Paccheri with Gurnard

Incredible how fast time flew .... it is now almost two weeks since I posted something. I guess my mind is more busy waiting for the baby than anything else and it is normal. Our son/daughter is expected on the 24 but there are all signs that he/she might come anytime now. So we are there waiting and only thinking of that .... exciting time.

We ate this dish (to be honest) some time ago and it was always waiting for being posted. As I am 'guilty' for very little cooking lately ... its time has come. The recipe is rather classical and it is something that was served at our wedding last year in Positano except that the fish was different. Still the gurnard is a fantastic fish to use in this way and overall the dish is very suited for this season.

And I have just finished to go over al photos we made few weeks ago when driving around ... actually along the belgian coast. So I have the next post covered ;-) .... assuming nobody decides to come home finally, then I guess I will post something else. Now back to the waiting.

(Leggi la ricetta --- Read the recipe)

Courgette filled with smoked salmon

Gosh I am really exhausted today. I arrive home, get immediately into cooking, then cut the plants, then call around, then post on the blog ... and then still 300 photos waiting for me to be fixed. Plus one tasty Chimay Bleu in me .... well. Let's post now.

Yes another fish recipe that I made last long week-end on the Belgian coast. When we saw homemade smoked salmon, I could not resist ... plus I love courgette, and here it is yet another version of stuffed courgette. Very light yet tasty. Elke declared this a dish to be repeated next time we go to the seaside (which is in two days!!!).

Sorry for the short text ... but I am almost sleeping and it is just 9pm. I can't imagine once the little one will show up ... I will need a red bull every day, no every hour !!!

(Leggi la ricetta --- Read the recipe)

Tomates crevettes

It is sad when a very long week-end ... almost a  week ends and the normal rhythm needs to be re-started. Luckily we will have a slightly longer week end coming up next as next monday is holidays!!!

What we did was spending time on the belgian coast, enjoying the nice meat and fish that can be bough there, visiting (for one first year anniversary) a lovely restaurant (Hostellerie St. Nicolas) and just going around taking photos or visiting farms for some artisanal cheese. All in all very relaxing and very much like an holiday.

We are now sadly back ... and forced to work with almost 25 degrees and a fantastic weather (especially for Belgium) but our memory goes back to the last week .... and surely to this dish, which comes straight out of the Belgian tradition and does requires the legendary gray shrimps I already introduced sometime ago. I love this dish .... I could eat it as it were chips!!!

A nice week to everyone, ciao.

(Leggi la ricetta --- Read the recipe)

Red Potatoes terrine with cod and Savoy cabbage

In the end, Elke did let me prepare some fish last friday ... and during the boring working friday my mind started thinking what to prepare and I ended up to try something new. A mix between a potato gateau and a cod terrine. I have to admit that we had some left-over boiled Savoy cabbage in the freezer, which saved me some time. But apart from that ... this dish takes some energy and I was worried it would not taste that nicely.

The result is surprisingly nice. Surely better than it looks. Also eaten the day after (of course, warmed up) was good! Again not a fancy dish, but more of a countryside one. I guess more of an english-belgian-dutch style than french-italian ... but who cares. I have also the suspicion that baccala (or baccalao) would be even a better choice here. I wish I could find it ...

And now back to enjoying the Sunday. This week-end no cooking for me ... but Elke does everything and today I am getting a lasagna (this one). Hurrah!!!

(Leggi la ricetta --- Read the recipe)

Risotto with Gray Shrimps, Curry and Dalmore

Today is a very special day. No no no, it as nothing to do with the fact that finally I could post this recipe (which believe me tastes amazingly good despite looking and being simple) ... but we have seen for the third time our (first) baby. Almost 22 weeks of pregnancy, 400g, 17cm (I think) ... but already such beautiful little feet and hands and head. It is like a miracle. All is there in perfect shape, so we are amazed and relieved. Looking forward to have a little demon dictating what to eat!!

Now back to the risotto. I did come up with this recipe like an engineer, as once Adina described me. A taste engineer ... shrimps go well with curry, curry goes well with tangy flavor, tangy goes well with alcohol, shrimps with vermouth and malt, alcohol with sweet ... I love risotto ... well, let's make a risotto with curry, Dalmore and gray shrimps.

In this dish you need to use the given ingredients and be generous with pepper along a mild curry mix. Why? Dalmore has this sweet tangy taste which fits perfectly with the dish as a background taste, the pepper with a mild curry simply blows the taste buds aways, and the gray shrimps have the aroma to sustain all this. Sure it does not look like a traditional risotto ... and it is not. But surely I will serve it when I have special guests, as it is faboulous!

Now ... back to the echo prints of the baby :-)

(Leggi la ricetta --- Read the recipe)

Scallops and basil souffle

A nice side effect of hosting the DMBLGIT is inspiration. And this is what happened to me and this souffle dish. No no there is no entry with this recipe, but while looking at the photos I saw a souffle and I started wondering why I never did a souffle. Was because as italian I disregard souffles as a posh tasteless frittata? Or because it is said to be very difficult? Or because it is French? Mmmmm .... well, the hell to this. Let's make a souffle.

Destiny wanted that I was on my way to prepare a kind of flan with scallops so the basic ingredients were there. And destiny make me forget buying the proper herbs .... but we have always basil at home. So, after some searching in books and on the net (I guess a visited some blogs of yours as well) I came to a fair understanding of how to make it. Plus trilled by the scallop and basil combination (basil is proving a fantastic herb with fish lately), I set out to try a souffle for the first time in my life.

The result is probably so good that I will never make the recipe I was originally planning. Light, strong flavor of scallops and the basil fitted perfectly. A bit light and, thus, better as starter (we were starving after an hour). As for the souffle effect ... 3 out of 4 came out very very well! The fourth ... well ... I think I did not grease the ramekin on the border and it got attached. Still it grew a lot ... bit instead of looking like a mushroom it looked like a rock! Anyway, souffle is rather easy .... just follow the instructions correctly and do not fill the ramekin too much!

(Leggi la ricetta --- Read the recipe)

Linguine with Bottarga

It was long time since I left Italy that I was looking for the Bottarga ... and I mean the Mullet one (Muggine in italian), which I prefer above all others. It is one of my favourite and, probably less understood ingredients. Since Elke is not home, I decided to have it in the traditional way. Lovely ... tasty, fishy but not salty. Really something I truly love! My apologies if you cannot find it easily, for once I felt like posting a simple recipe which celebrates one special ingredient. Even the photo is rather simple ... The taste was not!

(Leggi la ricetta --- Read the recipe)

Linguine agli allievi (Linguine with tiny molluscs)

I admit, it was a long time I wanted to prepare this dish for Elke. And when I saw the allievi (even if without cuttlefish) in our newly discovered Delhaize in Turnhout ... I simply told Elke, I know what we will get for dinner. Surely, they were not as fresh as on the coast in Italy, but at least they were more than decent. This dish will rarely come out bad ... but when you can get the mulloscs really fresh, it will be spectacular! BTW I have no clue why they call them allievi in Bari ... if you do, drop me a line.

Please note that from now on I am adding a section on ingredients that can be replaced ... just in case.

Serves: 2 as main course
FlexiPoints: 6

Suggested wine: Well, chianti seems not such a bad idea here ...
Special equipment: none

Ingredients:
200g linguine pasta
400 plum tomatoes (pelati)
200 allievi (tiny molluscs - see notes)
2 garlic cloves
1 tbsp oil
1 dried (hot) chilli
1 tbsp grated Pecorino cheese (optional)
Salt as needed

Ingredient replacement:
Pecorino cheese -> Any hard mature cheese possibly form sheep milk or simply skip it
Linguine pasta -> any long pasta could do

Ingredient note: ‘Allievi’ is a term used in a Puglia, actually in Bari (wikipedia link), to indicate a mix of tiny squids, octopuses and cuttlefishes. The are eaten raw with some lemon ... or like here proposed. The cheese and fish combination is typical from this area as well, so if you can find the Pecorino use it.

How-to:
1. Get the molluscs cleaned. If you prefer, discard the heads and keep the legs only. Finely chop the garlic. Chop the pelati and discard their juice.
2. Make the sauce as follows while boiling the pasta in abundant salted water. Break the chilli in hot oil and let is cook on medium-high heat until it does start blackening.
3. Remove the chilli and its seeds from the oil. Add the garlic and the molluscs. Keep cooking on medium heat until the fish is browning (or about 5’) stirring frequently. Add the chopped pelati and keep cooking for 5’ more yet stirring frequently.
4. Add the pasta to the sauce. Keep cooking on high heat for 1’. Distribute on deep pasta dishes with the grated Pecorino on top. Serve immediately.

Tiella riso e cozze

All non-Italians might wonder if I am really doing my best for strange names in recipes. This time something called 'tiella'. Well, I give you the traditional name for a a dish made by making a kind of risotto in the oven. This version is quite traditional and gets sometimes changed by adding things like courgette (my mum does that). Last saturday I made it for the first time in my life and Elke ate it for the first time too ... she has been asking for a second time since!!! It is packed with mussels taste but in a delicate manner. It is filling ... but friendly for dieting! Main problem is opening the mussels.

Serves: 4 as main course
FlexiPoints: 5

Suggested wine: Interestingly enough this dish is versatile. We had it with a Lambrusco di Sorbara, but if you feel less daring a mineral or sparkling white wine would do as well.
Special equipment: none

Ingredients:
- 500g (cleaned) mussels
- 1 large onion
- 2 large tomatoes (400g)
- 2 large potatoes (400g)
- 200g rice
- 3 tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley
- 2 small garlic cloves
- 3 tbsp grated mature Pecorino cheese
- 2 tbsp bread-crumbs
- Salt, pepper and oil to taste

Ingredient note: Just be sure your mussels are alive and you get a nice old Pecorino cheese! what is Pecorino ... mature piquant cheese made from sheep milk (check wikipedia). Very tasty especially from Sardinia.

How-to:
1. Open the shells leaving mussel attached to one half of it and discarding the other half. Be careful in collecting every juice they release in something like a bowl.
2. Chop the garlic and mix it with the parsley. Fine slice the onion, the tomatoes and the potatoes.
3. Take an oven pot (standard quiche size would do) and grease it with little oil. Distribute the onion on the bottom. Season with the parsley and garlic mix. Make a first layer with half of the potatoes and a second one with half of the tomato. Distribute 1 tbsp of cheese on top. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
4. Add a layer with 150g of rice. Lay the mussels on top (inside upwards) and distribute the remaining rice over being sure all mussels are filled with it. Finish with a layer of tomatoes and potatoes. Season with salt and pepper.
5. Pour in the mussels juice (previously filtered through a sieve) and add as much water until all ingredients are just covered. Cover with silver foil and bake at 220C for 50’ or until the liquids have been fully absorbed.
6. Remove the foil, distribute the bread-crumbs and the remaining cheese. Finish to bake for 10’ more or until nicely crusted on top. Serve at room temperature.

John Dory filet with curry scent

Finally we could spend a nice weekend on the Belgian coast. I like to go there as there is a nice selection of (truly) fresh fish ... and I adore fish! I am from the boring school of "fish should not be tempered with" ... Therefore, I like it with little seasoning or very little extras or (better) as is. This time I have used a bit of curry to give it just a bit of scent and some more bite to the vegetables. It is fast, light and tasty ... and as usual it requires filleting the fish, which results in wasting lot of nice fish. No alternative here this time.

Serves: 2 as a main course
FlexiPoints: 5

Suggested wine: A pinot grigio would do! From Italy of course!
Special equipment: none

Ingredients:
1 John Dory fish (800g)
1 red onion
1 courgette
2 bell peppers (or paprika)
1 tbsp mild curry powder
3 tbsp oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Ingredient note: John Dory is a funny looking fish with a king of an eye on the side ... to be sure it is clear in every language I give you a link instead of trying out to add the name in several languages!!!

How-to:
1. Filet the fish or get your fishmonger to to so. Be sure to leave the skin on!
2. Mix the oil with the curry, some salt and pepper. Brush both sides of the filets and set aside.
3. Slice the pepper in stripes. Slice finely the onion. Cut the courgette on half moons. Pre-heat a wok or a similar non-stick pan. Add the remaining spicy oil and the vegetables. Cook on medium heat with the lid on stirring frequently until they are soft (between 10’ and 15’). Remove from the heat and keep warm.
4. Put the fish filet on an hot grill with the skin side down. Cook on medium heat until most of the fish is cooked (flesh must be mostly white in color) or about 6’. Turn the fish and remove the pan immediately from the heat.
5. Distribute the vegetables on two dishes. Place the fish on top (skin side up). Serve immediately.

Sole and Parm rolls

(Photo@TheFoodTraveller.com - Nikon D200)

What a week. Entirely spent in England, thus no posting. Anyway, I am now back and I realize that there are a lot of recipes we have tried that are still waiting to be posted. So here we are ... starting from this one, which is quite simple and tasty. The secret .... fresh fish and (if you can find it) purple basil. I know I do not speak about it int he recipe, but if you can use it. It gives a bit more sharpness to the entire dish. Now ... for you the recipe, for us ... we go and play with our new toy: the KitchenAid.

Serves: 2 as main course or 4 as starter
FlexiPoints: 4 or 2

Suggested wine: get a nice light Pinot Grigio. That should easily work!
Special equipment: cooking wire or 8 cocktail sticks

Ingredients:
2 medium/small soles
4 slices of Parma ham
12 medium sized leaves of basil
Pepper and olive oil to taste

Ingredient note: none

How-to:
1. Filet the soles of ask you fishmonger to do so. You should obtain 4 nice filets from each sole. Season each sole with very little salt and pepper.
2. Half the Parma ham. Lay down each half. Place one filet on each half slice. Add 3 basil leaves and roll everything. Use cooking wire (or cocktail sticks) to fix the rolls.
3. Warm up a non-stick pan. Grease it with little olive oil and bake the rolls in it for 6’-8’ on medium high heat turning them occasionally. Season with some ground pepper halfway.
4. Remove the cooking wire and serve immediately yon lukewarm dishes.

Pasta with peas pesto and gray shrimps

I saw this recipe in an old "Sorrisi e Canzoni: In Tavola" I literally stole from my mother a couple of years ago. I took me so long to come around to try it and, as usual, I did not really try the recipe as written. I decided to got for a sligthly lighter version and to use gray shrimps instead of the much less tasty pink ones. Tasty dish and healthy too!! Again a mix of an italian recipe with a belgian twist ... the grijse garnalen or gray shrimps.

Serves: 2 as a main course
FlexiPoints: 6 or 5.5 with pasta integrale

Suggested wine: I love a sancerre with shrimps. In this case also something lighter like a pinot grigio should be perfect.

Ingredients:
- 200g short pasta, possibly "pasta integrale"
- 200g peeled gray shrimps
- 300g peas
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 6 tbsp 8% single cream
- 5 basil leaves
- 1 garlic clove
- Salt and pepper as needed

How-to:
1. Cook for peas in unsalted boiling water for 5’ or until tender.
2. Put the (peeled) garlic, peas, cream, basil and some seas salt in a kitchen robot and whiz it until a chunky cream is obtained.
3. Boil the pasta in salted water. Incorporate 2 tbsp of the cooking water to the peas pesto.
4. Stir-fry the shrimps for 5’ with the oil. Add pasta and keep cooking for 1’. Remove from the heat and add the pesto. Season with pepper and stir well until the pesto is uniformly distributed.
5. Serve immediately.

Fusion tuna tartar

It was a while my fiancee was asking for some tuna and today we saw a nice piece of (unfortunately farmed) tuna. Quickly, we decided to do something with it. We had some ginger, soy sauce and lots of basil. Thus, I went for a twist in the classic oriental flavours of soy sauce and ginger. Please note I really like the crunchy ginger bite. If you don't, use grated fresh giger instead.

Serves: 2 as main course or 4 as a starter
FlexiPoints: 3 or 1.5

Suggested wine: ... German riesling from the Mosel area !!! Nice, light and refreshing!

Ingredients:
- 300g tuna (possibly from the belly of the fish)
- 2 tbsp (fruity) olive oil
- 20g (unpeeled) ginger
- 10 small green basil leaves
- 1 tbsp japanese soysauce
- Salt as needed

How-to:
1. Chop the tuna in small irregular cubes.
2. Peel the ginger and cut it in a small julienne
3. Mix together the tuna, oil, soya sauce, ginger and some salt. Stir well and let marinate for 20’.
4. Rinse the basil leaves and let them dry. Break them by hand in irregular pieces and add them to the tuna marinate.
4. Serve immediately using a decoration mould to give it a nice shape.

Rolls of scallops and Parma ham

I did make this dish a few days ago, but I was so busy I forgot to post it. Rolling scallops in ham is a very simple and (I believe) traditional way of preparing this wonderful seafood. I wouldn't know if I did read of it or just ate it somewhere. Yet, I am sure it is a classic combo. There is a personal little touch here that improves the taste: the chopped chives. Believe me, it makes a huge difference with and without.

Serves: 4 as main course or 8 as starter
FlexiPoints: 3.6 or 1.3

Suggested wine: I love to serve this with champagne. Something with low dosage like Boulard or Tarlant.

Ingredients:
- 16 large scallops (white muscle only)
- 16 small slices of Parma ham
- 4 tbsp chopped chives
- 4 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- Salt and pepper as needed

How-to:

1. Season the scallops with some salt and little pepper.
2. Wrap each scallop in one ham slice leaving the top and bottom of the scallop visible. Fix with some cooking wire.
3. Roast on an hot (non-stick) pan for 3’ per side. Briefly roast also on the side to slightly colour the ham. I would suggest to remove the wire right after the rolls are turned for a perfect juicy bite.
4. Distribute the chive and the rolls on top among four hot serving dishes. Add 1 tbsp of oil on top and serve immediately.