-range eggs
- 50g raisins
- 1/3 tsp cinnamon
- 8g vanilla sugar
- 1 tbsp honey
- 3 slices of honey-cake with pearl sugar (belgian ‘honig peperkoek’)

How-to:
1. Warm up the milk to room temperature and stir in the honey and sugar.
2. Put the bread and the cake slices in pieces in a bowl. Add the milk and let it rest for 30’ until soft. In the meantime, slightly whisk the eggs together.
3. Use a fork or a wooden spoon to mix well the softened bread until a liquid batter is obtained. Do not use a kitchen robot, since it is nice to have some bigger pieces of bread left. Stir in the raisins, the cinnamon, the vanilla sugar and eggs.
4. Grease a baking tin or cover it with baking paper. Pour in the bread mixture and bake in an hot oven for 20’ at 200C on the lowest part of your oven and for 15’ more at 180C in the middle position of the oven.
5. Serve at room temperature and with some power sugar on top.

Onion stuffed with ricotta souffle'

(Photo@TheFoodTraveller.com - Nikon D200)

A friend of mine made this recipe for us three weeks ago and here I am trying it myself. I sligthly changed the original quantities, since I used giants onions!! A critical step in this dish is to boil the onions long enough to be very soft inside. If you feel this step did not work out, soften the chopped onion in some butter ... you do want a melting feeling when eating instead of a crunchy one.

Serves: 6
FlexiPoints: 3.5

Suggested wine: a delicate white like a verdicchio could work.

Ingredients:
- 6 large onions (2 Kg)
- 250g ricotta cheese
- 30g grated Parmesan cheese
- 2 free-range eggs (80g+ each)
- 1 tsp nutmeg
- Oil, salt, pepper and breadcrumbs as needed

How-to:
1. Remove the skin from the onions. Rinse them in cold water and boil them in salted water for about 1 hour (or until very soft). Drain them and let cool down.
2. Remove most of the inside of the onions. When an opening starts forming at the bottom, do not worry. Simply use some of the removed internal layers to close the gap.
3. Chop half of the removed onion and discard the rest. Mix it with the cheeses, nutmeg, the egg yolks, salt and pepper. Whip the eggs white to stiffen and fold them in gently.
4. Fill each empty onion with this batter. Dust the top with some breadcrumbs and oil. Bake on a greased baking tin in an hot oven at 180C for 40' for a suffle-like filling or 30' for a more creamy filling.
5. Let rest and serve at room temperature or straight away depending on if you went for a souffle or a creamy filling.

Risotto with zucca, balsamic & gorgonzola

(Photo@TheFoodTraveller.com - Nikon D200)
We got of this recipe while traveling in Emilia last summer. We visitied a nice "aceteria" (where they make the famous Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale) and, while tasting, we discussed how to use this precious liquid in cooking. The recipe is simple and tasty, and can be done also with butternut squash, which is easier to find these days that the pumpkin.

Serves: 4 as a main dish or 8 as a starter
FlexiPoints: 9 or 4.5

Suggested wine: a good Lambrusco which fits perfectly with the balsamic flavor.

Ingredients:
- 300g rice (possibly of carnaroli variety)
- 800 Kg pumpkin (or butternut squash) without seeds
- 100g young creamy gorgonzola cheese
- up to 2 liters beef stock
- 40g Parmesan cheese rind
- 1 shallot
- 3 tbsp oilive oil (possibly light and fruity)
- 8 tbsp Traditional Balsamic Vinegard from Reggio Emilia
- Salt and pepper as needed

How-to:
1. Peel the pumpkin, discard the seeds and chop it in medium-small irregular cubes. Finely chop the shallot. Chop the Parmesan rind in small rectangular shapes.
2. Take a deep pot, best if made from cast iron (like a Creuset). Sauté the sliced shallot in the hot oil and, once soft, add the pumpkin. Keep cooking on a medium heat with the lid on until the pumpkin is soft (5 minutes depending on the pot and the pumpkin). Stir occasionally. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Add the rice. Cook on high heat for 2 more minutes stirring constantly.
4. Add about 400ml of the stock and let it get absorbed by the rice on medium-low heat. Once it is mostly absorbed, add more stock and repeat until the rice is cooked. You will need to stir occasionally and, towards the end, to mash the pumpkin with the back of a wooden spoon.
5. After about 10 minutes (about half way the cooking) add the Parmesan cheese. When the rice is almost ready, add the gorgonzola in irregular pieces and let it melt. Remove from the heat and stir in 6 tbsp of Balsamic. Season with salt and pepper.
6. Let it rest for 2 minutes. Serve on four flat dishes seasoning each portion with 1 tbsp of balsamic on top.

Klaaskoeken or Belgian Christmas Cookies

(Photo@TheFoodTraveller.com - Nikon D200)
I know that Christmas has passed, but these ones are lovely and Elke makes them so often in December that I can enjoy them for breakfast or dinner or as a snack almost everyday. Unfortunately, I did not manage to post the recipe before ... as I do not make them, I did not know where it was. Just make them despite Christmas has passed ... have them with some chocolate or cheese or as they are.

Serves: up to 24
FlexiPoints: 5.5 (each)

Suggested wine: well .... coffee or tea!

Ingredients:
- 1 Kg flour
- 33g instant yeast
- 2 large eggs (separated)
- 450 ml UHT milk (at room temperature)
- 160g sugar
- 8g vanilla sugar
- 200g butter
- 2 tsp grated cinnamon
- Egg yolks and salt as needed.

How-to:
1. Melt the butter. Remove from the heat; add the milk and the two egg yolks. Mix well. Stir in the yeast, the sugar and the cinnamon.
2. Beat the two egg whites with a pinch of salt until stiffen. Add it to the mixture.
3. Work in the flour one spoon at a time until a solid dough is made. Knead the dough for 10’. Wrap the dough in plastic foil and let it rest covered for 30’. Keep the dough warm at around 25C.
4. Roll the dough in sheets 1.5cm thick and use a form to make little human (or different shapes). You will need to knead the dough a few times to use as much as possible out of it. Let them rise for 30’.
5. Whisk some egg yolks and use it to grease the top of the shaped dough.
6. Bake in batches in a pre-heated oven at 220C for 6’.
7. Serve warm.