Fried Zucchini Flowers with mozzarella and anchovy filling (Fiori di zucca fritti)

Did you know that Zucchini flowers can be eaten? In Rome it's a "must", every good Pizzeria will have "Fiori di zucca fritti" as starter in the menu. I love them! You can also eat  them on Pizza, they have a sweet unique taste.... The only problem is that Zucchini Flowers are difficult to find, specially outside Italy. I had the chance to hand-pick some from my friend's garden yesterday and today I want to share the recipie with you! Have fun cooking this little treasure from mother nature.

Serves 4

Ingredients:
8  Zucchini Flowers
1 Fresh medium Mozzarella cheese
4 anchovies
130 gr Flour
1/2 Cup of Water
1 egg (at room temperature)
a pinch of baking powder
Salt to taste
1/2 liter frying Oil

Carefully wash and dry the Zucchini flowers. Put aside.

Cut the mozzarella cheese in cubes, cut the anchovies in half.

 Fill each flower with a cube of mozzarella and half anchovy. Close the flower and keep aside.
Prepare the batter for deep frying the flowers:
Divide the yolk from the egg white. In a food processor mix the flour, the water, a pinch of baking powder, the yolk and a pinch of salt. In another bowl wip the egg white till is very thick (add a pinch of salt to help the process).

Add the wipped egg white to the flour Mix and stir very slowly till well mixed. You frying batter is ready.

Add the frying oil on a frying pan at medium-high heat.

One by one dip the flowers in the batter till they are well covered.



Start to deep fry the flowers only when the oil is the very hot. Lower a bit the heat and fry till they turn golden brown. Be careful, it will go very fast! Take out the fried flowers and let them dry on a paper.

Place on a serving plate. Serve very warm. Buon Appetito!

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Potato salad with Parsley and Lemon

Most of the italian traditional cuisine is very simple and healthy. This very easy to make but very flavoured and healthy salad is the good axample. It's important to season it with a good Extra Virgin Olive Oil, fresh persley and grey unrefined sea salt to get the real original taste. It can be  served with fish and meat as well. This recipie is perfect for a vegan diet.

Ingredients:
8 medium potatoes
4 Tbs Extra Virgin Olive Oil
The juice of 1 lemon
1 garlic clove
1 large cup of finely cut parsley
Grey unrefined salt to taste
Pepper to taste

Instructions:
Boil the potatoes  in plenty of salty water. When potatoes are cooked (check with a fork if they are soft) drain them and let them cool a little.



Peel the potatoes and cut them in cubes. Place the cubes in a mixing bowl. Finely cut the persley and the garlic.



Add persley, garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste. Mix well. Your Salad is ready

 Place the salad in a serving plate, sprinkle with some finely cut persley and some lemon zests, add few drops of olive oil on the top. Buon appetito!

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Brioches with Raisins and Pastry Cream (Brioches alla crema con uvetta))

These Brioches are my friends' favourites. I can never make enough of them, they are always gone so quickly... For the Brioche dough please follow the "Brioche Cake with Pastry Cream" instructions. For the Pastry Cream follow the "Italian Pastry Cream" instruction.

Ingredients:
1 cold Brioche dough (see "Brioche Cake with Pastry Cream" )
2 large cups of Pastry Cream (see  "Italian Pastry Cream")
5 Tbs of raisins
1 wipped egg for glazing
3 Tbs of pearl sugar for decoration

Instructions:

Place the cold brioche dough on a floured surface, form a rectangle using a rolling pin .

 Turn the rectangle. Spread the Pastry Cream and the raisins all over the dough rectangle.

Roll the cream and raisins filled dogh rectangle on the lenghtness.

Cut the rolled dough in small brioches, about 10cm thick. Carefully place the brioches on a baking paper in a baking tray. Let them grow at room temperature for 1 hour. Pre-heat the oven at 180°C. After one hour glaze the brioches with the wipped egg, sprinkle with the pearl sugar and place the brioches in the pre-heaten oven. Cook for 20, 25 minutes, till they turn brown and shiny.

Take the brioches out from the oven let cool. Brioches are better when eaten the day after. Buon Appetito!

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Brioche Cake with Pastry Cream (Brioche alla Crema)

Brioches are not really easy to make. It took me quite long time to make a good brioche dough at home. I think this is a good recipie to make a very rich but delicious and soft Brioche Cake, perfect for tea time or for breakfast. For the Pastry Cream You can refer to the "Italian Pastry Cream" in this blog.

Ingredients for the Brioche Dough :
500g all pourposes flour
10g salt
20g fresh yeast or 10g of dried granulated yeast 
5 Eggs
200g Softened Butter chopped
60g fine White Sugar
100mlwater

Ingredients for the cake:
1 Brioche Pastry
2 large cups of Italian Pastry Cream 
1 wipped egg for glazing + 2 Tbs of pearl sugar for decoration

Instructions for the Brioche dough:
- Place the flour in a mixing bowl, add salt and sugar. Mix the yeast with 1 Tbs of warm water (30-45°C), stir it well, add it in the bowl. Add the 5 wipped eggs.

- Mix and little by little add the water. Mix again. You must get a lightly sticky and uneven dough.

Start to knead the dough. Knead for 15 minutes (you can knead in a Bread Machine: "Dough" programm for 15 minutes). Now you dough must be elastic and much more even than before.

- At this moment you can start to add the butter to the dough. Knead untill the butter is completely mixed.(To knead with a Bread Machine: "Dough" programm 15 min.).

Place the dough in a floured bowl and let it grow at room temperature. After 2 or 3 hours it must have doubled the volume.

 -Take the dough out on a floured surface and make it flat with your hands. The dough is ready whenit is back to the original volume.
Make a ball out of it. Place it back in the bowl and reserve in the fridge for minimum 3 hours, better if overnight.The morning after your dough will be ready to be shaped. 

Instructions for the Brioche Cake:
Take the cold brioche dough out of the fridge and place it on a floured surface give it a rectangle shape. Take the Pastry cream and spread it over the rectangle.

- Roll the pastry rectangle on his largest side. You must have a long roll of pastry filled with cream. (see photo). Cut the roll in 9 parts and put them in a cake baking pan. Cover with a towel. Let it rest for one hour in a cool place. Pre-heat the oven at 200°C.

After one hour, glaze the cake with the wipped egg. Sprinkle the pearl sugar on the top. Put the cake in the oven at 200°C for 5 minutes then low the temperature to 180°C and let it cook till it turns golden brown.

Your Brioche Cake is ready. Take out from the oven and let it cool. Wait few hours before eating. Buon Appetito!

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Vegetables Gratin (Verdure gratinate)

This Vegetables Gratin can be eaten warm or cold, as starter. To make it I use a special mixture called Gratin Bread Crumbs (Pane per Gratin). You can prepare the mixture in advance and keep it in fridge for 2, 3 days. You can also deep freeze it, and take it out when needed. This mixture can be used for other recipies in this blog, like, for example, my Gratinated Mussels.

Ingredients for the "Gratin Bread Crumbs"
150 gr Toast bread
50 gr Bread crumbs
1and 1/2  Tbs Grated Parmesan Cheese
4-5  Tbs Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 large cup of fresh Persley
1 Garlic Clove
Salt and Pepper to taste

Instructions:
Cut the Toast bread in quarters and add it in a food processor together with the garlic, grated Parmesan, persley and the bread crumbs. Mix for few seconds.

Place the mixture in a mixing bowl and add salt , pepper and the oil. Mixture must be not too wet but not dry (see photo). Stir it well and put aside.

Ingredients for the Vegetables Gratin:
150gr of Gratin Bread Mixture
1 Eggplant
1 Zucchini
1 or 2 Paprika
2 Medium-small Tomatoes
4 or 5 Extra Virgin Olive oil
Salt and Pepper to taste

Instructions for the Vegetables Gratin:
Wash well and dry the veggies.

Cut the Eggplant and the Zucchini lenghtwise into 2cm thick slides. Cut in halfs and unseed the Tomatoes and the Paprika.

Place a baking paper on a baking tray and oil it with a brush. Place the cut veggies on the oiled paper. Oil the veggies with 2 tbs of Olive oil and cover with the Gratin Bread mixture. Oil again with the 2 left Tbs of Olive oil. Place it in the oven at 170°C for 25 minutes.

Your Vegetables Gratin is ready when the top turns golden brown.

Carefully place the veggies on a serving plate. Serve warm or cold as starter. Buon appetito!

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French Beans Salad with Mint and Lemon (Fagiolini mentuccia e limone)

This French Beans simple salad will surprise you for the unique taste. I love it to accompany Roast Lamb or Beaf. The freshness of the lemon melded with the minth (IItalian« Mentuccia » which latin name is "Calamintha Nepeta" will be perfect for this recipie) mixed with garlic and oil give to this salad a unique unforgettable taste. If you can't find « Mentuccia » any other kind of mint will make it. This recipie is perfect for a vegan diet.

Ingredients:

500gr French beans, topped and tailed
1 Garlic clove
6 Sprigs fresh mint  (best if Italian mint: Mentuccia "Calamintha Nepeta ")
4 tbsp olive oil
Juice of 1 lemon
Grey Unrefined Sea Salt and Pepper to taste

Instructions:
Boil the beans in plenty of salted water and cook until quite tender. Drain in a colander and place the Beans in a mixing bowl.

Finely chop the garlic and mint. Mix them in with the oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper and stir into the beans. Mix well. Your French Beans salad is ready.

Place on a serving plate, top with few lemon zests and a mint spring. Buon Appetito! 

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Pasta Primavera

Pasta Primavera is one of my Mama's favourite. This fresh and quickly done recipie reminds me the Italian summer days, when a pasta salad or a light dish is the only you want to eat! It is served warmish or cold, as a pasta salad, i prefer it warmish with the mozzarella lightly "fondant"! Gnammy!

Serves 4

Ingredients:

350 gr Short Italian Pasta (Tortiglioni or similar)

2 Large tomatoes or 20 cherry tomatoes

4 Large Italian Basil leaves

1 clove garlic

1 Teaspoon origan

3 Tbs Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper to taste
2 liters of water 

Instructions:
Cut the washed tomatoes and the mozzarella cheese in small cubes.

Add the Mozzarella and Tomatoes cubes in a mixing bowl with the olive oil the striped basil leaves, the finely cut garlic clove and half teaspoon origan, salt to taste. Put aside to rest and let the mix bring out a nice juicy sauce.  Meanwhile bring to boil 2 liters if water in a pot. When boiling add salt and then the pasta, cook till "al dente" (taste it to check).

 
When cooked drain the pasta in a colander and add some cold water to cool it down.

Add the well drained warmish pasta to the tomatoes-mozzarella mixture and stir well. Taste and add salt and pepper to taste. Your pasta is ready.

Serve garnished with the left origan and few stripes of Basil leaves. Buon appetito!

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Mini Croissants Appetizer (Mini Cornetti Salati)

 These mini croissants are an amazing tastefull appetizer. You can fill them with salmon, ham, cheese, or whatever you like, and decorate them in diffent ways. In this recipie I use salmon/mozzarella and Italian Speck/mozzarella filling with sesam and poppy seeds topping. Simply delicious...

Makes 16 mini Croissants

Ingredients:
1 package of round shaped fresh puff pastry (Pâte feuilleté)
2 slides of Italian Speck (can be replaced it with normal ham)
2 slides of Smoked Salmon
1 Mozzarella cheese (125 gr)
1 Wipped Egg for glazing

1 Tbs sesam seeds

1 Tbs of poppy seeds

Instructions:

Keep the puff pasty in the fridge for 30 min before using.

 

In the meanwhile pre-heat the oven at 170°C. Cut the Mozzarella cheese, speck and smoked salmon in small bites. Unwrap the puff pastry and roll it out on a surface. Devide it in 16 triangles. Make a small cut on base of each triangle (see photo). 

Fill and roll the triangles as shown in the photos.

 

Place the mini croissants on a baking tray (with baking paper). Glaze the mini croissant with the wipped egg using a small pastry brush, spinkle with the sesam or poppy seeds. Place in the pre-heated oven at 170°C for about 10 min.  

When the croissants are golden-brown take them out and let them cool. Serve warmish or cold.

Buon Appetito!

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