Bavette con i cannolicchi. I came across these today in the fish market. I was at a loss what to do with them and in the end cooked them using the same recipe as vermicelli con le vongole. Very nice they were too 🙂
Bavette con i cannolicchi. I came across these today in the fish market. I was at a loss what to do with them and in the end cooked them using the same recipe as vermicelli con le vongole. Very nice they were too 🙂
Calamari ripieni alla griglia. Some people like to leave the wings on the squid, but I prefer to remove them and include them in the stuffing. Serves 4
This classic dish is known as spezzatino di manzo in Italian. If you serve it with polenta, it’s a meal in itself. Serves 4
Beef in white wine
Salsicce alla cacciatora translates as ‘Hunter’s sausage’ . I just thought I’d mention that for those of you that love double entendres 🙂 Serves 4
400 grams sausages – preferably Italian
200 grams mushrooms — sliced
1/2 medium onion — chopped
1 clove garlic — chopped
400 grams tomatoes (fresh or tinned) — peeled and chopped
butter
salt and pepper
Serve with fresh crusty bread
Tagliatelle al limone. Serves 4
Note: Use unwaxed lemons for this dish – see comments.
Serves 4
You’re out of luck if you’re expecting a recipe for left over turkey 🙂 These were part of our new year’s eve dinner. This dish comes from puglia where they love cardoncelli mushrooms but I was in England when I cooked it so I used a mix of exotic mushrooms instead. Serves 6
Clean the mushrooms carefully. Fry in olive oil with the garlic, salt and pepper, over a high heat for about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and chop finely.
Mash the potatoes and mix with the mushrooms, parsley, ricotta and egg. Mix with a wooden spoon until you have a smooth paste.
Roll out the pasta into thin sheets (about 2 mm thick). Cut into 7-8 cm rounds using a pastry cutter or wine glass.
Place a little of the mushroom mixture in the centre of each round.
Fold the pasta over to make the mezzalune (half moon) shapes. Be careful to exclude as much air as possible and to press down the edges well.
Cook the mezzelune in plenty of salted boiling water. Cooking time depends on the thickness of the pasta but shouldn’t be longer than 4-5 minutes. Serve with the tomato sauce.
Fresh pasta is actually very easy to make. It’s just flour and eggs. It takes a bit of effort, but if you invest in a pasta machine it’s a piece of cake. One misconception that a lot of people have is that pasta should always be made with durum wheat flour. Durum is used mainly for dry commercially produced pasta, such as spaghetti. Some fresh pastas made without egg, for example orecchiette, are made with durum flour. Fresh egg pasta should be made with normal white flour, preferably finely ground ’00’ grade. Allow 100g of flour and 1 egg per person. Serves 4
400 grams plain white flour (pref type ’00’)
4 medium eggs
This dish can be eaten hot or cold. If you like you can use some of the sauce with some pasta as the first course. Polpettone al sugo is eaten all over Italy. Serves 8
This soup is another classic Bari dish. If you ask a Barese what their favourite dishes are, they’ll usually mention Pasta e Patate. Serves 4
Pasta and potatoes ingredients
This is another classic dish from Bari. A tiella is a terracotto cooking dish thought to have been introduced by the Spanish. The ingredients are built up layer by layer in the dish and then baked in the oven. Tiellas were at one time the evening meal of the farm workers when they came in from the fields. They were made from whatever was abundant and cheap at the time. This version uses mussels, a staple of Pulgia. Serves 4
1 kilogram mussels — thoroughly cleaned
100 grams bread crumbs
2 sprigs parsley — finely chopped
1 chilli — finely chopped
1 clove garlic — finely chopped
zest of a lemon — finely chopped
olive oil
This is a semi-soup. Be careful when adding the cooking liquid from the pasta, you don’t want it to be too sloppy. Serves 4