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)

Rigatoni with Trappist and rabbit ragout

Life is always full of surprises and things are never the way they initially seem. I guess this phrase summarizes my feelings lately and people who know me very well (in person) probably will easily understand what I mean and somehow feel a bit worried about me. But no problem .... they say life is a sequence of illusions and disillusions, I guess I am now ready for some illusions. Finally again.

This has nothing to do with our first baby, who we saw today in one of the last echos .... 4 weeks from joining us (check the page The kid for his arrivals in the family). We are at 36.5 weeks and a little one of already 3.15 Kg and in perfect shape .... gosh, a sweet little chubby baby. I am already melting ... and thanks to him/her I still smile lately.

You might ask yourself what has this to do with this recipe. Nothing actually, I just needed some venting ... as a person can take so much before venting. If I really need to elaborate, this recipe is a try at mixing two traditions: the belgian way of cooking rabbit with the italian ragu' (ragout). The result is  definitively worth mentioning and all merits goes to the Trappist beer, which gives depth to an otherwise simple ragu'.  Trappist ... my favourite beer ... to the point that I almost have more beer home than wine. No surprise, it is much cheaper ;-) but still amazing (like the famous Westvleteer 12 or the Struise Pannepot).

(Leggi la ricetta --- Read the recipe)

Rigatoni with Bottarga and White Asparagus

I am rather tired, but I want to share this recipe before it is too late as the season for asparagus is at its end. I have cooked this pasta while Elke was busy with the delicious dessert of the previous post. 

I admit the idea of this recipe came from the fact that I love Bottarga con pasta e some veggies .... but the best veggie we found were some local (end of season) white asparagus. And I love them with fish .... so why not give a try to bottarga with asparagus???

The dish works very well, even if for presentation you might want to add some green color ... maybe little coriander to add some freshness to the taste. I prefer it like this .... sharp and yellow-greenish. I would also advice to stick to white asparagus .... and this is for all the italians who love the green ones ;-)

Ciao and I with everybody a fast thursday and friday .... gosh I am dreaming the WE this time.

(Leggi la ricetta --- Read the recipe)

Tagliatelle with roasted bell peppers

I am slowly getting used ... yes, getting used to work in a very different environment (few but nice people instead of thousands but rushing). To putting up a tie every day (well, almost I shall admit). To go back and learn new things for a new job (gosh, only a russian could have dreamed up Triz). I guess I will find a rhythm among jobs, coming baby and driving around which will make me post and cook more. For the moment I can say I feel much better and looking forward to be super busy (and thus post at night and week-end :- )).

And here I am ... finally some time after baby-shopping for a new recipe. BAck to something rather traditional and italian, a pasta based on what italians call roasted paprika salad. Perfect for the spring days that are finally coming ... even if tricky in terms of feeling light but being rather caloric.

Wish everybody a great week-end ... I am going to rest. Busy weeks ahead (I hope ;-) ).

(Leggi la ricetta --- Read the recipe)

Spaghetti, spices and lamb

It is Easter time ... or better Easter break like for most bloggers. Therefore, this is my last post for a few days as we will tomorrow morning drive towards the Belgian coast (somewhere near Ooostende or Ostend in English) where to spend a lazy (and alone) Easter. Nothing special also given that the pregnancy does not allow much (including no flying!).

This dish is a bit on the Easter theme as it features lamb seasoned with two mains spices. A curry mixture that everybody knows ... and dried wild fennel flowers, which not many know. I was lucky enough to receive some of it from a friend (Minouche of La Tomaterie) who (hopefully) will start importing it in Belgium. Before this dish I did not know how well these two ingredients go together. A perfect match with lamb and the pine-nuts as well.

Well, enough talking. I wish everybody a Happy Easter and hopefully with better weather than here!

(Leggi la ricetta --- Read the recipe)

Apple Ravioli in Quail sauce

Cooking is a real passion of mine and I love to spend time reading magazines, books or blogs which can provide me with a new inspiration or a combination I did not know. Sure, I do not have much time for it ... but as everybody else I do what I can.

This week Lory has decided to stop (or hopefully suspend) her blog (see here - in italian). I will miss it ... quite some recipes I have done lately show her influence or at least were inspired by her blog or the ingredients she so kindly posted me last year. I will miss checking on her recipe early in the morning (yes ... early like before 7am!) and getting new ideas.

So, today (and I mean it today!) I set out for making one of her recipes as a way to thank her. But I did not manage. I chose for this ravioli recipe, but I could find the Guinea Fowl! Nevertheless, I decided to still use her recipe as a base guideline and do very minor changes in order to use Quails instead. The result was truly excellent (even if quite some work as I like to de-bone myself) to the point we ate almost a double portion!

I would hope Lory would fine this version as tasty as hers ... and in the meantime: thanks Lory, wish you ll the best!

(Leggi la ricetta --- Read the recipe)

Chestnut Tagliatelle with Porcini Mushrooms

Well, after a while I have a longer business trip to UK, where I can manage to commute to work in Southampton (on the coast) from London. Will be tiring, but I always enjoy London even if being away three days from home just before Christmas is not ... well, not the best moment. But sure the shops will be nice and I hope to meet some friends in the evenings for a pint.

Now back to the blog theme. We made this recipe last saturday and yes we were very lucky to find some really tasty fresh porcini. Probably the last. initially, I set out to make a recipe (this one) from Lory for which I she sent me the flour. As usual, I ended up doing something completely different. A truly lovely dish where all components go well including the just cooked mushrooms which roll, feel and look almost like tagliatelle themselves. Even the little touches (the use of cocoa, ground coffee and smoked garlic) help briging the best out of the ingredients.

As I said we loved this recipe: in fact the indicate portions are rather large and we ate it all!! And the chestnut flour proved itself very versatile and easy to use. If only we could find the porcini again .... now, with -7C outside ... I guess it is hopeless.

(Leggi la ricetta --- Read the recipe)

Orecchiette with ricotta and sun-dried pachino

I know I know ... this dish is out of season. However, with all the heavy eating that we are going to soon face, I felt it is also the time for some light tasty dish to be prepared the days before the 24 and 25. Something like this ... easy and tasty while very light. I know this dish relies a lot of some special italian ingredients, but they can all be replaced with still a tasty resul. Just check the recipe.

BTW would it be a nice idea if we all post only photos of our Christmas food?

(Leggi la ricetta --- Read the recipe)

Penne, Wine and Wild Boar

As I mentioned in my previous post, we prepared the penne by Cavalieri in a very interesting way ... and here it is! In order to get the most out of the wild boar, we have half-cooked the pasta in something that smells like Gluhwein and finished it off as a risotto (or pastotto as I discussed before). The sauce is really sticky as we like it this way (but can be done more liquid) and the Pecorino on top (please try to find the Pecorino di Fossa, but at least not romano) is simply fundamental!

Delicious .... if not for Christmas, sure we will do it again during the festivities or on the 31st!

PS: BTW this is penciled down as a potential dish for the Xmas lunch and will be shared on Waiting for Christmas. Next WfC recipe will be a dessert ...

(Leggi la ricetta --- Read the recipe)

Vegetarian Pasta Cake

It has been a while since I have posted something like a pasta cake ... which in Italy (or the part from which I am from) we call sformato. To be honest last week-end we had little time to cook for blogging and this is something we did some time ago. I am rather sure it is from an italian magazine but we changed something ... what I do not recall. Anyway, it is light and always something to keep in mind for parties ... I am not sure Francesca would consider this for a Waiting Xmas menu ... maybe for the 31st?!? Yes, we might use it for the aperitif before the dinner on the 31st!!

(Leggi la ricetta --- Read the recipe)

Butternut & Chestnut Gnocchi

I have to start from saying thanks to Lory since this dish would have not been possible without her ... she send me the most important ingredients (the cheese and the chestnut flour) of this recipe. So sweet of her!
This has been my first ever time for chestnut flour (I never even smelled it before) and we both at home consider the result very special and worth of begin used maybe on Christmas day. Very nice at the nose and delicate in the taste.
Back to the gnocchi now. This recipe is a combination of various recipes I have seen on the internet and, despite what might be the first though, it is a very delicate dish which in the mouth kicks in with smoked herbs and chestnut, follows with a pasta scent and ends with butternut taste. To be eaten slow in order to enojoy the complexity and lenght of the various flavor in the mouth.
And I admit we had double portion the dish in the photo is very deep ... BTW we use the "squanta affumicata" cheese Lory sent us which is somewhat similar to the smoked ricotta I indicate in the recipe. Deliciooooooous!

As a note, I did not pass the gnocchi on the fork since I consider this step useful with more liquid sauces ... personal preference.

(Leggi la ricetta --- Read the recipe)

Pasta with aubergine pesto

The idea for this recipe comes form my mum or better ... she told me she did something similar and I simply add in the coriander (since I love the freshness it gives) and the ricotta salata (already presented before) for its nice sheepy taste. The result is something summery but full of flavor ... to enjoy in this last warmish days before the full winter kicks in!

(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)

Pasta with aromatic rabbit ragout

It was an amazingly busy week. I spend a couple of days in UK, my studies stole most of my time an my work was hectic (not in a nice way) ... but now, after one hour (yes in the morning) of dance lessons (Elke's dream) I am here posting a recipe we actually made quite some time ago. I normally prepare the rabbit following a recipe similar to the bolognese. However, we were once serve a nice and light version which I have tried to recreate here. It is perfect for this indian summer weather (from 5C few days ago to 23C today!) and much faster to make! The paccheri are a perfect fit.

(Leggi la ricetta --- Read the recipe)

Orecchiette Tre Regioni

Here we are back to recipes and this is the first I try in dual language & with a new format. Let's see if it works. I guess I will have to learn how to write in Italian again!
I know this dish looks and is extremely simple, but it is something quite traditional from Puglia where I have simply changed two ingredients from there in one from Sicily and one from Umbria ... hence the diction 'Tre Regioni' (three provinces). As simple as it is, it is really a lovely dish suited for a late Indian summer! Best with fresh or handmade orecchiette ... and maybe once I will post a photographic manual on the latter ...

(Leggi la ricetta --- Read the recipe)

Pastotto with courgette

Pastotto? I can see everybody, including the Italians, scratching their heads and thinking: "this guy is nuts or what?!". Well, I needed to use a name so I kind of invented mine and see if it gets used!! I mentioned sometime ago I am starting using the old shepherd way of cooking pasta. As they did not have much water, pasta was cooked like it were risotto ... so I call it pastotto. This is the easiest recipe where the courgette and the pasta both release amid/juices to create a nice binded result. Believe me when I claim, a proper pastotto is still 'al dente' ... but it tastes very different from traditional pasta. More will be coming to this pages ... so get used to the name!!

PS: The photo is not good enough to show the difference between pastotto and pasta with courgette. You gotta try it!

Serves: 2 as main course or 4 as a starter
FlexiPoints: 8 or 4

Suggested wine: Pinot Bianco or a light dry Riesling from the Mosel.
Special equipment: a wok or similar

Ingredients:
200g fusilli pasta
2 courgettes
2 smoked garlic cloves
50g honey roasted ham
15 fresh mint leaves
1 tbsp oil
Warm water as needed
Salt and pepper to taste

Ingredient replacement:
Smoked garlic -> normal garlic

Ingredient note: none

How-to:
1. Finely chop the garlic. Slice the courgette in half-moon. Slice the ham in stripes.
2. In an hot wok, sauté the garlic with the oil until it does not start getting color. Add the courgette and let cook on high heat until soften or 4’.
3. Add the pasta and cook on high heat for 1’. Add a cup of warm water, the mint leaves, the ham and some salt. Let simmer on medium-low heat. when the water is absorbed add a cup more, and continue until the pasta is not cooked. Towards the end check it for salt.
4. Season with pepper and serve immediately in deep rice bowls.

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.

Roasted Cannelloni with aubergine & Ikramito

Originally I wanted to do ravioli ... but I ended up trying something different. Yes they look like pancakes, but they are roasted cannelloni. First time I tried in this way and I have to say they are really really nice. Crunchy and very warm. Lighter and much more suited to such a delicate filling. The ikramino's are also an essential part of the dish as they gives the moisture which a normal sauce would give but avoiding to be too saucy. Lovely!!! And definitively a full italian taste!!!

Serves: 4 as main course or 10 as a starter
FlexiPoints: 11 or 4.5

Suggested wine: we had the Serpico 1999 (see previous post) with it. I feel this dish is kind of universal in terms of wine pairing ... even if I would avoid whites with too much acidity and really fruity reds.
Special equipment: none

Ingredients:
10 fresh lasagna sheets (400g)
2 aubergines
5 garlic cloves
250g Buffalo mozzarella
500g Ikramito tomatoes
180g ricotta cheese
10 basil leaves
1/2 glass of white wine
Olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Ingredient note: The Ikramito (photo link) is normally sold in clusters of 12/14 and looks like a slightly bigger cherry tomatoes. The taste is quite sharp with a thicker skin. It is normally used for salads ... but I love it cooked (as wholes) as well like here!

How-to:
1. Grease an oven pot with some oil. Put the aubergines and 3 garlic cloves in it, and bake at 180C for 40’ or until the aubergines are really soft.
2. Discard the garlic. Peel the aubergine and make a mash out of them. Season with salt and let cool down.
3. Chop the mozzarella in small cubes. Finely chop the remaining garlic. Make an homogeneous mix out of the ricotta, the aubergine mash, the mozzarella and the garlic. Season with salt and set aside.
4. Cook the lasagna sheets for 90 seconds in boiling salted water. Rise the sheets in cold water and let them cool down.
5. Distribute the cheese mix among the lasagna sheets by placing (about) 1.5 tbsp on the centre of each sheet. Roll up the lasagna sheet so as to form the cannelloni.
6. Take a very large pot. Grease it with oil. Once hot, add the cannelloni, the tomatoes and the basil leaves. Season with little salt and pepper. Cook on medium heat for 10’ or until the tomatoes are quite soft and the cannelloni brownish on both side.
7. Press the tomatoes with the back of a wooden spoon. Cook on high heat for one minutes. Remove the cannelloni. Add the wine to the pan, cook for few seconds on high heat stirring continuously and remove from the heat.
8. Serve the cannelloni with the tomatoes on the sides.

Lasagna al pesto

Finally back into posting a recipe ... yes we missed cooking after one month of eating always in restaurants. And we definitively need a diet. To be fair, this dish was made before we left as today we did something else. But I prefer to post this one as it is really tasty and I do not want to forget about it. Elke found it in a Belgian magazine and, actually, she prepared it with some little adaptation here and there from me. Do not be put off by the pesto ... and I say this especially to my italian friends. It is really nice ... despite not being the best dish while on diet (as one portion isn't that much ...)

Serves: 6 as main course
FlexiPoints: 8

Suggested wine: This recipe is a kind of a easy one. A crisp and fresh white would go as well as a bubbly or a light red. Just avoid old or heavy red wines.
Special equipment: Blender or similar robot

Ingredients:
100g Parma ham
10 dried lasagna sheets
400g mozzarella
60g grated Parmesan cheese
6 large tomatoes
3 shallots
3 garlic gloves
30g pine-nuts
5g fresh parsley
5g fresh basil
100ml passata (tomato juice)
100g concentrated tomato puree (tomato paste)
8 tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Ingredient note: The lasagna sheets I suggest are the dried ones instead of fresh ones. The recipe uses a quite watery sauce which will get denser thanks to the pasta absorbing the water. You can use fresh pasta, but you might need to cook the sauce longer to make it thicker.

How-to:
1. Make a pesto in a blender using the parsley, basil, 4 tbsp of oil, the parmesan cheese and the pine-nuts. Season with some salt and pepper to taste.
2. Discard the seeds from the tomatoes and cube the rest. Make a sauce by cooking the tomato cubes with the passata, the concentrated tomato juice. the remaining oil and the (peeled) pressed garlic on medium heat for 15’. Stir occasionally. Season with salt. Discard the garlic and let cool down.
3. Slice the shallots finely and the mozzarella. Grease an oven-pot with some tomato sauce and make layers of lasagna sheet, tomato sauce, shallot and mozzarella. Distribute the pesto on last lasagna layer and, then, lay on top the ham in stripes and (if left) some mozzarella.
4. Bake in an hot oven at 180C for 30’. Serve warm.

Light lasagna with asparagus

(Photo@TheFoodTraveller.com - Nikon D200)

This recipe was on my mac for a while waiting to be blogged ... and in our freezer as well, but for eating. We found the recipe on an Italian magazine and, as we welcome every light recipe, we gave it a try. Actually Elke made it and I only tried (but not very successfully) to take a photo. Not a simple dish to capture ... at least for me. If you like asparagus, give it a try (but probably next year!) ... since that is the dominant taste. The main problem I have with the dish is .... after one hour I was hungry again!

Serves: 4 or 8 as starter
FlexiPoints: 4 or 2

Suggested wine: not really sure here. Feel free to give us a suggestion!
Special equipment: a kitchen robot or a blender.

Ingredients:
250g fresh lasagna sheets
1.5 Kg of green asparagus
650ml half-fat UHT milk
35g corn starch
80 sliced roasted ham
30g Parmesan cheese
5g butter
2 garlic cloves
1 thyme sprig
1 marjoram sprig
Nutmeg and salt to taste

Ingredient note: The corn starch (or mazeina in some parts of the world) is a nice alternative to butter to bind a cream with less fat. Of course, you will miss the buttery taste ... but overall the cream will be much lighter and delicate so suited for recipes like this one. Only side effect ... I am not sure the cream will freeze that well as with butter.

How-to:
1. Cook the asparagus. Remove and halve the heads. Puree the stalks in a kitchen robot.
2. Work the starch with 100ml of cold milk. Slice the ham in stripes.
3. Press the garlic. Put it in a casserole with 500ml of milk, the thyme and the marjoram. Let cook on low heat until it simmer. Remove from the heat and pass the milk through a sieve to remove the herbs and garlic. Stir in the starch and milk mix.
4. Place the cream back on low heat and add the asparagus puree, 1 tbsp of the Parmesan cheese, some nutmeg and salt. Let simmer for 4’-5’ or until creamy. Stir frequently.
5. Grease an oven pot with the butter. Choose a pot which is low and wide and where the pasta sheets can be placed with little (but some) overlap, and without need for cutting them. Alternate in layers alternating the cream, the pasta, the asparagus heads and the ham. Mix the remaining Parmesan cheese with the remaining milk and distribute it on top.
6. Bake in an hot oven at 200C for 25’ or nicely crunchy on top. Serve lukewarm.

Orecchiette mustard & gorgonzola

(Photo@TheFoodTraveller.com - Nikon D200)

Simplicity and good ingredients. This recipe embodies this very simple idea. It is extremely simple, you only need to basically boil the pasta and melt the cheese. But the ingredients must be perfect. Use young and creamy gorgonzola to get a creamy piquant taste. Use Meaux Mustard to get a nice kind of sweet and sharp mustard flavor. We really loved this dish ... one of our favorite fast pasta's.

Serves: 4 as main course
FlexiPoints: 9

Suggested wine: I’d go for a Chardonnay, preferably from the old continent ...
Special equipment: none

Ingredients:
400g orecchiette (pasta)
200g young gorgonzola cheese
2 tbsp Meaux mustard
1 garlic clove
1 thyme sprig
1 parsley sprig
Salt and pepper as needed

Ingredient note: The Meaux Mustard differs from Dijon’s as it keeps the seeds and it has vinegar as well. It has a sharp and rustic taste on its own, but I find it very delicate when used for cooking. In Italy we call it also Old Mustard ... no clue why ?! For people in the Netherlands ... Zeeland Mustard is not that different.

How-to:
1. Cube the gorgonzola. Finely chop the parsley and the thyme.
2. Half the garlic clove and scrub the base of a non-stick pan with the two halves. Melt the cheese in such pan on low heat avoiding it to bubble. Once melted stir in the mustard and keep warm.
3. Boil the pasta in abundant salted water. Add it to the cheese sauce and stir well. Add the parsley and the thyme. Season with pepper. Stir well and serve immediately.

Pappardelle in rabbit ragout

(Photo@TheFoodTraveller.com - Nikon D200)

It was probably the second time I made rabbit, but this recipe from Florence that we saw in old cucina moderna (yet again) really was calling for a try. I have to warn that carving the mean is a lot of work ... so think twice before making this dish for many people (like I did ... sigh) or it might take a few hours! The dish is delicious and goes well in winter as in summer. We still have some rabbit left and I will probably try a variant without stewing ... curious to see how that comes also! Before I stop writing. This dish is worth a good aged wine like Barolo, in case you have a nice aged red wine and have no clue with what drink it !!

Serves: 4 as main course
FlexiPoints: 9

Suggested wine: We had a Niepoort Redoma 1995. Good alternative could be a good aged Barolo.
Special equipment: a good filleting knife!

Ingredients:
400g pappardelle (egg pasta)
1/2 rabbit
1 can of plum tomatoes (400g)
1 garlic clove
1 shallot
1 celery stalk
1 small carrot
2 laurel leaves
1/2 glass red wine
6 tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper as needed

Ingredient note: none.

How-to:
1. Finely chop the shallot, carrot, celery (without leaves) and garlic. Rinse the rabbit in cold water and pat it dry.
2. Sauté the vegetables with the oil with the laurel on low heat for 10’ in a large pot. Stir often.
3. Increase to medium heat and brown the rabbit (possibly all at the same time) on both sides. With the rabbit still in the pot, add the wine. Let it evaporate and remove from the heat.
4. Remove the rabbit. Carve the meat out of the bones and chop it into a coarse mince. Put the mince and the bones back in the pot.
5. Chop and add the plum tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper. Let cook on low heat for 90’ stirring often. Add some warm water in the process when looking too dry. Remove the bones when the sauce is ready.
6. Boil the pasta in abundant salted water. Drain it and mix it with the sauce. Serve immediately.

Sformato affumicato

(Photo@TheFoodTraveller.com - Nikon D200)

Well, this is a very nice and simple recipe. It takes sometime to prepare it, but it is still simple. Basically, it has a strong smoky taste due to both the bacon and the cheese. Still not too strong, because of the cheese I have used ... which probably is going to be difficult to find outside Belgium (check the recipe for suggestions on how to replace it). Why the name? In Italy we like to call sformato (di pasta) every kind of dish where pasta is baked with a sauce to make something solid. At least it has been always so in my family ...

Serves: 4 as main course or 8 as starter
FlexiPoints: 9.5 or 4.5

Suggested wine: A nero d’Avola or (if you can find it) a medium body white wine called Pecorino.
Special equipment: none

Ingredients:
300g spaghetti
1 can of plum tomatoes (400g)
200g smoked Maredsous cheese in one piece
50g smoked bacon
20g grated Parmesan cheese
1 shallot
12 basil leaves
30g pine nuts
10 sundried tomatoes marinated in oil
Oil, bread-crumbs and salt as needed

Ingredient note: The Maredsous cheese is a typical Belgian Abbey cheese done following the tradition of the monks, just like their beer! It is a semi-hard cheese with a nice melting bite. You can replace with another smoked cheese as long as it is smoky, slightly fruity and sweet in flavor.

How-to:
1. Chop the shallot and cube the bacon. Place them in a sauce pan with the plum tomato, the basil, 2 tbsp of olive oil and a pinch of salt. Mash everything with a potato masher and let is simmer covered for 20’ or until very dense. Stir occasionally. Whiz the sauce in a kitchen robot and let cool.
2. Slice the sundried tomatoes and cube the cheese in small pieces. Toast the pine-nuts in a hot non-stick pan until they take color. Put all aside.
3. Boil the pasta in salted water for 2’ less than indicated in the package, but taking care it is soft enough to be folded. Mix it with the sauce and the Parmesan cheese.
4. Take a rectangular cake tin. Grease it with oil and dust it with bread-crumbs. Alternate layers of pasta, pine-nuts, cheese and sun-dried tomatoes. Bake in an hot oven at 180C for 20’.
5. Remove from the tin and serve in slices.

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.

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.

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.

Pasta and pears casserole

(Photo@TheFoodTraveller.com - Nikon D200)

How did I ever ended up cooking such a dish?? Well, curiosity ... of my fiancee. We have started receiving an italian magazine every month called "Cucina Moderna". My favorite! In the february edition there is a little insert on a simple menu for St. Valentine even a man can cook (well, like there are no men in kitchen these days ...). Anyway, this recipe intrigued so here I am. I did change it since some ingredients (like the Robbiola) are not easy to find and I could not be bothered to make hearth-shaped pasta. It was really sensational. An amazing taste. Salty and sweet ... we'll eat it again.

Serves: 2 as main course or 4 as starter
FlexiPoints: 13 or 7.5

Suggested wine: it was perfect with Riesling Trocken from the Mosel!
Special equipment: none

Ingredients:
200g tagliatelle pasta
1 shape of Boursin cheese (150g)
1 Pear William
2 fresh sage leaves
40g Grison cured beef
2 tbsp of white wine (possibly Riesling Trocken)
8 tbsp of milk
20g grated Parmesan cheese
15g butter
Salt and pepper to taste

Ingredient note: the Boursin cheese can be replaced with the italian Robbiola or, in the worst case, some ricotta with sour cream. The Grison meat could be replaced with speck.

How-to:
1. Peel and cube the pear. Cut the Grison meat in stripes. Sauté them with the sage in 10g of butter on medium heat for 3’ or until the meat takes color. Add the wine and keep cooking until it has evaporated. Remove from the heat. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
2. Mix the cheese with the milk until smooth. Season with pepper.
3. Boil the pasta in salted water for two minutes less than indicated in the package.
4. Add the pasta when still hot to the cheese mix and stir well until uniformly distributed.
5. Distribute half of the pasta in an oven dish. Add half of the pear and meat mix. Add another layer of pasta. Finish with the remaining pear and meat. Distribute the remaining butter on top
6. Bake in an hot oven at 140C for 20’. Serve lukewarm.

Conchiglioni stuffed with mushrooms

(Photo@TheFoodTraveller.com - Nikon D200)

How many times I felt like making cannelloni, but had not time to make the fresh pasta? Really often! Well, in Italy there is a solution called "conchiglioni" which is a pasta shape looking like a sea shell and big enough to be filled. It makes life easier and it still delivers most of the taste of a cannelloni dish. We prepared this dish ... honestly ... a few weeks ago. It was there on my laptop waiting to be blogged about. So here I am. It is a very nice dish, where I have used a little twist being chopped coriander to give it a bit of freshness. If you do not like coriander, use flat parsley ... this is what my mum would do.

Serves: 6 as a main course
FlexiPoints: 6

Suggested wine: I would go for a Salice Salentino or a nice Barbaresco with this one.
Special equipment: none

Ingredients:
- 200g conchiglioni pasta
- 500g mixed wild mushrooms
- 150g ricotta cheese
- 50g smoked bacon
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1/2 glass of red wine
- 1/2 liter milk
- 40g butter
- 40g flour
- 10g fresh coriander
- Oil, salt and pepper as needed.

Ingredient note: conchiglioni pasta is something that looks like sea shells so that they can be filled. If you cannot find it, use something like paccheri or small cannelloni pasta shapes instead.

How-to:
1. Chop finely the garlic and the coriander. Cube the bacon. Chop the mushrooms in medium irregular pieces.
2. Saute the garlic and bacon in some hot oil for 2’ or until colored. Add the mushrooms and keep cooking on medium/high heat for 5’. Turn to high heat and add the wine. Let it get absorbed. Turn off and stir in the coriander.
3. Mix the mushrooms with the ricotta and 2 tbsp of oil. Season with some pepper. Set aside.
4. Make the white sauce by melting the butter in the milk avoiding to get the milk boiling. Once the butter is fully melted add the sifted flour one spoon at a time until it get fully absorbed. Keep warm.
5. Boil the pasta in salted water for half of its cooking time. Drain and let cool down. Fill each conchiglioni shape with the ricotta and mushroom mix.
6. Distribute half of the white sauce on a large oven pot. Put in the filled pasta. Pour the remaining sauce on top. Season with abundant pepper.
7. Bake at 180C for 15’. Serve immediately.

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.

Paccheri in monkfish sauce

(Photo@TheFoodTraveller.com - Canon PowerShot G2)

It is no secret that people in Campania like to use the paccheri for most fish based pasta recipe. This shape conveys a better balance between the pasta and the sauce tasteand it retains more sauce due to its large surface. Final dishes seem dried look but taste really saucy. This one is a classic : paccheri alla pescatrice. I love them!

Serves: 4 as main dish
FlexiPoints: 9

Suggested wines: stay local with a Falanghina or a Greco di Tufo

Ingredients:
- 400g monkfish tail
- 1 head of a small monkfish
- 320g paccheri
- 1 garlic clove
- 1/2 chilli
- 10 cherry tomatoes
- 1/2 glass of white wine
- 2 tbsp chopped flat parsley
- oil, salt and pepper as needed

How-to:
1. Finely chop the garlic and the chilli. Cut the tomatoes in quarters and chop the fish meat in cubes.
2. Stir fry the garlic and chilli for 1’ or so in hot oil and add the head of the monkfish. Keep cooking on medium/high heat for a couple of minutes.
3. Add the wine and cook with the lid on for 7’-8’. Finish to cook without the lid for 1’ pressing the head gently. Add the tomatoes to the pan and cook until they have softened, remove the head of the fish and add the fish meat. Season with salt and pepper and keep cooking on moderate heat until the fish is ready.
4. In the meantime boil the paccheri. Retain 1/2 glass of the cooking water. Add the pasta to the fish sauce and keep cooking for 1’ minute. If the sauce dries out add part or whole of the water.
5. Remove from the heat. Divide among four warm dishes. Garnish with some chopped parley and serve immediately.

Pasta au Chavignol

How many times a new recipe is made out of emergency? Sometimes. Well, this is one of those situations. We were planning to try aubergines stuffed with goat cheese ... but, unfortunately,
I placed the aubergine to near the back of the fridge where they got frozen! So, here it goes the dinner. What can be do with the cherry tomatoes and the crottin de Chavignol ... bah! A pasta maybe. Well, the pasta was simple, fast and amazingly delicious! We had it yesterday once again and it has convinced us to the point to add it to our recipe collection.

Serves: 2 as a main course
FlexiPoints: 8

Suggested wines: We had it with some typical "pump" wine ... the table wine people buy per liter as it were fuel. This one was a Negroamaro-based one and really fruity and delicious.

Ingredients:
- 200g caserecce or other medium long (and thick) pasta
- 2 crottin de Chavignol (120g)
- 300g cherry tomatoes
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 tbsp oil
- Salt as needed

How-to:
1. Half all the tomatoes and finely chop the garlic.
2. Sauté the garlic in the oil and add the tomatoes after 1'. Keep cooking on high heat for 8'-10' mashing lightly the tomatoes when soft. Season with salt and keep warm.
3. While cooking the pasta in abundant salted water, chop the crottin in medium pieces.
4. Add the pasta to the tomato sauce on medium heat, stir well for 1'. Add the cheeses and stir well until fully melted.
5. Serve warm ... It is important not to eat this dish straight after cooking to allow the cheese flavor to be at it peak.

Conchiglioni stuffed with rucola

Every time we pass by Italy (be for holidays or work) I always end up buying some cokking magazine. This time we came back with a couple of them ... one of these is Cucina Moderna (serie Oro). This issue is packed with some nice and simple ideas and we tries this one first as my fiancee was eagerly longing for it. The recipe is almost the same as the original (I changed only a couple of little details), and it is lovely despite its looking very white!

Serves: 4 as a main course
FlexiPoints: 7

Suggested wines: something white