Italian Recipes

Only Meat Ball

2010-07-03T11:49:00.003+05:30

Meat Ball is a kind of food stuff that is basically made up from ground meat rolled into a small ball with all the ingredients like breadcrumbs, onion, spices and eggs if needed. They are prepared by hands after that they are cookd by baking, frying , steaming and braising in the sauce.There is a large variety of meat balls in kofta family in India. To prepare this :

All you need:

For meat balls

* 2 Eggs (medium size)

* 50 g (2 oz) Pecorino Romano cheese (freshly grated) - alternatively you can use Parmesan cheese

* 500 g (1.1 lb) minced beef

* 2 Eggs (medium size)

* 1 Clove of garlic (finely chopped)

* 50 g (2 oz) Breadcrumbs (finely grated)

* 1 g (½ tsp) Ground black pepper

* 1 Clove of garlic (finely chopped)

* 2 g (½ tsp) Salt

* 60 ml (2 fl oz) Extra virgin olive oil

* A small handful of flat leaf parsley (finely chopped)

For Gravy:

* 1 Clove of garlic (finely chopped)

* 450 g (1 lb) Chopped tomatoes (usually 1 can)

* 60 g (2 ½ oz) Tomato purèe

* 1 Small sized onion (finely chopped)

* 150 ml (5 fl oz) Hot water for the gravy preparation

For final stage:

* Salt and ground pepper for seasoning

* A couple of sprigs of flat leaf parsley (finely chopped)

* 600 ml (1 pint) Hot water

How to make:

* Start with preparing the meatballs combining all the ingredients (except the olive oil) add meat and eggs.

* Mix all then add the Pecorino Romano cheese.

* Add chopped parsley and garlic, bred crumbs and salt.

* Add black pepper and mix properly, then make balls take care it should not break.

* Now fry the balls in olive oil make it light golden brown use non stick pan.

* Place them on the tray.

* Strain the oil because it would be used for gravy.

* Take frying pan heat the oil add chopped onion garlic and tomato puree.

* Add 150 ml of hot water cook it when gravy is done remove the pan from heat.

* Now in big frying pan add chopped tomatoes , gravy,reserved browned meatballs.

* Add water around 600 ml.

* Then add chopped parsely and salt.

* Mix properly cook for 15 min,simmer for about 2 ½ hours .After 1 ½ hours simmering, check for seasoning

* Serve and Enjoy!

For more delicious recipes. Visit http://www.myindiaguide.com/cooking/

Apple strudel

2010-06-28T13:46:00.002+05:30

A very popular cake in Italy, it is a traditional Viennese strudel, previously it belonged to Astro Hungarian Empire, it is very yummy as it consists of an oblong strudel pastry jacket with an apple filling inside as the name suggests it is made up of juicy apple , it should be baked with aromatic,tart and crisp apples for apple strudel winesap apples are the best, its dough made up of salt, flour and oil.

All you need:

* Juice from half a lemon

* 1 Ready rolled puff pastry sheet

* 4 Apples

* 60 g (2 ½ oz) raisins

* 60 g (2 ½ oz) Pine kernels

* 100 ml (4 fl oz) Dark rum - about a glass

* 50 g (2 oz) Apricot preserve

* 50 g (2 oz) Sugar

* 2 or 4 g (½ tbs or 1 tbs) Ground cinnamon - depending on your taste

* Orange zest from one orange

* 10 g (½ oz) Butter

* 30 g (slightly more than 1 oz) Breadcrumbs

* 15 ml (1 tbs) Milk

* 1 Egg yolk

* Icing sugar for garnish

* 15 ml (1 tbs) Milk

How to make:

* Soak the raisins an hour before into the glass of rum.Then separate and seive.

* Put the raisins in a small container and keep the raisins aside, rum would be used at later stage.

* Now slice and peel apples 2-3 mm thick, put them into a large bowl, now mix lemon juice.

* Then add raisins,pine kernels,orange zest,cinnamon,sugar and apricot preserve.

* Add 2-3 desert spoons of rum,mix and cover the bowl with cling film and set it aside in the refrigerator.

* Now roast bread cumbs in butter don't make it brown just light brown, then let them cool down.

* Now spread some flour on working surface,Unroll your pastry and start stretching it with a rolling pin and make it thinner (about 2 mm thick).

* Cut the border with a pastry wheel,then spread the bread cumbs over pastry sheet.

* Then take out the bowl from the fridge and fill the contents in pastry sheets,Do the same with the opposite side.

* Set the tray in oven at 180 c cover the bottom of the tray with a layer of baking paper, brush it melted butter.Cover it with foil

* Put the egg yolk into a small bowl and add the milk and beat properly.

* Brush it all over the strudel.

* Take out the tray after 30 min,remove the foil.

* Put the tray back in the oven and cook for another 15 minutes.

* Set the strudel onto a wire rack to cool down.

* When the strudel is tepid, cut a slice and put the slice onto a plate. Garnish with some icing sugar.

* Serve it with vanilla ice-cream.

* Enjoy!

Yummy Pici

2010-06-25T11:20:00.000+05:30

A very yummy delight that has come to make your day more tasty yes it is Pici a kind of thick, hand rolled pasta it is very much similar to fat spaghetti, it is made up of flour, very delicious recipe as it has originated in the province of Siena in Tuscany, it is hearty pasta and can be best served with rich meat sauce so lets come to know how it is made. Serves 4 to 6 people

All you need:

* 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil

* Hearty Meat Ragu

* 5 Cups Flour

* 1/2 Teaspoon Salt

Other ingredients:

* Olive Oil for Rolling

* Extra Flour For Rolling and For Drying

* Grated Cheese For Serving

How to make:

* Take flour, salt and water in a bowl.

* Make dough by adding required water.

* Knead the dough to make it elastic, then wrap the kneaded dough in plastic wrap.

* Leave it for 30 mins, then use half of it and start rolling, roll it by making it 1/4 inch thick.

* Keep your dough in rectangular shape and make strips.

* Take a strip with lightly oiled fingers first roll into a tube, follow the process as bring both hands to the center of the tube, then gently roll it with your fingers start moving the your hands apart towards the ends.

* Now keep it on Kitchen towel, start cooking just bring salted water to boil pour the pici and let it get cooked.

* Check after 5 min make sure Pici should not be mushy it should be tendered.

* Drain it , now put it to a pot ,now add couple of scoops of sauce into the pot and shake it with pici.

* Now serve the pici in the bowls add more sauce and top it with grated cheese.

* Enjoy!

Mushroom risotto

2010-06-24T12:33:00.000+05:30

A recipe is going to make your mouth watered has directly come to steal your hearts from Italian Kitchen yes it is very delicious Mushroom risotto right in front of you to make your day special so try this for a very unique taste. This classic recipe depends upon the type of Mushrooms.

All you need:

* 60 ml Extra virgin olive oil

* 350-400 g Carnaroli rice

* 50 g Dried porcini mushrooms

* 2 Knobs of butter

* 100 ml of White wine

* 1 Large shallot

* 1 Litre (1 ¾ pints) of hot chicken or vegetable stock

* Salt for seasoning

* Ground black pepper

* 25 g grated Parmesan cheese

How to make:

* Rinse the Mushrooms under running water.

* Soak them in a bowl filled with 600 ml of tepid water for 20-30 minutes, its ladle will be used later .

* Take out the mushrooms and squeeze them properly,make small pieces.

* Heat virgin oil in a large pan with a knob of butter, add shallot finely chopped heat untill they become soft.

* Add mushrooms and stir properly.

* Then add rice and let them get translucent, stir properly.

* Add white wine and let it get evaporate.

* Now couple of ladles of water that was used to soak mushrooms.Add stock on medium heat , keep adding along with the ate of a couple of ladlefuls at a time.

* Do it for 15 min,let the stock get completely absorbed.

* Add Parmesan cheese , remove the pan add butter.

* Risotto should be served "all' onda" , you serve it onto the plate, it should still flow a little.

Sicilian cannoli

2010-06-18T17:38:00.000+05:30

Another tempting recipe is right in front of you to make your day it is very fast to cook and good to eat, so to have a perfect delight just switch to this mouth watering recipe, that is going to give you an unforgettable taste it is Sicilian cannoli, so just got for it.

All you need:

For cannoli Shells

* 20 g of Pork lard

* 300 g of Plain flour

* A pinch of salt

* 160ml of Dry white wine

* 1 Egg yolk (for brushing)

* 20 g of Caster sugar

* 1 tsp of Cocoa powder

* ½ tsp of Ground coffee

For Filling:

* 2 lt. Groundnut oil for frying

* 275 g of Icing sugar some extra for dusting

* 75 g of Candied cherries

* 700 g Sheep milk ricotta

* 75 g of Mixed candied citrus peel

* 2 lt. Groundnut oil for frying

* 75 g of 70% Dark chocolate

* 25 g of Whole shelled pistachios

How to make:

* Sieve the flour with salt,ground coffee and the cocoa powder . Then add caster sugar, along with wine a little bit.

* Right after the initial stirring with he wooden spoon shift the dough on to a working space and knead.

* Wrap it with cling film and keep it in the fridge for 30-40 minutes.

* Lets prepare cannoli filling, just pass the ricotta cheese through a wide mesh sieve.

* Now place the mouli in a large bowl, so that all the processed ricotta cheese can be passed through the bottom grating disc.Add 275 g of icing sugar.

* Mix ricotta and sugar, add candied citrus peel along with the chocolate, it must be chopped not to fine powder.

* Stir well,cover it with cling film and place it in the fridge till the time comes to fill the cannoli.

* Then start making cannoli shells, using rolling pin or pasta machine, then make four equal parts of dough .

* Pass each and every dough with pasta machine roller,starting from the wider settings and keep going until you reach a 2 mm thickness,dnt forget to dust the dough.

* Place the dough sheets over the working space, now make so many shapes with cookie cutter.

* Now take the cannoli tubes with some oil coat their external side, then then discs should be wrapped around the cannoli tubes.

* Place the tube in the center of the disc, brush it with egg so that both sides get sticked, gently pressed the overlapped area.

* Then fry them in oil,make them golden brown and place them on kitchen paper, squeeze the tubes to take out cannoli shells.

* Now put candied cherries along with e pistachios to decorate dust them with icing sugar.

* Enjoy it with coffee!

Risotto alla Milanese

2010-06-16T11:43:00.000+05:30

Another tempting stuff that has directly rushed from the kitchen of Italy to make your day very special is Risotto alla Milanese, this recipe will definitely make your mood and really going to be your favourite so try this mouth watering stuff what are you waiting for.

All you need:

* Salt for seasoning

* 350-400 g of Carnaroli rice

* 40 g of Beef bone marrow

* 60 g Grated Parmesan cheese

* ½ Onion (finely chopped)

* 1 Litre of hot beef or chicken stock - 2 stock cubes

* 50 g of Butter

* 0.15-0.20 g Saffron powder100 ml of White wine

How to make:

* Add 30 g butter in a pan and melt it.Add onion finely chopped on medium heat then add the bone marrow cook it for three min.

* When the onion becomes soft add rice, keep stirring till the rice get coated properly.

* It will become translucent cook it for 3 min.

* Add white wine let it get evaporated.

* Turn the heat low and ad stock,it should be added at the rate of a couple of ladlefuls at a time.

* Once it get absorbed add more stock,do it for 15 min keep stirring.

* Cook it for 15 min, when the stock gets absorbed completely add more if needed.

* Now put saffron powder in a glass,add stock, dissolve the saffron and add it to the pan.

* Stir well and let the rice become al dente.

* Add the Parmesan cheese and butter.Turn off the heat.

* Cover the pan.

* Serve hot .

* Enjoy!

Spaghetti with sheeps cheese and black pepper

2010-06-14T11:00:00.000+05:30

This special recipe is made from cheese to give you a yummy delight , if you a cheese lover then you cant afford to miss it as this recipe is really tempting because it is made from Spaghetti so try this and feel the difference.

All you need:

* 150 Pecorino romano cheese

* 400 g of Spaghetti

* 10 g (1/3 oz) Black pepper

How to make:

* Put the cheese in a bowl, add crushed pepper.

* Mix properly to distribute the pepper properly.

* Now its time to drain the spaghetti .

* Put the Spaghetti in the bowl of pepper and cheese.

* Stir the stuff energetically, cheese will give you some creamy taste.

* Add bit of hot water if you think Spaghetti is dry.

* You can add butter to make it moist.

* Now serve hot,Enjoy!

Penne all'arrabbiata

2010-06-11T18:41:00.000+05:30

Very yummy taste that gives you ultimate delight , a recipe called Penne all'arrabbiata in this there is a use of chili, you can add so much of chilli as you want, it got originated in the central part of Italy, basically it follows Roman cooking tradition. So to have a roman taste try something different this time and just switch to this mouth watering stuff.

All you need:

* 2 Cloves of garlic

* A small handful of flat leaf parsley

* 400 g of Penne rigate pasta

* 90 ml of Extra virgin olive oil

* 500 g of Chopped tomatoes

* Salt for seasoning

* 2 or 3 Whole dried red chili

How to make:

* Chop chili and garlic

* Then heat the olive oil and put chopped ingredients.

* Make garlic golden brown

* After that add chopped tomatoes and stir.

* Add salt.

* Cook the stuff on medium heat for about 20-25 minutes, to make the sauce ready.

* Then add boil pasta to sauce, stir well and coat the pasta will sauce.

* Sprinkle chopped parsely, stir and serve .

* Enjoy!

Spaghetti with aubergines

2010-06-09T18:52:00.000+05:30

A very simple and special recipe but very mouth watering, as it is going you a very different flavour although it requires more tome than ordinary recipe of spaghetti requires, a wonderful and ever lasting taste that is going to make your day so try it for a very new flavour: First of all you need to prepare aubergines and after that prepare base sauce.

All you need:

1. 1 Large aubergine

2. Sunflower oil for deep frying

To prepare the base sauce:

1. 400 g of Sieved tomatoes
2. 60 ml of Extra virgin olive oil
3. 400 g of Spaghetti
4. 1 Clove of garlic
5. 1 Big shallot
6. 10 Basil leaves
7. 1 Red chili - medium hot
8. Salt for seasoning
9. 10 Baby tomatoes

How to make:

1. Deep fry the aubergine slices in sunflower oil.

2. Cut the ends off the aubergine ,make it half as one half in order to have half moon shapes, other half can go for long strips, Half moons and strips should be sliced finely then ,make them brown then put it
on kitchen paper.

3. Follow same with the strips.

4. Then cover with kitchen paper as the excess oil will be removed from aubergine , use salt for seasoning .

5. Now heat extra virgin olive oil in a saucepan, put finely chopped shallot, make the heat sweat let it be golden and soft.

6. Then chopped garlic and chili together and stir, along with sieved tomatoes and stir well for 4-5 min.

7. Add salt, finally add baby tomatoes, remove from heat to prevent overcooking.

8. The moment spaghetti is ready, put the saucepan with the sauce onto the cooker again, pour spaghetti in and stir thoroughly heat should be medium-high.

9. Now top it up with a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese.

10. Serve and enjoy!

Radicchio and smoked cheese risotto

2010-06-02T16:33:00.000+05:30

Red radicchio and smoked cheese is really a classic recipe , it is very common in North East of Italy, mainly in the Treviso province,There are so many varieties of red radicchio, to have a delight just try this very yummy and delicious recipe, to give you an extra different taste, so try this tempting delight.

So all you need is:
75 g of Butter
50-400 g of Carnaroli rice
½ Onion
150 g of Red radicchio leaves
100 ml White wine
100 g of Smoked cheese
1 Litre of hot vegetable stock - 2 stock cubes
Salt for seasoning.

How to make:
Start with separating radicchio leaves,dry, wash them and take out the hard white core part of the leaves, chop them by making thin and long strips. Make thin slices of cheese, in a pan put 50 g of butter and melt it, add onion. For about 3-5 minutes Sweat the onion over a medium heat .Then add the radicchio. Now its time to wilt the radicchio for 2-3 minutes, it will reduces its volume by about 1/3. Add rice,stir till it get coated with butter, it will become translucent, stirring continuously.
Now add white wine let it get evaporated. Then add stock and make the heat low, it should be added at the rate of a couple of ladlefuls at a time, add more when the former get absorbed, keep stirring regularly. Then after 15 min, taste and check the rice whether it is cooked, make it al dente, add salt if needed. Add cheese slices at about 1 min before you put the cooker off. Stir and let the cheese melt, when the rice is cooked al dente, add more butter. Then cover the pan. Then serve it .
Enjoy!

Seafood risotto

2010-05-31T18:34:00.000+05:30

Yummy recipe that is going to make your day as well as make your mouth watering, just arrived from the kitchen of Italy yes this is Seafood risotto, such a delicious recipe that will surely send you to the moon,very easy and fast to cook and good to eat.So try it

All you need :

500 g Seafood selection
350-400 g Carnaroli rice
2 Cloves of garlic
75 ml of Extra virgin olive oil
1 Chili
1 Shallot should be finely chopped
30 ml of Tomato puree
100 ml of White wine
A small handful of flat leaf parsley (roughly chopped)
1 Litre of hot fish stock - 2 stock cubes
2.5 ml of Cracked black pepper
Salt for seasoning

How to make:

Firstly defrost the frozen fish then pat it with dry paper.Then take 500 g of dry seafood. Now put the olive oil in the pan, heat then add chili and garlic, let
garlic becomes golden at gentle heat. When it becomes golden remove it out of the pan, after that take out the chili. Make the heat medium, then add seafood to the pan, cook it for 2-3 min and stir well. After 2-3 min remove the seafood from heat and put it into a bowl. Keep aside, then back to the pan here you will get flavoured oil. Add finely chopped shallot and rice,make the rice completely coated
with oil, it will become translucent cook for 2-3 min.Then ad wine it will evaporate.
Make the heat medium and add stock, add it at the rate of a couple of
ladlefuls at a time.

Add more when it is absorbed, carry it out for about 15 min, dont leave the pan alone. Add tomato puree,stir and distribute it evenly,then add stock as
required, then add seasoning-pepper and salt. After 15 min add seafood to pan and make the heat high. From now taste the rice every min, until it becomes al dente.When the stock is absorbed completely add half ladle When the rice is cooked perfectly add parsley and stir. Now it is ready to serve . Enjoy!

Tuscan Navy Bean Soup

2010-05-28T11:50:00.000+05:30

If your mood has changed and you want to try soup this time then here
is very tasty Tuscan Navy Bean Soup has arrived to give you a
wonderful taste, it has directly come from Italian kitchen, so try
this very fast to cook and tasty retreat.

All you need:
1 medium onion should be chopped
3 cloves garlic should be minced or pressed
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 cups of vegetable broth
1 teaspoon of dried basil
1 16 oz. can peeled tomatoes (undrained) -- chopped
salt & pepper to taste
1/2 teaspoon of dried oregano
1 16 oz. can navy beans with liquid
1/2 cup small uncooked pasta

How to make :

Take a large soup pot and heat olive oil over medium heat..
Add onion and saute about 1 minute.
Now add saute and onion about 1 minute.
Then garlic, spices, tomatoes and broth.
Make it boil add pasta.
Make low heat and cover.
About 10 min simmer it, then stir.
Now add beans and heat it.
Enjoy!

Fast tiramisù 4 four

2010-05-26T14:25:00.000+05:30

Very delicious and yummy taste has arrived for you from the Kitchen of Italy, in this recipe less ingredients are used and this doesnot contain alcohol,a yummy recipe that is particularly suitable for those who are teetotal. Very easy to cook and good to eat, so this time if you want to change your flavour then go for Fast tiramisù 4 four.

To make it all you need:
100 g of Icing sugar
50 g of Italian mascarpone cheese
1 Pack of Pavesini biscuits
4 or 5 Egg yolks
200 ml Strong espresso coffee (cold) or coffee prepared with a moka
Cocoa powder for dusting
Few drops of vanilla extract

Procedure:

Take a large bowl put the egg yolks.
Beat them and add sugar,make it pale yellow .
Then add few drops of vanilla extract.
Make it evenly distributed by beating.
Add the mascarpone to the egg-sugar-vanilla cream and blend together.
Now you get tiramisù cream.
Its time to assemble tiramisù. U can prepare 4 little rectangular dishes, about 16 cm x 8 cm.s
Now dip biscuits in coffee, one by one and lay them on dish,put tiramisù cream..Do0 the same process to form another layer of biscuits.
Now spread the final layer, sprinkle with cocoa powder and put the tiramisù in the fridge and leave it for about 4 hours before serving it.
Enjoy!

Caper and anchovy sauce (grilled fish)

2010-05-24T12:36:00.000+05:30

If this time if you are in the mood to eat grilled fish then here is very tasty and tangy option for you yes its name is : Caper and anchovy sauce, that has directly come from the kitchen of Italy so try this very ultimate and happening food recipe.So all you need is:

100 ml of Extra virgin olive oil
4 Large tuna steaks
Lemon zest from one small lemon (finely chopped)
40 g Capers (finely chopped)
10 g of Anchovy paste
3 g of French mustard
Salt for seasoning
10 ml Lemon juice

Procedure:
Put olive oil in a small glass bowl, then add lemon zest , capers, Lemon juice, Anchovy paste,mustard, at last add salt to taste. Now take a small pan and fill it with boiling water halfway, then set the heat low don't let the water boil. Put over the pan that glass bowl containing all the ingredients,then for 5 min cook bain Marie , make the heat off, leave the bowl on the pan lat the sauce warm
With olive oil, brush the tuna steaks.

Make the grill pan over the heat for 5 minutes it would turn hot and ready for the steaks, after that put the tuna steaks on the pan. Cook them for 3-4 min. Turn them another side. Now put caper and anchovy sauce and cover each of the steaks. enjoy!

The Italian Stallion

2010-05-19T17:17:00.000+05:30

If you need some change in your daily menu then here is a wonderful option for you just directly from the Kitchen of Italy , this very tempting and delicious Italian recipe is very fast to cook and good to eat, and will definitely give you an ultimate taste that you have never had experienced before,so to have this yummy recipe all you need to gather is:

* 1, 15 ounce can of diced tomatoes, with juice
* Tomato Sauce
* 1/4 cup of dry red wine
* 2 teaspoons of Italian seasoning
* 1 tablespoon of sugar
* 1/4 teaspoon of salt
* 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper

For special pork topping :

* 1/3 pound of lean ground pork
* 1 tablespoon of olive oil
* 1/2 cup of yellow onion, finely diced
* 1/4 teaspoon of salt
* 2 garlic cloves, minced
* 1/4 teaspoon of salt
* 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
* 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning

To make Sauted Mushrooms:

* 4 ounces of button mushrooms, sliced
* 1 tablespoon of unsalted butter

You can add:

* 1, 13.8 ounce can refrigerated pizza crust
* 4 ounces of sliced salami
* 1-2 tablespoons all purpose flour
* 4 ounces sliced provolone
* 1/2 cup fresh basil, chiffonade
* 4 ounces fresh mozzarella, diced
* 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
* 1 large egg, lightly beaten

How to make:
Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Then you need to mix all sauce ingredients , reduce heat and uncover, then remove from heat and lend it till it becomes smooth, then heat the sauce until it thickened.Then remove from heat and let it cool. Heat olive oil on a medium heat, now add pork,garlic, onion, salt, pepper and Italian seasoning. Stir and cook constantly, make pork light brown, add red wine vinegar and cook it for two minutes , remove from heat.Now melt butter is a small saucepan , add mushrooms and cook about 8 min, then remove from heat, now carefully unroll pizza dough onto floured surface. Now pull the edges outward and make rectangle, now make layers of provolone cheese slices onto dough leaving a 1 inch border along long ends of dough, and a 2 inch border at the short end of dough. Now make another layer of salami, mushrooms, pork and mozzarella in an order. Make topping with tomato sauce, Sprinkle with fresh basil. Then roll up jelly roll style, press and deal the ends, on a cookie sheet sprayed with cooking spray place roll, seam side down,now brush the roll with beaten egg. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese. Bake it for 20 minutes, then cut 4 slits across top of roll. Return to oven and bake 5 minutes. Remove, and let sit for 5 minutes before serving.
Now serve it with tomato sauce.

Calamari Stew with Garlic Toast

2010-05-10T17:42:00.000+05:30

Very delicious Italian Recipe, very fast to cook and good to eat, if you want to change you daily menu then this is perfect destination for you, so try this for an ultimate delight and new taste, Calamari Stew with Garlic Toast is just for you to make your day filled with utmost flavour that you have had never got before so what are you waiting for just try this very delicious taste.

For Calamari Stew:

* 2 cloves of garlic, cut in 1/2
* 2 tablespoons of olive oil
* 1 cup of white wine
* 1 3/4 cups of tomato sauce
* 1 teaspoon of fresh chopped thyme leaves
* 1/2 teaspoon of salt
* 1 teaspoon of red pepper flakes
* 2 pounds of calamari (squid), bodies thinly sliced and tentacles whole
* 1/2 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper

Procedure:
To make Calamari Stew: Warm the oil at medium heat, now add garlic cook for 2 min, until fragrant, remove the garlic down add tomato sauce, red pepper flakes, white wine, thyme, pepper and salt, take the mixture into simmer, its time to add Calamari, keep continuing cooking the mixture for about 2 min, serve with Garlic Toasts.

To make Garlic Toast, you need to preheat the oven to Garlic Toast.In the mean time drizzle the bread slices with olive oil. Make the bread crisp and toast get it turned brown after 8 to 10 min take out from the oven , rub the top of the toasts with whole garlic cloves. Now its time to serve with Calamari Stew.

Brian's neapolitan ragù

2010-05-06T15:02:00.000+05:30

A perfect delight to make your day and if you are fed up of your daily routine food then why not try this very new Brian's neapolitan ragù. All you need is :

100 g Smoked bacon (pancetta affumicata)
500 g of Minced beef
1 Onion (finely chopped)
75 ml of Extra virgin olive oil
250 ml (slightly less than½ pint)
4x400 g Tins of plum tomatoes
3 Bay leaves
Salt
1 Small rosemary sprig

Steps:
Take some olive oil in pan heat it, add onion and for about 10 min sweat off , till onion becomes soft. After 5 min, add onion and garlic, let it be soft then on high heat add meat, th bacon needed to be minced like the minced beef should be finely chopped. Stir i becomes brown and redwine and rosemary, stir well. When it changes to brown add tinned tomatoes , on high hat heat keep cooking until it reaches simmering point. Make the heat low .Now season it with salt not o muchas this is initial seasoning . Simmer it for 2 ½ hours,lt the sauce gets reduced, keep checking the seasoning in then n and add some salt. As ragu mis ready now boil the pasta, an can top it with ragu, you can also top it with grated Pecorino or Parmesam cheese. Or you can freeze your ragu and use when ever want.

Chocolate Salami

2010-05-03T12:52:00.000+05:30

A salute of chocolate to food lovers, very yummy and tempting, this dessert is very popular in Italian Families and very frequently eaten in the evening time with coffee. Very good to eat and fast to cook gives you a perfect delight . So here is very tempting Chocolate Salami for you. You can serve eight people , it takes 30 min to cook.

All you need is :

100 g of Dark chocolate 85% cocoa can be used
100 g of Sugar
30 ml of Dark rum
300 g of Rich tea biscuits
2 Eggs
150 g of Butter (unsalted)

Steps:
Cut butter into pieces, make it warm to room temperature.
Put the chocolate pieces into small bowl and melt it .Use bain marie method.
Stir it with spoon, when it melted completely remove it and let it be cooled.
Put biscuits in a bowl and crumb it.
Now work butter with an electric whisk and add ingredients.
Add sugar and eggs, now whisk it, further add melted chocolate.
Now add Rum and whisk, shift the mixture into another bowl that contains biscuit crumbs.
Mix the mixture properly.
Result should be chocolate dough.
Mould the dough in the shape of salami, put on a layer of cling film an wrap it. Press it to make compact, seal the sides and put it to the fridge for two hours.
Now take out and slice it.

Piadiana Flat Bread

2010-04-28T16:15:00.000+05:30

Another very yummy and delicious Piadiana Flat Bread will add some more flavour to you day. to prepare it needs 45 min, and you require 2-3 min to cook and you will serve four to six people, all you need is :
A heaped teaspoon of salt for seasoning 15 g (½ oz) of Baking powder 100g (4 oz) of pork lard 1 kg (2.2 lb) of white flour (Italian “00” flour or equivalent)

Steps:
Spread flour on flatboard make a well , put salt and baking powder and add lard in the flour, if you have kept in freezer then dont forget to take out a night before. Take some hot water, put very small quantity on to the lard, and make it melt. Make sure the lard is melted, now start working the dough . It should be externally smooth, should not be too hard too soft, now wrap it in muslin, and put plastic bag. Now take a small ball, flat it with rolling pin. All the side should have same thickness and make it clockwise. Now piadina is ready, take a flat pan put it on cooker. Put it on the pan, you ill see a few bubbles make ure the surface is flat. Then check bottom surface should be of light brown colour now turn other side. Now the piadina is all ready.Cut it into slices. Now place dry cured ham or coppa over piadina. Wonderful Piadiana Flat Bread is ready.

Sicilian Vegetable Stew

2010-04-26T16:15:00.000+05:30

This yummy recipe will take 2 hours foe preparation and 40 min to cook. You can serve six people. All you need is:
1 Courgette that is (sliced)
75 ml (3 fl oz) of Extra virgin olive oil (for the initial sauté)
500 g of (1.1 lb) Aubergines (diced)
1 Celery stalk (sliced)
100 ml (4 fl oz) of White wine vinegar
25 g (1 oz)of Pine kernels
10 g (1 tbs) of Sugar
25 g (1 oz) Raisins
25 g (1 oz) of Capers
400 g (14 oz)of Chopped tomatoes
2 Bell peppers one yellow and one red-sliced into strips
½ tbs of Dry basil finely chopped 5 leaves of fresh basil alternatively
75 g (3 oz) of Green olives (stoned and cut in half)
300 g (11 oz) of Potatoes (diced)
60 g (2 ½ oz) of Sun dried tomatoes, that preserved in oil will also work 750 ml of Light olive oil for the frying of the aubergine, celery and courgette and celery For seasoning salt and black pepper

Steps:
You can start with, the first step is Dice the aubergines, put them into colander add lots of salt, and leave for couple of hours, salt is used to extract the bitter dark juice from the aubergines, after two hours rinse the aubergines, before frying them pat them dry.

Then you prepare the rest vegetables, cut slices of courgette into 3 mm as well as of celery.
Peel off the skin of peppers and cut them into strips, 5cm long and 5mm thick.
Now the vegetables are ready to be fried, timing of frying would be dictated by the aubergines, because they need to cleaning before use, when they are read, fry the vegetables.Before frying revive the raisins soaking them in lukewarm water for about 15-20 minutes, then drain them.
Put light olive oil and heat it, then fry aubergines, after 4 min remove them. Fry courgette and celery. for four four min respectively, using same oil and remove them.
Mix three vegetables together.
To prepare initial sauté, Put the extra virgin olive oil into a large pan and start to sauté the onion., when onion starts softening then add the peppers and continue with the sauté. Stir well so that both onion and pepper are well coated with oil, make onion golden brown, now add chopped tomatoes.Stir well. Now add dry basil,then diced potatoes, stir well if sauce is dry then add half a glass ( roughly 100 ml) of boiled water. .Cook it for 10 min.
After 10 min, add sugar and vinegar,then capers and kernels. Now add raisins, green olives, dried tomatoes, stir well add salt, pepper, now add fried vegetables, stir well and cook it for 20 min After 20 min remove the pan, better serve it cool. You can add bread also,Use some home made bread to prepare a bruschetta-like dish. Slice the bread. You need to heat a cast iron heat pan,now grill the bread from both the sides. Finally,serve the vegetable stew over a slice of bread.

Arancini Di Riso

2010-04-23T16:35:00.000+05:30

An Italian recipe named Arancini Di Riso is very yummy and fast to cook, Arancini Di Riso means "oranges" made with rice, it take 15min for preparation.For boiling the rice it takes around 45 minutes. You can make around 20 arancini di riso all you need is:

1 Kg Rice (”Originario” variety or “Roma” variety)
0.15-020 g of Saffron powder (usually 1 sachet)
2.5 litres of water
40 g of Coarse salt
100 g of Butter
300-400 g of Ragù sauce
2 Buffalo mozzarella (cut in little dice)
300 g of Dried breadcrumbs should be finely grated
1 litre of sunflower oil for the deep frying
300 g of Peas (boil for 7-8 minutes in lightly salted water)

Steps:

Take water in big pan and heat when it is tepid,you add salt and put rice then and stir.
Make the water gentle boil and add saffron.
After 20 min the rice is ready, make sure it should not stick to pan.
Cut butter in small pieces and spread over a working surface..
Mix butter with right and let the rice cooled down.
Make rice balls resembles orange size.
Then have your ragù ready..
Fill the balls with one spoon of peas, one spoon of ragù and a dice of mozzarella.Then pack it tightly.
Put these arancino through breadcrumbs, they should be very dry and finely grated.Then deep fry them.
Oil temperature should be 170-180 °C and fry all the arancini make them golden.
After getting golden remove them from oil, put them on Kitchen paper you can eat them cool as well warm.

Pasta with Bottarga Sauce

2010-04-19T15:36:00.000+05:30

Very tempting and delicious, this recipe is a kind of super delicacy for those who love seafood. This mouth watering Italian recipe named Pasta with Bottarga Sauce, is fast to cook good to eat.The ingredients are :

(It will serve four)
400 g spaghetti or Squid ink linguine
60 ml of Extra virgin olive oil
100 g mullet roe or Tuna roe
1 Garlic clove
For seasoning ground black pepper.
Handful of flat leaf parsley, should be roughly chopped.

Method:
1.Grate the cod roe,like you grate piece of Parmesan cheese
2.Then boil linguine past, mean while start preparing sauce
3.Pour olive into the pan, let it get heated a bit then add garlic(slices).
4.Make the garlic golden in colour, then remove it from the pan.
5.Leave the oil to cool down about a minute.
6.You add 2/3 of the grated cod roe into pan.
7.Stirr well
8.2/3 of the parsley to be added into pan.
9.Season it with black pepper
10.Now add two spoonfuls of the boiling water that was used for boiling pasta.
11. Stir to make it creamy mix.
12.Sauce is ready,let the pasta get cooked properly.
13.After the pasta is cooked before draining it, heat the pan containing the sauce (high heat).
14.Drain the pasta but leave it slightly wet
15.Add pasta to sauce pan
16.Sprinkle with remaining grated cod roe.
17.Then sprinkle remaining parsley and stir.
18.now the delicious pasta is ready to eat.

Whole Wheat Vegetarian Spinach Lasagna.

2010-03-25T10:36:00.000+05:30

Whole Wheat Vegetarian Lasagna is a Classical Italian baked dish which consists of alternate layer of Lasagna noodles, Cheese, Spinach, Pasta Sauce. The dish is very tasteful as well as very nutritious to have.

Ingredients:

* 500 gms package whole wheat lasagna noodles, cooked slightly.
* 500 gms package frozen raw spinach.
* ½ cup grated Parmesan Cheese.
* 3 eggs.
* 3 Cups low fat cottage Cheese.
* 3 Cups Pasta Sauce.
* 3 Cups grated Mozarilla Cheese.

Servings for 10 person.

Method of Preparation:

First you have to heat the oven to 325 degrees. Place a medium mixing bowl to beat eggs , add cottage and Parmesan Cheese to it. Take one glass baking dish and put one layer of slightly cooked lasagna noodles flat on the dish, then add half leaf spinach over it , pressing it slightly and evenly.then put another layer of lasagna noodles over it. Spread the cottage cheese mixture over the noodles and add remaining spinach over it. Finally top the last part of noodles over the spinach and spread pasta sauce evenly over the top. Then sprinkle Mozarilla cheese over it and press it slightly.

Then cover this baking dish with a foil paper tightly over the sides keeping the foil off in the center of the lasagna, the foil paper should be sprayed with cooking spray.

Bake for about 1 hr. and 15 mins in oven till the top turns light brown. Remove the foil for few minutes at the end of baking. After 15 mins the lasagna is ready to serve.

Veal Sorrentino

2010-03-08T17:53:00.000+05:30

Perfect for your grand Italian course, Veal Sorrentino is something that is usually missing in most of the menus.The dish primarily has veal(calf) and eggplant blended with mozzarella cheese and prosciutto. if Veal is not your thing, toss some chicken in its place and enjoy it with Marinara Sauce.

What You Need:

* Eggplant, 4 slices
* Butter, 2 tablespoons
* Olive Oil,1-1/4 cups
* Veal Scaloppine,4(The veal should be sliced thinly and cut from the top)
* Prosciutto,4 slices
* Mozzarella Cheese,4 slices
* Chicken Broth,1/2 cup
* Serry Wine,1/2 cup
* Marinara Sauce,1/2 cup
* Spread flour and bread crumbs on separate platters.
* Salt and Pepper to taste

How to make:

* Beat eggs,lightly in a deep dish
* Take one cup Olive Oil and heat in a saute pan of medium depth over high heat
* Brush the eggplant in flour laid out on a plate.Dip the flour covered eggplant in the whisked egg.
* Press the eggplant into the bread crumbs.Do the same on both the sides.
* Put the eggplant in oil and cook until it becomes brown.
* Take the eggplants out of the oil and remove the extra oil by placing them on paper towels.
* Heat the oven to 350 degrees
* In a large saute pan,put the remaining olive oil(1/4 cup) and heat it over medium heat.
* Dip the scaloppine in flour and put it into a pan after shaking off the excess flour.
* Cook the veal until it becomes light brown on both the sides.Drain the oil and put the veal back over the heat.
* Add butter(2 tbsp) in the pan and place one slice of eggplant and prosciutto on each side of the veal alongwith one slice of mozzarella and a little marinara sauce.
* To that,add sherry and broth.Put a drop of Marinara over each slice mozzarella and finally add salt and pepper to bring that essential taste.
* For 5 minutes,simmer the assortment and finally place it in the preheated oven.
* Cook the veal until mozzarella melts till you like it.Take out the pan containing veal,from the oven and put it on a warm platter.
* Turn the heating up In case the juices in the pan are thin to reduce them to a particular consistency.Scrape the residue with a wooden spoon.
* Pour the sauce and serve.

Pasta alla Titta

2010-01-25T17:29:00.000+05:30

Pasta Alla Titta refers to a vegetarian Pasta sauce that tastes great with any kind of pasta and indeed can elevate the taste of the same.

Ingredients:

* 4 medium-sized courgettes
* 2 cloves of garlic
* 200g of ricotta cheese
* 500g of spaghetti
* olive oil
* fine salt
* freshly ground pepper
* Parmesan cheese

Method of Preparation:

Place a large pan filled with cold water and bring it to boil on medium flame. Parallely chop the courgettes into discs which could be sliced as thick as coins. Put some Olive oil in the pan and place in it the peeled garlic Clevey. Heat the oil on a low flame. By now, the water in the pan would have boiled, in which pour some pasta and boil till they soften. In the pan, pour the courgettes, and stir, keeping the fire low. Cook the contents in the frying pan untill they turn brown in color. Once you can feel the aroma of Courgettes, remove the pan from flame. The pasta by this time would be ready.

For the Sauce:
# When the pasta is ready, drain it of its water (and don't forget to keep the glassfull of cooking water) and pour it in the pan over the courgettes. Immediately after, pour in the ricotta cheese, and mix thoroughly.
# If the ricotta doesn't seem enough, or the consistency seems too dry, use the pasta's cooking water to balance it out. Add it a spoonfull at the time, until you obtain a creamy consistency.
# At this point, grate some parmesan cheese.
# Plate the pasta, add some pepper and as much parmesan cheese as you like, and you're ready to go

Love fish? Try Sauteed Tilapia

2010-01-21T12:38:00.000+05:30

If you love eating fish then Sauteed Tilapia is the right recipe for you. Actually Tilapia is a soft white coloured fish which is found throughout the year. This recipe is one of the best recipes for cooking Tilapia.

INGREDIENTS THAT YOU NEED

# Flour - 1 cup for scooping
# Salt - 1 tsp
# Ground black pepper - 1 tsp
# 1 pound of tilapia fillets
# 2 tablespoons of olive oil
# A bunch of long green onion, finely chopped
# 2 cloves of garlic,chopped.
# 1 Tbls of capers
# 3/4 cup of white wine
# 1/2 cup chicken broth
# Juice of 1 lemon
# 2 Tbls of butter

HOW TO PREPARE?

# Put the flour in some shallow bowl.
# Season with pepper and salt.
# Scoop the tilapia fillets in the flour.
# Sauté the tilapia fillets in the olive oil until they turn brown on both sides.
# Remove the fish from pan and keep it aside on a warm platter.
# Add a little more oil to the pan and sauté the onions and garlic until soft.
# Put the capers, wine, broth and lemon juice in the pan.
# Boil the entire mixture till it turns half.
# Switch off the heat and finish the sauce by stirring in the butter.
# Plate the tilapia and spoon over the sauce.

Zuppa alla Paves-Tough to say,easy to make!

2010-01-19T10:13:00.000+05:30

Zuppa alla Paves can be easily called as the bread and egg soup. Besides being simple in ingredients, the soup has great delightfulness. According to a legend this soup was invented by a farmer and it was served to a King who had lost a battle and was wandering in the forest. Nobody knows about the reality of this legend but one thing is for sure and that is, it's recipe is really old. The soup has a great nourishing property and it shoul be served for lunch during the winters.

How to make Zappa alla Paves Soup?
(Serves One)

Ingredients:

* Eggs - 2
* A bread slice
* A beef stock cube
* Finely grated Parmesan cheese to sprinkle generously.
* A knob of butter
* An oven proof dish

Process :

*First of all,put the oven proof dish in the oven so that we get it hot ,later,when required.
*Cut a slice of bread
*Remove the hard brown crust from it and cut the big slic into two halves.
*Dissolve the stock cube in ¾ pint of boiling water to prepare the stock.
*Melt the butter in some shallow pan.
*Fry the bread in such a way that it turns golden on both the sides.
*When the bread has been fried properly, take the oven proof dish out of the oven.
*Keep the bread inside the dish by pressing it firmly.
*Break the eggs upon the bread and sprinkle cheese.
*Now the dish is ready for adding the stock.
*Add boiling stock to the dish.
*Cover the dish for 2-3 minutes so that the eggs get partially cooked by the steam of the stock

Quick and Delicious Italian Mussel Soup

2010-01-18T10:41:00.000+05:30

The word "mussel" is most frequently used to mean the edible bivalves of the marine family "Mytilidae". In short, we can say that mussels are the bivalved eatable shells mostly from the freshwater areas.Other dialect names for mussels include cozzi, cozzi niura, arcella, catacozzula, anapinnula etc. The mussels that have been grown for centuries at Ganzirri, an inlet just outside Messina are much renowned.

Ingredients to be used:

* Four pounds of fresh mussels in their shells
* A medium size chopped onion
* A chopped clove of garlic
* Extra-virgin olive oil
* One pound fresh tomatoes already peeled, seeded and chopped
* Fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
* 1/2 peperoncino, hot red chilli pepper
* Sea salt
* Some fresh basil leaves

How to make Mussel Soup?
* First of all you need to prepare the tomato sauce.Take a big pan.Put a little olive oil in it and heat on medium flame.
* Put the chopped onion and garlic in the oil and fry them till they mturn golden brown.
* Put the chopped tomatoes with the onion-garlic paste and steam-cook it.
* Now remove the mussels and toss them in a covered ,hot pan.Wait till they are open.
* Remove the mussels from their shells.
* Add the mussels and their cooking liquid to the tomato sauce along with the parsley
* Add chilli as per your requirement.
* You can put some water as well ,if necessary.
* Add a little salt according to your taste.
* Garnish with basil leaves and serve hot.

Enjoy this quick and easy Mussel Soup but always remember that every recipe is incomplete without adding a little love in it

Penne

2009-12-14T15:07:00.000+05:30

Penne is a type of cylindrical shaped pasta . Penne is the plural form of the Italian word Penna, meaning feather or quill. In Italy, Penne are mainly produced in two varieties: "penne lisce" (smooth) and "penne rigate" (furrowed), the latter having ridges on each noodle.

Here is how you can enjoy Penne with cottage cheese,tomatoes and baby corn.

What you need :

* 100 grams Penne
* 2 tbsp oil
* 1.25 litres
* 2-3 medium sized onions
* 1 tbsp garlic paste
* 1/2 kg tomatoes
* 10-12 french beans
* 1/2 cup baby corn
* 1 carrot,medium sized
* 100 grams cottage cheese
* 3 tbsp tomato ketchup
* 1 pinch Oregano
* 1/2 tsp Red chilly powder
* Salt to taste

How to make :

* Chop the French bean,baby corn and carrot diagonally
* Cook french beans and baby corn in steam until they become tender
* Mash the cottage cheese into small crumbs and keep aside.
* Add Penne in one litre of boiled water
* Keep it that way for 10 minutes and drain the water once the Penne becomes soft.

To make the tomato sauce:

* Chop the onions and keep them aside
* Blanch the tomatoes and peel them
* Chop the tomatoes and keep them aside.
* Heat oil in a pan
* Add garlic paste and saute
* Add the chopped onion and cook it on a medium flame till red.
* Add chopped tomatoes and mix together
* Cook for about 2 to 3 minutes
*
Add tomato ketchup,salt,red chilli powder and oregano
*
Mix everything well and cook for 2 to 3 minutes.
*
Tomato sauce is ready

For the Penne:

*Take a microwave ready casserole
*Empty the drained penne into it
*Cover it with crumbled cottage cheese
*Add the steamed vegetables
* Mix well
* Top it with tomato sauce
* Microwave for 3 minutes

In case you do not have a microwave,add the Penne, vegetables and crumbled cottage cheese into the pan in which you have prepared the tomato sauce. Mix well and cook for about 2- 3 minutes.

Read and try out more delicious recipes

Delicious Linguine pasta

2009-11-26T11:52:00.000+05:30

Ingredients-

400gm Linguine pasta
500gm fresh clams
60ml olive oil
1 dried chili
1 clove of garlic
60ml white wine
Salt for seasoning

Ingredients-

Preparation
Clean the clove and put fresh water in the bowl of clove and add salt (according to taste)Leave for 4-5 hours

After that give then good rise under running water Put clove in pan and put pan on stove Let it be on stove for 5-6 min, until they cook well Put little bit olive oil in it after that shake it well, and let it cook properly When the cloves is ready it will release liquid Filter the liquid in another bowl and cut the clove in small pieces Chop garlic and chili and put them together in the pan when oil get heated properly Add chopped clove after 2-3 min Add pieces of clove also in it , stir it well Add filter water of clove in it Cook it for five minutes

Hot Linguine clams is ready

Serve hot linguine with chilled white wine
Serve to 4-5 people
Preparation time- 10-15 min

Potato gnocchi

2009-11-16T17:24:00.000+05:30

The word "gnocchi" means "lumps".It is a soft noodle or dumpling which is usually thick.Gnocchi can be made from Semolina,wheat flour,potato and bread crumbs.The smaller forms are called gnocchetti.Gnocchi are eaten as entrees in Italy or as an alternative to soups or pasta.Gnocchi is made in one continuous process: cooking the potatoes, making the dough, forming the gnocchi.

Here's how you can make "Potato Gnocchi":

What you need:

* 4 large potatoes
* 2 cups all purpose flour and some more for dusting
* 2 tbsp plus 2 1/2 tsp of salt
* 2 eggs
* 1/8 tsp of freshly ground black pepper

How to make:

Step I

* Take a large saucepan and out unpeeled potatoes.
* Cover the potatoes with 2 inches of cold water
* Add a tsp of salt and bring to a boil.
* Reduce heat to a medium high and cook for 40 minutes

Step II

* Fill another large saucepan with cold water
* Bbring to a boil after adding 1 tablespoon salt
* Fill a large bowl with ice cold water

Step III

* Drain the potatoes and peel while still hot
* Blend the potato with mixer or potato ricer with its finest disk
* Take out the mound of potatoes so formed and make a well in it
* Sprinkle flour on the potatoes evenly and mix eggs,2 1/2 tsp salt and pepper into it
* Lightly beat the eggs,putting otheringredients to form a dough
* Knead lightly until the dough becomes soft and smooth

Step IV

* Lightly dust the work surface with flour. Divide dough into four balls, and shape each ball into a rope 3/4 inch in diameter.
* Cut each rope into 1-inch pieces.
* Shape the gnocchi: Hold a dinner fork in one hand, and use your index finger to hold a cut edge of a piece of gnocchi against the curved back of the tines of the fork. Press into the center of the gnocchi with your index finger to make a deep indentation. While you are pressing the piece against the tines, flip it away over the tip of the fork, allowing the gnocchi to drop to the work surface. If the gnocchi becomes sticky, dip fork and index finger into flour. The finished gnocchi will have ridges on one side and a depression on the other. At this point, gnocchi can be refrigerated on a lightly floured baking sheet for several hours before boiling and serving.

Step V

* To cook gnocchi, immerse half of them into boiling water, and cook for about 2 to 3 minutes until they start floating on the surface
* Remove with a slotted spoon, and place in the ice cold water for about 20 seconds.
* Transfer from ice bath
* Repeat procedure with the other half of the dough

Rissotto

2009-11-07T18:25:00.000+05:30

Rissotto, a Northern Italian dish is conventionally prepared in a heavy bottom skillet,preferably made of cast iron.A certain type of rice is used to prepare Rissotto (usually a aft,starchy,medium ) grain rice. Italian Arborio is the most common rice used to cook it as it is available in all the grocery store in Italy. Other rices that can be used are Roma,Vialone, Carnaroli,Nano and Maratelli.

Here's how you can make a basic Rissotto

What you need:

* 400 grams risotto rice
* 1.1 litres stock (chicken, fish or vegetable as appropriate)
* 2 tablespoons olive oil
* 1 large onion, finely chopped
* 1 knob of butter
* 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
* ½ a head of celery, finely chopped
* 2 wineglasses of dry white vermouth
* sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
* 70 grams butter
* 115 grams freshly grated Parmesan cheese

How to make:

I Stage

* Heat the stock
* Take a seperate pan and heat butter and olive oil
* add onions,garlic and celery
* Fry very slowly for 15 minutes
* Add the rice when vegetables have softened and turn up the heat.

II Stage

* Keep stirring the rice as it starts to lightly fry
* Add vermouth and keep stirring when the rice starts to look translucent
* Any harsh alcohol flavours will evaporate leaving a pleasent smell and taste behind.

III Stage

* Once the Vermouth has cooked,add a ladle of hot stock and a good pinch of salt
* Turn down the heat so that the rice does not cook too fast on the outside
* Keep adding ladlefuls of stock,stirring massaging the creamy starch out of the rice.
* This takes around 15 minutes.
* Continue adding stock until the rice becomes soft.
* If you run out of stock before the rice is cooked, add some boiling water.

IV Stage

* Remove from the heat and add the butter and Parmesan.
* Stir well
* Place lid on the pan and let it cook for 2 minutes.
* Eat it as soon as possible, while the risotto retains its beautiful tex

Classic Tiramisu cake

2009-11-03T13:12:00.000+05:30

The word tiramisu literally means “Pick me up” in Italian but don’t take the expression too seriously. Tiramisu is believed to have been invented in northern Italy in the town of “Treviso”.

It is an Italian dessert consisting of layers of sponge cake soaked with coffee and brandy or liqueur layered with mascarpone cheese and topped with grated chocolate. It is considered a semifreddo (a dessert served cold but not frozen) having many variations, with only one constant ingredient-the mascarpone cheese.

Its divine taste will take you into another world with each and every bite that you relish slowly (remember the Italians love to relish their food slowly just like the French!)

Here’s how you can relish Classic Tiramisu cake:

Ingredients:

1 pound mascarpone cheese
6 egg yolks
2 packages ladyfinger cookies or Vienna biscotti (optional)
¾ cup white sugar
2/3 cup milk
½ tsp vanilla extract
1 ¼ cups heavy cream
¼ cup strong freshly brewed coffee
2 tbsp rum
1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

Method:

Mix egg yolks and sugar properly in a medium saucepan
Add milk and whisk the mixture over medium flame until it boils.
Boil it gently for about a minute
Allow the mixture to slightly cool down
Cover it tightly and put it in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
Take a bowl n beat cream with vanilla until a nice stiff peak forms.
Add mascarpone in the yolk mixture and whip it till it becomes soft.
In another bowl, mix rum and coffee
Take the ladyfinger cookie, cut it lengthwise into two halves and drizzle the coffee mixture over it.
Place half of soaked ladyfinger cookies on bottom of the mould or dish
Spread half of the mascarpone mixture over it followed by half of whipped cream
Repeat the layers and add cocoa
Cover and place it in the refrigerator for 4 to 6 hours until set.
Serve and enjoy a piece of heaven in your mouth.

Artichoke Soup Recipe

2009-10-03T14:24:00.000+05:30

This simple mashed artichoke hearts in broth with a bit of garlic and cream makes one of the tastiest Italian recipes of soups . This recipe will make soup sufficient for four.

What You Need:

4 cups chicken or vegetables broth
1 Tbsp. butter
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 cup heavy cream or half-and-half
Freshly ground black or white pepper

2 Tbsp. lemon juice or white wine or distilled vinegar
1 tsp. salt, plus more to taste
6 large artichokes

How to Make:

In a large pot with a tight-fitting lid bring about 1 inch water, lemon juice,and 1 tsp. salt to a boil.
Meanwhile, cut stems and thorns from artichokes. Place artichokes, stem-side down and standing, in pot. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook until a leaf pulls out easily from each artichoke, about 20 minutes. Rinse with cold water after draining.
Pull off and discard dark green, outer leaves. Use a spoon to scrape out fuzzy choke. Cut off any fibrous dark green parts around outside of heart. Roughly chop heart and put in a blender or food processor. Use all the artichokes similarly.
Use a spoon to scrape off tender flesh from each leaf. Discard them.
In a medium saucepan, over medium-high heat, melt butter. Add garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant for about 1 minute. Transfer garlic to blender with artichokes.
Whirl artichokes with broth until very smooth. You will need to let the blender run a bit for this to happen--whirl for at least 2 minutes.
Transfer artichoke mixture to saucepan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to maintain a steady simmer. Add cream, and salt and pepper to taste.
Serve soup hot.

Cucumber-Pasta Salad

2009-09-15T10:58:00.000+05:30

A refreshing cucumber salad with pasta and a creamy dressing is a delight. It is a quick, easy and healthy recipe.You can make the pasta and just toss in some cool and fresh cucumber to it for getting the best of taste.

What you need-

* 3 cups pasta
* 2/3 cup vinegar
* 1/2 cup olive oil
* 3 teaspoons sugar

* 1/2 teaspoon pepper

* 3 medium cucumbers, seeded and coarsely chopped
* 3 stalks celery, thinly sliced
* 2 green onions, sliced
* 1 teaspoon garlic salt

Ways to cook-

Cook pasta and then drain. Rinse it with cold water, and drain again.Combine vinegar, oil, sugar, salt, dillweed, pepper and water. Cover and shake well.

Combine pasta, cucumber, celery, and onions. Add dressing, and toss to coat.

Cover and chill for 3-4 hours, stirring occasionally. Serve with a slotted spoon.

Zucchini Lasagna

2009-09-05T10:16:00.000+05:30

What you need-

* 2-1/2 cups zucchini, sliced (about 2 medium)
* 1/2 lb lean ground beef (I use 1 lb.)
* 1/4 cup onion, chopped
* 2 small tomatoes, cut up
* 1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
* 1 garlic clove, minced
* 1/2 tsp. dried oregano
* 1/2 tsp. dried basil
* 1/4 tsp. dried thyme
* 1/4 cup water
* 1/8 tsp. pepper
* 1 egg
* 3/4 cup low fat cottage cheese (or low fat or fat free ricotta)
* 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded (I use 8 oz. divided)
* 1 tsp. flour

Way to prepare-
Cook zucchini until tender, drain and set aside. Fry meat and onions until meat is brown and onions are tender; drain fat. Add next 8 ingredients and bring to a boil. Simmer, cook uncovered for 10 minutes.

Slightly beat the egg. Add cottage cheese, half of shredded cheese and flour.

In a baking-roasting pan, arrange half of the meat mixture. Top with half of the zucchini and all the cottage cheese mixture. Top it up with remaining meat and zucchini.

Bake uncovered at 375 degrees F for 30 minutes. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake 10 minutes longer.

Let it stand 10 minutes before serving so that it gets firm.

This is delicious and this is an understatement.

Screaming Macaroni and Cheese

2009-08-31T17:49:00.000+05:30

These Italian Style breadcrumbs are just a perfect dish for a
party.Macaroni and Cheese with a golden-baked layer of Italian-style
breadcrumbs is easy to make and delicious.

Ingredients

* 7 1/4-ounce macaroni and cheese mix
* 2 tbsp. butter
* 1 cup Italian-style bread crumbs

Way to make-

1. Make macaroni and cheese according to package directions in an
oven at 350 degree. Transfer to a medium casserole dish.
2. In a microwave-safe bowl, microwave butter on low heat setting
until melted. Add bread crumbs and toss to coat with butter. Sprinkle
bread crumb mixture over top of macaroni and cheese. Bake for 10 to 15
minutes or until browned on top.

Parmesan Chicken

2009-08-25T16:45:00.000+05:30

This is real comfort and favorite food of every family. If you can, buy the fresh mozzarella. You won't believe the difference and it's worth it. The texture isn't rubbery like the typical mozzarella.

What you need to make Parmesan Chicken-
* 4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
* salt and pepper to taste
* 1/2 cup flour
* 1/2 cup Italian seasoned breadcrumbs
* 1/4 cup parmesan cheese
* 1 egg
* 1/2 cup milk
* 1 tbsp. butter
* 2 tbsp. olive oil
* more parmesan cheese, for garnishing
* 4 ounces sliced mozzarella cheese (soft & creamy)
Use marinara sauce or store bought spaghetti sauce

How you proceed to make Parmesan Chicken-

Pound the chicken breasts between two slices of plastic wrap until about 1/4" thick. Season with salt and pepper. Remove excess .Dip in egg/milk mixture, then in breadcrumb/Parmesan mixture.

Heat the butter and olive oil in a large deep skillet. Brown the chicken breasts over medium heat until golden on each side (about 2-3 min per side).

Add the marinara sauce to the skillet. Heat to boiling and simmer 10 minutes. Add the chicken breasts to the sauce and sprinkle Parmesan over them. Place a slice of mozzarella on each piece of chicken. Cover and simmer about 8- 10 minutes or until the cheese has melted and the chicken is tender.

Serve with your favorite pasta.

It can serve minimum four people.

Straight from the heart of Italy- Fresh Figs

2009-07-10T13:46:00.001+05:30

It has been a history since Italians have been consuming figs for a incredibly long time -- figs, in concert with cheese, bread, and olives, were amongst the fastener foods of the Roman Legions -- and numerous of the émigré who came to the Americas from the South, wherever they grow exceedingly well, sowed fig trees where they matured, yielding the bounty in the summer and covering the trees in the winter if it got cold. Certainly, for loads of a garden wasn't quite a garden except it had a fig tree.

Currently, most of us have to make do with what we can find in the markets. Opting out for fresh figs are painless, although one caveat does apply: They should come from where it's hot. South Italy is conspicuously hotter than Tuscany in the summer, and the figs Elisabetta and I harvested from the trees external the house we rented in Santa Maria di Leuca (on the very heel of the boot) were more affluent and more succulent than everything we have ever had in Tuscany. Inveterating to selecting, figs range from pale green though deeper blackish burgundy red, and should appear firm, with a rather voluptuous turgid roundness to them. There should be no whitish sap up-and-coming from the stems, though a drop or two of nectar from the gloominess at the bottom of the fig is OK, and trivial splits in the skin (not too deep) are also adequate. If they're overripe they become very sugary, but can also begin to ferment; some people like this amalgamation of flavors while others do not.

For the reason that they mess up quite effortlessly you should sketch on using your figs the day you buy them. Though allocating them at the end of the meal perceptibly comes to mind -- they are, after all, fruit -- they also go very agreeably with sparsely sliced prosciutto as an antipasto; I have observed a French way that involves wrapping the figs in prosciutto and grilling them, but Italians purely serve the cut figs with the prosciutto, much the way they serve melons with prosciutto. If the figs are good and the prosciutto their alike, the blend is perfect as it is.

Food preparation and rationing Pasta

2009-07-07T17:51:00.001+05:30

Stimulation foundation can be strained from this feature from Italy, the reality about Pasta, an piece of writing Nancy Harmon Jenkins wrote for the New York Times a at the same time as back, and a strand on the rec.food.cooking newsgroup in which people said that they preferred their pasta be served with a spoonful of sauce on the top and more on the side so they could add it if they wanted to. When one lives in a country one tends to assume that the national dishes are served the same way beyond the national borders -- this is not necessarily the case when it comes to pasta.

Chief disparity stuck between pasta as it is served in Italy and pasta as it is served elsewhere is that for an Italian pasta is generally a first course, to be followed by a second course of some kind, be it meat, fish, vegetable, or even pizza (many elegant Italian pizzerie offer huge selections of pasta dishes for their guests to start off with). In other words, it is a part of a meal -- important, yes, but certainly not dominant.

Segment size replicate this: One generally figures a bit less than a quarter pound of uncooked dry pasta per person (i.e. 70-80 grams), which translates into a pleasantly full deep-dish plateful. A mound is too much, because it will leave no space for the rest of the meal.

Saucing is also quite important: Moderation is again the key. One to two tablespoons of a liquid sauce such as aglio e olio, and at the most a quarter cup of a thicker sauce such as sugo alla bolognese per person, stirred into the pasta in the serving bowl so as to thoroughly coat the pasta. The pasta should not be swimming in the sauce, nor should it be bone dry: The one complements the other. Grated cheese? Depends upon the sauce; tomato sauce and meat-based sauces generally call for it and cream sauces sometimes profit from it, whereas it can be distracting in vegetable or fish-based sauces. In any case, it is served at the table, and most people opt for one or two teaspoons, not a heavy dusting that overwhelms everything else.

We now come to a thorny issue: What kind of pasta? Though Italian cookbooks, like their English language counterparts, give detailed instructions for home-made pasta, few people here have the time to make it at home except on special occasions. Day-in-and-day-out it's commercially prepared dry pasta out of a box. Nor is this a fallback; properly cooked good quality commercially prepared pasta is just as good if not better than what most people can make at home.

Difference lies in the flour: Commercial producers use semolina, which produces a pasta that will bear up well to cooking, maintaining its pleasant al dente texture on the way to the table. Unfortunately, as a friend of mine who owned a pasta factory observes, preparing dough from semolina requires industrial mixers or several hours of kneading -- more than enough to burn out the motor of a home pasta machine. Because of this home cooks resort to soft wheat flour (grade 00, which has slightly less gluten than American cake flour). The results can be superb but require extreme care in the cooking because the pasta overcooks easily

Walnuts: Fruits of Fall

2009-07-04T12:05:00.000+05:30

This popular variety of dry fruit “Walnuts” are supposed to have instigated at someplace to the east -- perchance China or India, lots of millions of years ago (remnant structure has been found in Miocene sediments) -- although they have long subsisted accepted in Europe as well

They were liked to the maximum scale by the Romans, more than ever at the closing stages of the meal, and they have for eternity played an imperative position in desserts, moreover as toppings (chopped up or whole) or as key ingredients. They moreover arise in spicy dishes, nonetheless less often, and until the prepared accessibility of olive oil (after WW II) the
Piemontese measured walnut oil to be the finest oil for dressing salads.

Procurement and Stockpiling of walnuts

Walnuts nurture in loads of parts of Italy. The greatest are from Sorrento; they're rather shady than the California walnuts one in addition finds in Italian markets, and have a to some extent sharper, more walnutty flavor.

They are traded mutually shelled and unshelled. Shelled nuts are moderately helpful if you need the nutmeats for a recipe; should you buy more than you need store the remainder tightly sealed in the freezer, because the oils in the nutmeats rapidly become rancid when exposed to room-temperature air.

Unshelled walnuts will remain longer at room temperature, although they as well will worsen with time, so you are better off buying smaller amounts as you require them rather than a big bag on sale. Should you buy unshelled nuts for a recipe, outline that a pound of nuts will yield a half-pound of nutmeats.

Final fad:
Walnut meats comprise of a nutty brown skin that is somewhat bitter, and you will likely want to eradicate it before using the nuts in recipes. To do so you will have to blanch the nuts; pour boiling water over the nutmeats with their skins, let the nutmeats soak for a few seconds, and then drain them and rub them with a cloth to remove the skins.

Cinghiale: Wild Boar

2009-06-30T17:22:00.000+05:30

It might sound a bit tricky to imagine that Italian fare without accepted wisdom of pork, and although the deliberation of prosciutto or salami possibly will summon up descriptions of one of the country's numerous heirloom strains, for instance the Cinta Senese or the Nero Romagnolo, there's a different side to the picture so as to community not often imagine of: Wild boar. And it's a side that is fetching new imperative with time.

Despite of the actuality that boar populations be alive kept in test in the earlier period farmers were nippy to seize a gun, equally to look after their collect and to attain fresh meat -- the leaving of the landscape (marginal lands, in particular) on the ingredient of farming families in the 1950s successfully unconcerned this confirm, tolerate the boar to reside in new areas. At the same time, Italian seeker, who sought to reinforce the confined stock, initiate Eastern European boar that are quite a bit larger, and also much more forceful, manufacture litters of up to 15 piglets (as opposed to the 4-6 of an Italian sow).

The product has been a adversity for crop growing, with herds of boar searching the countryside much the way deer do in a few parts of North America. A winemaker said his vineyard appeared like it had been chosen with a mechanical harvester after they came calling, and I can say from own practice that they show petite fear of humans: we repeatedly see them on the other side of the hurdle untying our yard from the woods. And yes, they do come up to the fence and look in. Makes the dog (and us) nervous.

This condition it must get nearer as no surprise that hunting clubs sort out boar hunts during neither the fall, nor that boar is readily available in Italian supermarkets. From a culinary standpoint there are 4 kinds of boar.

Italian Olive Oil an its gains

2009-06-27T12:30:00.000+05:30

Arrive in November, proviso you obtain a coerce out keen over landscape in Tuscany otherwise the extra Central Italian regions, you would perceive people scattering parachutes roughly over the olive trees and hiking up keen on them to stripe away the mature olives with gloved hands -- additional south they in addition thump the olives movable with lengthy sticks, but then yet again the trees are a great deal bigger, too immense to create hand-stripping practical. The parachutes craft it much easier to regain the olives that fall to the ground.

So next is what? The olives are carried with difficulty off to the frantoio, or olive press, to formulate olive oil, Athena's great gift to humanity. In certainty the word "press" is rather of a misnomer -- the system is extra multifarious. To set in motion with the olives are cleanse, afterward, if the press is customary, they're ground in a stone ditch, by means of straight stone wheels that were once turned by oxen and are now mechanized.

During prehistoric days, the pulp then goes onto rush-mat disks that were piled and pressed. What came out was olive oil-and-water slurry that go hooked on a tank to divide; the initial olive oil was the greatest and habitually went to the landlord, who utilized it at table. The farmers, on the other hand, make use of some of their olive oil at table, and the relax around the farm, to stay lamps lit and whatnot.

The chief evils with the traditional pressing technique is its slothfulness: Olive oil is tremendously unpreserved, and by the time it draw to a close unscrambling in a conventional tank it has also begun to oxidize (this is why the landlord skimmed away the first olive oil, and why the farmers used much of their olive oil in lamps rather than as a condiment).

In order to easolve this problem, most up-to-the-minute presses use centrifuges to divide the olive oil from the water, and cut off the olive oil from the air as much as probable. There have also been move ahead in milling, and countless presses now have permanent feed mechanical crushers. But it's still a amazing pleasure to see a established stone wheel press rumble its way through the olive paste.

One particularly key thing about this sum total formulas that it’s conducted at room temperature. The olives are not at all heated, nor are the paste, and the paste is simply compressed No chemical treatments of any kind. or else the olive oil won't be virgin or extra virgin olive oil, the two best grades. Non-virgin olive oil is either too acidic to be virgin, or is pressed from pulp that has been procedure one way or another, and there is a insignificant differentiation in flavor.

Italians generally cook with virgin olive oil, and use extravirgin olive oil raw, in salads, drizzled into hearty soups, atop bruschetta, and wherever else the flavor of the oil complements the dish.

Non-virgin olive oils are acceptable for cooking, but you won't want to use one to dress your salad.

Lamb from Italy

2009-06-25T15:17:00.000+05:30

Bigger sectors of Italy, individually in the rocky north and the moorland of the south and the isles, are a lot enhanced suitable to sheep and goats when compared to cattle, and it consequently approaches as no disclosure that Italians have been nurturing flocks from a long period of time, or certainly that the flocks ruled lives of the common , amid the men parting their folks in late spring to take their animals to nibble the comfortable mountain pasture, and recurring dwellings in the fall loaded with cheeses and wool.

The lamb is beamy colored, especially tender, and dexterously flavored, whilst there isn't a great deal in the means of fat. Cause of its delicacy abbacchio is most excellent cooked just, and bearing mild seasonings. Grown-up lambs are weaned, and can be up to a year old. Amid admiration to abbacchio they are superior and their meat is dim.

While choosing lamb favor animals with moderately wide backs that have fairly a bit of meat on them, be sure that the fleshy tissues of the thighs are firm and not soft, and ensure they have plentiful, hard, white-to-pale-pink kidney fat. An imperative obsession to make a note of is that of bigger cuts of lamb which are enclosed by a flimsy white casing called the fell, which you must eliminate and if the slaughter hasn't previously when you acquire the meat.

But also that it keeps seasonings and even heat from penetrating the meat. To do away with the fell from a piece of lamb, locate a place where the coating of fell and fat will come free, revealing the meat, if you trip a knife beneath it (for example, the wide end of a leg), and drag the fell up at this point, wounding it away with the blade and being cautious to stay the blade to the side of the cut down rather than the meat, lest you score the meat. When you have removed the fell you can trim away more fat if you want, though you should keep in mind that a little fat will help keep the meat moist as it cooks.

A final observation:

Though abbacchio lamb is only one of its kind, kid and older lamb are identical, and the procedure that call for one will work likewise well with the other.

Furthermost offerings of natural world - Porcini

2009-06-20T12:51:00.000+05:30

A loaded, fleshy mushroom is what Porcini stands for. Each year while September draws closer, the value of mushrooms tends to slip down.

Even though the systems necessitates a licence and legalize the quantity of bags and places where choosing is allowable, mushroom stalking persists to be a breathtaking way to expend a day in the woods. It's quite trouble-free all you necessitate are a pair of good quality shoes, a storage bin, and a stiletto. The recompense can be porcini: a mushroom that is incredibly resourceful, flimsy enough to add elegance to a graceful dish, and up till then has an enormous sturdy essence.

What one bear in their minds is that not at all scoff untamed mushrooms except an connoisseur has acknowledged them. Noxious mushrooms may look a lot like other enviable species, and some of them, such as Amanita muscaria, contain a deadly neurotoxin.

Porcini are extremely valued and esteemed mushrooms. They have a even, fleshy texture and a burly woodsy flavor.
It can weigh up from an ounce to more than a pound, and their caps can range from one to twelve inches in diameter. You will infrequently hit upon them unsullied in the United States, but you may seek coming across for them in departmental make markets in late spring or in the fall. Some grocery provision stores sooner or later bear traded in frozen Porcini. The dried up variety of this mushroom is readily obtainable, nevertheless. Porcini mushrooms also arrive conserved in oil.

Exposure to air or drying is a old manner of safeguarding feral mushrooms to benefit from them year-round. Dehydrated mushrooms will remain for months exclusive of refrigeration.

Decide mushrooms that are a tan to pale brown in color; shun those that are flaky. Dried up porcini have got to be make softer in boiling water for at slightest 20 minutes before by means of.
As a rule of thumb, one ounce of dried mushrooms will reconstitute to six to eight ounces. Once softened, the mushrooms may be wedged, hacked, or left whole, as per the recipe.

Then reconstituted mushrooms must be added by the side of commencement of cooking. This agrees to their exceedingly concerted flavors to pervade the complete dish. Also, in general, cooks add the drenched water to the preparation for more flavors

Since clean porcini are not often instituted in the United States, usually are surrogated by a arrangement of dried up porcini and further familiar unsullied mushrooms, such as chanterelle

Roman approach of pasta making

2009-06-16T17:46:00.000+05:30

Desiccated pasta has been approximately from the time of middle Ages. As by the end of the nineteenth century, computerization and industrialization made it affordable, largely available, and macaroni became a well-liked chow.

Sooner with the influx of the tomato, macaroni was fully claded simply and almost wholly with cheese — either Parmigiano in the north or “pecorino” sheep cheese in the south. Fried pork fat would have possibly “reinforced” by garlic, onion, or herbs would give pasta condiment supplementary flavors, it was an economical and undemanding food for a country that has been frugal for many centuries

The Italian cuisine has a care for straightforwardness, and the majority Italians prefer dishes austerely processed. Excellent Italian dishes are always trouble-free.

What is the furtive of all those good tasting Italian dishes? Usage of the best ingredients: good aged imported cheese, excellent extra-virgin olive oil, vinegars, pasta, and rice. The freshest vegetables in season, possibly at the farmers market, and use fresh herbs for the best aroma.Most Italian recipes have a very short list of ingredients. The ultimate grounding of the Italian recipes is meant to exaggerate the experience of the primary ingredients: Starting with quality ingredients and you wouldn’t want to complicate or overpower the recipe too much.

The pasta recipes that follow — typical of Roman cooking, and in general of central Italy, reflect perfectly these values of simplicity and frugality. At the same time they seem to come out directly from a medieval cookbook. These same dishes, or their close direct descendants, have been used almost unchanged for centuries

Proper Italian diet.

2009-06-11T17:55:00.000+05:30

The eternal Italian loveliness is an enormous advocate in the rule of pasta. "Everything, Straightforward Mediterranean diet is healthy and will help you lose weight. Just look at the portions and don't surplus your pasta with thick, rich, creamy sauces.Begin through uncomplicated new foods and you can't go wrong. Stock your fridge and pantry with good quality pasta, olive oil, tomatoes, onions, garlic, lean meat, fish and sea food and herbs like oregano, basil and parsley. One can add a little parmesan cheese as well, but stay away from recipes that demand a cup of cream or large amounts of grated mozzarella.

Effortless and fulfilling pasta meal, start by boiling up a portion of pasta in a big saucepan of water. The more water around your pasta the better, because them it won't stick. You can choose penne, macaroni, shells or linguine instead of plain old spaghetti. Cook the pasta until it is just soft but still has firmness - the Italians call it al dente or `to the tooth'.Then chop up a clove of garlic, an onion and a couple of tomatoes. Heat up a tablespoon of good olive oil, saute' the garlic and onions until soft, and add the tomatoes. Cook until the ingredients are well blended together. Finally add some herbs of your choice - maybe some oregano and basil, or parsley and marjoram. Experiment until you find a combination you love. That's all you need to do for a basic pasta sauce. Served over you hot pasta, this will be delicious. Don't have any bread - the pasta will provide all the carbs you need. You can sprinkle a little parmesan over the top. Enjoy!

While making main meal, add some meat or seafood. If by means of beef or chicken, make sure it is very lean. Cut away all the fat. You can steam or bake chicken so that the fat runs off, but be sure to remove the skin as well. Chop up the chicken or cut the breast meat into slices and add it to your basic pasta dish. Do the same with steak or chops - trim away the fat, cook, and serve it with your pasta, chopped or sliced.Fish and seafood such as clams, prawns and crab can be steam and served with your pasta in the same way. You don't need to cook it up in heavy sauces. Give your taste buds a treat with simplicity and fresh taste.Pasta soups are nourishing and satisfying on a cold day, and are simply made with lean meat, stock and vegetables. Add the pasta of your choice, or use rice pasta, small grains of pasta that made a hearty soup.Pasta salads are refreshing and delicious in hot weather. Cook your pasta, let it cool, and mix with a variety of chopped salad vegetables - greens, tomatoes, grated carrot, chopped capsicum or steamed cooled broccoli or cauliflower. Dress with a simple olive oil and vinegar salad dressing or stir through the flesh of half an avocado. Delicious!

Larger pasta varieties like cannelloni and lasagna can also make delicious, but simple meals. Fill your cannelloni with chopped mushrooms and low fat ricotta cheese, and pour over a sauce made with garlic, onions, tomatoes and a cupful of chicken stock. The stock helps to soften the pasta as it bakes in the oven.Simplify lasagna by layering the sheets of pasta with a basic tomato, garlic and onion pasta sauce, and mashed pumpkin for vegetarian lasagna that is good enough to serve to dinner guests.Eat like a gourmet and look good too. Just look at Sophia!

Gnocco

2009-06-04T17:01:00.000+05:30

Gnocco

Expression gnocco in Italian means “a stupid person.” These induce some food writers to announce that gnocchi, the dish, is responsible for the association. But gnocchi are anything but a stupid dish. Consequently these days all gnocchi made of flour and water are measured “pasta” while all dumplings made of special ingredients are called gnocchi. Gnocchi can be made with the most diverse ingredients, such as squash, bread, and semolina flour; and they can be flavored amalgamating the dough with spinach, saffron, and even truffles. They are boiled in water or broth and like pasta they can be dressed with many sauces such as pesto, tomato, butter and cheese.

Further predictable type of gnocchi includes the Roman recipe for “semolina gnocchi” topped with cheese and baked and the “gnocchi gaudy” (naked gnocchi” from Tuscany made of ricotta cheese and spinach.

Nowadays gnocchi are principally made with potatoes, which have become conventional in Italy. In spite of the long description, gnocchi are very easy to prepare. They can be claded with many sauces, but are especially good with pesto, Americana sauce, Ragu', four cheeses, butter and fresh tomato sauce, or very simply butter and sage as in our arrangement. The taste of the butter - sage dressing is very delicate and will enhance the taste of the potato dumplings. They are also one of the most refined dishes, worthy of the most complicated menus.

Small dumplings are one of the oldest preparations in the history of food, recorded as far back as cookbooks of the thirteenth century. In a fragment of a book of the 1300s there is a recipe for gnocchi written in the Tuscan dialectal language (1).
“If you want gnocchi” reads the recipe, “take some cheese and mash it, then take some flour and mix with egg yolks like if you make dough. Place on the fire a pot of water and when starts boiling place the mixture on a board and slide them in the pot with a spoon. And when they are cooked place them on the plates and top them with a lot of grated cheese.”

Gnocchi gnudi
(naked gnocchi) from Tuscany made of ricotta cheese and spinach

Tin order to make potato gnocchi and achieve the best results, it is important to choose the right type of potato. The potato needs to be floury, with minimum water content. The best are old Russet potatoes, low in water and high in starch. Round (white or red) or Yukon potatoes would be too waxy, which would make the gnocchi either too heavy or too gummy, or would cause them to break apart in the boiling water. The addition of egg to the dough, not always necessary, serves the purpose of holding the preparation together better. The choice of the right potato potentially makes the use of the eggs optional.

Potatoes can be baked in the oven, but more often are boiled. In this case do not peel them but boil them with the skin on. This will avoid absorption of excess water. For the same reason, don’t break or pierce them. Too much water will cause the preparation to absorb too much flour and make the gnocchi too heavy. Potatoes for gnocchi can also be baked or cooked in the microwave.

Opt for potatoes free of green spots, sprouts, and “eyes”. Remove them from the potatoes if they are present because they can be toxic. Peel the potatoes while they are still hot. Don’t add egg if you are confident of the result: the dough will be softer. Don’t overdo the dough and don’t add too much flour.

Gnocchi will not keep for long after they are prepared and they must be cooked soon. They can be kept covered on a floured cloth for few hours. Soon after they may start releasing their moisture content and become gummy and sticky. Placing them in the refrigerator will not help since the humidity present there may cause additional damage.

Gnocchi instead can be easily frozen. Drop frozen gnocchi directly in the boiling water without defrosting: they will be ready when they surface like indicated in the recipe

Eating Spaghetti

2009-06-02T16:32:00.000+05:30

Countless non-Italians don't know how to eat spaghetti. This is real flush for the U.S. in ill feeling of the substantial Italian community. Italian schedule manners whilst you are in meet of a dish of spaghetti are very simple. Opening of all as a broad rules, go on your hands on the list during the meal and no elbows, and time lag for one and all to be served before starting to eat.

1)Ladle must not be used at the time of consumption of spaghetti to ameliorate you, wrap the Pasta. It is careful bad form. Spaghetti must be eaten together with the fork only.

2) On no account cut the outfit of pasta with the knife or the fork. Spaghetti is sold in the honorable length, almost 10 -inches long, and with the aim of is righteous the proper size.

Served is served in a "piatto fondo" a low bowl like a shallow soup-dish with a rim. Bring about room at the front of the bowl near enough the spaghetti a little headed for the center. Choose an unimportant bunch of the spaghetti plus the prongs of the fork. Vigor it hostile to the border side.

Now, effective with the fork in a vertical position, and the prongs against the rim of the bowl, coil the fork clockwise along with your fingers to roll the spaghetti in the order of your fork. Raise the fork in the company of the spaghetti wrapped around above the bowl, and determine the length among your eyes.

The nearly all everyday mistake is to overload too a lot pasta on the fork. If you determine it's too big or too long, ditch it knock back and prize up a less important bunch. Spin it all over again pending you take shape a careful bundle, just the fitting range to go interested in your mouth.

More mistakes to avoid:

No slurping - Entirely no sounds of any kind.

No splattering - Spaghetti can from time to time splatter the sauce. So be careful, but don't wear a duster as a bib save you is an unimportant kid.

Dodge spaghetti for significant or formal parties. Quick pasta (rigatoni, penne, etc) are much easier to serve and to eat.

Scarpetta, (meaning "little shoe"), is as eating pasta sauce, it is so delicious with the aim of all little bit be supposed to be wiped out of the dinner plate in the company of a piece of clean bread. It is not proper to do the Scarpetta at a formal dinner. If you are in an informal venue instead, compliment the heat and ask your guests for agreement to give somebody the job of a Scarpetta. They will all fall in with through you through a big smile.

Pizza Mania from Italy

2009-05-30T16:54:00.000+05:30

Restaurants cook pizza in wood-burning ovens at awfully tall temperature for about 10 minutes. In fact pizza must stay in the stove for the shortest possible time, to inhibit it beginning drying out too much. The smoke of wood too gives pizza a distinctive flavor. It is impossible to imitate perfectly the same conditions at home, but by my step-by-step recipe you will be intelligent to make an first-rate pizza at home.

Pizza, the way we appreciate it today, is a derivation beginning focaccia, utterly bread to facilitate has been organized given that ancient times in different forms and garnished together with herbs, olives, fat, raisin, honey, and nuts. In fact, the statement pizza in Italian identifies any type of flat bread or pie-fried or baked.

Though you'd become aware of numerous types of pitas or pizzas close to the Mediterranean, it is in Naples with the intention of pizza in the materialize we get it now first emerged, subsequently the tomato appeared on the put on the back burner in the 1700s. Naples has scores of account of pizza as about the day 1000; the first mentions telephone call these unequivocally breads laganae, and in a while they are referred to as picea. In individuals times, pizzas were dressed among garlic and sea green oil, or cheese and anchovies, or insignificant local fish. They were baked on the open give somebody the pink slip and every so often were closed in two, as a book, to mode a calzone.

In Naples is and where the first pizzerias opened up, with brick wood-burning oven, sheltered with lava sand from the mount Vesuvius. The chefs of persons times unnoticed pizza because was considered a deprived people's food, but the new number sequence including the tomato, as it entered the kitchen around the 1770s, essential be inflicted with raised particular curiosity, flush in the splendid palace.

Ferdinand I Bourbon, queen of Naples, loved the effortless cooking of the individuals and went to nibble the pizzas through in the store of Antonio Testa. He liked it so a great deal that he sought pizza to be integrated in the menu at the court. He disastrous after the opposition of his wife, emperor Maria Carolina. His son Ferdinand II additionally liked all breed of popular provisions and he loved pizza to the face with the aim of he hired Domenico Testa, son of the now celebrated Antonio, to erect a pizza range in the majestic palace of Capodimonte.

Pizza became very popular, earning its cause to be in in Neapolitan folklore. unpretentious and economical, it curved hooked on the food for all people, similar sold on the streets, as exposed in various illustrations of the time.

A eminent episode extended the popularity of pizza away from the limits of the municipality of Naples. It was 1889, and Margherita, king of Italy, was visiting the city. She was told just about pizza and wanted to test it. A celebrated cook by the VIP of Don Raffaele, helped by his wife Donna Rosa, was invited to bake pizza at the splendid palace.

They prepared three pizzas, typical of to time: one with cheese and basil; one with garlic, oil, and tomato; and one in the company of mozzarella, basil, and tomato. The queen, impressed by the colors of the end pizza, which resembled the state flag, in to one. Since then this pizza is proven as Pizza Margherita, and Don Raffaele is approved along with its invention, unvarying if we know with the intention of it before now existed for a long time.

At the beginning of the most recent century, with Italian immigrants, the originator pizzerias appeared besides in the United States, where pizza has become a crowd phenomenon. Yet, steady at the moment the superlative pizza is set up in Naples, where it is rigorously ready as well as bewilder mozzarella. Exclusive pizzas are well thought-out persons obtained by moderate variations of the simplest and the largest part popular: Pizza Napoletana along with tomato, garlic, oil, and oregano, Pizza Margherita, Pizza Marinara by tomato, anchovies, capers, and olives, and Pizza Four Seasons, divided in four quadrants, each dressed in a dissimilar way. Pizza in the company of hot salami, the American pepperoni pizza, is in its place found in the Calabria borough south of Naples, wherever this variety of hot sausage is produced.

Italy’s coffee culture

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The coffee culture in Italy is as authentic as the country’s heritage, its people and cuisine. The very famous and known worldwide is espresso, an Italian style coffee (caffè), its no different in preparation from other coffee and neither the coffee beans differ from other used in any other variety or used in any other style of coffee.

The difference is that beans used in preparing espresso are generally roasted a little longer time or dark, they are also blend coffee beans from varied origins or regions. This blend and the duration of roasting varies as per different regions in Italy, the espresso is roasted medium to medium dark in the north, whereas in south this gets moving darker, Brazilian coffees are one such variety which is quite prominent through all of Italy.

Espresso is blamed to have higher caffeine content that the coffee but the truth is its opposite. The longer the period of the roasting of the beans the more caffeine gets extracted and thus giving espresso roast beans less caffeine content.

Coffee made at home:-

Domestic espresso makers are available which are simple to use. La Napoletana is a four part stove-top unit with grounds placed inside a filter loosely, the kettle portion is filled with water and once boiling, the unit is inverted to drip through the grounds.

The Moka per il caffè is a three part stove-top unit that is placed on the stove-top with loosely packed grounds in a strainer, the water rises from steam pressure, and is forced through the grounds into the top portion. It is unlike a percolator in that the brewed coffee is not re-circulated.

Caffè macchiato is a topped with a bit of steamed milk or foam.

Ristretto is made with less water, and is stronger; cappuccino is mixed or topped with steamed, mostly frothy, milk. It is generally considered a morning beverage;

Caffelatte is generally equal parts espresso and steamed milk, similar to café au lait, and is typically served in a large cup. Latte macchiato (spotted milk) is a glass of warm milk with a bit of coffee

Note: - Demitasse is usually used for serving purpose in small quantity.

WINE CULTURE IN ITALIANO

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Italy, a country which is known as the home of the oldest wine-producing regions in the world. Italian wine is wine produced in Italy. Wine was produced in the country by Etruscans and Greek settlers long before the Romans started developing their own vineyards in the second century BC. Roman were prolific and well-organized in the skill of grape-growing and wine making, they not only pioneered large-scale production but also the storage techniques like barrel-making and bottling. Italy remains one of the world's foremost producers, responsible for approximately one-fifth of world wine production in 2005.

In Republic of Italy, wine is an exceptionally popular drink, over 1 million vineyards are under cultivation and grapes are grown in almost every part of Italy, at some of the places the vines are trained along low supports whereas in others they climb as slender saplings.

Most of the wine-making in Italy in present times is done in modern wineries. However, the wine made by the villagers for their domestic consumption is still made up with the help of the traditional method as they still tread the grapes with their bare feet, until the juice is squeezed out. As per their belief this ancient method still makes the best wine.

System for appellation in Italy

The classification system in Italy is modern which reflects present realities. It has four classes of wine, with two falling under the EU category Quality Wine Produced in a Specific Region (QWPSR) and two falling under the category of 'table wine'.

Vino da Tavola (VDT) - Denotes wine from Italy.

NOTE: this is not always synonymous with other countries' legal definitions of 'table wine'.

The appellation indicates either an inferior quaffing wine, or one that does not follow current wine law.
Some quality wines do carry this appellation.

1)Territorial characteristics

Important wine-relevant geographic characteristics of Italy include:

The extensive latitudinal range of the country permits wine growing from the Alps in the north to almost within sight of Africa in the south;
The fact that Italy is a peninsula with a long shoreline, contributing moderating climate to coastal wine regions
The extensive mountains and foothills providing many altitudes for grape growing and a variety of climate and soil conditions.

2)Wine producing regions of Italy

The twenty wine producing regions of Italy accord with twenty of its political regions. By understanding the differences between each region it becomes clearer to understand the italan wines, their cuisines reflect their indigenous wines, and vice-versa. The 36 DOCG wines are located in 13 different regions but most of them are concentrated in Piedmont and Tuscany. Among these are appellations appreciated and sought by wine lovers around the world: Barolo, Barbaresco, Brunello and Chianti Classico. Despite its high quality Amarone is not classified as a DOCG

3)Wine verities in Italy

Italy's Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MIRAF), has documented over 350 grapes and granted them "authorized" status. There are more than 500 other documented varietals in circulation as well. The following is a list of the most common and important of Italy's varietals.

A)Rosso (Red)

Sangiovese, Nebbiolo , Montepulciano, Barbera, Corvina, Nero d'Avola., Dolcetto
Negroamaro, Aglianico, Sagrantino.Malvasia Nera

Other major red varieties are Ciliegolo, Gaglioppo, Lagrein, Lambrusco, Monica, Nerello Mascalese, Pignolo, Primitivo, Refosco, Schiava, Schiopettino, Teroldego, and Uva di Troia.

"International" varietals such as Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, and Cabernet Franc are also widely grown.

B)Bianco (White)

Trebbiano., Moscato, Nuragus, Pinot Grigio., Tocai Friulano, MRibolla Gialla., Arneis., Malvasia Bianca , Pigato,Fiano (wine) ,Garganega

Along with hard drinks, you can serve Anjeer Slice as an additional serving.

Italian food fundamentals

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Authentic Italian food, as defined, is very general in inspiration and based on fresh ingredients of the pristine quality standards. It can be said that this is food without pretense, even when it gets served in trattorias or restaurants. This cuisine takes you into the kitchens of Italian culture and its regions such as Lombardy, Piedmont and Tuscany to sample pasta, pizza, antipasti and risotto made the authentic way - fish and shellfish redolent from the fresh water, hearty treatments of meat and game and irresistible gelato.

Italian kitchen secrets

Secrets to Euro-Italian Recipes

Desserts & Dough's

If one is has fumbled around through the sites seeking Italian recipes, or asked someone as in how to prepare an Italian dessert, or even bought an Italian cookbook with enough recipes to last you for a lifetime or perhaps more.

But have you ever given a thought silently... as to what are the fundamentals or basic necessities of these recipes?

Have you ever wondered what makes them authentically Italian, what is it that they have in common, or what is the basic guideline or steps you require knowing in order to stay within the original method of the Italian-style of cooking.

Tiramisu cake

Have you ever been confused between Americanized Italian recipes to that of real Italian recipes? Here are some of the basic guidelines and ideas as to what constitutes European - Italian recipes. You may give a thought about Italians as the pastry kings of the world – but the picture is some what different because they are not even big on sugary foods. if one thinks that adding basil to any dish that it suddenly turns Italian, and this is just not so.
There is a selection of ingredients favoured in Italian dessert making:

Spices - The most common spice ingredients found in desserts are; cinnamon, and vanilla.

Liquors –
You will usually find that many call for some kind of liquor or wine such as; rum, Marsala, Maraschino, red or white wines and sometimes Cognac or other liquors. Types such as these are used most often in fruit dessert recipes, sometimes in cookies.
Coupled with apricots you will find; rum - with apples; rum or white wine - and with pears; maraschino.

Marmalades, Raisins & Nuts –
Marmalades are widely used for cookies and "Crostata" pie-sized tarts. And many other desserts Italians make are baked using nuts; pinoli, hazelnuts, almonds or sometimes pistacchi. Raisins are used in cakes, many times coupled with rum.

Cheeses –
Soft mild cheeses are repeatedly used in making cakes and pastries. Mascarpo
ne is one more commonly known, and is used often in the making of "tiramisu" a delicious and typical Italian dessert made with savoiarda cookies soaked in espresso and layered with an egg cream. The well-known ricotta cheese is used in crafting cannoli; the Sicilian tube cookie filled with sweetened ricotta tossed with flakes of chocolate and candied fruit. Certosino is another soft cheese that is used by the Bolognese to make a cake along with; cocoa, cinnamon, pinoli and almonds. This cake is a speciality of Bologna and made during Christmas and New Year's.

If Italians had the world's biggest sweet tooth, they would certainly be adding more sugars to their dessert recipes.

Dough's

The Italians use several different dough bases, this depending on the particular dessert. Here are some examples:

Pasta Frolla: This is used more often to make Crostate or pastries, and gnocchi

Babà Dough: This one takes allot of energy, is fantastic and light, and contains similar ingredients as the others. But the secret to this dough is in uniting the sugar perfectly with the egg, and by adding the flours very quickly thereafter.

Pan di Spagna: Used for layer cakes and in certain puddings

Brioche Dough: This dough is simple to make, but requires care and patience in the rising stage

Savoiarda: This dough is used to make savoiardi cookies (used in making tiramisù)

Sfogiata: This one is the most difficult. You might as well say it's the fundamental dough of the dessert arts. With this dough base they make a dessert called "Millefoglie," which is a light pastry that is covered with traces of pastry cream and dribbled with chocolate.

Don't forget that Italian desserts are accompanied by homemade grappas, lemoncello, sweet dessert wines or delightful liquors. This is always expected and really adds a wonderful accent to the end of a lovely meal.

Pasta Sauces & Preparations

They make as the rules of thumb when it comes to choosing to prepare a basic Italian dish. If you happen to be a wizard in the kitchen and can design something incredible yourself, by all means do so. But we seem to have to apply to some strict rules - on the count that many pasta sauces have been distorted and badly jumbled.

Pasta's Not Topped with Cheese

Believe it or not just because you are eating what is known as "pasta", does not necessarily mean that you may smother it in pecorino or Parmigiano.

Too Much Garlic & Onion: Just how much is too much?

Another intresting fact is that the Italians do not use 4 or more cloves of garlic in their recipes. Most recipes have been tampered with through the years, as to cater to different cultures with different tastes outside of Italy.

Garlic is used in fish & seafood preparations (1-2 cloves).

Recipes which contain mushrooms as an ingredient usually have garlic added to them. Wild game and pasta sauces made with duck, often call for both onion and garlic. Onion is added to pasta Carbonara, and also too many red sauces. Most often onion is used in sauces which also call for celery and carrots...

There are plenty of sauces that do not have neither onion nor garlic - like some crème sauces, lasagne, cannelloni (on occasion they use onion) and pasta's with a base of cheeses and those with butter. There are Bolognese sauces that do not call for garlic.

Garlic with these:

Almost all Seafood's, Mushroom pasta's, some wild game, pesto sauces. In seafood praparations based pasta's white wine is used, and in meat sauces red wine is added.

Onion with these:

Roasted meats like Ragù's, sauces with egg, red sauces. There are a lot of recipes in the Euro-Italian kitchen which add egg to their pasta's.

Here are some examples:

Tagliatelle in Egg Salsa

Boil Tagliatelle pasta al dente, then add it into a pan of melted butter- mix over low heat, and then add a mixture of: 3 eggs, anchovy and diced mozzarella. When the mozzarella begins to melt and the eggs begin to form a cream, add the pasta-mix and quickly serve.

Spaghetti alla Carbonara (Roman)

600g spaghetti, 3 whole eggs, 200g pancetta bacon (diced), 30g butter, 50g grated parmigiano, 1 onion (diced), 1 stalk of parsley, dry white wine (1\2 cup) and black pepper

Brown onion and bacon in butter. When brown add in the white wine and let evaporate slowly.

Beat eggs and add in: parsley, Parmigiano, and pepper. Boil spaghetti al dente. When done mix with egg mixture, mix well and serve.

Pasta Sauces made with Nuts is common in Italian cooking.

Egg Fettuccine with Nuts

700g fettuccine pasta, walnuts or hazelnuts (in big pieces), powdered sugar, cinnamon, dash of bread crumbs

Mix all ingredients together

It seems that a good combination with veal is of sage and garlic. Baby lamb is prepared with rosemary, sage and garlic when grilled. Veal can be prepared with onion or garlic, but the "Agnello" or lamb seems to favor garlic in the Italian recipes- unless being prepared with celery and carrots.

These rules of thumb are for several Italian recipes, and seem to be the ones most followed, but there are of course exceptions.

Vegetables in the Italian Kitchen

Italians were not the ones to invent boiled vegetables tossed in a bowl of butter. They blanched some tough type vegetables for 3-5 minutes then simply added them into the "Italian pan", one that was formally prepared with a garlic clove or two and some olive oil. Many, if not all, vegetables are prepared in this manner by Italians- though not all need to be blanched first. Some vegetables are cooked in oil with salt and pepper and simply sprayed with fresh lemon juice.

The Italians are also great in the flower preparation - they use; zucchini flowers that are not so opened, egg wash, flour and oil. You just have to cut off most of the stems, and the filament, cover in the egg wash and flour and deep fry them. The way they make them in Rome is fantastic! Somehow they mix in mozzarella and anchovy, they are scrumptious.

Italian Menus for Various Ocassions

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In Italy meals can usually stretch up to 3-4 courses. Meals are considered as a great opportunity for spending time with family members and friends rather being under immediate sustenance, as such the daily meals can be longer than in other cultures. During holidays, Italians love to throw family feasts which would last for hours.

On daily terms, the Italians like to keep their meal up to 1-2 courses i.e.

1) First course,
2) Second course,
3) Side dish and the Coffee.

Whereas in many homes in Italy the traditional Italian menu is kept for special events (such as weddings). One observed aspect of an Italian meal, is that the first course or “Primo”, is usually the more filling dish consisting either risotto or pasta, both of them are rich in carbohydrates.
In Modern times, Italian cuisine has been expanded and now it also includes single courses (all-in-one courses), which not only provides carbohydrates but also a source of proteins at the same time (e.g. pasta and legumes).

Authentic or traditional menu {for special occassions}

Aperitivo :- Apéritifs are usually enjoyed as appetizers, before a large meal, they include Campari,Canzone and Vermout,Prosecco, Aperol, Spritz h.

Antipasto: - it is taken before meal, they can be any hot or cold appetizers.

Primo :- First course, it usually consists of a hot dish like pasta, risotto, gnocchi, polenta or soup.

Secondo :- Second course, the main dish served in the second course is usually a fish or meat dish..
Traditionally veal, pork, and chicken are the most commonly used meat, at least in the North, though beef has become more popular since World War II and wild game is very popular, particularly in Tuscany. Fish are those which are caught locally.And for drink, you can serve chocolate peanut shake

Contorno: - “Side dish", may consist of a salad or cooked vegetables. A traditional menu features sala along with the main course.

Formaggio e frutta :- "Cheese and fruits", the first dessert. Local Cheeses may also be part of theAntipasto or Contorno as well.

Dolce :- "Dessert", such as cakes and cookies.Chocolate Cupcakes are very easy to make and kids prefer to eat it.

Caffè :- Coffee

Digestivo :- "Digestives", liquors/liqueurs (grappa, amaro, limoncello,sambuca,nocino) sometimes referred to as ammazzacaffè ("coffee killer")

Top 5 restaurants in Italy

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1.Osteria del Porcellino - Florence, Italy
This restaurant is famous for the people who are the lover of meat.You will get traditional meat dishes here. This restaurant is pretty reasonable. If you get a chance to go Florence then don't forget to go this restaurant.

2.Alle Testiere - Venice, Italy
Shrimps dishes are very famous here. This restaurant is really brings new meaning to sweet shrimp.Even in its raw forms, it is not fishy in any way but tastes so amazing.You can find this restaurant in uk or in us also.

3.Donna Rosa - Montepertuso, Italy
Here you will get fresh and delicious food, with reasonable prices.It's a beautiful restaurant with a couple of small dining rooms and terrace which are very elegantly decorated.

4.La Penna de Orca - Rome, Italy
Its a very small restaurant with the chef being the owner.Seafood is the speciality of this restaurant and you can get taste souffles and its planty of variety.

5.Fuor d'Acqua - Florence, Italy
This is one of the popular restaurant of Florence. If you love to eat seafood,then don't go anywhere else, this is the best choice.You can leave yourself in their hands to recommend the multiple course dinner.

Italian breads

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Italian breads are very famous in all over the world.Italian have plenty of variety in breads.Some of the famous breads of italy are:-

1.Ciabatta:-It is a white bread. Made up of yeast and white flour.This bread is popular across europe and United states. And mostly used for making sandwich.

2.Muffuletta:- It is atype of silican bread. This bread is all use for making sandwich. The bread is large, round in shape,and some what flat.

3.Pane carasau:- It is round thin and crispy.It is made by baked flat bread. This bread is eaten either dry or wet.

4.Grissino:-It is a kind of bread stick. It is long crispy and thin.Salted in taste.

5.Panettone:-This bread is like a bun.Its taste is little bit sweet.People of italy use this bread onm some occassion.

Italian breads

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Famous Italian Beverages

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Italian beverages contain both hard as well as soft drinks. Italian beverages offer plenty of variety of things for you. Non-alcoholic beverages are also available.
Some famous Italian beverages are:-

Cappuccino:-
It is a hot drink .preferable drink after meal.Its a rich chocolate coffee.

Root Beer:-
It is very popular Italian beverage.Those who like to drink ,Root beer is the good choice for them.Not only in Italy ,it is also famous in other part of the world.

Chinotto:-
Its a non alcoholic drink.It is a fruit juice.Citric in taste.Its colour is same like Coco-Cola.It is not sweet,little bit bitter in taste.

Espresso:-
It is a term which is used for brewing.Italy is famous for its coffee. After all the meals they would like to have coffee.Espresso is a kind of coffee which is brewing with the help of machine.

Ammazzacaffe:-
You may have this drink after a meal.Through this you can settle down your food.You have variety of annazzacaffe like Bitters, Grappa, Sambuca, Mirto, and
Limoncello.

Lemon soda:-
As name indicates ,this drink is made up of lemon pulp.You can have it after your meal as it is good for digestion.

Spices and Herbs

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Spices have been used in Italy since Roman times. Nowadays spices are used in smaller quantities but they are present in many dishes. The following list describes those spices most frequently used in Italian recipes.

SPICES:-

CORIANDER [coriandolo]
Crushed coriander seeds are used in various meat dishes, particularly lamb and pork.

GINGER [zenzero]
This spice is rarely used in Italian cooking, except in the region of Apulia and Basilicata in southern Italy, where it is very popular.

NUTMEG [Noce moscata]
The Italians are fond of this spice, both in sweet and savoury dishes. Ground nutmeg has none of the fresh flavour and aroma of the freshly grated kind. Nutmeg is a common ingredient in ravioli and dishes which contain spinach or cheese.

PEPPER [pepe]

Black peppercorns should always be used. Grind them fresh at the time of cooking or serving; never use ready-ground pepper.

SAFFRON [zafferano]
This is used mostly in risotto and in fish soups and stews. Saffron is very expensive and therefore used sparingly. Saffron threads are probably the easiest and most economical way of using saffron: they should be steeped in a little warm water until the color and aroma are extracted; the water should then be strained and added to the dish.

SALT [sale]
Sea salt is used throughout Italy. Coarse sea salt rather than table or cooking salt is the type to use.

VANILLA [vaniglia]
Vanilla is a popular flavoring in sweet dishes, and vanilla sugar sold in sachets is frequently used with ordinary sugar to give flavor to cakes and pastries. The Italians use vanilla pods (beans) rather then essence (extract).

HERBS:-

Herbs are an important flavouring in Italian cooking and fresh ones are normally used, because most Italians either grow their own or have easy access to fresh herbs. In the winter months home-dried herbs are used. Herbs can be grown easily in pots on the windowsill or in the garden - they should be picked in the summer at the height of the growing season, then stored in the freezer or hung up to dry in a cool, airy place away from damp. Once dry, they should be stored in airtight containers.

Basil (basilico)
There are numerous varieties of this spicy, aromatic herb, but sweet basil and bush basil are the most common. It is used mostly in dishes that contain tomatoes, and in salads, soups and on pizzas. Freshly chopped basil should be used whenever possible, as dried basil makes a poor substitute. If buying dried basil, however, always choose the sweet kind; its flavour is much less pungent than other varieties.

Bay Leaves (lauro)

Bay leaves are used as a flavouring for casseroles, soups and sometimes roasts.

Borage (borragine)
Borage has a flavour not unlike cucumber. It grows all over Italy, and is used both as a flavouring and as a vegetable. Ravioli is stuffed with borage in Genoa. Borage leaves are also served like spinach or dipped in batter and deep-fried as fritters.

Fennel (finocchio)
Fennel is used in three ways in Italian cooking. The bulb, known as Florence fennel or finocchio, is used whole, sliced or quartered as a vegetable, and either braised or baked au gratin. It is also chopped raw in salads. Wild fennel stems (finocchiella) and the frondy leaves, which have the slightly bitter tang of aniseed, are used in cooking to flavour sauces, particularly in fish and sometimes pork dishes. They are also chopped and added to mayonnaise, eggs and cold fish dishes. Fennel seeds are a common flavouring in spiced sausages and other cooked meats, Finocchiona salame being the best known of these.

Juniper (ginepro)
The berries of the juniper bush are used in pork and game dishes and in marinades. If they are to be included in a dish such as a stuffing they should always be crushed first. Use juniper berries sparingly as their flavour can be bitter if used in too large a quantity.

Marjoram, Sweet (maggiorana)
This herb is sometimes used in soups, stews, vegetable and fish dishes. If necessary it can act as a substitute for oregano.

Myrtle (mirto)
The Sardinians make full use of myrtle to flavour meats, particularly when spit-roasting young animals. This herb is used elsewhere in Italy, but not to the same extent.

Oregano (origano)
This is also known as wild marjoram. It is an essential ingredient in many Italian dishes, including pizzas, sauces and casseroles, but its flavour differs slightly from one region to another.

Parsley (prezzemolo)
Italian parsley is the flat-leaved variety as opposed to the curly "moss" variety common in Britain and the United States. Flat-leaved parsley can usually be found at continental stores, where it is often called "continental parsley". Its flavour is far more pungent than curly parsley, and for this reason it is generally used as a flavouring in Italian dishes rather than as a simple garnish. For Italian recipes where parsley is specified, try to obtain the flat-leaved variety; other parsley can be used as a substitute, but the flavour of the finished dish will not be quite the same.

Rosemary (rosemarino)
The Italians are very fond of flavouring lamb and suckling pig with rosemary. It is also used liberally in soups and stews. However it is wise to treat this herb with a little caution, since its distinctive flavour can easily overpower ingredients with more subtle flavours.

Sage (salvia)
Sage is commonly used in liver and veal dishes.

History of italian food

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Italian cuisine has evolved extensively over the centuries. Although the country known as Italy today had not officially formed until the 19th century, the cuisine can claim roots going back as far as 4th century BC. Through various influences throughout the centuries, including neighboring regions, conquerors, high-profile chefs, political upheavals as well as the discovery of the New World, a concrete cuisine has formed to what is known today as one of the premiere cuisines in the world. Italian food history, however, reaches far beyond the country's borders.

While some of the most popular dishes associated with the Italian culture include a tempting slice of pizza and a heaping plate of pasta, there is much more to the world of Italian cooking. Throughout the many regions in Italy, the distinctive cuisine of the Italians shines through in a wide-range of eating habits, styles of cooking, and selection of local ingredients. The changing of the times has also influenced Italian food, as the meals served in the pre-Roman era possess both similarities and differences in the cuisine of today.

While some of the most popular dishes associated with the Italian culture include a tempting slice of pizza and a heaping plate of pasta, there is much more to the world of Italian cooking. Throughout the many regions in Italy, the distinctive cuisine of the Italians shines through in a wide-range of eating habits, styles of cooking, and selection of local ingredients. The changing of the times has also influenced Italian food, as the meals served in the pre-Roman era possess both similarities and differences in the cuisine of today.