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

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.

Rice Croquettes

Rice croquettes finished dish

From Puglia. This is a puglian version of the more well known Sicilian dish arancini. It is very simple to make however. There are versions that use other chesses and cured meats, but this one uses the easily available (abroad I mean) salami, ham and mozzarella. Serves at least 6 as an antipasto.

• 400g risotto rice
• 100g sliced salami (Milanese or similar)
• 100g sliced cooked ham
• 200g mozzarella cut into small cubes
• 40g grated parmesan
• 2 eggs
• 40g buttter
• 1 tsp salt
• A pinch of pepper
• Bread crumbs
• Oil for frying

Rice croquettes ingredients

Boil the rice in plenty of salted water until done, about 10 minutes. Drain and add the butter. You could substitute vegetable stock for the water if you prefer. Allow to cool completely. You can prepare it the day before if you like.

Roughly chop the salami and ham. Combine with the rice, the mozzarella, the parmesan. Season with salt and pepper and finally add the eggs and mix well.

Rice croquettes formed

Form the mixture into cigar shapes, about 50g each. I find it easiest to use my hands.

Rice croquettes ready to fry

Coat them in breadcrumbs and deep fry them in hot oil until golden.

Spaghetti with green beans

Spaghetti with green beans finished dish

From Puglia. This is another very simple recipe that I cook a lot when green beans are in season. The pictures have been sitting on my computer for a while, so they are no longer in season, but should be fairly easy to get. The recipe uses ricotta marzottica or dura, which is hard to get outside Italy. The best substitute is grana or parmesan. Don’t use regular ricotta, it’s a different thing completely. The beans are cooked for quite a long time and you might consider them to be overcooked, but it works well with the pasta. If you prefer, you could add the beans along with the spaghetti.Serves 4.

• 500g green beans
• 360g spaghetti
• 1 quantity tomato sauce or pasatta
•  Ricotta marzotica or grana

Spaghetti with green beans ingredients

1. Top and tail the beans
2. Boil the beans in plenty of boiling water for 10 minutes.
3. Add the spaghetti to the water and continue cooking until the pasta is al dente.
4. Drain the beans and pasta and mix with the warmed tomato sauce.
5. Serve topped with ricotta marzotica or grana.

Osso bucco with risotto

Ossobucco finished dish

Ossibuchi con il risotto. From Milan. Veal has gone out of fashion in the UK at the moment. It never did in the Italy because they don’t use the “crate” method. Italians are more practical when it comes to food. The aversion to “white” veal has nothing to do with ethics, it doesn’t taste as nice. This is one of the most famous Italian veal dishes. In my opinion the best bit of the dish is the marrow, which I always save until the end. Serves 4.

Ossobucco finished dish

• 4 slices of veal shank with the bone in the centre (ossibuchi)
• 1 small onion, chopped
• optional: 1 small stick of celery
• 30g butter
• 1 clove of garlic
• Plain flour for dusting
• Parsley
• The zest of half a lemon
• Dry white wine
• A little beef stock.

For the risotto

• 320g risotto rice
• 1 small glass of dry white wine
• 50g butter
• 1 small onion
• 1.5 litres of beef stock
• 1 sachet of saphron
• 4 tablespoons of grana padano

1. Fry the onion (and the celery if used) and the whole garlic clove, over a low heat, for a few minutes in the butter until softened.  Remove the garlic before serving( if you want a stronger garlic flavour, chop the clove and fry it along with the onion).
2. Lightly flour the veal slices and add them to the onions. Fry them on both sides until they are lightly browned. Be careful not to disturb the marrow in the centre of the bone.
3. Turn up the heat and add the glass of wine. Let it almost completely evaporate.
4. Add a ladle of hot stock, reduce the heat to low, cover and cook for 35-40 minutes until tender.
5. Cook the risotto using the usual method, adding the saffron along with the last ladle of stock.
6. When the veal is cooked add the chopped lemon zest, half a clove of chopped garlic(optional) and chopped parsley (gremolata) and serve on top of the risotto.

Bergamo style Casoncelli

Casonsei alla Bergamasca. When I lived in Bergamo we used to drive up into the mountains once or twice a year to eat polenta taragna. The starter was invariably casoncelli, or casonsei in the bergamasco dialect. Slightly sweet filled pasta dressed with sage and pancetta.  Makes a generous 8 servings.

Casoncelli finished dish

For the pasta:-

• 400 g 00 flour
• 100 g durum wheat flour
• 2 eggs

Mix together all the ingredients along with enough water to make a dough. Knead until smooth. Let it rest for half an hour or so and then roll out into reasonably thick sheets. A hand cranked pasta machine will be a great help with this.

Casoncelli filling ingredients

For the filling:-

• 125 g dry breadcrumbs
• 1 egg
• 70 g grated grana
• 150 g sausage meat or minced pork
• 100 g cooked roast beef
• 1 amaretti biscuit
• 10 g sultanas
• 1/2 medium pear
• Zest of 1 unwaxed lemon
• 1 chopped garlic clove
• 1 tablespoon of chopped parsley
• Salt and pepper to taste

Chop all the ingredients together in a food processor to make a smooth paste.

Method 1

This method is used by people who need to prepare large quantities.

Cut the sheet of pasta in half lengthways.

Casoncelli pasta

Place a teaspoon of the filling at regular interval at regular intervals along the strip of pasta.

Casoncelli pasta with filling

Fold over the pasta and press down to seal. Try to exclude as much air as possible to avoid them bursting when cooked.

Casoncelli folded pasta

Separate the pasta using a round pastry cutter. You should have a half moon shape.

Casoncelli half moons

Turn the half moon on its side and flatten it a little with your thumb.

Casoncelli shaped

Method 2

This method takes a little longer, but is a little easier if you haven’t had a bit of practice.

Cut out 7 cm discs of pasta using a pastry cutter. Place a teaspoon of filling in the centre of each disc. Fold over and seal to form a half moon shape. Continue as in method 1.

Cook the casoncelli in plenty of salted water. Meanwhile fry the pancetta and sage in the butter until it is well flavoured. Serve the pasta dressed in the butter and topped with the grana.

Casoncelli dressing

To dress the pasta:-

• 80 g butter
• 100 g cubed pancetta
• 100 g grated grana
• A few sage leaves

Panzerotti

Panzerotti. From Bari. These are one of the most famous and popular dishes from Bari. They are deep fried pockets of dough stuffed with a variety of fillings. Two of the most common are mozzarella, cherry tomatoes and oregano and ricotta forte (also called skuanda), cherry tomatoes, onion and anchovies. Ricotta forte is a bit of a “Marmite” ingredient. By that I mean it is very strongly flavoured and you either love it or hate it.  I am in the first camp, lovely stuff. Rather than cherry tomatoes, “appesi” are more traditional. These are small tomatoes which are picked when still not completely ripe and hung up for later consumption. As these are hard to find, you can use any type. I went to a party here and a lady was employed just to make panzerotti all evening. The last round was filled with Nutella! The size of the panzerotti varies, but I made 12 with this recipe.

Panzerotti ingredients

For the pastry

• 500 g 00 flour
• 100 ml tepid milk
• 1 cube of fresh yeast
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 10 g salt

Dissolve the yeast in the milk. Add the milk to the flour, oil and salt along with enough tepid water to make a smooth dough.

Oil the dough, cover with a tea towel and leave to rise for up to 2 hours.

Separate the dough into 12 portions and roll into small balls. Cover with a tea towel and leave to rise for a further half an hour.

Panzerotti balls of dough

Take one ball of dough and roll it into a large disc. Place a large tablespoon of filling in the middle of each one. Fold the dough over to form a half moon shape. Press down well and try to exclude as much air as possible. Either fold over and crimp the edges or cut off the excess pastry with a pasty wheel and seal the edges with a fork.

Panzerotti ready to cook

Deep fry the panzerotti until they are lightly golden. Some people use extra virgin olive oil and some people use regular vegetable oil. You can also bake them in an oven at 200 °C for 15 minutes, but the result is quite different.

Panzerotti finished dish

Fillings

• 200 g mozzarella
• 300 g cherry tomatoes
• Oregano
• Chop and drain the tomatoes. Cube the mozzarella.  Mix together with a generous amount of mozzarella.

• 50 g ricotta forte
• 100 g cherry tomatoes
• 50 g onions
• An anchovy
• Salt and pepper.
• Fry the onion in some oil, bone and chop anchovy. Spread each disc of dough with ricotta forte. Add a piece of tomato, some onion and a piece of anchovy. Salt and pepper to taste.

• 100 g ricotta forte
• 20 g grated pecorino romano
• 2 cherry tomatoes for each panzerotto
• 1 egg yolk (optional)
• Mix together the ricotta forte and the pecorino. Some people like to add an egg yolk to the mixture. Place a tablespoon of the filling and 2 chopped tomatoes in each panzerotto.

• Radicchio and gorgonzola.

• Fried minced pork mixed with parmsan and mozzarella. This is traditional on shrove Tuesday.

And of course the very untraditional but popular with children young and old:-

• Nutella 🙂

Peppina at the party

Onion pizza

Pizza di cipolle. From Bari. This is another “pizza” that is in fact a pie or calzone. This can be made with “long onions” which I have never seen outside Italy, but this recipe uses white onions which are easy to find. Indeed if you can’t find then I’m sure you would get good results with other types of onion. There are versions without the olives and/or anchovies so feel free to leave them out if you prefer. The dough is made without yeast so it is very quick. Serves 6 to 8.

Onion pizza ingredients

For the dough

• 500 g 00 flour
• 60 ml olive oil
• 200 ml white wine or water
• salt

For the filling.

• 1 kg white onions, chopped
• 5-6 tomatoes, chopped
• 50 g stoned olives
• 8 anchovy fillets
• 50 g parmesan, grated
• Olive oil
• Salt

Lightly seson and fry the onions in a little oil until they are soft. Add the tomatoes, olives and anchovies and cook for a further few minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the Parmesan.

Mix together the ingredients for the dough with enough water or wine to make it smooth. Leave to rest for about half an hour.

Grease a pizza tin  with olive oil and dust with a little flour.

Onion pizza ready to be filled

Roll out half of the dough so it fits the tin.

Onion pizza with filling

Fill the tin with the onion mix.

Onion pizza ready to cook

Roll out the other half to make the top of the pie. Place on top and trim the edges. Cover the top with a little olive oil and pierce with a fork to allow the steam to escape.

Bake at 200 °C for 30 minutes.

Onion pizza finished dish

Aubergine parmigiana

Parmigiana di melanzane. From Puglia. This is a really common dish here. It takes a bit of time to prepare, so it tends to be a celebration dish. It’s worth the effort though. Lots of people, even Jamie Oliver, assume it’s a northern dish because of it’s name. It is in fact named after the cheese not the city and is a southern dish.He also says to grill the aubergines rather than fry them. I’ve tried it this way and although the dish is undoubtedly less calorific,  I think the taste suffers considerably.  The dish is claimed by Puglia, Campania and Sicily and possibly other regions as their own.  I’ve seen similar recipes from the states called “eggplant lasagne” even though it contains no béchamel sauce or … erm … lasagne. Even though it’s a vegetarian dish it’s quite heavy so I wouldn’t recommend eating it too often. Serves at least 6 as a main course, many more as part of an antipasto.

Aubergine parmigiana

• 1.5 kg aubergines
• 700 g tomato pulp or passata
• 3 eggs
• 100 g grated parmesan
• 400 g mozzarella cut into small cubes
• Flour
• Basil, about 10 leaves torn into pieces
• 1 clove of garlic, whole
• Olive oil

1. Wash and dry the aubergines. Slice into 5 mm rounds. Dust with flour. Dip in the eggs and fry for a minutes in olive oil. Drain on kitchen paper.
2. Fry the clove of garlic in 4 table spoons of olive oil until it is brown. Add the tomatoes and cook for a further 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and add the garlic.
3. Cover the bottom of an oven proof dish with tomato sauce. Add a layer aubergines. Add a layer of mozzarella and then parmesan. Repeat until all the aubergine is used up. Finish with a layer of aubergines covered with tomato sauce and parmesan.
4. Bake for 1 hour at 200°c. If the top starts to get too brown, cover it with aluminium foil.

Aubergine parmigiana finished dish

Puglia style meatloaf

Polpettone pugliese. This is another recipe that I cook a lot. Other recipes cook the meatloaf in a tomato sauce, but this one roasts it dry. It uses minced veal, but if you can’t find it then minced beef will be fine. Italians don’t use the crated “white” variety anyway, so the veal is very pink. This is often served with roast potatoes. Serves 6.

Meatloaf ingredients

• 800 g minced veal
• 2 stale bread rolls
• 3 eggs
• 100 g grated parmesan or pecorino
• Milk
• Olive oil

1. Break the bread rolls into small pieces and moisten with some milk.
2. Mix together all the ingredients and season with salt and pepper.
3. Form into a loaf and bake for 30 minutes at 200°C.
4. Remove from the oven and leave to rest for a few minutes before slicing.

Meatloaf finished dish

Ricotta and mozzarella pizza

Pizza mozzarella e ricotta. From Puglia. This was cooked for me last week by the mother of a student. Hers of course was better, but mine wasn’t bad either 🙂 It is called a pizza here, but it is actually a type of pie or calzone. Serves 6

Update: Mrs C Looked at the recipe and said it is slightly different than the one she uses. She adds 100 g of salami or 100g of mixed mortadella and ham cut into small cubes. She uses nutmeg instead of pepper and gives the dough 1 hour to rise. Finally, she doesn’t drizzle olive oil on the top. Many thanks.

Ricotta pizza ingredients

Pastry for stuffed pizzas

• 500 g 00 flour
• 1/2 cube of fresh yeast (or 1 packet of dried)
• 50 cc olive oil
• 200 ml milk
• 1 tsp salt

1. Dissolve the yeast in the tepid milk
2. Mix together the flour, olive oil, salt and enough of the milk to form a smooth dough.
3. Knead for about 10 minutes.
4. The dough doesn’t require much rising. Just leave it to rest for half an hour.

• 500 g ricotta
• 200 g mozzarella cut into small cubes
• 4 eggs
• 2 tsp grated parmesan
• olive oil
• salt and pepper

1. Make the filling by beating the ricotta until it is smooth then mix in the mozzarella, eggs and parmesan. Season with salt and pepper.
2. Roll out half the dough so that it is a little bigger than the pizza tin. Oil the tin and put the base of the pizza into it. Push the dough down with your fingers to exclude as much air as possible.
3. Spread the filling inside the tin. Roll out the rest of the dough until it is a little bigger than the tin. Cover the pie with the base. Pinch together and then fold over and crimp the edges.
4. Drizzle a little olive oil over the surface and make some air holes with a fork.
5. Bake in an oven preheated to 200°C for 40 minutes.

Ricotta pizza finished dish

Pasta with ricotta

Pasta e ricotta. This is a very simple dish, but delicious all the same. The quality of the ricotta is very important. You can of course make this dish with ordinary supermarket ricotta and the results will be perfectly acceptable, but it will be much better with the fresh version. If you can find sheep’s milk ricotta, even better. This being Bari, I made it with it with orecchiette, but it goes with just about any type of pasta. There are lots of things you can add that change the character of the dish drastically. Serves 6.

pasta with ricotta ingredients

• 500 g pasta (any type)
• 500 g ricotta – the best you can find, preferably sheep’s milk.
• Optional ingredients:-
• Add parmesan for a stronger cheese taste.
• Add paprika to make the dish a little bit spicy.
• Add fresh basil and mint for an aromatic version.
• There is even a sweet version which includes a good pinch of cinnamon and a tablespoon of sugar

1. Cook the pasta until it is al dente.
2. Add a little of the pasta cooking water to the ricotta and beat well until it is smooth.
3. Dress the pasta with the ricotta and serve immediately.

pasta with ricotta finished dish

Pesto Genovese – Official recipe

Basil is very much in season here at the moment, so I bought a couple of bunches at the market and decided to make pesto.I dug out the official recipe from Consorzio Pesto Genovese. It’s very specific about exactly where the ingredients should come from. I’m providing the original recipe, but feel free to substitute ingredients from another region. eg. Basil not from Genoa 🙂 The recipe also calls for a pestle and mortar. This is undoubtably the best way, but you can get very acceptable results using a blender. Just put all the ingredients in a blender and blitz until almost smooth. Serves 6

Pesto Genovese Ingredients

• 50g of basil leaves (from Genoa of course)
• Extra virgin olive oil (from Liguria)
• 6 Tbsp grated Parmigiano Reggiano or Grana Padano
• 2 Tbsp Pecorino (romano, toscano, sardo or siciliano)
• 2 cloves of garlic (can be omitted)
• 1 Tbsp pine kernels (from the Mediterranean area)
• 1 tbsp chopped walnuts can be substituted for the pine kernels (must be European from the species “Juglans regia”)
• Coarse sea salt

1. The traditional method uses a wooden pestle(where the dish gets its name from in a round about way) and a marble mortar. Start by pounding the garlic and salt until you get a smooth paste.
2. Add the basil, a handful at a time, and keep grinding using a circular motion until each batch of the leaves is incorporated. To preserve the essential oils in the basil, you shouldn’t be too rough with it.
3. Add the pine kernel and grind some more.
4. Add the cheese and mix well.
5. Add the oil, little by little, until the pesto has the right consistency – a matter of taste.
6. Serve with pasta or added to minestrone. The recommended pastas are troffie, trofiette or trenette, but it goes with just about any pasta. I usually serve it with spaghetti or linguine.

Pesto Genovese finished dish