Buon Natale

Be the child you were to be the best adult you can!

Enjoy this white Christmas and see you in January.

Love

Puré di patate

Nothing is more comfort food than mashed potatoes! Children, adults, nice and bad people...everyone enjoys this simple dish!

I love enriching my puré with some herbs or spices. I suggest this paprika and lemon version for stew or for grilled turkey and chicken.

Elbow grease and a lot of love to start!

6 big potatoes (4 servings) 

30 gr butter

180 ml semi-skimmed milk

salt

lemon zest

Wash and boil potatoes in a pot of salted water until very tender (water must cover the potatoes). Drain and set aside to let cool slightly and peel afterwards.

Pass them through a food mill twice. Set a pot over medium-low heat with the mashed potatoes and dry out.

Add the butter and stir until It is fully incorporated. Add some nutmeg and paprika. Whisk in warmed milk, a little at a time till the desidered constitency (You may need less milk than the amount indicated if you want the purée thicker or if the potatoes were very rich in water). Continue to whisk to incorprate air and make your mashed potatoes super fluffy. 

Serve with some lemon zest.

I

Ragù alla bolognese

The first time I went to London, I was 13 and the family hosting me served spaghetti alla bolognese. I was so happy to realize that food would not have been a problem all along my trip.

This was true before seeing canned spaghetti, too white and gluey, soakend in oil with some blocks of tomato minced meat. They were really disgusting so I haven't eaten bolognese sauce for long time.

The recipe has its orgins in Bologna and It is a good alternative to the Sunday gravy. I want to dedicate this post to a dear friend of mine, living in Bologna, Gianluca. He loves good food and he helps us to sing good music at musixmatch .

Normally the bolognese is tossed with fresh tagliatelle (fresh egg pasta dough) or as lasagna stuffing that better grab the sauce and NEVER with spaghetti that are too thin and regular. I do not like fresh egg pasta, I find it too heavy to serve with a sauce that is already rich so I always choose dried pasta rigata (rigatoni or also penne).

This sauce can be made 2 days ahead and once cooked It could be frozen. Moreover there are some cooks that enrich their recipes with thinly sliced pancetta or minced sausage but  I think that here less is more.

400 gr beef minced meat (serving 6)
1 lt tomato passata
1 teaspoon tomato paste
1 celery stalk, finely chopped
1 carrot, peeled and finely chopped
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1/2 glass red wine
2 tbs oil
salt
pepper
fresh parmesan
nutmeg

Heat oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add onion, celery, and carrot. Sauté until soft then add beef, breaking up with the back of a spoon, until browned. Pour in the wine and reduce.

Add tomato paste and tomato passata afterwards. Salt and cook for a hour (stir from time to time and add some water, if needed), until the sauce is reduced and thick. Turn the heat off and add some nutmeg and pepper.

                                     Toss the pasta, serving with some parmesan.

Insalata tiepida di polpo

If you think that cooking octopus is a tough and very long job, you are definitely wrong! 

600/800 gr octopus (serving 2)

white vinegar

parsley

evo oil

lemon juice
salt

Dip the octopus into a large cooking pot of water and white winegar (400 gr water and 5, 6 Tbs white vinegar). Cover and cook with a weight on the lid for 50 min. The octopus must be very tender rather than chewy (try with a fork to see If it is well cooked)!

Cool down to room temperature in its own cooking water then cut into pieces (discarding the water) and season with salt and evo oil. Set a skillet over medium high heat and roast the octopus until warm. Sprinkle some lemon juice and parsley.

Serve with some rocket and oven roasted tomatoes .

Make it with LOVE

Today It's a special day .... the woman who made me love food and cooking turns 87!

I will give you tons of recipes to share my passion but please make it with love otherwise tomatoes are just some sweet/acidic red balls, eggplants some strange violet/black ovals and  green beans some unconventional horns!

I grew up with her big love and between "add a pinch of salt, Elvira", "warm up the sauce", "wash the veggies", "chop the garlic"... she made me feel loved!

Recipes, love, recipes, her stories, love...this has been my childhood!
Today when I am with her, I always feel the same little girl!

Buon compleanno, Nonna!

Gnocchi

My grandma usually prepared this recipe when during the Second World War there were long bad days without any food supply.

These are gnocchi, just prepared with all purpose flour and water. The texture and the consistency are the same as gnocchi potatoes but much lighter. You can prepare them in a bunch of different ways (with cheese, with butter and fresh herbs, with veggies, with Sunday gravy).

400 gr all purpose flour plus more to knead (serving 4)

300 gr hot/boiling water

salt

Put on the stove a pot with water, when It starts to boil, turn off. Add salt and flour little by little, always turning in the same direction, with a spatula or a wooden spoon.

Once added all the flour, put the ball dough (very sticky) on the table (If still hot, use some gloves). Work it by hand, slapping it into the work surface, stretching it and folding it over itself, adding other flour until dry.

Wash and dry your hands. Dust the dough, your hands, and the work surface lightly with some of the remaining flour.

Cut the ball in 4 parts and each part in 2. Roll each part  (around 1,5 cm width) then cut into pieces (around 1,5/2 cm length). Using your fingertips,  press against each piece of dough and roll it slightly to form an indentation.

Drop the gnocchi into boiling salt water and cook about 2/3 min (If you pass them into a sauce pan or oven afterwards).



Pancakes

When I was in the US, weekend meant a stack of pancakes! Americans do it better and various.  They eat them with bacon, sausages, eggs, marple syrup, jam, butter and dried fruits.

Personally I prefer the fresh version that I usually enjoyed on my American Saturdays: pancakes, yogurt, fresh berries and acacia honey.

If you want, you can mix up the dry ingredients in advance and store in fridge or offer as a gift to lazy friends.

125 gr all purpose flour

15/20 gr sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda
a pinch of salt

20 gr butter, melted  (or 2 Tbs greek yogurt)

200 ml milk

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 teaspoon white vinegar

Combine the milk and vinegar (the soured milk) in a bowl and set aside. Combine the dry ingredients in another bowl.

Whisk the soured milk, egg and melted butter (or Greek yogurt) together. Pour into the dry ingredients and whisk until most of the lumps are gone.

Let the batter sit for 10/15 min than do not stir again but gently dip a ladle and place the spoonful on a buttered hot skillet.  It will be time to turn your pancake when the top surface begins to form small craters.

Enjoy these tall and fluffy pancakes.