Cutlets alla Palermitana

Cotolette alla Palmermitana finished dish

A lot of people know the recipe for cotolette alla milanese.  This much lighter version comes from Palermo in Sicily. It uses a lot less oil as it is baked, not fried and no egg is used.

• 500 g sliced ​​meat (beef, pork or chicken)
• 300 g breadcrumbs
• 30g capers desalted and chopped
• 50g black olives, stoned and chopped  (I only had green available, but it didn’t make too much difference)
• 50g Cacio cavallo , Parmesan or pecorino Romano, grated
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
• Chopped parsley to taste and/or chopped mint
• 30g chopped almonds (optional)

Cotolette alla Palmermitana ingredients

Prepare the coating by mixing together the breadcrumbs, garlic, parsley,cheese, olives and capers.

Cotolette alla Palmermitana bread mixture

Beat the steaks so they are thin and an even thickness. Coat them first in oil, and then the bread mixture.

Cotolette alla Palmermitana ready for oven

Place the cutlets on a baking tray that you have first lined with greaseproof paper.

Bake in a preheated oven at 200°c until they are golden brown. About 10 minutes.

 

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Insalata Caprese – Authentic recipe

Insalata Caprese finished dish

From Campania. This salad is named after the island of Capri, in the Gulf of Naples, near to Sorrento. Versions of this dish can be now be found in “Italian” restaurants all over the world. It is extremely simple, just “mozzarella”, tomatoes and good extra virgin olive oil.

As always, the quality of the ingredients is very important. First the “mozzarella”. The name should technically be reserved for buffalo milk cheese. Cows milk cheese is known as “fior di latte”. The milk used is not as important as the freshness. In fact Accademia Italiana della Cucina recommends using a cow’s milk cheese from Agerola or Sorrento. Most people here insist on eating it on the day it is made. Mozzarella made the day before is only good for pizza. If all you can find is supermarket cheese with a shelf life of up to a month, it wont be worth making this dish, make a pizza instead 🙂 Slice into fairly thin slices, about half a centimetre or a quarter of an inch.

Next, the tomatoes. Again, use the best you can find. Try to find them about the same size as the cheese. This makes the presentation nicer. Slice crossways into slices of about the same size as the cheese.

Arrange them on a plate, alternating the tomato and mozzarella. Add a generous amount of fresh basil and drizzle with olive oil. You can season with a little salt if you like.

The Academia suggests an alternative method where the cheese and tomatoes are diced.

The salad will taste much better if you serve it at room temperature, not straight from the fridge.

Unlike most salads in Italy, this is served as a main course, rather than a side dish.

Insalata Caprese ingredients

 

Swiss chard frittata

Swiss chard frittata finished dish

Frittata di bietole. This is one of the myriad of  recipes for frittate or Italian style omelettes. If you can’t find swiss chard, fresh spinach would be a good substitute.

Swiss chard frittata ingredients

• 6 eggs
• 1 kg of swiss chard, only the green leaves, use the stalks for something else.
• 1 clove  of garlic
• 1 small onion
• A handful of fresh marjoram leaves or about a teaspoon of dried (optional)
• 100g of grated parmesan
• Salt and pepper

Swiss chard frittata prepared

Fry the whole clove of garlic and the finely chopped onion gently in a little olive oil. After a few minutes, when the clove is lightly brown, remove it and discard. Add the chard and marjoram if used. Season with salt and pepper. Cook gently for a few minutes until the chard is completely wilted. You don’t have to add any water, the water left clinging to the leaves after washing should be enough.

Swiss chard frittata wilting chard

Allow to cool and squeeze out as much water as possible. Mix together the lightly beaten eggs, the chard and the cheese.

Swiss chard frittata ready to cook

Heat a large frying pan to a medium. Add a couple of table spoons of oil an add the egg mixture. Fry until the top has started to set.

Swiss chard frittata ready to turn

Flip the frittata by placing a large plate on top. Turn out onto the plate and then slide back into the pan. Finish off for a couple of minutes. Can be eaten hot or cold.

Swiss chard frittata finished dish

Potato pizza with ham and spinach

Potato pizza finished dish

Pizza di patate e prosciutto. From Bari. This is a more complicated version of the traditional potato “pizza”.  They call it a pizza here, but that name is quite confusing as it does not contain any bread or flour. To confuse matters further it is also known as Torta di patate or Gateau di patate in various regions. It is basically a potato pie filled with ham and spinach. The ham can easily be left out to make it vegetarian (if you are careful about what cheese you use of course). It can be eaten warm or cold and will keep in the fridge for 3 or 4 days. It also freezes well. Serves about 8 as a main course.

Potato pizza ingredients

• 1.2 kg floury potatoes.
• 250g scamorza, provola or mozzarella, grated or thinly sliced.
• 500g fresh spinach
• 150g cooked ham
• 2 egg yolks
• 70g grated parmesan
• Dry bread crumbs
• Butter
• Olive oil
• 1 clove of garlic
• Nutmeg 

Cook the potatoes in their skins in lightly salted water. Drain and peel when cool enough to handle.

Potato pizza cooking potatoes

Mash the potatoes and mix with the egg yolks and parmesan.

Potato pizza mixed with cheese

Fry the whole garlic clove for a few minutes in a little olive oil. Remove and add the spinach. There should be enough water clinging to the leaves after washing. Add a little salt and couple of grates of nutmeg. Cook over a medium heat until the spinach has completely wilted. Leave to cool and squeeze out as much water as possible.

Potato pizza cooking spinach

Grease a 24cm cake tin and dust with bread crumbs. Use 2/3 of the potato to make the base of the pizza. Build up the sides a little to contain the filling. Add the spinach.

Potato pizza with spinach

Add the ham

Potato pizza with ham

Cover with the cheese

Potato pizza with cheese

Close the pizza with the remaining 1/3 of the potato. Cover the top with bread crumbs and dot liberally with knobs of butter.

Potato pizza ready for the oven

Bake in an oven preheated to 200°c for 50 minutes.

Torta Pasqualina

Torta pasqualina finished dish

Torta Pasqualina or Easter Monday pie is a very popular dish to have today that has its origins in Liguria. Easter Monday is traditionally a day for picnics and this is often one of the things taken along. This is a slightly simplified version as it uses pre prepared puff pastry. It’s good to know that doctors no longer say eating cholesterol is bad for you as it includes at least 10 eggs. Serves at least 6.

• 500g puff pastry
• 500g swiss chard or spinach, stalks removed
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 80g of parmesan or pecorino romano (or a mixture of both)
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh marjoram or parsley
• 10  eggs
• 300g ricotta, passed through a sieve to remove lumps
• 1 tbsp of single cream
•  Olive oil

Torta pasqualina ingredients

Put the swiss chard, the onion and 2 tbsp of oil into a saucepan. Season with salt and people and cook over a medium heat until the chard is completely wilted. Allow to cool and squeeze out as much liquid as possible.

Torta pasqualina wilting chard

Chop finely and transfer to a bowl. Add an egg, 50g of cheese and the marjoram or parsley and mix well.

Torta pasqualina filling

In another bowl mix together the ricotta, the cream, 2 eggs and 30g of cheese.

Torta pasqualina assembling pie

Roll out 2/3 of the pastry and use it to line an oiled cake tin. Make a layer with the chard. Cover with the ricotta. Crack 6 eggs, regularly spaced onto the surface.

Torta pasqualina ready for the oven

Roll out the remaining 1/3 of the pastry and use it to close the pie. Trim off the excess pastry and fold over and crimp the edges to seal. Brush with olive oil and bake at 180 °c for 45 minutes.

Torta pasqualina after baking

Pecorino with broad beans

Pecorino with broad beans

Fave con pecorino. This is not so much a recipe as a serving suggestion. People tend to forget that broad beans (known as fava beans in the US) can be eaten raw. So, for that matter, can peas. Also there is a bit of a misunderstanding about what exactly is pecorino. Any sheep’s milk cheese is a pecorino, from pecora, which means sheep in Italian. The only pecorino commonly available outside of Italy is Pecorino Romano and is usually used grated as a seasoning, in a similar way to parmesan. This recipe calls for a younger, less salty cheese. Of course, you can break with tradition and use a cow’s milk cheese.  When broad beans come into season, this is one of the most popular way to eat them. Some people serve them shelled and the cheese cut into little squares, but most people provide a pile of beans and a lump of cheese and let their guests get on with it. Eat each bean with a small piece of cheese. They are served as an antipasto or at the end of the meal, before the dessert.

Stuffed cabbage leaves

Stuffed cabbage finished dish

Involtini di verza. This is a good winter dish. There are many versions, but I prefer this one because the stuffing is not so heavy as it contains rice and chopped cabbage rather than all meat. It can be served as an antipasto or a second course, but it is quite substantial, so it is probably better as a second course. Serves 6

• 1l vegetable stock
• 30g unsalted butter
• 1 head of savoy cabbage
• 1 small onion
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 80g grated parmesan
• 280g risotto rice
• 350g sausages, skinned
• 1 stick of celery
• 1 carrot
• 200ml white wine

To cook

• 50g butter
• 2 tbsp parmesan

Remove the tough central rib from 12 cabbage leaves.

stuffed cabbage removing stalk

Blanch the leaves in abundant boiling water. Take 150g of the more tender centre of the cabbage and chop finely.

stuffed cabbage cooking filling

Melt the butter in a pan and fry the carrot, celery and onion gently for about 15 minutes. Be careful that they do not brown. Increase the heat and add the rice and “toast” for 2 or 3 minutes. Add the white wine, the sausage and the chopped cabbage. Stirring constantly wait until the liquid has been absorbed. Add a ladle of the hot stock and wait for the liquid to be absorbed. Continue using the standard risotto method until the rice is cooked. Mix in the parmesan.

stuffed cabbage filling rolls

Take a cabbage leaf and place a couple of tablespoons of the mixture on each one.

stuffed cabbage filled roll

Roll the leaf up to make a compact parcel. Hide the open seam underneath.

stuffed cabbage ready for the oven

Cover the base of a casserole with little olive oil and half a ladle stock. Arrange the cabbage rolls in the dish. Cover the dish with melted butter and parmesan.

Stuffed cabbage finished dish

Bake at 200°C for 15 minutes, finish off under the grill for 5 minutes. Let the rolls rest for 10 minutes and the serve.