Onions with Amaretto stuffing

(Photo@TheFoodTraveller.com - Nikon D200)

We actually prepared this a couple of weeks ago when my best man came for dinner. The recipe comes from (again) Cucina Moderna, but I have changed it a little bit as usual. It is a nice and surprising dish ... but quite rich and not very diet friendly! It goes well with some Balsamico and Lambrusco, and it makes a nice starter. The nice thing is that despite not being prepared a as soufflé ... it actually comes out like if the stuffing were a soufflé. A nice little touch!

Serves: 4 as main course or up to 8 as starter
FlexiPoints: 10 or 5

Suggested wine: Something light like a low-dosage Champagne or a Lambrusco should go. Not too sweet and possibly not dense to balance the richness and sweetness of the dish.

Ingredients:
16 small onions (best if white)
150g Boursin cheese
100g Mascarpone cheese
40g Amaretti cookies
50g grated Parmesan cheese
3 large eggs yolks
5g parsley
1/2 glass white wine
30g butter
Salt and pepper to taste
Aceto Balsamico Traditionale di Modena to taste (optional)

Ingredient note: Boursin can be replaced with Robiola or a similar semi-firm cheese with a bit of acidity.

How-to:
1. Cut the onions in halves. Remove the interior being careful not to leave any opening at the bottom and set the onions shells aside. Discard half of the remaining onion. Finely chop the other half.
2. Sauté the chopped onion in the butter till soft or about 3’. Season with salt and pepper. Let cool.
3. Reduce the cookies into crumbs and finely shop the parsley. Work them together with the Mascarpone, Boursin, 40g of grated Parmesan, the parsley and the egg yolks until a uniform mix is obtained. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
4. Fill the onion shells with this mix. Place them on a metallic oven tray greased with little oil. Season with some pepper and the remaining Parmesan. Bake in an hot oven at 200C for 25.
5. Serve warm and, when used, with few drops of Balsamico on top.

Matriciana Revisited

(Photo@TheFoodTraveller.com - Nikon D200)

Back in the kitchen after the wedding day ... yes no honeymoon, it will have to wait until July when we will be gone for few weeks to South Africa. This time I have tinkered with the matriciana recipe as I wanted to do for a long time. The idea came out from seeing balsamic vinegar and Tabasco and simply stick a bit of both in my mouth ... I liked the flavor and it made me feel of a matriciana flavoring. So here we go ... I tried Tabasco with all the balsamic vinegars and alike I have in the house (quite a few) and selected (again) the Sopraffino. The result is a really nice variant of the matriciana ... the only issue was we had no spaghetti and I used fusilli instead.

Serves: 2 as main course
FlexiPoints: 8

Suggested wine: perfect with a light red wine for the tabasco to come out and a lambrusco to couple with the Sopraffino. My suggestion, then, is a Lambrusco possibly Salamino di Santa Croce.
Special equipment: none

Ingredients:
200g long pasta (spaghetti, bucatini or fusilli)
120g guanciale or unsalted bacon
5 tbsp (6-year) Aceto Sopraffino
12 drops Tabasco
1 shallot
1 sprig of common thyme
8 tbsp of pure tomato juice (italian Passata)
5 basil leaves
3 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
Salt and oil to taste

Ingredient note: The “Aceto Sopraffino” is the best choice for this dish. If not available, use the lightest available “Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale di Reggio”. It must be not too sweet to overpower the Tabasco. Same goes for the “guanciale” (cured pig cheeks), replace it with bacon only if strictly necessary.

How-to:
1. Cube the guanciale (or bacon) and marinate it for at least 30’ in the Sopraffino, 10 drops of Tabasco and the chopped thyme sprig.
2. Slice finely the shallot. Sauté them on medium heat in 2 tbsp of the oil until soft or 3’. Add the bacon with the marinate and keep cooking on high heat until the marinate has not sort of caramelized and the bacon fully cooked (about 5’).
3. Add the tomato juice and keep cooking for 5’ more or until bubbling. Remove from the heat. Add two drops of tabasco and stir in the basil.
4. Boil the pasta in salted water for 2’ less than on the package. Finish to cook in the sauce on high heat with 2 tbsp of the pasta cooking water.
5. Serve with the remaining oil and the cheese on top.

W-Day number 1 - UPDATE!!

(Photo courtesy of a friend)

We are now married ....
---
This is the first W-Day, what day? Well, this is the first of the two wedding days for Elke and Francesco (the one now writing). In a few hours, family and few friends will come home .... then we will go to the City Hall to celebrate our civil wedding! Then, some champagne and a dinner with almost 100 friends. Nice ... a day we will remember!
In a month, it will be the second one ... for the wedding in the beautiful church of Praiano San Gennaro.
Well, now I better go back to the wedding day things .... ciao!!

Radiatori with courgette pesto

(Photo@TheFoodTraveller.com - Nikon D200)

This is something that is so simple it took me few years to make! It is something my mum has made for me many times, since it has a fantastic courgette flavor and it is very very light! I propose here her recipe but (yes a but) without Parmesan and with some basil added. I have also opted an unusual pasta shape which I find perfect for sauces which are a bit too liquid.

Serves: 2 as main course
FlexiPoints: 5.5

Suggested wine: despite being a delicate dish a nicely aged wine would go. We opted for an aged Niepoort Redoma and it was a great choice!
Special equipment: none.

Ingredients:
200g pasta (radiatore shape)
2 courgettes
6 leaves of basil
6 leaves of mint
2 small shallots
3 tbsp olive oil
100ml water
salt to taste

Ingredient note: the "radiatore" pasta shape is something in between gnocchi and fusilli. It has the property of absorbing quite some sauce but still keeping a hard bite. Use fusilli corti, eliche or farfalle as alternatives.

How-to:
1. Chop the shallots finely and cube the courgettes.
2. Sauté the shallot in the oil until soft (2’). Add the courgette and cook for 4’ on high heat stirring frequently. Add the water, salt to taste, the basil ad mint, and let simmer until the the courgette is fully cooked (about 10’).
3. Put everything in a mixer and make a smooth cream out of it.
4. Boil the pasta in abundant salted water for 1’ less than indicated on the package. Warm up the courgette pesto in the meantime and finish the pasta with the pesto on high heat for 1’ more. Serve immediately.

Halibut cakes with mustard dipping sauce

(Photo@TheFoodTraveller.com - Nikon D200)

Fish cakes are something I discovered when I was living in London (UK). They could also be called fish burgers or fish balls, depending how how they are shaped and served. I have always made them with either salmon or re-freshened bacalao; however, this time I only found Halibut. And ... it goes really well. We had them with a very simple and light mustard dipping sauce.

Serves: 4 as main course or up to 10 as starter
FlexiPoints: 3 or 1.5

Suggested wine: A fresh Puilly-Fuisse or Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand would go nicely.
Special equipment: none


Ingredients:
For the cakes
500g halibut
400g potatoes
1 egg
1 tbsp chipped parsley
1 shallot
Oil, salt and pepper

For the dipping sauce
2 tsp grainy mustards (like from Zeeland)
2 tsp extra-virgin oilve oil
8 tbsp low-fat (8%) cream

Ingredient note: if you cannot find the low-fat cream, use half single cream and half milk.

How-to:
1. Peel and boil the potatoes until perfectly cooked in unsalted water. Mash them and let them cool.
2. Remove the skin and bones from the halibut is needed. Chop it to a mince by hand. Finely chop the parsley and the shallot. Mix it with the cooled potato mash, the egg, some salt and pepper. Work this mix until uniform. Make 8 or 10 burger like shapes.
3. To make the dipping sauce, simply whisk all the ingredients together until it looks somewhat bubbly.
4. Bake the cakes on a not stick pan with some oil for 3’ per side or until dark golden in color. Serve immediately with the dipping sauce.

Crescia with apples

(Photo@TheFoodTraveller.com - Nikon D200)

Sometimes I am amazed by how many varieties of apple cakes are around. This one is something of a sweet bread ('crescia') stuffed with apples. Light and tasty. Shaping the crescia in the tin can be annoying, but the result is quite nice: a tasty and light alternative to the brise'. Funny is ... I have recently discovered my mum has been doing pastry like this for years. Should have paid more attention.

Serves: 10
FlexiPoints: 8

Suggested wine: none
Special equipment: a 24cm baking tin

Ingredients:
500g flour
500g apples
100g butter
180g sugar
10g instant yeast
2 eggs
1 lemon
50ml calvados
Honey as needed

Ingredient note: none

How-to:
1. Peel and slice the apples. Put them in casserole with 80g of sugar. Distribute 1 glass of water on top and cook on medium-low heat with the lid on until the apples are soft (about 10’).
2. Work together the flour, yeast, butter, the rest of the sugar, the grated lemon zest, the eggs, the calvados and 1 tbsp of the cooking juice of the apple until a uniform pastry is obtained.
3. Roll the pastry in a 24cm disc and one of 30cm. Grease the baking tin with some butter and dust it with flour. Cover the tin with the larger disc. Distribute the apple and cover with the second disc trying to seal the border. Remove the hanging trims.
4. Bake it in an hot oven at 200C for 30’. Brush the top with some honey and serve at room temperature.

Aromatic pasta with Tabasco

(Photo@TheFoodTraveller.com - Nikon D200)

Finally I can blog again ... so many recipes and no internet connection for my Mac prevented from sharing them while I was in Italy. But I am back! This recipe is from the latest issue of Cucina Moderna, an italian magazine I quite like ... despite cheating in the photos (usual things, wrong ingredients, not cooked, etc etc). It is really light and tasty and requires a red wine to bring back the tabasco to life. Perfect for a diet dinner or lunch!

Serves: 4 as main course
FlexiPoints: 5.5

Suggested wine: A red wine with subtle barreling and good mineral taste like the Spanish Terra Cua goes perfectly.
Special equipment: none

Ingredients:
400g pasta (little ‘farfalle’ shape)
2 sprigs of rosemary
10 leaves of sage
4 small shallots
60g butter
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp Tabasco
50ml Cuban Rum

Ingredient note: The ‘farfalle’ pasta shape is peculiar in its having always a bit harder centre, which gives it a nice crunchy bite. Its curves also allows the sauce to get nicely trapped in the pasta giving it a dry look but a saucy bite.

How-to:
1. Make the sauce while boiling the pasta in abundant salted water as described in its package but for 2’ less.
2. Finely chop the herbs together and finely slice the shallots. Sauté the shallots in the (previously melted) butter and oil on medium heat until translucent or about 5’. Add the herbs and sauté further for 1’ stirring continuously.
3. Add the Tabasco and the rum. Stir well and flame the rum. When the flame is out, remove the sauce from the heat and let it rest till the pasta is ready.
4. Once the pasta is ready. Drain it and add it to the sauce. Cook for 1’ more on high heat and serve immediately.

Away till saturday 10th

I am in Italy this week .. enjoying the warmth of the Sun and family. I will be posting new recipes once back ... Ciao!