Artichoke Risotto (Risotto con carciofi)

Artichokes are probably my favourite vegetable, my mother knows it and when I am back in Italy artichokes are the first dish she prepares for me ! Thank you Mom! I love artichokes fried (Italian way....will post the recipe soon!) with pasta, in the Timballo.... They are fantastic also with rice, a very simple artichokes risotto it's the recipe I want to share with you today. I didn't use onions in this risotto recipe, but only garlic because it tastes better with Artichokes and extra virgin olive oil instead butter because I wanted to keep it as healthy as possible. Also the final "mantecatura" has been made with Parmigiano Reggiano and Olive oil (instead butter).

ingredients:

8 small artichokes
350 gr Italian rice "Vialone nano"or Arborio" or "Carnaroli"
6 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
60 gr Freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese (or grated hard vegan cheese)
2 Garlic cloves
1 cup finely cut parsley
1 lt vegetable broth or meat broth
1/2 Cup white wine
1 lemon
Unrifined grey sea salt to taste
Pepper to taste

 

Clean and cut the artichokes in very small pieces.

Place them in a bowl with water and the juice of a lemon. Drain and wash before to cook.

Pour 4 tbs oil in a pan, finely cut the garlic, add it in a pan and cook till it turns golden, add the artichokes. Add half of the finely cut parsley. Half cook them, about 5-10 minutes. Add the rice, mix it with the artichokes, let it toast. 

Add the wine and make it avaporate completely. When wine has evaporated start to add the broth little by little: one ladle at the time. Add one ladle, stir well and let cook, add a second one only when the first has been absorbed and so on till the rice is cooked. This process makes all the difference in a risotto cooking. Taste for salt. 

When the risotto is well "al dente", proceed with the final step: the "Mantecatura". Add the parmigiano Reggiano all in once, add the left olive oil, mix it well. Take out from fire, cover with a thik kitchen towel and let it rest for few minutes. The risotto will finish the cooking and melt (Mantecare) well.

Your Artichokes risotto is ready. Serve it warm with a sprinkle of parsley and pepper. Buon appetito!

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Quick & Easy Scarola Pie with olives (Torta rustica veloce con scarola e olive)

Not much time left for cooking and your guests will be there in a moment? This is the recipie for you! A "quick&easy made" version of the Italian Scarola (endive) Pie, also perfect as appetizer. I used black olives and added few cherry tomatoes and anchovies to give more taste, you can skip them if you like or use green olives.

Serving 6-8

Ingredients:
2 Packs ready rolled puff pastry
1 Bunch Scarola (Endive)
1 Cup pitted black olives 
1 Garlic clove, finely chopped
2 or 3 Cherry tomatoes, cut in quarters
Red chili (to taste)
3 Tbs Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 or 2 Anchovies
Salt to taste
1 Egg for glazing

Preheat the oven at 180C°. Cut and Wash the scarola. Bring to a boil a pot of salty water.

Add the scarola in the water and cook for just one or two minutes.

Drain the scarola in a small colander and cut it in pieces with a kitchen scissor.

Pour the oil in a pan add garlic, chili, anchovies, let it fry then add tomatoes olives et scarola, in the given order. Cook for few minutes. Check for salt. Take off from fire. Keep aside and let it cool.

Unroll one puff pastry in a round baking (24cm) pan.

Fill with the scarola mixture.

Cover with the second puff pastry roll and decorate as you like. Make sure to make some holes on the top. Glaze with the beated egg and place in the preheated 180C°oven for about 30 minutes.

Take out from the oven and make it cool. Your scarola pie is ready. Eat warmish. Buon appetito!

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Spicy Marinated Chicken with Lemon, Ginger and Coriander (Pollo speziato marinato al limone, zenzero e coriandolo)

This marinated chicken is one of my favourites. Very spicy and full of flavours it will delight your guests! I preferably use organic or farm chicken, much more tasteful and less fat. You will need 1 kg of chicken cut in pieces to serve 4 people.

Serving 4
Ingredients:
1kg Chicken in small pieces
1 bunch of fresh coriander
1 piece of fresh ginger peeled
2 garlic cloves
4 Tbs Extra Virgin Olive Oil
The juice of one lemon
1 Teaspoon ground pepper
1 Teaspoon ground tumeric
1 Teaspoon ground sweet paprika
1 Teaspoon of "5 spices" (Mix of ground cinnamon, cloves, star anice, fennel and Sechouan pepper)
Unrifined sea salt to taste

Cut and clean the chicken, place it in a large mixing bowl.

Add all the other ingredients, oil, lemon and salt included, in a food mixer and mix to obtain the marinate.

 Pour the marinate into the bowl and mix well to cover the chicken completely. marinate for minimum 1 (or more) hours.

When well marinated, place the chicken in a oven pan. Place it in the oven at 180°C (convection oven or 190°C Normal oven) for about 1 hour.

After 1 hour, you chicken is ready, place it on a serving plate, pour the cooking sauce on the top and decorate with fresh coriander and lemon zests. Buon appetito!

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Orecchiette with Cime di Rapa (Orecchiette alle cime di rapa)

This new recipe is dedicated to my friend and best Italian guitarist ever, Rocco Zifarelli... Rocco ecco le tue 'recchiett' cim' d' rap'....  :-)  This recipe is from Puglia where "Cime di Rape" are originally from. There is no English translation for "Cime di rapa", it is a vegetable from the same family as Broccoli, but with a different taste, green leaves and a small flower which looks like a small broccoli.

 Cima di Rapa isn't an easy veggie to find in Northern Europe, but at this time of the year sometimes I am very lucky to come accross in my favourite Moroccan grocery shop. Yesterday it was my lucky day. So today I can finally propose this fantastic traditional recipe to you all. I made fresh Orecchiette (a traditional handmade pasta from Puglia, shaped as a small ear, from this his name) myself, but you can easily find dried Orecchiette pasta in every Italian grocery shops, or you can wait and learn how to make it in one of my next posts, or if you live in Belgium/ NL you can participate to one of my Pasta making workshops, dates will be published soon... stay tuned!

Serving 4
Ingredients:
400g Fresh (or dried) Orecchiette Pasta
1kg Cime di rapa
5Tbs Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 Garlic cloves
1 Italian red hot Chili
2 Achovies
Salt to taste

Clean the Cime di rapa, taking out the hard branches and keeping only the tender leaves and flowers.

Wash them well and give a short boil in a big pan full of salted boiling water.

After only few minutes of cooking, drain the cime di rapa in a small colander and keep the cooking water to cook the pasta.

Let cool the Cime di rapa.

When cool cut them in small pieced, finely cut garlic, anchovies and chili pepper. Bring back to a boil the Cime di rapa cooking water.

Pour the oil in a large frying pan, add the garlinc, anchovies and chili. let them fry for few seconds.



Add the Cime di rapa. The water must be now boiling, add the Orecchiette.

If you use hand made fresh Orecchiette you have to know that they are cooked when coming at the surface. If you use normal dried Orecchiette pasta, follow the cooking instruction but always take them out very "al dente": the pasta will finish his cooking  in the sauce pan. Always reserve a cup of the cooking water.

Add the pasta in the pan, mix very good, melt all the ingredients well. If needed add a spoon of cooking water.

Taste for salt. Your Orecchiette with Cime di Rapa are now ready to be served.

Serve warm, add some additional chili if you like it very hot. Buon appetito!

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Pasta with marinated dried Tomatoes, Ricotta and Oregano (Pasta ricotta, pomodorini secchi e origano)

Last week during the "Italiaanse Dagen" in The Netherlands I received a nice present from our friend Chef Giuseppe Migliaccio (the founder of Happy Cooking), a big bowl of his famous little marinated dried tomatoes... fantastic present! Once again... thank you Giuseppe! Today I will propose you a recipe I have built around his tomatoes... I thought that ricotta, oregano and pecorino cheese will make a nice combination together with Giuseppe's marinated dried tomatoes. The result was surprising, so I want to share the recipe with you.

Serving 4

Ingredients:
350g Italian short pasta( I have used farfalle)
250g Fresh Ricotta cheese
250g marinated dried cherry tomatoes
4 Tbs Grated Pecorino cheese
4 tbs Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 Tbs Italian Oregano
Salt and pepper to taste
A small piece of Italian red chili (optional)
1 Garlic clove



Bring to a boil a big pot of salted water.

When boiling add the pasta and cook "al dente".

While the pasta is cooking, prepare the sauce: add oil, garlic and chili in large frying pan, when frying add the tomatoes. Cook for one or two minutes. Drain the pasta in a colander. Preserve a cup of the cooking water.

Add the pasta in the frying pan, mix well with the tomatoes.

Add the ricotta cheese and mix well.

 

Add the grated pecorino cheese and mix well, add some of the cooking water to melt it well.

Add the Oregano. Mix well, taste for salt and add pepper Your pasta is ready.

Serve warm, with a sprinkle of oregano and few dried tomatoes on the top. Buon appetito!

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Chocolate, Pear and Cinnamon Cake (Torta al cioccolato con pere e cannella)

Another fanstastic cake for your Halloween weekend party? Here we go with a Chocolate and Pear soft cake, with a light flavour of cinnamon.....pure pleasure.... for you, your friends and family. It is very easy to make if you can have a mixer and an electric hand egg beater. I am sure everybody will love it! If you don't like cinnamon, don't add it.  I personally love the taste of Chocolate, pears and cinnamon together... Use a good dark chocolate for this cake, a 70% cacao minumum. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
150gr Dark chocolate
1 Tbs Powdered cacao
200gr Sugar
100gr Butter (softed)
230gr Flour
70gr Potato flour
125gr Plain yogurth
80gr milk
3 eggs
1 Teaspoon of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon powdered cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
A pinch of salt
3 Medium pears
Powdered sugar for decoration

Instructions:

Butter and flour a round baking pan (24cm), keep aside. Peel the pears and cut in tin slides, keep aside. Preheat the oven 170 C° (340 F°). Add in a mixer the chocolate and the sugar, mix well till everything gets powdered. Pour the powdered mixture in a large bowl, add the chopped butter, yogurt, milk eggs and vanilla extract, mix it well with an electric hand egg beater till all the ingredients are well melted.

Add the flour and potato flour with the pinch of salt, mix it well. Add the baking powder, work with the electric cooking whip for long time.



Pour half of the mixturein the baking pan, add the pears, proceeding as in the photo.

When completed sprinkle the cinnamon powder on the pears.

Pour the left mixture on the top, to cover the pears. Place the cake in the oven at 170C° for 45 minutes. After 45 minutes check if the cake is cooked with a wooden stick...if the centrum is still liquid cook for further 5 to 10 minutes then take it out of the oven and make it cool.

Your cake is ready. Decorate with the powdered sugar. I use to place a pear on the cake and powder the sugar on it.... take out the pear and your nice decoration is done! Buon appetito!

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