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How to make your next panino unforgettable!
September 6th, 2011
Mortadella is a very popular panino ingredient. It is a large sausage made of pork and is often studded with pistachios or black pepper. The original Mortadella has been produced in Bologna from 14th century, a delicacy coming from the region of Emilia-Romagna but celebrated everywhere.
The simple secret for a perfect panino is to cut very thinly sliced of mortadella because thin slices enhance the unique aroma of the sausage. Choose sourdough bread and fill with mortadella. Other optional ingredients depend on your taste, a good example are some slices of cheese (provolone will be perfect!), tomatoes, salad…Grill the panino for a few minutes and eat immediately!
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Summer Recipe
July 20th, 2011Spaghetti with Green Beans, Tomatoes and Seasoned Ricotta Cheese
Credit: Flickr
Pasta cooked with green beans is a typical Puglian summer dish that is fast and easy to prepare and won’t weigh you down when the barometer starts to rise. With just a few simple ingredients you’ll be in and out of the kitchen in no time and ready to head back to the beach.
Credit: Flickr
This is a typically Mediterranean recipe, combining pasta and vegetables. When cooked together in the same water, the vegetables help limit the absorption of the carbohydrates in the pasta. And the pasta becomes enriched by the vegetables’ vitamins and minerals which would otherwise be lost in the cooking water. It’s a win-win situation!
Credit: Flickr
Ingredients:
1. 1 kilo (2.2 pounds) fresh green beans
2. 1 kilo (2.2 pounds) cherry tomatoes
3. 400 grams (14 ounces) spaghetti
4. 2 garlic cloves
5. 2 small hot peppers
6. seasoned ricotta (to taste)
7. 2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
8. pinch of sugar
9. pinch of salt
Credits:Flickr
Directions:
1. Put a large pot of salted water on to boil.
2. While waiting for it to come to a boil, wash and clean the green beans, removing the tips.
3. Wash the tomatoes, cut them in half or quarters.
4. Peel the garlic.
5. Heat a couple of tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil in a hot frying pan.
6. Add the garlic and hot peppers and sauté until golden.
7. Add chopped tomatoes and a pinch of sugar and cook until tomatoes are soft.
8. Add a pinch of salt, to taste.
9. In the meantime, your water will have come to a boil. Now add the green beans and the spaghetti and cook for the time indicated on the spaghetti package.
10. Once cooked, drain the spaghetti and green beans well and then add to the pan of tomatoes and cook together for about one minute.
11. Cover with the desired quantity of grated seasoned ricotta (add as much as you like!), mix well and serve.
Credit: Flickr
One piece of advice: do not use too much salt in the pasta water or the tomatoes as seasoned ricotta is quite salty.
Railroad Cherries
June 3rd, 2011An early summer delight…
Credits: Flickr
The Ferrovia (or Railroad) variety of cherry, grown in the area of the Puglia region around the towns of Turi and Conversano, comes to market in the month of June. It’s an auspicious start to the summer season because for the cherry fan, the Ferrovia is the top of the line. Each little red fruit is packed with crunchy, juicy flavor that’s hard to find elsewhere.
Not only are they tasty, these dark ruby red gems are packed with nutritional value. They are rich in flavonoids with help protect us from free radicals, and contain generous quantities of fiber, potassium, calcium, phosphorus and vitamins A and C. They are said to fight against arthritis, arteriosclerosis, kidney disorders and gout. On top of all that, they are naturally thirst-quenching and sweet, but very low in sugar content, making them the perfect guilt-free and healthy snack.
Credits: Flickr
Are you wondering about their name? Why call them Railroad cherries? Tradition has it that this variety was originally cultivated along the sides of the railroad tracks on tiny bits of land. However, the truth of the matter is that these cherries were shipped to distant markets by train. Despite having to travel for weeks, this fruit always arrived at destination perfectly intact and delicious, as if it had just been freshly picked. This quality has made the Ferrovia Cherry one of Italy’s most popular and, even today, production never quite meets the market demand.
Credits: Flickr
Every year a “sagra” (or fair) is held in honor of the Ferrovia Cherry in Turi, the heartland of production. At the fair you can taste all kinds of declicacies concocted with this cherry as the main ingredient. Try cherry-filled almond paste sweets, cherry cakes, cherry wine . . . the list goes on! The crowning event is the election of “Miss Ferrovia Cherry,” victory to the sweetest!
Although these cherries are absolutely delicious eaten “as is,” why not try this local recipe for a pudding-like cake called “Semolina Alla Ciliegia”? Semolina is the coarse, purified wheat middlings of durum wheat used in making pasta, and also used for breakfast cereals and puddings.
Semolina Alla Ciliegia (Cherry Cake)
Credits: Flickr
Ingredients
120 grams semolina
2 eggs
1 egg white, beaten to white peaks
125 grams sugar
500 grams pitted Ferrovie cherries (or other dark, firm cherries)
50 grams almonds, peeled and ground into a flour
¼ liter sweet white wine
½ liter water
butter
Directions
1. Pre-heat oven to 200° C (390° F).
2. Pour the wine and ½ liter of water into a saucepan and bring to a boil.
3. Add the semolina, sprinkling it in slowly, and cook for 15 minutes over a low heat.
4. Remove the saucepan from the stovetop and let it cool.
5. Once cooled, stir in one egg at a time, then the sugar, the pitted cherries, and the almond flour.
6. Add the whipped egg white.
7. Butter a cake pan and pour in the batter.
8. Place your cake pan into a larger pan filled with ½ inch of water and place in oven for 45 minutes.
9. When cake is browned, remove it from the oven and let it cool completely before removing it from the pan.
Serves six.
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Two Springtime Recipes
May 11th, 2011Featuring Peas From Puglia
Credits: Flickr
The food you find on the Puglian table is, in large part, determined by the selection of seasonal fresh fruit and vegetables available. The month of May finds the greengrocer’s shops full of fresh peas and fava beans. If you’re looking for a new way to get your complex carbohydrates, try these lovely legumes in two different dishes. Both recipes combine seafood – we are in Puglia, of course! – and garden fresh goods. You could even prepare the two recipes for a complete Puglian-style meal featuring a first and second course.

Credits: Flickr
Orecchiette Con Piselli, Orata e Carciofi
(Typical Puglian Pasta with Peas, Sea Bass and Artichokes)
Credits: Flickr
Ingredients
400 g orecchiette
4 sea bass fillets, cut into small pieces
2 artichokes
1/2 cup of extra-virgin olive oil
250 g fresh peas, shelled
100 g Pecorino cheese, grated
2 tablespoons tomato sauce
salt and pepper, to taste
Directions
1. Shell the fresh peas.
2. Clean the artichokes, removing the external leaves, stems and choke.
3. Pour one or two tablespoons of oil into a saucepan and heat.
4. Add the peas, the artichoke hearts cut into strips, a half cup of water, the tomato sauce, salt and pepper.
5. Cook over a low heat for 20-25 minutes.
6. When the vegetables are tender and the sauce has thickened, add the chopped sea bass fillets and cook for another 10 minutes.
7. In the meantime, bring a pot of salted water to a boil and cook the orecchiette until they are “al dente,” then drain well.
8. Add the pasta to the other ingredients in the saucepan and mix together for 1-2 minutes over low heat.
9. Sprinkle the pecorino over the pasta, stir well and serve.
Serves four.
Credits: Flickr
Bocconcini di Seppie con Patate, Piselli e Fave Teneri
(Cuttlefish with Potatoes, Fresh Peas and Fresh Fava Beans)
Ingredients
1.5 kg large cuttlefish
200 g white potatoes
150 g fresh fava beans
Extra-virgin olive oil, to taste
200 g red onions
1 bay leaf
1 lemon peel
White wine, to taste
300 g cherry tomatoes
Italian parsley, to taste
Basil, to taste
Directions
1. Wash the cuttlefish and cut them into pieces. Peel the onions and cut them julienne-style. Wash the tomatoes and cut each one into four pieces. Wash and mince the parsley. Peel the potatoes and cut them into cubes.
2. In a saucepan add the oil, onion, bay leaf and the lemon peel. Brown over a low heat, stirring from time to time.
3. Add the cuttlefish and continue stirring. Add the white wine and tomatoes. Cover and cook over a low heat for about 15 minutes. Add the potatoes and fava beans and continue to cook covered.
4. Finally, salt to taste and add the parsley and basil.
Credits: Flickr
This dish is delicious accompanied by Italian bread, toasted and drizzled with extra-virgin olive oil.
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