le cuoche piperite

Salmon with artichokes

2013-02-25T08:43:00.000+01:00

Try this recipe, is very simple, healthy and quick to prepare!

Ingredients for 4 persons

4 slices of fresh salmon
8 fresh artichokes
1 clove of garlic
a bunch of parsley
8 tablespoons of olive oil
salt / pepper

Clean and finely slice artichokes, wash them and put in a pan with olive oil, parsley and garlic. Add with salt and pepper. Cook until they are tender and cooked, then add the salmon slices, season with salt. Serve with a good white wine of Tuscany.

Vegetable Dumplings

2013-02-18T15:38:00.000+01:00

Vegetable Dumplings

this is a Tuscan typical dish: tortelli without the pasta, in other words balls stuffed with vegetables and ricotta cheese, topped with tomato or meat sauce.

Quick, tasty recipe, ideal for children!

Ingredients for 4 people

400 gr. fresh ricotta cheese

400gr. fresh spinach

2 eggs

50gr. grated parmesan cheese

nutmeg, salt and pepper

2 tablespoons olive oil

100gr.flour

Wash and cook the spinach in a pan with two tablespoons of olive oil and a salt. In a bowl, pour ricotta, eggs, Parmesan cheese and spinach finely chopped. Add salt, pepper and nutmeg. Stir the mixture until smooth not liquid, if it seems a little thick, add in two / three tablespoons of flour.

Boil 1,5 lt of salted water and start to prepare dumplings using your hands, roll them in the flour and put in boiled water. Dumplings will be cooked as soon as they come to the surface, serve with hot tomato sauce or meat sauce.

Traditional Tuscan Pici

2013-02-14T16:03:00.000+01:00

Pici is another shape of pasta and is typical of our region: Tuscany!

Usually we serve with garlic sauce " all'aglione" or with duck sauce "con la nana", anyway you can use also meat sauce or boar meat sauce.

Ingredients

500 g flour 0

10g olive oil

salt

200g water ( or enough water to knead gently with your hands until the dough is smooth and elastic)

On the pastry board put the flour, pour a little warm water, salt and knead until the mixture is elastic. Wrap the dough in a cloth, let it rest for 40 minutes. Roll out the dough and cut into wide ribbons giving the shape of thick spaghetti.

The original recipe do not allow eggs, anyway I found few recipe with 1 egg, I think that is not necessary.

Lasagna chic... with pesto

2012-12-27T16:44:00.000+01:00

A different lasagna, tasty but with a delicate flavour. Try this recipe is very easy and you will offer a different and elegant dish to your guests!

Ingredients for 4 people

300g. fresh Italian pesto

2 doses of béchamel (white cream, see my basic recipe)

fresh egg pasta sheets

100g butter

Start to mix béchamel and pesto,in a baking tray put some pieces of butter, spread a layer of pasta (which I recommend to cook before) pour over the mixture of pesto and béchamel, continue to spread pasta sheets until you will finish all ingredients.

Bake in preheated oven to 250° for 12 minutes, let it rest and cool. Serve warm, ideal with a white wine of Liguria region.

Christmas Time! Italian Pandoro Cake

2012-12-24T16:25:00.000+01:00

Ingredients

1 Pandoro

250ml fresh cream
50g icing sugar
1 vanilla bean
40g chocolate chips

To garnish:

icing sugar

powdered chocolate

coloured grains of sugar

Start to cut horizontally pandoro so it has a star-shape, slices will be 4/5 cm high.

Pour the cream into a bowl, then cut the vanilla bean along its length and remove from inside the small seeds blacks and add bean and seeds to the cream, close the bowl with a lid and place it in the refrigerator overnight.
The next day, strain the cream with a piece of linen or cotton, then pour into bowl whit high rims.

Whip the fresh cream until stiff peaks are just about to form gradually add the icing sugar, then add chocolate chips.

Use this cream to fill pandoro cake, garnish with chocolate and coloured grains of sugar.

Francesca's Braised Beef

2012-12-21T09:38:00.000+01:00

This recipe comes directly from my mother Francesca, which prepare this beef for holidays or for special events!

Ingredients for 6 people

1kg. beef

3 ribs of celery

2 onions

1 carrot

2 bay leaves

5 cloves

750 ml red wine ( as Morellino di Scansano or another full body red wine)

6 tbsps olive oil

In a large bowl place the beef, celery, onions, carrot, bay leaves and cloves. Cover with red wine and place in refrigerator for 1 night or 8/10 hours, is very important to pickle the meat in order to give tasty flavour.

Lard inserting the butter in the meat, season with salt and pepper, flour and fry lightly in a saucepan with olive oil until brown. Add vegetables that you used to pickle the beef, fry lightly and cover with red wine. Cook for 3/4 hours, remove the meat, bay leaves and cloves and process the sauce until smooth. Serve hot, ideal with a full body Tuscan red wine.

Typical Italian Lasagna with meat sauce ( or Bolognese Lasagna)

2012-12-17T09:37:00.000+01:00

This is a typical and traditional Italian Lasagna, other versions are very good but the historic recipe is the following:

Ingredients for 6 people

Egg pasta sheets ( use one dose of my Italian Fresh Egg Pasta Basic recipe or one pack of ready-egg pasta sheets)
Meat Sauce ragout (use a dose of my own recipe "Tuscan meat sauce")
Béchamel (1 dose of my own recipe "Béchamel")
Butter for greasing the baking tray
50/70g parmesan cheese.

Boil salted water with a tablespoon of olive oil to cook the pasta for few minutes, ( the olive will avoid the pasta from sticking). Put in the pan a few flakes of butter, start to spread the first layer of pasta, then pour few tablespoons of meat sauce and béchamel. Continue to spread egg pasta, sauce and béchamel until you terminate all the ingredients. Garnish the top with meat sauce, béchamel and parmesan. Bake in preheated oven at 220 degrees for 25 minutes.
Remove from the oven and let it cool few minutes, cut the lasagna and serve hot. A Tuscan red wine Sangiovese is perfect to go with this dish.

Zucchine Pie- Tortino di Zucchine

2012-12-14T11:41:00.000+01:00

Ingredients 4 people

4 zucchini

4 tablespoons Olive oil

150 ml white sauce bechamel

1 egg

50gr. grated Parmesan

nutmeg, salt,pepper

In a non stick saucepan, cook over medium heat oil and thinly sliced zucchini, salt to taste. When the vegetables are cooked, blend with the mixer, add the white sauce, Parmesan cheese, egg and nutmeg. Mix well and pour into a loaf pan, bake in preheated oven to 180 degrees for 40 minutes. Serve hot.

Italian Fish Lasagna

2012-12-10T09:49:00.001+01:00

In Italy there are many variations of this recipe, even I have to admit that it changes on basis of products which I buy in fishmonger, anyway I never forget cuttlefish, because it gives a particular taste to lasagna, for all other ingredients you can use whatever you want.

Ingredients 4 people

1 big cuttlefish
2/3 slices of salmon
200g. smooth hound
8 king prawns
2 shallots
70g. butter
A bunch of fresh parsley
2 tablespoons of tomato paste
1 glass of white wine
Egg pasta for lasagna
béchamel
50g. Grated pecorino romano

Clean and wash the fish, lightly fry the butter, parsley and scallions chopped, add the pieces of cuttlefish and tomato paste, stir everything.
After 5 minutes, add the pieces of salmon and the smooth hound, I highly recommend you to remove plugs, leather and so on. Stir, add the shelled prawns, wine and raise the heat in order to evaporate the alcohol. Simmer until the cuttlefish will not be tender.
Remove from heat and with the mixer blend the mixture: be careful not to become a cream, if there remain some pieces of fish is better. Stir in béchamel, season with salt and pepper.

For the béchamel: use 2 doses of my basic recipe.

In a baking tray put some pieces of butter, spread a layer of pasta (which I recommend to cook before) pour over the mixture of fish and béchamel, then again spread a layer of pasta and so on until you will finish the sauce. At the end, sprinkle with cheese and few pieces of butter.
Bake in preheated oven to 250 degrees for about 20 minutes, serve warm with a fresh and fruity white wine. This lasagna is very light and has a very delicate taste.

Salmon with potatoes...another simple recipe

2012-12-07T11:25:00.000+01:00

Another simple recipe, because I like those easy, healthy and tasty dishes!

Ingredient for 4 people

4 large slices of salmon

1 kg potatoes

6 tbsps olive oil

salt/pepper

Clean and finely slice potatoes, season with salt, pepper and olive oil, bake in a large non stick tray in preheated oven to 250° for 20/30 minutes. When the potatoes will be cooked add slices of salmon, do not add nothing, this fish is already tasty anyway before to eat you can add a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Bake for 15 minutes and serve hot, ideal with Vermentino white wine.

Tortelli Maremmani

2012-12-05T08:41:00.000+01:00

This dish is a typical recipe of Maremma and Grosseto, I love them and I could eat 10 tortelli each time! I suggest tortelli which is an economy and healthy recipe.

Homemade eggs pasta
2 eggs
200g flour 0
salt
2 tbsps water

For the filling
300 g. ricotta
400g. fresh Swiss chard ( without ribs)
5 tbsps grated Parmesan cheese

Pour the flour over pastry board and make a well in the centre where you add eggs, water and salt, work the dough until will be elastic and divide in strips and let it rest for 30 minutes before to roll out it.
In the meantime prepare the filling: mix in a bowl ricotta cheese, boiled swiss chard, drained and chopped, Parmesan cheese, nutmeg and salt, stir until smooth.

Roll out the dough and prepare strips with a width of 20cm, with a spoon place in the centre mixture and turn down, use a fork to close Tortelli and cut all.

Boil ravioli in salted boiling water for about 5/7 minutes, drain well, toss with the sauce that you prefer and serve hot. Usually we garnish tortelli with ragout/meat sauce or boar meat sauce, anyway are very nice only with melted butter and few leaves of sage.

Parmesan cheese cream

2012-12-03T11:44:00.000+01:00

Parmesan cheese Cream is a tasty sauce to prepare in few minutes, excellent for seasoning pasta dishes and appetizers. This cream is prepared as béchamel with addition of grated Parmesan cheese. You can use to dress vegetables pies, pasta, risotto or croutons.

Ingredients

30g. butter
30g. flour
500 ml milk
50g. Parmesan cheese

In a saucepan melt and, once melted,add the flour, stirring with a whisk to obtain a roux well blended. Now add the milk, continue to stir cooking the mixture over low heat, until thicken.
Remove the pan from the heat and pour in grated Parmesan cheese, mix well. Serve the cream as you prefer... Buon appetito !

Truffle Fair in San Miniato -Tuscany

2012-11-28T09:33:00.000+01:00

San Miniato is a town built on a hill halfway between Pisa and Florence, is a destination for many tourists and is most famous for its white truffles.
The festival, which takes place in the center of the country in November, is a set of odors and flavors: truffles, meats, wine, olive oil, chestnuts, etc..
Turn to the streets to enjoy these typical Tuscan products, eat a risotto, crostini or salami with truffles, drinking fine wine in Tuscany, Chianti, Brunello di Montalcino , a real pleasure for the palate.

Salmon Mini Brioches

2012-11-26T16:26:00.000+01:00

Since I was married our family became very large and Christmas lunches are a perfect occasion to join up all together. Usually I prefer to prepare meat and seafood recipes, so let's start to prepare one fish appetizer! This is a very quick recipe but you will make a great impression!

Mini Bread Ingredients Salmon for 4 people:

1 roll of puff pastry
200g robiola cheese
150g smoked salmon
2 tbs sesame seeds

Cut the puff pastry into 8 wedges, spread across each slices soft cheese and salmon.
Roll the slices starting from the widest part, sprinkle the mini croissants with sesame seeds.
Bake at 200 degrees for 10 minutes, serve hot.

Tuscan Cantuccini Biscuits with chocolate

2012-11-23T11:37:00.000+01:00

Traditional Tuscan biscuits, Cantuccini are the most famous cookies in this region. You should try this recipe, fast and easy.

Ingredients

500 g. flour
250g. sugar
200g. butter
1 egg
3 yolk eggs
a sprinkle of salt
200g. chocolate in pieces

Mix all ingredients except for the almonds, knead until smooth and soft. In the meantime toast in the oven almonds and let it cool, then add in the dough, knead and put in refrigerator for 30 minutes.
Prepare sticks like fingers and cook in preheated oven to 180° until golden.
Take out from the oven and let it cool, then slice in the classic shape of cantuccini and place again in the oven for 5 minutes, so they will be more crisp.
Cantuccini will be tender, ideal with vinsanto or with a simple sweet cream.

Spinach Pie

2012-11-21T09:39:00.000+01:00

Vegetable pies are one of my favourite dishes! In Italy we prepare them during winter, particularly during Christmas Holidays.

Ingredients

1 tbsp milk

nutmeg

4 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp bread crumbs

100g grated Parmesan cheese

salt/pepper

20g. pine nuts

500g. fresh spinach

4 eggs

Parmesan cream ( see my recipe Parmesan Cream)

Wash the spinach and let them dry in a pan over low heat with a drizzle of olive oil for about 10 minutes, then add salt. Squeeze the spinach and chop with a knife. In a bowl place eggs, chopped spinach, grated cheese, salt, pepper, nutmeg and stir. Finely chop the pine nuts and add them to the mixture, along with a tablespoon of milk to soften the whole. Keep stirring until the mixture is homogeneous.
Prepare the mold and brush with olive oil and sprinkle with bread crumbs. This operation will facilitate final extraction of flan. Fill the mold with the mixture. Bake in preheated oven to180 degrees for about 25/30 minutes, after this time made the test of the toothpick, which must be dry. Serve warm with Parmesan cream.

Codfish with potatoes and tomato

2012-11-19T11:29:00.000+01:00

This is one of my favourite dishes: codfish with potatoes and tomato, simple and healthy recipe. Very easy to prepare and perfect to amaze your guests!

Ingredients for 4 people

500g soaked codfish

700g. potatoes

300g. chopped tomato

6 tbsps olive oil

salt/pepper

Start to clean and divide the codfish in small pieces, finely slice potatoes. In a non stick baking tray spread slices of potatoes, add codfish and tomato, olive oil and season, continue with another layer until you will finish ingredients.

Preheat the oven to 250° and bake for 30 minutes. Pay attention to the salt, to be sure that codfish is not too much salted taste a small piece before to prepare this cake, then season to taste.

Serve warm, ideal with a Vermentino white wine of Maremma Toscana.

Anchovies cake, healthy and tasty!

2012-11-16T15:01:00.000+01:00

Simple fish cake, healthy and quick recipe, as usual I suggest you to choose fresh anchovies.

Ingredients 4 people

800g. fresh anchovies

300g. pecorino cheese, sliced

20 cherry tomatoes, diced

8 tbsps olive oil

salt/pepper

Preheat oven to 200°, gut the fish, wash and place on the base of each mould diced tomatoes, then cover with drained anchovies and season with salt.

Fill with cheese and close the cakes and drizzle with olive oil.

Bake for 5/7 minutes, serve hot with potatoes pureé.

Short Pastry Dough / Pasta Brisè

2012-11-14T08:02:00.000+01:00

Pasta brisè is a typical French pastry used to prepare a lot of dessert and salad recipes, vegetables tarts, especially to cover pies as the famous Quiche Lorraine.
Short pastry dough is very similar to the puff pastry but absolutely different because has a simple construction and is absolutely more versatile.This is a basic recipe that every cook, professional or apprentice, must know.
So follow me in this recipe if you want!!

Ingredients

500 grams of flour 00
250 grams of butter, softened
80 g of cold water
salt

Put the flour in a blender, the butter pieces cold from the fridge and a pinch of salt and blend until the mixture will be sandy.
At this point, place the mixture on a piece of metal, glass or marble (if they're cold) in the classic shape fountain and knead everything quickly adding slowly cold water , work the dough until smooth, firm and elastic but not for a long time otherwise will get warm.
Wrap dough in a sheet of plastic wrap and let it rest in refrigerator for at least 40 minutes before use.

Spicy Apple Pie

2012-11-12T17:57:00.000+01:00

Spicy Apple pie

180g flour
150g melted butter
3 eggs
150g sugar
1 tabsp baking powder
70g chopped toasted hazelnuts
2 apples
1 tbsp of nutmeg
1 tbsp of cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 180 °.
Mix the eggs with the sugar, add the flour, baking powder and melted butter, continue to mix .Add chopped hazelnuts and spices.
Pour into a mold and arrange above the sapples finely sliced. Bake for 40 minutes, served with powdered sugar .

Baked fish a very simple recipe

2012-11-09T08:42:00.000+01:00

This is a very simple recipe which I prepare often because I like fish and is healthy food!What is very important is to cook fresh fish!

Ingredients for 2 people

2 fresh gilthead sea bream

6 tbsps olive oil

salt

baking paper

1 lemon

Today I bought 2 fresh gilthead sea bream and I decided to bake in foil.

Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Clean and rinse fish; allow to drain. Sprinkle lightly with salt and drizzle with olive oil.

Stuff and wrap each fish separately in aluminum foil or baking paper, bake 15 minutes .

Cooking times will vary depending on the weight of the fish and on the method of cooking, microwave or oven, anyway consider 300g fish/15 minutes.

Unwrap, remove to a hot platter. garnish with lemon slices. Ideal with Vermentino.

Tomato Confit

2012-11-07T17:26:00.000+01:00

Tomato Confit is a very simple recipe which will permit to have a particular ingredient to add to salads, to use as side dish or dressing for pasta or focaccia.

Ingredients

20 cherry tomatoes

4 tbsps icing sugar

salt / pepper

2 tbsps olive oil

Preheat oven at 110° , cut in half tomatoes and place in a baking tray covered with baking paper.

Salt and sprinkle with sugar. Season with olive oil and bake for 2 hours at 110°

Zucchini Rolls a super appetizer!

2012-11-05T14:48:00.000+01:00

Ingredients 4 people

1 zucchina

salt

15 dried tomatoes

220g white wine

220g water

marjoram,thyme, parsley

2 sandwich loaf

5 slices of provola cheese

olive oil

Bring a pan of salted water to a boil and cook for few minutes finely sliced zucchini, meanwhile boil dried tomato in a pan of water, white wine.

Blend finely bread with herbs, start to prepare wraps rolling slices of zucchini with tomatoes and cheese. Close the rolls with a toothpick and place on baking tray layed with paper, garnish using bread and herbs crumble, drizzle with oil and bake for 5 minutes in the oven, serve hot.

Italian Codfish

2012-11-03T04:44:00.000+01:00

Steamed Codfish an other simple Italian recipe.

Be careful because in some Italian areas people call "codfish '" what actually is the stock fish, in a few words is not the usual fish but the two names refer to two different modes of preservation.
Stock fish is dried in the wind and the sun, it looks like any other dried fish. I prefer the cod is hand salted, and you can buy already soaked, but be carefully sometimes is still very salty, probably you should put it again in a bowl covered with water for few hours.

Consider that for each person you will need 200/250 g of baccala’.

My simple recipe is to steam soaked codfish, this is a delight!

Garnish with olive oil, pepper and serve with tomatoes, green sauce or a light mayonnaise.

Tuscan Chicken Liver Crostini Recipe

2012-11-02T08:35:00.000+01:00

This is a typical Tuscan starter, particularly during Christmas anyway you can use it to prepare appetizer whenever you want.

Ingredients

250 g chicken livers

250g chicken gizzard ( ventriglio or durello)

3 sticks of celery

1 onion

1 carrot

1 shallot

1 sprig of rosemary

1 sprig of sage

salt and pepper

150g unsalted butter

150 ml Marsala or Cognac

50g pickled capers ( or salted capers)

1 tbs anchovy paste

1 tbs tomato paste

4tbs Extra virgin olive oil

20 toasted crostini

Few notes :

Chicken gizzard : In Tuscan we use this part of stomach to prepare this sauce, you can use only chicken livers but the taste will be a little bit heavy.

I prefer to use Marsala or Cognac, the taste will be delicate anyway usually people use red wine.

In a small pan over medium heat stir olive oil and the thinly sliced onion, cook until they soften up, not so much that they brown, just until they’re completely tender. Add all chopped vegetables, the rosemary and sage, salt , pepper, tomato paste and the chicken livers and gizzard.

Stir constantly for 5 minutes, pour the Marsala or Cognac and after 3 minutes cover with saucepan lid and cook for 2 hours over low heat.

Once finished cooking transfer in a food processor, add anchovy paste and capers, mince thinly, taste and adjust with more salt to taste. Blend until smooth, You will decide to add other anchovy paste or capers.

You can keep this pate in the fridge for few day or in the deep freezer for few months. When you will warm up this sauce melt few the butter then spread the pate across each toasted crostini.

Serve hot, ideal with white wine with good structure, made from late harvest, fresh, soft and sweet, fruity and spicy.