Neapolitan meatloaf – Authentic recipe

Polpettone alla napoletana. This is a tasty and economical recipe. In Naples it is also known as ‘polpettone in salsetta’ – meatloaf in sauce. The sauce is used to dress pasta for the first course and the meat is eaten as the second course. The recipe calls for buffalo mozzarella and Neapolitan salami, but I’m sure it would be fine with whatever you have handy. Thank to Gino for the advice. Serves 4-6.

Meatloaf ingredients

• 500g minced beef
• 4 eggs
• 50g cooked ham (about 2 slices)
• 50g Neapolitan salami (optional)
• 40g parmesan, grated
• 40g pecorino, grated
• 50g buffalo mozzarella, sliced (not too fresh)
• 2 cloves of garlic, whole but lightly crushed
• Flour
• 100g stale bread
• 400g chopped tomatoes
• 50g concentrated tomato puree
• A large sprig of basil, torn
• 2 tbsp chopped parsley
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper

1. Hardboil 2 of the eggs and allow them to cool.Slice them thinly.
2. Moisten the bread with a little cold water and break into small pieces.
3. Mix together the meat, the raw eggs, the bread, the parmesan, the pecorino and the parsley. Season with salt and pepper. Knead with your hands until all the ingredients are incorporated.
4. Spread the paste on a square of kitchen paper to form a 2cm thick rectangle.  Cover with the slices of ham, the salami, the mozzarella and the sliced eggs.


Meatloaf with filling

5. Using the kitchen paper to help, roll up, pressing together firmly, to form the meatloaf.


meatloaf ready to cook

6. Dust with flour and fry the loaf in olive oil in a large pan until it is browned on all sides. Lower the heat, cover and continue cooking for 30 minutes.
7. In a seperate pan, fry the garlic for a few minutes in 3 tbsp of olive oil. Add the tomatoes, the tomato pureemixed with a little water, the basil and a pinch of salt. Cook for 5 minutes.
8. Add the tomato sauce to the meatloaf and cook for a further 30 minutes.
9. When the meatloaf is cooked, remove it from the sauce and allow it to cool slightly. Slice into 1-2cm slices and serve with a little of the tomato sauce.

Meatloaf with tomato sauce

Cold summer meatloaf with vegetables and tomato salsa

Polpettone freddo con verdure. This is a really nice summery dish and would be perfect for a picnic. When I cooked it, I couldn’t find minced veal so I used 50/50 pork and beef with good results. Serves 4 hungry people as a main course. It could be used as an antipasto too.

Summer meatloaf ingredients

• 200g minced veal
• 200g minced beef
• 150g minced pork
• 200g ricotta
• 2 eggs
• 50g grana padano, grated
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1 sprig of marjoram (or 1/2 tsp dried)
• 1 carrot
• 150g french beans
• 100g frozen peas
• 3 large vine tomatoes (or 200g tinned chopped tomatoes, drained)
• 10 fresh basil leaves
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• Salt & Pepper

1. Wash and top and tail the beans. Peel the carrot and chop into batons. Parboil the veg in salted water for 3-4 minutes.
2. Mix together the meat, the eggs, half the clove of garlic (finely chopped), the marjoram, the ricotta and the grana. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Lay a piece of grease proof paper flat on the work surface. Spread the meat mixture out so that you get a rectangle about 2cm deep.
4. Arrange the vegetables on top and, using the paper to help, roll up to form a meatloaf (like you would for a swiss roll). Press together firmly and make sure the ends are closed.


Summer meatloaf ready to cook

5. Transfer to a baking tin, cover with foil and bake at 200°C for an hour. Remove the foil 15 minutes before the end of cooking to allow the loaf to brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.
6. Make the salsa by deseeding and chopping the tomatoes with the basil and the other 1/2 clove of garlic. Stir in the oil and season with salt and pepper.
7. When ready to serve, slice the meatloaf into 1-2cm rounds and spoon a little of the salsa onto each slice

Summer meatloaf with salsa

The best baked ziti ever!

IMHO Pasta al forno Pugliese. Baked pasta is popular all over Italy. This version comes from Puglia. It uses Scamorza cheese instead of mozzarella. If you can’t find scamorza you can use mozzarella, but make sure it’s not too fresh as it will make the dish too wet. Actually, that probably wouldn’t be a problem outside Italy It is traditionally made with pecorino, but nowadays most people use parmesan. There is a lighter meatless version that leaves out the meatballs. Thanks to Grazia and Tiziana for the advice. Serves 6

Baked ziti ingredients

• 500g mezzi ziti or rigatoni
• 200g scamorza cheese, finely diced
• 50g pecorino Romano or parmesan
• 800g passata
• 1 onion
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper

For the meatballs:

Meatballs ingredients

• 250g minced beef
• 50g pecorino Romano or parmesan
• 1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp breadcrumbs
• 2 medium eggs
• sprig of parsley, finely chopped
• Salt and pepper

1. Make a tomato sauce by frying the onion for a few minutes in plenty of olive oil. Add the passata, season and cook over a low heat for about 30 minutes.
2. Make the meatballs by mixing all the ingredients together. Form into small balls about the size of a hazelnut. Fry in olive oil until well browned. Drain on kitchen paper.


fried meatballs

3. Boil the pasta until it is very al dente, two or three minutes less than the usual cooking time.  Dress with a couple of ladles of the tomato sauce and half the parmesan.
4. To assemble the dish take a high sided baking tray and put a layer of the pasta in the bottom. Cover with tomato sauce and sprinkle with meatballs, diced scamorza, and parmesan.


Partially assembled dish

5. Continue until you have used up all the pasta. The last layer should be pasta covered with tomato sauce. Sprinkle the top with parmesan


Assembled dish

6. Bake in a hot oven for 25 minutes.

Baked ziti

Fettuccine Alfredo – Authentic recipe

I was curious to find out exactly what fettuccine Alfredo is. I’ve frequently heard it mentioned in American TV shows and movies, but I’ve never found anyone in Italy who has heard of it. So I did a little research and came up with this.

Alfredo's restaurant

Fettuccine dressed with butter and parmesan has been eaten for hundreds of years in Italy. The story goes that in 1914 Alfredo di Lelio

Alfredo

had the bright idea to add a lot more butter. Apparently he thought it might help his heavily pregnant wife keep her lunch down. Just what you need when you’re feeling queasy, half a pound of butter With the help of a bit of nifty PR (courtesy of Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford), the dish became popular in the US. Alfredo’s restaurant still exists in Rome and enjoys a great deal of custom from American tourists. Alfredo’s now also has three restaurants in the states. Over the years American chefs have amended the recipe to include cream.

This is the original recipe from Alfredo’s restaurant. The recipe is for 4 portions, but it’s sooo heavy, I reckon 6 would be nearer the mark.

By the way, it does taste very nice, but I think I can feel my arteries hardening as I type

Fettuccine Alfredo ingredients

• 450g fresh fettuccine
• 170g unsalted butter at room temperature.
• 170g Parmesan, grated

1. Beat the butter and cheese together in a bowl until you get a smooth paste.
2. Cook the fettuccine for  3 minutes.
3. Drain the pasta quickly and add to the bowl with the cheese and butter. You should allow a little of the cooking water to cling to the pasta.
4. Toss the pasta in the sauce and serve.

Fettuccine Alfredo

Lasagne Bolognese – Authentic recipe

Lasagne Bolognese. There isn’t one authentic recipe for lasagne Bolognese, but there are lots of things you can do to make an inauthentic one. One of my friends in Bari is still in shock from the time he was served a lasagne in Newcastle which included sweetcorn

Sweetcorn aside, the main difference between lasagne Bolognese served in Italy and those commonly served in other countries is that the Italians use far less cheese and usually have only about four layers of pasta.

This recipe uses fresh homemade pasta. I really recommend trying it with fresh lasagne, you’ll really notice the difference. The next best choice would be shop bought fresh lasagne, then dried egg lasagne which you need to precook and last, and definitly least, dried lasagne that needs no precooking.  Serves 4-6

• 1 quantity Ragù for baked pasta
• 1 quantity Basic white sauce
• 1/2 quantity Pasta dough
• 25g butter
• 70g parmesan cheese

1. Roll out the pasta into sheets. They need to be a little thicker than for tagliatelle. On my pasta machine I use the setting which is two up from the thinnest.
2. Cut the pasta into rectangles which are roughly 10cm by 8cm.


Lasagne sheets

3. Cook the lasagne, a few at a time, in plenty of salted boiling water. About 2-3 minutes. If you add a little oil to the water it helps to stop them sticking together.  Drain and lay them on a damp tea towel.
4. Grease a lasagne dish with a little butter.
5. Arrange a layer of lasagne on the bottom of the dish. Spread one third of the ragù on top, spoon on some white sauce and sprinkle with a little cheese. Dot with some of the butter.  Cover with a layer of lasagne.
6. Repeat until you have used all of the ragù, finishing with a layer of lasagne. Cover with the rest of the white sauce.
7. Bake in an oven preheated to 200°C for 30 minutes. Be careful not to let the top get too brown.
8. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for a few minutes before dividing into portions.

Lasagne Bolognese

Ragù for baked pasta

Ragù per pasta al forno. This is used for many dishes – lasagne, baked ziti etc. There are many recipes, but the proportion of meat to tomato is always similar. One of the most common mistakes people make is to add too much tomato. If you have time, the flavour improves if you make it the day before and leave it in the fridge overnight. Enough for 4-6 portions of pasta.

• 300g minced beef
• 75g carrot, finely chopped
• 75g onion, finely chopped
• 50g celery, finely chopped
• 100ml dry white wine
• 250g passata
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• Salt and pepper

1. Heat the oil in a pan and add the onion, carrot and celery. Fry gently for a few minutes until the onions start to go translucent.
2. Add the meat and break up with a wooden spoon. Cook until it is well browned.
3. Add the wine and continue cooking until it has almost completely evaporated.
4. Add the passata, season with salt and cover.
5. Cook very slowly for at least 2 hours. Add a little water if it starts to dry out.
6. At the end of cooking, season with freshly ground black pepper.

Ragù for baked pasta

Basic white sauce (Béchamel)

Besciamella

White sauce ingredients

• 50g butter
• 50g plain flour
• 500ml milk (or half milk half water)
• a few grates of nutmeg (optional)
• salt and pepper

1. Melt the butter in a pan over a medium heat.
2. Add the flour and stir quickly with a wooden spoon until smooth.
3. Add add a little of the milk and beat until smooth.
4. Continue in this way until all the milk is added.
5. Bring to a very low simmer and cook for around 15 minutes, stirring frequently to stop the sauce catching on the bottom of the pan.
6. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg

White sauce (béchamel)

Red wine risotto

Risotto al Vino Rosso. You need to use a good, full bodied red wine – the best you can afford. The basic rule applies. if you wouldn’t drink it, don’t cook with it I used a Primitivo di Maduria , but next time I’m flush, I’ll try it with a Barolo.

Red wine risotto ingredients

Serves 4

• 400g risotto rice
• 2 glasses full bodied red wine
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• About 1 1/2 litres vegetable sock
• 40g parmesan, grated
• 25g butter
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• Salt and pepper

1. Fry the onion in the olive oil until they start to become transparent.
2. Add the rice and stir for few moments.
3. Add the red wine and cook over a medium heat, stirring all the time, until the wine has been absorbed.
4. Add a ladle of hot stock and continue cooking as per the standard risotto recipe.
5. When the rice is cooked al dente , remove from the heat, season and stir in the butter and parmesan.
6. Allow to rest for a few minutes before serving.

Red wine risotto

Puttanesca authentic recipe

Pasta alla puttanesca from Campania. The translation of the title of this dish is “whore’s pasta”! There are a lot of stories as to how it got it’s name, but one of the most common is that it was a dish that the working girls could quickly prepare between customers. Another version is that is was cooked in brothels so customers would be lured in by the enticing aromas. I don’t really buy that one. I think food would be the last thing on the customers minds It is a relatively modern dish, probably dating back to the end of the second world war. Both Lazio and Campania claim it as their own. This is the Campania version. The recipe comes from Accademia Italiana della Cucina.

A note about the olives. Use the best you can find. Don’t use pitted black olives as properly matured olives are too soft to have their stones removed mechanically, so they will almost certainly be green olives which have been dyed with ferrous glucomate (E151, a synthetic coal tar).

Puttanesca ingredients

Serves 5

• 500g bucatini, linguine, spaghetti or similar
• 500g peeled tomatoes (fresh or tinned)
• 2 anchovy fillets (salted or in oil)
• 100g good quality olives, rinsed. The recipe calls for Gaeta olives, which of course can be green or black, but I have only ever seen this dish prepared with black olives. You can leave them whole or stone them and roughly chop. I prefer half and half.
• 50g capers, rinsed and roughly chopped. The recipe doesn’t stipulate salted or in brine. I prefer the salted variety
• 100g olive oil. This seems a lot but you need a fair amount to allow the anchovy fillets to dissolve properly. Use less if you wish
• 1 clove of garlic, peeled and lightly crushed
• 1 chilli (fresh, dried or a good pinch of chilli flakes)
• Chopped parsley

1. Gently fry the garlic, chilli and anchovy fillets in the oil. Mash the anchovies with a wooden spoon until they have completely dissolved.
2. Remove the garlic. You can also remove the chilli if you don’t like it too hot. If you prefer a really fiery dish, crush or finely chop the chilli before frying.
3. Add the tomatoes, olives and capers. Mash the tomatoes thoroughly with a fork and cook over a medium high heat for 15 to 20 minutes.
4. Cook the pasta until al dente, drain and add to the pan with the sauce. Toss the pasta with the sauce and heat gently for a couple of minutes.
5. Sprinkle with parsley and serve.

Pasta Puttanesca

Rabbit alla cacciatore

Coniglio alla Cacciatore or Huntsman’s Rabbit. When I lived in Bergamo the Sunday lunch was usually roast rabbit with polenta. I was regularly woken at seven in the morning by my neighbour grinding his polenta under my bedroom window. I’m sure he did it on purpose (we didn’t get on that well ) I see that rabbit is coming back into fashion in the UK, so I thought I’d share this recipe. It’s not roast rabbit, but another common Bergamasco dish. You can use any type of mushroom, even porcini if your bank balance will stand it. Serves 4

Rabbit with mushrooms ingredients

• 1 rabbit cut into portions
• 400g mushrooms
• 100g passato
• 1 carrot
• 1 stick celery
• 1 onion
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1 tbsp chopped parsley
• 1 tbsp flour
• 100 ml chicken stock
• 1 glass dry white wine
• 5 tbsp olive oil
• Salt and pepper

1. Chop the carrot and celery into small strips and thinly slice the onion.
2. Add to a pan with 3 tbsp of olive oil and cook over a medium heat until the onions start to go translucent.
3. Add the rabbit pieces and brown. Sprinkle them with the flour.
4. Thinly slice the mushrooms and sautè them in a separate pan with the rest of the olive oil and the whole, lightly crushed clove of garlic. Cook until they are well coloured and start to give off their juice.
5. Add to the pan with the rabbit and add the wine. Cook over a high heat until the wine has reduced by half.
6. Add the passata and stock, season with salt and pepper. Cover and cook for about and hour over a low to medium heat.
7. Sprinkle with the parsley and serve with polenta.

Rabbit with mushrooms

Tomato sauce

This is a really simple recipe for an Italian style tomato sauce.  In the UK we tend to dress our pasta with a lot more sauce than the Italians do (dare I say too much?   ). If you can’t find really ripe fresh tomatoes, use tinned. You won’t get good results with supermarket ‘bounceable’  toms. This recipe is makes enough sauce to dress 4 portions of pasta. Really! Trust me!  On this occasion I served the sauce with linguine, but it goes equally well with many other short or long pastas (e.g. spaghetti, bucatini , sedani, penne, cavatelli etc.)

Tomato sauce ingredients

• 250g tinned tomatoes or peeled fresh tomatoes
• A pinch of sugar (optional)
• 2 cloves of garlic, lightly crushed
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 10 fresh basil leaves, torn
• salt

1. Put the tomatoes and their juice into a saucepan along with the garlic, sugar and a good pinch of salt. Cover and heat gently for about 30 minutes without stirring.
2. Remove the garlic and mash the the tomatoes with a wooden spoon. If you’re using tinned tomatoes cook uncovered for a further 15 minutes  until the sauce has reduced.
3. Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly.
4. Immediately before serving, stir in the olive oil and the basil.
5. Use to dress pasta

Tomato sauce

Linguine with tomato sauce

Black cuttlefish risotto

Risotto nero con le seppie. From Venice. This is quite a spectacular dish, but probably not to everyone’s taste. If you can’t find cuttlefish you can use squid. The tricky part is removing the ink sac when you clean them. I have to admit that I chickened out and bought a preprepared sachet. 50c well spent in my opinion. The recipe called for fish stock, but I used water as the cuttlefish has quite a strong flavour and I don’t think you’d be able to taste the difference.

Black cuttlefish risotto ingredients

Serves 4.

• 1kg cuttlefish, cleaned and the ink sacs reserved
• 1 litre fish stock or water
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 1 small clove garlic, finely chopped
• 175ml dry white wine mixed with 150ml water
• 350g risotto rice
• 25g butter
• salt and pepper

1. Cut the cuttlefish into strips or dice.
2. Heat the oil in a saucepan. Add the onion and garlic and cook over a low heat for a few minutes, stirring from time to time.
3. Add the cuttlefish and season with salt and pepper. Go easy on the salt as cuttlefish can be quite salty. Cook until the pieces have turned white.
4. Add the wine and water, cover and simmer over alow heat until tender. Timing depends on the size of the strips, but it’l probably be around 20 minutes.
5. Stir in the rice and cook for a few minutes, stirring frequently until most of the liquid has been absorbed.
6. Add a ladle of hot stock (or water) and continue according to the standard risotto method.
7. When the risotto is ready stir in the butter and serve.

Black risotto

Black tagliatelle with prawns

Tagliatelle nere con gamberi. From Campania. You can get black tagliatelle in larger supermarkets or good delis. I made my own. Just add a sachet of cuttlefish ink to the basic pasta recipe.

Black tagliatelle with prawns ingredients

Black tagliatelle

Serves 4

• 350g black taglatelle (dried)
• 450g chopped tomatoes or tomato pulp
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and lightly crushed
• 400g prawns, shelled weight
• a handful of rocket, chopped
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• salt and pepper

1. Fry the garlic cloves in the oil until lightly browned. Remove the garlic and discard.
2. Add the chopped tomatoes, season with salt and pepper and cook over a high heat for about 10 minutes.
3. Add the prawns and cook until the prawns are done. Not too long as you don’t want them to shrivel.
4. Stir in the rocket and serve with the cooked pasta.

Black taglatelle with prawns

Authentic tortellini bolognese

Fresh filled pasta takes a bit of time to prepare, but it’s really not that difficult, especially if you have a pasta machine. Ravioli are probably the least fiddly to make, but tortellini look more impressive . Once you’ve made the first couple it gets easier. This recipe comes from Accademia Italiana della cucina. It was registered with the Bologna Chamber of Commerce on the 7th of December 1974. An authentic tortellino bolognese must have the following filling. Makes about 800g or 100 tortellini.

Tortellini ingredients

Serves 6

• 100g loin of pork
• 100g mortadella sausage (It MUST come from Bologna of course )
• 100g parma ham (actually, they don’t specify that it has to come from Parma.It seems any raw ham will do)
• 150g parmesan (parmigiano reggiano)
• 1 egg
• A few grates of nutmeg

You will also need one quantity of pasta dough.

1. Make the filling by frying the pork loin gently in a little butter. Chop roughly and whiz together with the other ingredients  in a food processor until you get a smooth paste.


Tortellini filling

2. Roll out the pasta as thin as you can.
3. Use a pastry cutter or a glass to stamp out 7cm diameter discs or cut into 7cm squares.
4. Place a small amount of filling on the centre of each disc (about 5g)


Tortellini with filling

5. Moisten one edge and fold in half to make half moons. Be careful to avoid air pockets.
6. Using your finger and thumbs bring the edges (at the widest part) towards each other so that the dampened corners stick together.


Finished tortellino

7. Allow to dry for about an hour before cooking.


Tortellini ready to cook

8. Tortellini are traditionally served poached in meat broth. On this occasion I served then dressed in a little butter and topped with parmesan.

Tortellini finished dish

Here’s a video from Youtube that shows the whole process.

Tuna loaf

Polpettone di tonno ai capperi. This is the favourite dish of Macio, one of my friends from Bergamo. He always cooks it when he has guests. It comes from Sale & Pepe, one of the better food magazines. It can be served as an antipasto or a main course. When I made it I didn’t process the paste long enough, so the loaf was a bit loose. It was delicious though. Serves 4 as a main course 8-10 as an antipasto.

Tuna loaf ingredients

• 2 200g tins of tuna in brine
• 2 egg whites
• 20g grated grana or parmesan
• 2 tbsp capers in vinegar
• 4 anchovy fillets in oil
• 6 basil leaves
• 1 unwaxed lemon
• 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• salt

1. Drain the tuna and mash with a fork.

2. Combine the tuna, egg whites, grana, the zest of the lemon and the drained anchovy fillets and whiz in a food processor until you get a uniform paste. Mix in the whole capers.

3. Soak a sheet of grease proof paper in water for a couple of minutes and lay it flat on the work surface.

4. Place the tuna mix onto the centre of the paper and form into a thick sausage shape. It help if you do this with wet hands.

5. Roll up the paper and twist the ends to form a ‘Christmas cracker’ shape. Tie the ends with kitchen string.

   

   Tuna loaf ready to cook

   Poach the roll in just boiling water for 45 minutes. Remove from the water and allow to cool. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

6. When ready to serve, unwrap the loaf and cut into 1-2 cm rounds.

7. Make a dressing by mixing the olive oil, the juice from the lemon, chopped basil leaves and a pinch of salt.

8. Serve with green salad leaves (rocket, lambs lettuce etc. anything you fancy)

Tuna loaf

Carbonara – Authentic recipe

From Lazio.  What is Carbonara? If You ask an Englishman they’ll probably tell you it’s a dish prepared with cream and ham! Nooooooo!!!!! More crimes against Italian food have been commited under the name of Carbonara than any other dish.

So, in an attempt to set the records straight, I present the authentic recipe (as deposited in the archive of Acadamia Italiana della Cucina). No cream! No ham! And don’t you dare cook the eggs! Serves 6.

• 600 grams spaghetti or bucatini
• 120 grams guanciale or pancetta — diced or cut into strips
• 1 clove garlic
• 2 medium eggs (very fresh)
• 100 grams mixed Parmesan and pecorino Romano (or all pecorino) – grated
• olive oil
• salt and pepper

1. Cook the guanciale in a pan along with the whole peeled garlic clove and a little oil, until the guanciale is well coloured. Discard the garlic.
2. Beat the eggs in a bowl with a little of the cheese and a pinch of salt.
3. Cook the pasta until al dente, drain and add to the pan with the guanciale.
4. Lower the heat to a minimum and add the egg mixture. Mix well. Be careful not to let the eggs set.
5. Remove from the heat and add the rest of the cheese. Mix again and serve immediately.

Here’s a quote from Kate/Susan over at Kate, Katie, Susan, Sue who cooked the recipe as part of an Italian evening.

“That carbonara was one of the best things I’ve ever eaten, certainly the best pasta dish I’ve ever eaten. I would rank it above lasagna in my estimation.”

And this one’s from Cui at Equipoised.

The bottom line… carbonara typically feels too heavy and sickening after a while because of the addition of cream (an American adulteration). The egg way produces a much lighter, more palatable dish. And it was really the best carbonara I’ve ever had, ever. I tend to serially order carbonara at Italian restaurants because it is by far my favourite pasta, and I’ve had a lot of carbonara, but I feel like I can’t have it with cream any more after trying this.

Spaghetti amatriciana

Spaghetti all’ amatriciana. From Lazio. This is another Italian classic. Pasta with pancetta (or guanciale if you want to be really authentic), tomatoes and chilli. It is more traditionally served with bucatini, but is just as often served with spaghetti. Serves 4.

Spaghetti amatriciana ingredients

• 360 grams Spaghetti
• 100 grams pancetta — cubed
• 1 onion — thinly sliced
• 500 grams tomatoes — peeled, seeded and chopped
• 1 fresh (or dried) chilli — seeded and chopped
• olive oil
• salt and pepper
• Parmesan or pecorino Romano cheese to serve (optional)

1. Grease a flameproof casserole with oil, add the pancetta and cook over a low heat until the fat starts to run.
2. Add the onion and cook until lightly browned, stirring occasionally.
3. Add the tomatoes and chilli, season with salt and pepper, cover and cook for about 40 minutes. If it looks like drying out, add a little water.
4. Serve with the cooked spaghetti.

Spaghetti amatriciana

Spaghetti with tuna

Spaghetti con il tonno. This is a good store cupboard standby. Serves 4

• 360 grams spaghetti
• 1 clove garlic — peeled
• 80 grams tin of tuna — drained and flaked
• 3 tablespoons concentrated tomato puree
• 1 tablespoon chopped parsley
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• salt and pepper

1. Heat the oil in a pan, add the garlic, cook until browned and remove and discard.
2. Add the tuna and mix well.
3. Loosen the tomato puree with a couple of tablespoons of warm water and add to the pan and stir well. Cook over a low heat for 15 minutes.
4. Remove from the heat, stir in the parsley and season with salt and pepper.
5. Serve with the cooked spaghetti.

Sausages in tomato sauce

Salsicce al pomodoro. This is a great way to turn the humble banger into something special. Use the best quality sausage you can find – at least 90% meat. This dish is often made with chipolatas and served cold as an antipasto. Serves 4.

• 8 sausages (preferably Italian but any high meat content sausage will do)
• 100 milliliters dry white wine
• 250 milliliters passata
• salt and pepper

1. Prick the sausages with a fork, put the in a pan and add 2 tablespoons of water. Cook over a low heat, turning occasionally. When the water has evaporated the sausages will start to fry in their own fat. Continue until they are golden brown.
2. Add the wine and cook until it is completely evaporated and the sausages are just starting to fry again.
3. Add the passata, season with salt and pepper, cover and simmer for around 15 minutes.
4. This dish can be cooked with small sausages and served cold as an antipasto.

Rabbit fricassee

Coniglio in fricassea. There are many recipes for rabbit in fricassea but this is the simplest and most straight forward I could find. It’s basically rabbit served with a sauce made from egg yolks and lemon juice. Serves 4.

• 1 medium rabbit — cut into portions, washed and dried with kitchen paper
• 2 egg yolks
• plain flour
• the juice of a Lemon
• 1 whole Chilli – fresh or dried
• olive oil
• 1 knob butter

1. Lightly dust the rabbit with flour.
2. Fry the pieces in a little olive oil to which you’ve added the knob of butter.
3. When the rabbit is nicely coloured, season with salt, add a ladle of water and cook over a low heat for around an hour and a half. If it looks like drying out, add a little more water.
4. When the rabbit is done remove to a serving plate and keep warm.
5. Beat the egg yolks together with the lemon juice and add the mixture to the cooking liquid left in the pan. Stir rapidly until you have a smooth sauce.
6. Top the pieces of rabbit with the sauce and serve.

Farfalle with pancetta

Farfalle alla pancetta. Serves 4.

• 360g farfalle
• 100g smoked pancetta, diced
• 250g tomatoes, peeled and chopped
• 1 fresh chilli (or dried), seeded and chopped
• 200ml double cream
• 25g parmesan cheese, grated
• olive oil

1. Heat a little oil in a pan. Add the pancetta and chilli and cook until the pancetta is lightly browned.
2. Add the tomatoes, season with salt and cook over a low heat for around 30 minutes. Reduce the heat to minimum and stir in the cream. Cook very gently until the sauce starts to thicken – about 5 minutes.
3. Cook the pasta, drain and add to the sauce. Cook for 30 seconds or so, stirring all the time, to allow the pasta to take up the sauce.
4. Serve topped with the parmesan.

Spaghetti with raw tomatoes

Spaghetti al pomodoro crudo. This is a really good dish for a hot summer’s day. It’s only worth doing if you can find really ripe, tasty tomatoes though. If all you can find are the usual UK supermarket version ie. hard as a golf ball and flavourless – don’t bother Serves 4.

• 360g spaghetti
• 500g ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 10 basil leaves, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic,peeled
• salt and pepper

1. Put the tomatoes into a large bowl along with the oil, whole garlic and basil. Season with salt and pepper and mix well.
2. Cover and leave in a cool place to allow the flavours to develop – at least 1 hour but the longer you can leave it the better. Remove the garlic before serving.
3. Cook the spaghetti until al dente, drain and mix with the sauce.

Spaghetti with courgettes

Spaghetti con le zucchine. Serves 4

• 360g spaghetti
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 clove garlic, peeled
• 1 small onion,peeled
• 2 fresh sage leaves
• 1 stick celery
• 3 plum tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped
• 350g courgettes, thinly sliced
• 150g mozzarella, diced finely
• 25g parmesan cheese, grated
• salt and pepper

1. Heat the oil in a pan. Add the whole garlic clove, the whole onion, the sage leaves and the stick of celery and cook over a low heat for about 5 minutes.
2. Add the tomatoes and increase the heat to medium. When boiling add the courgettes. Season with salt and pepper, cover and cook for around 15 minutes.
3. Remove the garlic, onion, celery and sage and discard.
4. Cook the spaghetti, drain and the toss first with the sauce, then the mozzarella and finally with the parmesan.

Ragu alla Bolognese – Authentic recipe

In truth there probably isn’t one authentic recipe for Ragu alla Bolognese, but this one is close enough. There are however countless inauthentic ones. It bears little or no resemblance to the dish known as Bolognese or Bolognaise found outside of Italy. It is also never served with Spaghetti!

On October 17, 1982, the Bolognese chapter of the Accademia Italiana della Cucina, “after having carried out long and laborious investigations and conducted studies and research”, announced the following recipe to be the official one. I’m sure that every family in Emilia Romagna has their own version though. Serves 4.

• 400 grams fresh tagliatelle or fettucine
• 300 grams minced beef – The recommended cut is thin flank aka skirt (finta cartella in Italian) but any good quality mince will do.
• 150 grams unsmoked pancetta — minced very finely
• 50 grams carrot — finely chopped or minced
• 50 grams celery — finely chopped or minced
• 50 grams onion — finely chopped or minced
• 30 grams triple concentrated tomato puree(if using double concentrated, increase the quantity by about a 1/3)
• 1/2 glass red or white wine
• 180 milliliters fresh milk
• olive oil
• salt and pepper

1. Fry the pancetta gently in a little olive oil until it starts to release its fat. Be careful not to burn.
2. Add the vegetables and fry until the onions are transparent, stirring from time to time.
3. Add the beef and cook until it is lightly browned. When it starts to make popping noises, it’s done.
4. Add the tomato puree and the wine and mix well.
5. Add the milk, little by little until it is completely absorbed.
6. Season with salt and pepper, cover and cook very slowly for 3 to 4 hours.
7. Stir occasionally and if it looks like drying out, add a little more milk.
8. Serve with Fettuccine or Tagliatelle (NOT Spaghetti!)
9. Serve with Parmesan cheese on the side. Alternatively toss the pasta first in a little butter and then in Parmesan before adding the meat sauce.
10. Variation: The Academy allows the addition of Porcini mushrooms.

This is a more detailed explanation of the dish from Bologna Cooking School

A ragu Bolognese style is a meat sauce that is slow simmered for at least an hour to develop a complex flavor and proper thickness. Cooking the ragu in a heavy-duty enamel or similar pot will hold the heat steady and help to give a velvety texture to the ragu. Bolognese ragu is a classic sauce for lasagne and tagliatelle. The sauce also freezes beautifully.

Bolognese sauce (ragù alla bolognese in Italian) is a meat- and tomato-based pasta sauce originating in Bologna, Italy. It is typically made by simmering ground meat in tomato sauce, white wine, and stock for a long time (often upward of four hours), so that the meat softens and begins to break down into the liquid medium. The original sauce is not done with minced meat; instead, whole meat, usually beef or veal, is chopped with a knife.
Spaghetti alla Bolognese, or spaghetti bolognese which is sometimes further shortened to spag bol, is a dish invented outside of Italy consisting of spaghetti with a meat sauce. In Italy, this sauce is generally not served with spaghetti because it tends to fall off the pasta and stay on the plate. Instead, the people of Bologna traditionally serve their famous meat sauce with tagliatelle (‘tagliatelle alla bolognese). Outside the traditional use, this sauce can be served with tubular pasta or represent the stuffing for lasagna or cannelloni.

While “Bolognese” is undoubtedly the most popular ragù in this country, it is also the most misunderstood.
The ragù you get by that name is usually a characterless tomato sauce with pea-like bits of ground beef floating in it, bearing little resemblance to anything you’d find in Bologna.
And not, in any sense, a ragù.
True ragù alla Bolognese contains no tomato sauce — just enough fresh or canned tomato to add a hint of sweetness and another layer of flavor to a subtle, complex mix. Like all ragùs, Bolognese is characterized by its long, slow cooking, which in this case starts with simmering the meat in milk (to mellow the acidity of the raw tomatoes added later) and wine (some use white, others red), after which the tomatoes are added. The whole lot is cooked together for about two hours

Fusilli with mushrooms

Fusilli Ai Funghi. This dish works best if you use a mix of different types of mushrooms. To all my Czech wild mushroom hunter friends – this is the perfect recipe . It works with any type however, and on this occasion I cooked it with standard field mushrooms. Serves 4.

• 320g fusilli
• 800g mushrooms (as many different types as possible), chopped
• 250g tomatoes (tinned, pasatta or fresh – skinned seeded and chopped
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 sprig parsley, chopped
• parmesan cheese, optional
• 1 knob butter, optional
• salt and pepper
• olive oil

1. Wash and chop the mushrooms. How finely you chop them depends on taste and the varieties you are using. I could only get standard field mushrooms, so I chopped them quite finely.
2. Fry the onion and mushrooms in olive oil until the mushrooms start to release their liquid.
3. Add the tomatoes, season with salt and pepper, cover and cook over a low heat for 45 minutes.
4. Remove from the heat and add the parsley.
5. Cook the fusilli in plenty of salted boiling water until al dente. Drain and toss with a knob of butter (optional).
6. Mix the pasta with the mushroom sauce and serve with parmesan cheese on the side.

Carpaccio

Carpaccio Di Carne. The original version of this dish comes from Venice. According to Arrigo Cipriani, the present-day owner, Carpaccio was invented at Harry’s Bar in Venice, where it was first served to the countess Amalia Nani Mocenigo in 1950 when she informed the bar’s owner that her doctor had recommended she eat only raw meat. It consisted of thin slices of raw beef dressed with a mustard and mayonnaise sauce. The dish was named Carpaccio by Giuseppe Cipriani, the bar’s former owner, in reference to the Venetian painter Vittore Carpaccio, because the colours of the dish reminded him of paintings by Carpaccio.This lighter version is far more common nowadays.

• Beef, veal or horse fillet, sliced very thinly
• Lemon juice
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• Aromatic herbs, chopped – optional
• Parmesan cheese, shaved – optional
• Green salad leaves, optional

1. Marinate the meat in the lemon juice for around an hour.
2. Remove from the marinade and arrange on a serving plate.
3. Season with salt and pepper and dress with olive oil.

1. Variation: Add some chopped aromatic herbs (parsley, basil, mint etc.) to the marinade.
2. Variation: Top with shaved Parmesan
3. Variation: I like to serve the carpaccio on top of some green salad leaves.

Bavette with fresh herbs

Bavette Al Prezzemolo. This is a really nice, fresh tasting, summer dish. I first had it over ten years ago in Bergamo and have only just got around to tracking down the recipe.
Serves 4

• 320 grams bavette
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• olive oil
• salt
• a small bunch of parsley, finely chopped
• a small bunch of basil, finely chopped

1. Heat plenty of oil in a pan, add the garlic and cook over a medium heat until it is well coloured.
2. Remove from the heat and add the herbs. Leave to infuse for a minute or so.
3. Add the cooked pasta to the pan and mix well.
4. Variation: You can use other fresh herbs eg. mint, chives, dill etc. Whatever you fancy. Don’t try it with dried though.

Broad beans and wild chicory

Fave e cicorie. This is one of the most traditional and most loved dishes from Puglia. The recipe varies from town to town and even from family to family.  Many thanks to Grazia from Altamura for her recipe.  I don’t know if ‘wild’  chicory is available outside Italy, but if you can find it, this dish is well worth trying.

Serves 4.

• 200 grams dried peeled broad beans — soaked overnight
• 1 onion, peeled
• 1 stick celery
• 3 cherry tomatoes, peeled and chopped
• 1 bayleaf
• 700g wild chicory, washed and separated into individual stems.
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• Olive oil

1. Add the beans, onion, bayleaf, tomatoes and celery to an earthenware pot and cover with two fingers of water.
2. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat, cover and cook very slowly until the beans are very tender – at least 2 hours. The water should have been completely absorbed at the end of cooking.
3. Remove the onion, celery, and bayleaf. Mash the beans with a wooden spoon while adding a trickle of olive oil. Season with salt.
4. Meanwhile boil the chicory in plenty of salted water until tender and drain.
5. Add olive oil and garlic to a pan and cook until softened.
6. Dress the chicory with the garlic oil.
7. Serve on individual plates, arranging the beans on one side and the chicory on the other.
8. Dress with a little more olive oil before serving.

Variations:
1. Grazia likes to grate the onion and celery and incorporate them in the puree.
2. In some places potatoes are cooked along with the beans.
3. Dress with a little chilli oil before serving (olio santo)

Red pepper and aubergine carbonara

Serves 4.

Red pepper and aubergine carbonara ingredients

• 320g gnocchetti di sardi
• 1 medium red pepper, cut anto small dice
• 1 medium aubergine, cut into small dice
• 1 stick celery, cut into small dice
• 1 clove garlic, peeled and lightly crushed
• 1 whole small chilli
• 2 medium eggs
• 1 tsp marjoram
• 60ml olive oil
• 80g parmesan cheese, grated

1. Fry the pepper, aubergine, celery, garlic cloves marjoram and chilli in half the olive oil for about 15 minute.
2. Remove from the heat and discard the garlic and chilli. Keep warm
3. Beat together the eggs, cheese and the rest of the oil.
4. Cook the pasta until al dente
5. Add the drained pasta to the vegetables and mix well
6. Finally, add the egg mixture and stir thoroughly.

Red pepper and aubergine carbonara

Spaghetti with garlic, oil and chilli

Spaghetti aglio olio e peperoncino. Another simple dish that is popular all over Italy. Serves 4.

Spaghetti with garlic, oil and chilli ingredients

• 320 grams spaghetti
• Garlic to taste — peeled and left whole
• 1 fresh red chilli — whole
• Olive oil

1. Heat plenty of oil in a pan and fry the garlic cloves and chilli until the garlic has browned.
2. Remove the garlic and chilli. Discard.
3. Season with salt to taste.
4. Cook the spaghetti al dente, drain and dress with the flavoured oil.

Variations:

1. Add chopped parsley before serving.
2. Use dried chillis
3. For a much stronger flavour, chop the garlic and chilli and don’t remove from the oil.

Spaghetti with garlic, oil and chilli

Grilled aubergines

Melanzane arrostite. From Puglia.

• 600g aubergines, cut into thin slices
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 handful mint leaves, finely chopped
• 1 handful parsley, finely chopped
• olive oil
• White wine vinegar
• Salt and pepper

1. Sprinkle the aubergine with salt and drain in a colander for around an hour. Rinse and dry with kitchen towels.
2. Grill the slices, prefferably on a barbecue.
3. Arrange the aubergines in layers in a dish. Season each layer with garlic, mint, parsley, pepper, a good drizzle of oil and a few splashes of vinegar.
4. Leave to rest for a few hours.
5. Drizzle with a little more oil when you are ready to serve.

Poor man’s courgettes – Salento style

Zucchine alla poverella, versione salentina. From Salento, Puglia.

• 1 kilogram courgettes, washed and cut into chunks
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled but left whole
• olive oil
• parsley, chopped
• salt

1. Sprinkle the courgettes with salt and drain in a colander for a while to remove some of their liquid.
2. Fry the cloves of garlic in plenty of olive oil until golden. Remove the garlic and discard.
3. Add the courgettes to the pan and fry until done. Note: Shake the pan rather than stirring to avoid the courgettes becoming mushy.
4. Adjust the salt, sprinkle with parsley and serve as an antipasto or a side dish (it is also good cold)

Tuna alla Genovese

Tonno alla Genovese. From Genova. Serves 6.

• 600g Fresh tuna, cut into 6 steaks
• 2 salted anchovies, soaked and filleted
• 30g dried porcini mushroom, soaked in warm water for half an hour and drained. Reserve the liquid.
• Olive oil
• Pepper
• 1 glass dry white wine
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
• 1 small bunch of parsley, finely chopped
• Salt
• Plain flour

1. Heat some oil in a pan and add the onion, garlic, mushrooms and parsley. Fry for a few minutes.
2. Add the anchovie fillets and allow them to dissolve.
3. Add the wine, the mushroom liquid and a table spoon of flour. Allow to cook for 6 or 7 minutes.
4. Add the tuna, season with salt and pepper, cover and cook over a low heat for around an hour.

Mussels alla marinara

Cozze alla marinara. All dishes called alla marinara were originally prepared by fishermen from the ingredients readily available to them on board. This dish is very simple, but delicious all the same.

• 2 kilograms Mussels, cleaned
• Parsley, chopped
• Plenty of pepper

1. Heat a dry pan to a high heat.
2. Add the mussels and plenty of black pepper.
3. As soon as all the mussels have opened, remove from the heat and sprinkle on the parsley.
4. Serve in bowls along with the liquid they released during cooking. Mop up the juice with some crusty bread.

Octopus salad

Insalata di polpi. From Puglia. This is one of my favourite antipasti.

• 1 large Octopus (at least 500g), cleaned
• Parsley, chopped
• Olive oil
• White wine vinegar
• 1 clove Garlic, finely chopped
• Salt and pepper

1. Put the octopus in a large saucepan and cover with cold water.
2. Bring to the boil and cook over a medium heat until tender – about 25 minutes.
3. Allow to partially cool in the cooking liquid.
4. Cut into bite size pieces, dress with vinegar and garlic and allow to marinate for at least a couple of hours.
5. When you are ready to serve, adjust the seasoning and dress with olive oil and parsley.
6. Serve as an antipasto or main course
7. Variation: Substitute lemon juice for the vinegar.

Tagliatelle with broad bean puree

Lagane con pure di fave. From Puglia. This is another example of la cucina povera or peasant food. It uses very frugal ingredients but the results are delicious. These dishes have enjoyed a bit of a renaissance recently in Italy. Rightly so in my opinion. Serves 5

500 grams tagliatelle (preferably fresh) (known locally as lagane)
250 grams dried, skinned broad beans — soaked overnight
50 grams onion — thinly sliced
olive oil
salt to taste

• Put the beans into a saucepan and cover with twice the depth of water. Add salt (the original recipe called for a tablespoon!) and cook over a medium heat, without stirring, until the beans are very soft. Mash with a wooden spoon.
• Fry the onion in plenty of olive oil until they are starting to caramelize.
• Cook the tagliatelle al dente, drain and mix with the puree.
• Transfer to a serving dish, pour over the onions and their cooking oil and serve immediately.

Stuffed mussels

 Cozze ripiene. From Bari. This recipe was given to me by Marilisa – thanks a lot for taking the trouble. They were delicious It’s actually her granny’s recipe and Marilisa’s favourite. The recipe seems a bit daunting as you have to open the raw mussels, but it’s really not that difficult. Follow the link below if you want to know how. Serves 4-5

1 kilogram large mussels
4 medium eggs
1 bread roll — crust removed
parsley — finely chopped
100 grams Pecorino Romano or Parmesan — grated
milk
olive oil
garlic to taste — finely chopped
salt and pepper
kitchen string
2 bottles passata

• Clean the mussels and open them keeping the shells attached
• Soak the bread roll in a little milk and tear into small pieces.
• Beat the eggs in a bowl and mix with the cheese, garlic, parsley and bread. Season with salt and pepper.
• Add breadcrumbs little by little until you have a fairly dry stuffing mix.
• Stuff the mussels with the mixture and tie them almost closed with kitchen string. Don’t tie them too tightly as the stuffing has to come into contact with the cooking sauce.

• Heat some oil in a large pan and add some chopped garlic. When the garlic has coloured add the tomatoes. Cook over a medium heat for about 15 minutes.
• Add the mussels and cook for a further 15 minutes.
• Remove the mussels from the sauce and remove the string.
• Serve the sauce with spaghetti or linguine as a first course.
• The mussels can be served as the second course or as part of an antipasto (hot or cold)

 

Ragu alla Barese

This is another recipe from Tiziana (many thanks). This one of the most common ‘Sunday lunches’ in Bari. I think it’s known as “Sunday gravy” in the Sates. The recipe doesn’t give very precise measurements as it depends how many people you are cooking for and your personal taste.  As a rough guide allow 2-300g of meat per person. Tiziana usually serves the ragu with orecchiette, but you can use your favourite pasta. Serve the meat separately as the second course.

• Thin slices of meat (you can use beef, veal, pork, or horse meat),flattened with meat mallet
• Pieces of lamb (preferably on the bone)
• Lardo(salted lard) or prosciutto fat or fatty pancetta
• Parsley
• Garlic
• Pepper
• Pecorino Romano cheese, grated
• 1 Onion, sliced
• Passata or tomato pulp
• 1/2 glass dry white wine

1. Chop together the lardo, parsley, garlic, pepper and pecorino to make a coarse paste.
2. Place a little of the paste in the middle of each slice of meat. Roll up and secure with a toothpick.
3. Take a large pan(NOT nonstick) and add the onion, some olive oil, the meat rolls, the lamb pieces and half a glass of water.
4. Cook over a high heat making sure that the meat catches on the bottom of the pan but doesn’t burn. Scrape the pan frequently with a wooden spoon. This is an important step as it contributes a lot of the flavour of the sauce.
5. Add the wine and allow to evaporate
6. Add enough passata to cover the meat well
7. Cook over a very low heat until the meat is tender. (A slow cooker would be ideal)
8. A few minutes before the end of cooking, season with salt and pepper.
9. For the best results, allow to cool, refrigerate over night and reheat the next day.
10. When you are ready to serve, remove the meat and keep warm.

Serve the sauce with pasta as the first course followed by the meat as the second course.

Risi e bisi

If you prepare this on April 25, you will be carrying on an ancient tradition that dates from the days of the Republic of Venice. This springtime dish of creamy rice and peas is made in Venice and its surroundings area to celebrate the feast day of its patron, Saint Mark. Almost the consistency of a soup, risi e bisi should be served as a course of its own. In the past, risi e bisi was presented on Saint Mark’s Day with much ceremony to the doge, the leader of Venice. You can streamline this dish by using small frozen peas.

Serves 6

• 500g risotto rice
• 700g fresh peas (unshelled weight), shelled
• 80g butter
• 40g pancetta, cut into small cubes
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• parsley to taste, finely chopped
• 60g parmesan cheese
• stock (vegetable or chicken)

1. Fry the onion, pancetta and parsley in half the butter. When the onions start to colour, add the peas and cook for a further 5 minutes
2. Add a couple of ladles of hot stock and bring to the boil. Add the rice and stir.
3. Continue in the usual way for risotto - note: use more stock than for a standard risotto. The finished dish should be quite sloppy – almost like a soup.
4. When the rice is cooked al dente remove from the heat. Adjust salt and pepper, stir in the parmesan and the rest of the butter. Serve immediately

Giorgio Mantello used the picture above to illustrate an article on his site a cena da Giorgio. This is a translation of his comments:

I chose this image because it shows excellently  what should be the consistency of the risotto – neither too thick nor too liquid – in Venice is said to be “moeche”. which translates as soft and a little sticky. enjoy!

Tiella of potatoes rice and mussels – Authentic recipe

Tiella di patate riso e cozze. Finally the definitive recipe! This recipe was given to me by Tiziana who is one of the best cooks in Bari (or so her friend Rosa tells me ) Many thanks Tiziana. It uses mussels which have been opened when they are still raw. My fish monger did this for me, but in the UK you’ll probably have to do this yourself. Here’s a link to show you how. Good luck
Serves 6

Potato, rice and mussels ingredients

• 1.5kg potatoes, sliced
• 300g risotto rice, soaked in cold water
• 1kg mussels, opened on the half shell – reserve the liquid
• onions, sliced
• olive oil
• garlic, chopped
• parsley, chopped
• tomatoes, chopped
• pecorino Romano, grated
• parmesan, grated
• salt and pepper

1. Assemble the tiella as follows in an ovenproof dish, preferably terracotta
2. A layer of onions drizzled with oil
3. A layer of potatoes seasoned with garlic, tomatoes, parsley, sat and pepper, cheese. Drizzle with oil
4. A layer of mussels seasoned with garlic and parsley. Drizzle with oil
5. Drain the rice and distribute it over the mussel. Season with garlic, tomatoes, parsley, sat and pepper, cheese. Drizzle with oil
6. A layer potatoes.
7. Add the water reserved when you opened the mussels. Add water so that the final layer of potatoes is just covered
8. Cover tightly (maybe with alumnium foil) and bake at 180C for up to two hours. Test from time to time with a skewer.
9. Uncover for the last 20 minutes of cooking to brown the top.

Lumache with whelks

Lumache con lumache di mare. Or snails with sea snails! I was mightily confused when I first translated this recipe until I realised that they meant the pasta shapes known as snails with whelks.

Whelks are more often eaten poached and eaten as part of a seafood antipasto. They can also be dressed with lemon juice and olive oil. Serves 4

350 grams lumache
500 grams whelks — thoroughly washed and soaked in cold water for 3-4 hours
1 medium onion — chopped
1 clove garlic
100 milliliters dry white wine
100 grams tomatoes — chopped
1 chilli — chopped
olive oil
fish stock

• Drain the whelks. Add to a pan along with the tomatoes garlic and chilli. Cover with fish stock and simmer until the whelks can be removed from their shells (with the aid of a tooth pick) About 10 minutes. Leave a few whole for decoration. Discard the stock.
• In a clean pan, fry the onion in a little olive oil. Add the whelk meat and fry for another minute. Add the wine and let it evaporate. Add the parsley and remove from the heat.
• Cook the pasta and toss with the whelks.
• Serve immediately

PS The more sharp eyed among you will have noticed that when I cooked this dish I couldn’t find lumache. Isn’t that just typical I used gnocchi instead.

Bucatini with artichoke carbonara or Springtime carbonara

Bucatini alla carbonara di primavera. This dish works very well. It’s now my new favourite artichoke dish (for a week or so anyway ) If, like mine, the artichokes are very small, use 6. Serves 4

320 grams bucatini
3 artichokes — prepared and sliced
40 grams pancetta — cubed
1/2 clove garlic
100 milliliters vegetable stock
1 sprig parsley — chopped
1 lemon
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
20 grams grana padano — grated
10 grams pecorino Romano — grated
olive oil
salt and pepper

• Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a pan and fry the pancetta for 3-4 minutes.
• Add the artichokes, garlic, parsley and stock.
• Salt and cook over a medium heat for 10 minutes covered and a further 15 minutes uncovered. Keep warm.
• Take a large bowl (which will be used to serve the pasta). Add the eggs and yolks, a pinch of salt, a generous amount of pepper and the cheese. Beat until you have a smooth paste.
• Cook the pasta until al dente
• Drain the pasta and add to the bowl with the egg mix. Toss until the bucatini are well coated. Add the artichokes and mix again.
• Serve immediately

 

 

 

Grilled marinated swordfish

Pesce spada in salmoriglio. From Calabria. Serves 4

4 swordfish steaks (about 200 g each)
olive oil
juice of 1 lemon
oregano
1 sprig parsley — chopped
1 clove garlic — chopped
salt and pepper
1 tablespoon capers — chopped
grated lemon zest

• Mix together the olive oil, lemon juice, a generous amount of oregano, parsley, lemon zest and capers to make the marinade. season with salt and pepper. Marinate the swordfish for a couple of hours.
• Remove the steaks from the marinade and dry with kitchen paper.
• Heat the grill to its maximum heat.
• Sprinkle the sword fish with a little oil and grill for a couple of minutes each side.
• Sprinkle with some of the reserved marinade and serve.

Carrot and mussel soup

Crema di Carote e Cozze. This dish is from Trentino Alto Adige so it is heavily influenced by it’s northern neighbours. Don’t tell my Barese friends, but I found it rather good Serves 4

carrot and mussel soup ingredients

• 32 large mussels, cleaned
• 1 litre chicken stock
• 700g carrots
• 70g butter
• 1 glass white wine
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp parsley, finely chopped
• sugar
• salt

1. Dice half of the carrots. Fry in half the butter with a pinch of salt and a pinch of sugar until caramelized. Put aside.
2. Finely chop the rest of the carrots. Fry in the rest of the butter for a few minutes with a pinch of salt and a pinch of sugar. Add the stock, cover and cook until the carrots are soft. Liquidize.
3. Put the mussels in a pan with the wine and garlic. Place over a high heat until the mussels have opened. Shell the mussels. Strain the cooking liquid and reserve.
4. Reheat the carrot purée. Add the mussels and their cooking liquid and the diced carrots. Served with the chopped parsley sprinkled over each portion.

Tiella alla Barese

This is another tiella recipe from Bari. This one includes rice which my friends tell me is an essential ingredient. Only ‘foreigners’ from places as far away as, for instance, Lecce would dream of omitting it It’s not completely traditional as the mussels are not raw when added to the tiella, but if you don’t fancy opening all those mussels it’s a fair approximation. I’ll post the ‘authentic’ recipe later.

Tiella ingredients

• 400 g potatoes, peeeled and thinly sliced
• 200 g risotto rice
• 700 g mussels, cleaned
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 medium onion, thinly sliced
• a handful of parsley, finely chopped
• olive oil
• 200 g tomatoes, peeled, deseed and chopped
• pecorino cheese, grated
• pepper

1. Boil the rice until al dente. Reserve some of the cooking liquid.
2. Heat the mussels in a pan with a little oil and the chopped garlic. When they have opened, remove from the pan. Strain and reserve the liquid. Remove the top shell from each mussel.
3. Assemble the tiella in a ovenproof dish. Make layers of the ingredients in the following order – potatoes, rice, onions, tomatoes, a little cheese, parsley. Repeat until all the ingredients have been used up, finishing with a layer of potatoes.
4. Pour the liquid from the mussels over the tiella. Add some of the cooking liquid from the rice so that the level of liquid comes about two thirds of the way up the dish. Season well with pepper (not salt as the mussel liquid will be quite salty). Drizzle olive oil on top.
5. Bake uncovered for around 35 minutes at 180C. Add a layer of mussels in the half shells, drizzle on a little more oil and return to the oven for 10 minutes.

Easy tiella alla barese

Panzanella Laziale

Panzanella Laziale. There are probably as many versions of this dish as there are cooks in Italy. This one comes from Lazio. Panzanella is a great way to use up stale bread.

Panzanella ingredients

• 1 kilogram stale bread
• 8 ripe tomatoes — deseed and chopped
• 1 bunch basil — torn into small pieces
• olive oil
• white wine vinegar
• capers (salted or in vinegar) to taste
• anchovies to taste

1. Soften the bread with a little water and tear into smallish pieces.
2. Mix together the bread, basil, tomatoes, capers and anchovies.
3. Dress with olive oil and a little vinegar (if the capers are in vinegar don’t add any extra).
4. Leave for 30 minutes to allow the flavours to develop and serve.
5. Variation: Leave the slices of bread whole and serve topped with the rest of the ingredients.

Panzanella

Chickpea and tagliatelle soup

Minestra di ceci from Matera. A few weeks ago some friends and I visited the beautiful town of Matera in Basilicata. After a very pleasant morning sightseeing we visited a restaurant that had been recommended in the ‘Slow Food’ guide – ‘Le Botteghe’ in Piazza San Pietro Barisano. Wonderful simple food. This is my attempt to recreate one of their specialities.

• 250g dried chickpeas, soaked overnight
• 150g fresh tagliatelle, cut into 5cm lengths
• 30g smoked pancetta, cubed
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 sprig rosemary
• olive oil
• salt and pepper

1. Fry the pancetta and garlic cloves in a little olive oil for a few minutes.
2. Add the chickpeas together with a litre of water and bring to the boil.
3. Add the rosemary, cover and cook over a moderate heat for around 2 hours.
4. Remove the rosemary and season with salt and pepper.
5. Add the taglietelle and cook for a further few minutes.
6. This dish is sometimes served topped with fried breadcrumbs.

Variation: When the chickpeas are cooked remove half the chickpeas, liquidize them and return them to the soup.

Soused chicken breasts

Petti in carpione. Serves 4

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast portions
2 eggs
80 g breadcrumbs
25 g butter
5 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 celery stick, thinly sliced
1 carrot, thinly sliced
350 ml white wine vinegar
100 ml dry white wine
4 fresh sage leaves (or a teapoon of dried)
2 garlic cloves, sliced
salt and pepper

• Beat the chicken with a meat mallet until evenly thin.
• Beat the egg with a pinch of salt in a dish, add the chicken and leave to stand for 15 minutes. Spread out the breadcrumbs in a shallow dish. Drain the chicken and dip in the breadcrumbs to coat.
• Heat the butter and 2 tablespoons of the oil in a pan, add the chicken and cook over a medium heat, turning occasionally, for about 10 minutes until golden brown on both sides.
• Meanwhile, heat the remaining oil in another pan, add the onion, celery and carrot and cook over a low heat, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste, add the vinegar and wine and bring Ito the boil, then immediately remove from the heat and add the sage and garlic.
• Place the chicken in a dish, pour the hot marinade over it, leave to cool, then chill in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours before serving.

Brindisi fish soup

Zuppa di pesce alla Brindisina. A couple of weeks ago I got together with a couple of friends in order to cook a fish ’soup’ . Soup is a bit of a misnomer, as there isn’t really that much liquid involved. It was an all day project involving a trip to the fish market in the morning, lots of preparation in the afternoon (why are mussels so time consuming to clean? I’d happily eat them every day if I didn’t have to spend an age scraping and pulling off various unsavoury parts ) and cooking and eating in the evening. I glad to say it was worth the effort. Serves 4

• 600g scorpion fish (or any other firm white fish – we used hake), cleaned and definned.
• 350g squid, cleaned and cut into pieces.
• 150g cuttlefish, cleaned and cut into pieces.
• 300g mussels, cleaned and debearded.
• 200g clams, scrubbed
• 300g tomatoes, peeled, deseeded and chopped.
• 1 stick celery, finely chopped.
• 1 onion, finely chopped.
• 1 sprig parsley, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
• 1 chilli, finely chopped.
• 1/2 glass olive oil
• 4 slices stale bread

1. Soften the onion and celery in a large pan. Add the tomatoes and cook for a few minutes until the start to break down and form a sauce.
2. Add the squid and cuttle and cook until they start to become tender – 10-20 minutes.
3. Add the mussels, clams and chilli, stir and then lay the fish on top. Cover and cook over a low heat until the fish sarts to flake (check from time to time with a fork).
4. To serve, place a slice of bread in the bottom of a bowl, sprinkle on a little garlic and parsley and spoon the soup on top.

Spinach frittata

Fritatta di spinaci. The original recipe called for 2kg of spinach. As this is about 2 medium sized shopping bags full, I decided to cheat a bit and use 1kg. To be honest, I didn’t fancy cleaning it all. The results were excellent however. Serves 4-6.

1 kilogram fresh spinach
6 medium eggs — beaten
1 handful parmesan cheese — grated
   olive oil
   salt and pepper

• Wash the spinach and remove the stalks. Steam until wilted, squeeze out any excess liquid, and chop finely.
• In a large bowl , mix together the eggs, spinach and parmesan. Season with salt and pepper.
• Heat plenty of oil in a frying pan until it is almost smoking. Pour in the egg mixture and shake the pan to even out the frittata. Cook until the top has started to set.
• Turn the frittata by covering the pan with a large plate, turn it upside down so it falls onto the plate and slide it back into the pan with the uncooked side down.
• Continue frying until the frittata is cooked through. Unlike an omelette, it should be quite firm and well set. You shouldn’t cook it for too long however as it will become dry.
• Serve hot or cold.