L'inverno incontra l'estate!

Even if  it is already winter in Milan, last Saturday I found some fresh figs at Antonio’s stall. Antonio is an old man from South Italy who has a very nice and fresh stall at my local Milan market. Antonio fills in my fridge every Saturday but buying from him is much more, he is so sweet and he really is my Saturday cuddle.
I did not want to have figs as usual I enjoyed to have, namely with some prosciutto di Parma but I wanted to try something I tasted in a restaurant in Milan: figs and anchovies.

4,5 fresh figs

200 gr anchovies

4 potatoes

150 gr buffalo mozzarella

Lemon zest

Ginger

Brown sugar

Steamed the potatoes with the rind, once cooled them peeled them and cut into pieces and put over medium heat with some hot water (I did not use any dairy products such as butter or milk). Mash the potatoes with a fork and let cook till  you get a homogenous cream. Add some nutmeg.

In a very hot pan put the clean figs cut into pieces, add a spoon of brown sugar and cook till the figs are browned.

Clean the anchovies and put a slice of mozzarella (leave the mozzarella one hour on a napkin to dry the milk) between 2 anchovies. Sprinkle with some evo oil, ginger and lemon zest. Cook into the oven at 180°C for 12/15 min.

Plate some potato cream with the anchovies and the caramelized figs.

Pummaroò&Friends: Bloemkoolschotel with Sabine!

Sabine comes from Bruges, a city in which I lived for a year. She will share a typical recipe from Flanders.

My big thanks to Sabine, a very lovely person. She works for the College of Europe, she is a wife and a mom of two sweet children, Elena and Milan. They are very cute, aren't they? 

                                      

Ingredients:

1kg potatoes
1kg mixed mince
1 large cauliflower

whole milk

30 gr flour

30 gr best butter

nutmeg

pepper

salt

Italian spices

Cook the potatoes in water with a sniff of salt and some Italian spices, until tender, then drain. Make puree with milk, nutmeg and pepper.

Cook the cauliflower florets in water with a sniff of salt and again some Italian spices, until tender (reserve the cooking liquid for later, for the béchamel sauce).

Bake your mixed mince in a skillet.

For the béchamel sauce, melt the butter and add little by little the flour, stir well.

Now take three deep tablespoons (like the one you use for making soup) of your cooking liquid from the cauliflower and stir, then add 2 deep tablespoons whole milk and bring to taste with one whole nutmeg. Stir until you have a liquid mass.

Preheat the oven to 200 ° C. Take a large heatproof casserole. Fill it first with your baked minced, then put the cauliflower florets on it, you cover with your béchamel sauce and then on top your mashed potatoes, you arrange it until everything is covered. You can use a fork to make some rows for a form. Then you put a few pieces of butter on top so you have a nice crispy crust.

Put the casserole in the oven at 180 ° C for 10 minutes and then another three minutes on the grill stand for that crispy crust.

Smakelijk

Sabine