Alici in carrozza

Small, shiny and silver: anchovies can change your dish from good to extraordinary delicious.

 

They are sold fresh, oil-canned or salt-preserved, as a paste, oil or extract (the so-called colatura). Full of Omega-3 fatty acids, iron, phosphorus, magnesium and calcium they can be used to enrich salads, pasta, stuffing or to marinate.

 

I fell in love with this dish when I tried it for lunch on the beach. Today I will give you the light version of the original recipe where the anchovies were fried.

300 gr anchovies (serves 2)
2 eggs
125 gr mozzarella
breadcrumbs
white wine
chili
lemon zest
ginger
parsley
oil
salt

Wash the anchovies under cold water. Open them horizontally from the head to the tail and Remove the head and the innards.

Mix in a bowl the eggs. Blend in the breadcrumbs with the ginger, the chili flakes and the salt on a wax paper. Cut the mozzarella into sticks, squeezing out the liquid on a paper toilet.

Lay 1-2 mozzarella sticks with some lemon zest between two anchovy fillets (like a sandwich). Dip it into the eggs and dredge in the breadcrumbs.

In a oven pan put the anchovies with 2 tbs of oil, a sprinkle of white wine and parsley and cook in a preheated oven to 200°C for 10-15min.

Spaghetti alla carbonara

You think that you need double cream...NO!

You think that you need onions...NO!

You thinking that you need to cook eggs...NO!

The misinformation about this Roman dish is huge. I'll try to give you the authentich recipe.

320 gr spaghetti (serving 4)

130 gr cured pork cheek (guanciale) or bacon

3 egg yolks

black pepper to grind coarsley

pecorino romano cheese

oil

 

Set a skillet over medium heat when hot put the cured pork cheese or bacon in cubes to brown then lay on paper towel to absorbe the fat.

 

In a glass or ceramic bowl (not in metal otherwise th eggs would cook) put the yolks with the pepper and the pecorino romano cheese and mix grossly and quickly (You must not whip the eggs since they must remain creamy and not fluid).

Drain very well the pasta (no water at all) and fold it into the egg cream and mix powerfully, adding the bacon or guanciale. Do not add salt since the bacon or guanciale and the pecorino cheese are naturally salty.

Serve with other percorino cheese and black pepper.

 

 

 

Carré di tacchino

Here It is terribly hot so let's prepare this express dish that can be cooked in advance and stored in the fridge and served for a lazy dinner or for your weekend brunch.

700 gr minced turkey (serving 6)
150 gr bread
1 egg
200 gr spinach
15 cherry tomatoes
milk
ginger
tabasco
white vinegar
oil
salt
pepper


In a bowl marinate the meat with a pinch of ginger and tabasco with 2,3 spoons of white vinegar for half-hour.

In another bowl put the bread cubes and pour the milk over them. Let the bread soak until it is soft then squeeze out the excess milk.

Fold the bread, the egg, the salt and the pepper into the meat bowl.

In the meanwhile put the fresh spinach in a hot pan for 3 minutes. If you use the frozen spinach, boil them and be sure to squeeze out the excess water, they must be pretty dry.

Oil a loaf pan and put a meat layer, some tomatoes cubes and the spinach then cover with a meat layer.

Preheat the oven to 180 and cook for 50 min, the last 30 min with a tinfoil over the pan.

Let cool before slicing. It can be served warm or cold.