Happy Thanksgiving!!

We all know that for Thanksgiving is a MUST to have on the table
a big turkey!
But my Italian origin requires an Italian flair to be added to the feast!
I have prepared "ravioli" filled with butternut.
Here is the recipe:

BUTTERNUT RAVIOLI with BUTTER and SAGE

Ingredients

for pasta:
4 eggs
400 g flour
1 pinch of salt

for filling:
1 butternut (more or less 500 g)
1 cup of grated parmesan
half tsp nutmeg
olive oil
salt
2 amaretti biscuits

Start with cooking the butternut.
Clean it from seeds, slice in big chunks, sprinkle them with oil and salt;
bake in the oven at 350 F for 40 minutes or till soft.
(you can prepare butternut also day before).

For dough,mix well all the ingredients to form a ball.

Let it rest under a ceramic bowl for 10 minutes.

When butternut is cold puree it in a food processor, then add nutmeg, parmesan, crushed amaretti and salt if needed.

Knead the dough, cut a small piece and flatten it
in a pasta machine to obtain a long rectangular stripe.
On one side of the stripe (lenghtwise) align 1 tsp balls of filling,
then cover them with the opposite side of the stripe and cut in squares.

Use all the ingredients.

Once ravioli are ready cook them in boiling salted water for 5/7 minutes.
Melt butter in a frying pan, add sage leaves and when frying add in ravioli.
Sprinkle with parmesan and serve very hot.

CREPES

In my family it's tradition to make crepes for breakfast
on a sunday morning!
Me and my son have been making them for a long time and
I have been experimenting lots of different recipes to find
the supreme one.
The recipe I have chosen among them all it hasn't been given
to me by one of my friends in Paris but by a mom of a dear
Italian friend.
I changed it slightly but I'm still calling it:

ANTONINA's CREPES

Ingredients for 8/10 crepes:

1 cup white flour (100 g)
250 dl milk
2 eggs
1 TBS melted butter (15 g)
1 TBS Cognac or white wine or beer


Separate whites from yolks and beat them to obtain soft peaks.
Beat egg yolks, add flour and milk little by little.
Add cognac and butter.
At the end add egg whites and mix gently with a wooden spoon.
Let it rest for 10 minutes.
Warm up a medium frying pan, spread base with butter
(use a solid piece of butter)and spoon in mixture.
Move frying pan around so mixture can spread covering the all pan.

After few minutes (when you start seeing little bubbles) turn crepe upside down with
a spatula and let it cook for couple of minutes or till golden.
If you want a sugar and cinnamon flavored crepe, this is the time you sprinkle it with them so sugar has a little time to melt!

Remove crepe in a plate and repete operation till mixture ends.

For breakfast you will sprinkle crepes with cinnamon and sugar if you want to reproduce an original French crepe or you will spread them with Nutella
if you want them Italian style.
If you then want an American flavor you will cover them with maple syrup and blackberries!

I remember that my aunt would prepare cannelloni with a crepe base instead of pasta.
So use your imagination and create lots of different delicious savory crepes.
My favorite is the traditional ricotta and spinach!

GREEN TOMATOES JAM

When I was young and still living in Italy, I discovered
this original jam at my friend Marisa's house.
Her mother Clelia would make it at the end of summer
so she could use all the tomatoes that were left unripe in
the vegetable garden....clever!!!

Passing by a neighbour garden recently, I saw green tomatoes
hanging, forgotten on few plants.
My memory went quickly back to the past, so I knocked at my
neighbour's door catching the opportunity to be able to make
the precious jam.
"Precious" because if you don't have a vegetable garden it's
impossible to find green tomatoes at the shop.

So here I am with the recipe and some pictures from my recent
jam making!

GREEN TOMATOES JAM

Ingredients:

2 kg of green or half-ripe tomatoes
1 kg of sugar (I use the brown one)
2 organic lemons

Wash tomatoes, clean them from all imperfections (rotten side, insects bites)
and slice them in small pieces.

Wash lemons, grate peels, then squeeze juice.

Mix tomatoes with sugar and lemon juice and let them rest, covered, in the fridge
for one night.

The next day, transfer tomatoes in a big pot and cook them slowly for about one hour.
In the middle of cooking add the lemon zest and stir.
After one hour, spoon out a bit of jam on a plate to check if it is dense,
then you know that jam is ready!

Sterilize glass jars in the dishwasher.
Pour jam in jars when still warm, cover with lids and put them
upside down in a big pot.
Divide jars with a cloth and cover them with cold water.
Boil for 35 minutes in order to sterilize jam so to be preserved.

Keep jars in the pot till water is cold.
At this point the jars with Green tomatoes jam are ready to go on your pantry shelf!

I love this jam on a slice of fresh baguette or to accompany a slice of cheese.

My quick stir-fry

I discovered the art of stir-frying in South Africa!
What a convenient way of cooking fresh delicious veggies!
I prepare the following recipe for a light lunch when my daughter is at home,
because it's one of her favorite dishes.

VEGETABLES AND TOFU STIR-FRY

Ingredients:

half onion
1 clove of garlic
2 inch fresh ginger
4 pealed carrots
4/5 celery sticks
1 red pepper
4/5 shitaki mushrooms
1 small piece of firm tofu
a quarter cup of soy sauce
2 TBS sweet and sour sauce
1 TBS toasted sesame seeds
(you can toast them in wok before starting to cook)

Wash vegetables and cut them in stick shape.
In a wok warm up 2 TBS olive or sesame oil then add sliced onion, garlic and
peeled ginger.
Cook for 1 minute, then add carrots and celery sticks and cook
for 2 minutes.
Add pepper, stir and cook for 1 minute, then add shitaki and
cubed tofu.
Stir well, add soy and sweet and sour sauces and let everything
cook for other 5 minutes.
Sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve with basmati rice.

"LA MERENDA "

In Italy around 4pm we give children a "merenda" (snack) to keep them
energetic till dinner time, that is usually around 8pm.
For snack, we prepare nice sandwiches filled with prosciutto or cheese,
brioches spread with jam or Nutella or bread slices topped with tomatoes
and olive oil.
I have blended the Italian snack time with the English tea time and I have
created my treat time in company of a cup of green tea and something nice
to eat.
Today is a rainy day and it's the perfect time to stay home
and prepare something nice for my "merenda":

panini al latte (small, soft breads).

Ingredients:
500 g flour
1 tsp dry yeast
20 cl milk
10 cl water
40 g confectioners sugar
1 tsp salt
80 g melted butter
1 egg yolk

Let yeast melt in lukewarm milk.
In a bowl mix flour with salt, sugar, water and milk with yeast.
Form a dough then add melted butter and mix it well in the dough.
Form a ball, cover with a cloth and let it raise for 1 hour.
Transfer dough on a wooden board and knead it.
Cut it in 16 pieces, knead each one and give them a cilindric form.
With a brush wash egg yolk on top of each panini.

Let them rest for another hour, then bake at 425 F (250 C) for 20 minutes,
till golden.
Let them cool down.
Slice them in half and fill them with ham or cheese....

.....or spread them with Nutella !

Happy breakfast!!!

Sometimes on sunday morning I prepare something special for breakfast.
This time I have chosen a recipe that my mother would prepare to make us all happy:
"Graffe" (or "Ciambelle allo zucchero")!
They are a sort of donoughts, but much softer and delicate.
In their simplicity, they have a powerful taste that makes children and adult love them!
I really hope you will try them once!

GRAFFE (dedicated to my mother)

Ingredients (for 24 pieces):

500 g flour
100 g white sugar
3 egg yolks
100 g butter (melted)
1 potato (boiled, peeled and mashed)
1 cup milk
1 tsp dry yeast
1 grated lemon peel

Melt yeast in lukewarm milk.
In a big bowl mix flour, sugar, egg yolks, butter lemon peel, potato and
milk with yeast. Make a ball, cover with a cloth and let it raise for 1 hour.
Transfer dough on a wooden table, knead it, then cut small pieces and give
them a round donought shape. Let them raise again for 30 minutes, covered
with a cloth.
In a frying pan put aboundant vegetable oil, warm it up and fry the graffe till
they are golden on both sides (just couple of minutes).

Dry eccess oil on a paper towel then, still warm, dive them in
a bowl of sugar.
Once they are sugar coated transfer graffe in a serving plate.

"Buona domenica!"
"Have a nice Sunday!"

Juicy APPLES

The apple season has started!
Around New York there are lots of orchards producing juicy and crunchy
apples, so we are lucky to have (finally!!!!) a locally produced fruit.
The little bags filled to the rim with the colorful apples are so inviting!!!
This is the time of the year I make apple cider, a delicious probiotic drink that
helps our tummies to be in good shape.
I use the Academy of Healing and Nutrition recipe:

APPLE CIDER

Ingredients:
12 apples of any kind (it makes almost 1 lt juice)
1 small organic lemon juice
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp whey
(I strain 1 full TBS of plain yogurt in a colander on top of a cup. Whey will
come from it)

Wash apples, cut in quarters and pass through a juicer.
Scoop away foam from top of juice then strain it in a glass jar.
Mix juice with lemon juice, salt, whey and let it rest at room temperature,
covered with a cloth for 3 days.
Remove any foam and transfer juice in a glass bottle.
Refrigerate tightly covered.

Drink a glass a day for a week to build up good bacteria in your digestive tract!

Melanzane alla parmiggiana

As you could notice from my blog, I love eggplants!!!
I use them a lot in my kitchen and I have different ways to cook them!
The most special of all, in my opinion, is the traditional "Melanzane alla parmiggiana".
I have changed the recipe a little bit to make it lighter, so instead of frying the eggplants I grill them.

Here is my recipe:

MELANZANE ALLA PARMIGGIANA

Ingredients:

2 big black, long eggplants
1 can tomatoe puree or peeled diced tomatoes
1 onion
2 carrots
1 cup grated parmesan
1 cup grated mozzarella
salt, pepper, origanum, basil

Vertically slice eggplants (half cm) then grill them till brown on both sides.
Sprinkle them with salt and origanum and let them rest.

Prepare the tomatoe sauce.
In a frying pan put some olive oil and sautee onion and carrots, thinly sliced, till soft. Add tomatoe puree, salt, origanum and let it cook, covered, for about 10 minutes.
Add few basil leaves and cook for other 5 minutes.



Spread a spoon of tomatoe sauce in a baking dish, then make a layer with eggplant slices. Cover with sauce, some parmesan and mozzarella. Then form another layer
with same ingredients. Use all ingredients ending with mozzarella.

Cover tray with aluminium foil and bake at 350 F (180 C) for 30 minutes.
Uncover baking dish and bake for other 5 min at 400 F (200 C).
The eggplant should be very soft.
Remove from oven and let it rest for 15 minutes before serving.

The "BABA' AL RHUM"

The Baba' is a soft, spongy round cake with a hole in the middle, served with cream or custard and berries. It can also be smaller and have the shape of a mushroom.
Although its orgin is Polish, it has become a symbol of the Napoletan baking tradition.
This is my husband favorite dessert and I have been practicing making it for many years.
I'm going to share with you my recipe that I borrowed from my family.
The shape of my Baba' is simply round and small and I serve it purely with Rhum.

BABA' AL RHUM

Ingredients for dough:
4 eggs + 2 yolks
50 g white sugar
75 g butter (5 TBS)
1 tsp yeast melted in halg glass of warm water
300 g flour

Ingredients for syrup:
200 ml water
200 g sugar
3/4 cup Rhum

Prepare dough beating eggs with sugar and melted butter.
Add yeast and mix it in well.
Add flour little by little and keep beating, beating, beating to get a smooth dough.
Cover with a cloth and let it rest for 30 minutes.
Then beat dough again for few minutes and transfer it in a tall round baking
dish. Cover and let it rise for couple of hours.

Meanwhile prepare syrup melting sugar in water.
Let water boil for 5 minutes, then put aside to cool it down. Add Ruhm.

When the dough has completely risen, bake it at 350 F (180 C) for 20 minutes.
Cool it down, then pour syrup on top of sponge cake and let it soak in for few hours.
Remove Baba' from baking dish and put it upside down on a serving plate.

Slice it and, before serving, wet each piece with more syrup.

APPLE PIE....a must have in a recipe book!!!!

I believe that the tastiest healthy pie is the apple one!
Apple pie makes me think of orchards and country style kitchens,
brings back the smell of childhood,
feelings of joy and happyness and
makes me smile!!!

Yesterday, at my son's request, I prepared this special, simple
but powerfull sweet delight!

Here comes the recipe!!!

CARME'S APPLE PIE

Ingredients for crust:

150 g whole wheat flour
150 g white unbleached flour
100 g granulated sugar
1 pinch salt
1 egg
2 TBS Martini liquor (instead you can edd another egg)
150 g butter (1 stick abd 2 spoons)

Ingredients for filling:

4/5 golden apples
half tsp cinnamon
1 TBS sugar (optional)
half lemon lemon juice
2/3 amaretti (almond Italian cookies)crushed

To prepare dough, put flours and salt on a wooden board and form a well.
Inside put sugar, egg and liquor and start mixing them with your hands.
Add room temperature butter and mix all the ingredients well to obtain a
soft ball.
Transfer in a bowl, cover with cling paper and refrigerate.

Meanwhile peel and slice the apples, mix them with lemon juice,sugar and cinnamon.

Take out the fridge the pastry dough and cut three quarter of it leaving the other part to rest.
Flour wooden board and with a rolling pin make it flat and round to fit a round baking tray.
Butter and flour baking tray base and transfer dough in it.
Cover bottom with amaretti, then add the apples.
Flatten the other part of dough to make it round and big enough to cover pie.
Close border well folding pastry, make small cuts on top of pie and bake at
375 F or 180 C for 40 minutes or till golden.

Cool down and serve with a dollop of sour cream.

Enjoy it!!!!

BACK HOME!

This summer I spent a long time away from home!
I was very lucky to be able to go on a cruice in Greece and explore some of
the Egean islands; to travel through Italy where I visited amazing places in
Puglia, Lazio and Umbria and, once back in the US, to drive all the way down
from Ney York to South Carolina crossing many American States for the first time.
I feel so gratefull!!!

I'm back home now and I must say that I'm really happy
to be back in my kitchen!

The most enjoyable activities I have done since coming home are:
grocery shopping and cooking!

Yesterday I had my dear girl friends over for lunch and, among other dishes, I prepared for them a Lasagna with Pesto filled with lots of love.

I'm sharing this light, easy recipe with you all!

Ingredients for 12 people:

1 packet of lasagna (I prefer Barilla)
2 cups of basil leaves
2 cups of arrugola
half cup pine nuts
3/4 spoons extravirgin olive oil
2 cups of cherry tomatos
2 cups of feta cheese (2 pieces)
salt and pepper

Prepare pesto chopping in a blender the leaves and the pine nuts,
then add a pinch of salt and enough oil to blend all the ingredients
in a smooth paste.
Put pesto in a bowl and cover with oil so the top doesn't become brown.
Prepare tomatoes washing them and cutting them in halves.
Put 2/3 spoons of olive oil in a pan and sautee tomatoes for 5 minutes
or till they soften. Add salt, pepper and put them aside.
Boil water, add salt and a bit of oil then cook 5/6 lasagna sheets at
the time for 2 minutes.
Remove the lasagna sheets from water, transfer them in a container with
cold water, then drain them and let them dry on a cloth.

Switch on oven to 375 F or 180 C degrees.

Now you are ready to assemble the lasagna!

Put one full spoon of pesto in a cup and add enough water (half cup) to make
it liquid and runny. Spoon some pesto at the bottom of a rectangular baking
dish, then lay the lasagna sheet in order to cover all the bottom of the dish.
Spread the liquid pesto(when this ends prepare another batch)on top of
lasagna, then top it with some tomatoes and feta cheese.
Form another layer of lasagna sheets and repeat the sequence till you finish
all the ingredients.
Possibly end with a layer of lasagna sheets topped with pesto and some cheese.

Cover the baking dish with aluminium foil and bake for 30 minutes.
After then uncover the dish and bake for other 5 minutes.

Remove dish from oven and let it cool down for 15 minutes.

Serve this tasty lasagna with a spring mix salad.

MAHI MAHI MY WAY

The first time I had mahi mahi fish was in Costa Rica.
It's a very nice fish with a firm chair that reminds me of cod.
I have started using it in my kitchen in NY because it's easy to find
it coming from Hawaii or the Carabbeans.

I have experimented this very tasty recipe that reminds me
of my mediterranean sea.

MAHI MAHI MY WAY

Ingredients:
4 pieces of mahi mahi fish
flour
2 cups of cherry tomatoes
1 onion finelly chopped
1 clove of garlic
1 or 2 TBS of fresh chopped origanum and basil
olive oil
1 TBS basil pesto dissolved in half glass of water
salt and pepper

In a frying pan cook sliced onion in oil for 5 minutes, then add halved tomatoes and fresh herbs and cook till tomatoes soften. Adjust salt and pepper and put tomatoes aside in a dish.

Dry fish and dip it in flour.
Add some more oil and garlic and warm up a bit.
Add fish pieces in pan and cook on both sides till golden.
Add salt and pesto. After few minutes add tomatoes and mix well.

It is a perfect dish for summer as fish is a cooling food!

SUMMER CHERRY PIE

The beginning of summer is the thriumph of cherries.
I love their intense red color (my favorite), their crunchy and juicy texture,
but most of all I like their health benefits.
Cherries are one of the very low calorie fruits, they are rich source of nutrients, vitamins (C and A), and minerals.Cherry fruits are very rich in
stable anti-oxidant melatonin, that helps calming down the nervous system.
They are also good source of minerals such as potassium, iron, zinc, copper and manganese. Their anti-inflammatory property has been found effective in
reducing heart disease risk factors by scavenging action against
free radicals.

What do you want more????!!!....

All that said we are ready to make a super-delicious pie with them!

Cherry pie

Ingredients:

800 g (around 2 pounds)of fresh dark cherries
60 g (around 3 TBS) of almond meal (or toasted and grinded almonds)
140 g brown sugar
1 tsp of arrowroot dissolved in 1/4 glass of cold water or
30 g of corn starch
280 g of flour
180 g of cold butter
6 TBS of cold water

Prepare dough mixing in a blender flour,a pinch of salt with butter to obtain crumbles, then add 5/6 TBS of cold water.
Transfer on a wooden table, mix well then cover it with cling paper and refrigerate for 20 minutes.
Remove stones from cherries and mix them with sugar, grinded almonds and arrowroot.
Roll half dough to make a fine pastry and transfer it on a buttered pie tray.
Fill it in with cherries mixture and cover with left over dough rolled and cut in stripes.
Bake at 450 F (220 C) for 20 minutes and at 375 F (180 C) for other 30 minutes or till golden.
Let it cool down and ENJOY IT!!!!

TEA TIME

Although is summer and hot outside, I keep my tea time as a sacred space where I meet with myself and sometimes with a dear friend.
I started this tradition when I was at University in Rome leaving at Clara's house.
Every day she would invite me to join in her sacred tea time space.
She would prepare an excellent tea with Ceylon tea leaves and serve it with a piece of lemon and a slice of jam tart.
I have kept this ritual alive everywhere I have been leaving but I have adapted the kind of teas I have been brewing to my different needs.
In South Africa I would use Roibos tea accompanied by scones, here in New York, as I am very conscious about healthy eating, I prepare Green tea and serve it with a variety of
"deliciously good for you" cookies.
Following is the recipe of crunchly tasty vegan cookies.

OATS AND GOJYBERRIES COOKIES

Ingredients:
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup almond meal
1/2 cup shredded dry coconut
1/2tsp salt
1/2 cup coconut oil
1/2 cup agave
1 tsp vanilla essence
1/4 cup gojyberries
1/4 cup dry cranberries

Mix wet ingredients, than add all dry ingredients and mix well.
Preheat oven at 350 F and line a cookies tray with baking paper.
Form balls with dough and press them lightly on tray.
Bake for 15/20 minutes or till golden.

Enjoy them with no guilt because all the ingredients used in this
recipe are good for your health!

"FAGIOLINI E PATATE"

When I was young, during summer, my mother would prepare a simple,
tasty dish with fresh green beans, tomatoes and potatoes.
The other day I decided to bring back to reality that old memory and
I prepared it myself in her honour!
Although a very basic soup its taste is very rich.
I'm sharing the recipe with you and hope you'll try it once!





GREEN BEANS AND POTATOES

Ingredients:
1 pound (500 g) fresh green beans
3 potatoes
2/3 tomatoes (sammarzano or small salad ones)
1 clove of garlic
1 wig of fresh origanum
3 leaves of basil
olive oil
water and salt

Clean the green beans eliminating the edges and cutting them in halves.
Peel potatoes and cube them.
Slice tomatoes eliminating seeds.
Put 2/3 tablespoons olive oil in a pot with garlic and warm it up.
Add tomatoes and let them soften, after few minutes stir in green beans
and potatoes. Let them cook for few minutes.
Add enough water to cover vegetables, 1 tsb of coarse salt, wig of
origanum and bring to boil.
Cook for 30 minutes at medium heat.
When potatoes and beans are very soft adjust salt, add chopped basil
leaves and remove from stove.
Serve it at room temperature.

Would you like a LEMONADE?????

My summer is full of LEMONS....they are so refreshing!!!!
Lemons are antibacterial, antiviral, and boost the immune-system!
They help in weight loss because lemon juice is a digestive aid and
liver cleanser.
Lemons contain many substances, like citric acid, calcium, magnesium,
vitamin C, bioflavonoids, pectin, and limonene, that promote immunity
and fight infection.
Conclusion:
LEMONS ARE GOOD FOR YOU!
So let's have a nice home-made LEMONADE:


Ingredients:
6 organic lemons
2 TBS agave
800 ml filtred water

Squeeze lemons and put juice in a pitcher, add agave and water and stir well.
Refrigerete.
Serve it with a slice of lemon and a mint leaf.

How easy is this?!!!????

ROASTED RED PEPPERS

When the summer arrives I start roasting red peppers to keep my
grandmother's tradion alive, but also to fill in the kitchen with
a delicious, sweet smell!
My grandmother was roasting peppers in the fireplace over the red charcoal,
me, instead, I had to find another way to do it as I don't keep the fire on
all the time for cooking.
I have the same result broiling them in the oven:
it's easy, quick and no-mess!

Red peppers are a good source of vitamin C and E and they also contain
antioxidants as mineral manganese, flavonoids, carotenoids....
elements all good for our health!
Of course the ideal is to consume them raw in a salad but when roasted
they still have good properties, just in less amount....so....
go for it!
Here is the recipe!

ROASTED RED PEPPERS
Ingredients:
3 red peppers
olive oil
salt,
1TBS chopped parsley
1 clove of garlic

Preparation:

Put the peppers in the oven to broil.
Broil them on each side for 5 minutes or till the skin is black.

When they are all black, take them off the oven and cover with a cloth for at least 15 minutes.
Then start pealing the skin off.

Open a pepper on a wooden board and cut it in thin stripes.

Once all the peppers are chopped, put them in a bowl and season them with olive oil, salt, parsley and garlic.
Mix well and let them rest in the fridge before serving.

QUINOA Mediterranean style

Quinoa is an amazing seed that must be added in the pantry of every kitchen.
It is a protein-rich seed that has a fluffy, creamy, slightly
crunchy texture and a somewhat nutty flavor when cooked.
Most commonly considered a grain, quinoa is actually a relative of leafy
green vegetables like spinach and Swiss chard.
It is a recently rediscovered ancient "grain" once considered
"the gold of the Incas”, who recognized its value in increasing the stamina
of their warriors.
Not only is quinoa high in protein, but the protein it supplies
is complete protein, meaning that it includes all nine essential amino acids.
It is also a very good source of manganese as well as a good source of
magnesium, folate, and phosphorus.
Quinoa is very easy to cook: just add double amount of cold water, bring it
to boil and cook till all the water evaporates after around 10 minutes.
Once cooked it can be kept in the fridge for a couple of days and can be
used with sweet or salty condiments.

I share with you my favourite way of preparing it.....
easy and delicious!!!

QUINOA MEDITERRANEAN STYLE

Ingredients:
1 cup of quinoa
2 cups filtered water
pinch of salt

1 cup chopped tomatos
½ cup chopped cucumber
½ cup chopped green olives
1 clove of garlic
2/3 chopped scallion
1 TBS chopped mint
½ cup chopped parsley

Dressing:
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1 tsp umeboshi vinegar
1 pinch of salt
½ tsp honey

Prepare quinoa, cooking the seeds in salted water for around 15 minutes
or till water is absorbed.
Let it cool.
Prepare dressing mixing all ingredients in a small bottle or a jar and shake
it well.
Chop all the other ingredients and add to quinoa.
Toss with dressing and set aside for at least half an hour before serving.

SPINACH

Did anybody tell you that spinach are good for you????!!!
Yes?
Does my message arrive too late???
Oh, well! Getting good, healthy advices is never too much!

Spinach has a high nutritional value and is extremely rich in antioxidants,
especially when fresh, steamed, or quickly boiled.
It is a rich source of vitamin A (and especially high in lutein), vitamin C,
vitamin E, vitamin K, magnesium, manganese, folate, betaine, iron, vitamin B2,
calcium, potassium, vitamin B6, folic acid, copper, protein, phosphorus, zinc,
niacin, selenium and omega-3 fatty acids.
Polyglutamyl folate (vitamin B9 or folic acid) is a vital constituent of cells,
and spinach is a good source of folic acid.
(wikipedia says so)

Do you need more to be convinced!!!!???

So, spinach are good for you and they are delicious, too!
Let's use them in a nice recipe!

CROSTATA SPINACH AND RICOTTA

Ingredients for dough:

250g (1 cup and half) bread flour
1 stick of butter (115 g)
1 egg
1 tsp salt
1 TBS white wine

On a wooden board mix flour with butter then add salt, egg and wine.
Mix well to obtain a smooth dough.
Put in a bowl, cover with cling paper and let it rest in fridge while
preparing filling.

Ingredients for filling:

250g (half pound) fresh ricotta
1 bunch of fresh spinach
(use only leaves and blanch them, once squeezed you should get almost 2 cups)
1 egg
half tsp nutmeg
half tsp salt
half cup grated parmesan.

Mix all the ingredients well.

With a rolling pin flatten the dough to make a thin pastry.
Cover a round baking tray with the pastry and fill it in with ricotta and
spinach mixture.
With the left over dough cut stripes to put on top of the crostata to form
a grid.
Bake at 400 F (or 200 C) for 40 minutes or till the pastry is golden brown.

Mighty aromatic BASIL

Have you planted your basil yet???
Basil is a mighty herb, easy to grow.
You can place a pot on a sunny windowsill,
and, adding some water and love,
you will be rewarded by sumptuous,
super-aromatic leaves that will add tasty flavor
to all your summer dishes.
Basil’s health benefits are found in its essential oils
that have potent antioxidant, antiviral and antimicrobial
properties.
The best way to use basil is in PESTO.
You can prepare it and keep in the fridge, covered with
olive oil for 3/4 days and use it for different purposes:
to toss it on pasta (Linguini format is advised in this case);
to spread on bruschettas;
to add to your fried chicken breast;
to give flavor to your minestrone;
to use as a dip with vegetable sticks, and so on!!!

PESTO ALLA GENOVESE

Ingredients:
2 cups of fresh, clean basil leaves
½ cup pine nuts
1 cup grated parmesan
1 crushed garlic clove
½ tsp salt
½ cup olive oil

Put in a blender basil leaves and pine nuts and chop them finely.
Add parmesan and salt and little by little the oil.
Mix to obtain a smooth sauce (you might need more oil to get there).
Transfer pesto in a glass container, cover with olive oil and keep it
in the fridge before using.

You can also change recipe, getting a slightly different flavor,
substituting the 2 basil cups with 1 cup of basil and 1 cup of fresh
spinach leaves and the half cup of pine nuts with half cup of walnuts.

LIGHTEN UP YOUR DAY!

To make this gorgeous day even better
I'm going to share with you a delicious,
sweet and yummy recipe!


CROSTATA RICOTTA AND STRAWBERRIES

Ingredients for pastry:

250 gr or 1 cup of flour
115 gr or 1 piece of butter
100 gr or half cup of white sugar
1 egg
1 TBS liquor like Martini

For instructions to prepare crust, check for crostata recipe in my blog.
Transfer rolled dough in a round baking tray and bake it blank covered with parchment paper and beans at 400F (200C) for 10 minutes,
remove beans and bake for other 5 minutes.
Cool it down.

Ingredients for filling:

1pound and half of fresh ricotta

4 egg yolks
1 cup white sugar
lemon zest
1 tsp vanilla essence

Mix ricotta with sugar till creamy then add egg yolks one at the time.
Add lemon zest and vanilla and let it rest in the fridge.

Ingredients dor topping:

1 container of organic strawberries

1 lemon juice

Slice finely strawberries and sprinkle with lemon juice.

Preaparation:

Fill the crust with ricotta mixture and bake at 350F (or 180 C) for 20 minutes
or till lightly brown.
Remove from oven and cool it down.
When cold, cover it with strawberries and top with lots of confectionary sugar.

ENJOY IT!!!

LET'S TALK HEALTHY FOOD

Few years ago, while attending a course at the Academy of Healing
and Nutrition in Manhattan, I discovered the power of seeweeds!
This food was not in my kitchen yet, but it became a steady presence
in my pantry after then.
Seeweeds are full of trace minerals and vitamins and are very good
to eliminate toxins and radiations from our system.
Today I'm going to give you a recipe to use the seeweed called
HIJIKI, rich in dietary fiber and minerals like iron, magnesium
and calcium.

HIJIKI CAVIAR
(recipe of Melanie Ferreira)

Ingredients:
½ cup dry Hijiki
2 TBS sesame oil
2 TBS soy sauce
2 TBS olive oil
2 shallots (or 1 onion)
1 clove garlic
lemon juice
1 TBS grated ginger
salt
baguette

Soak hijiki in water for 30 minutes.
Remove it from water and sautee’ it in sesame oil for few minutes.
Add water to cover, bring to boil and add soy sauce, cook till
liquids evaporate.
In another pan sautee’ shallots and garlic.
Chop hijiki and season with lemon and ginger juice.
Add shallot and garlic and mix well.
Serve on sliced baguette, top with a dollop of sour cream and
decorate with chives.

The "Pastiera napoletana"

Today is Palm Sunday and I have celebrated it preparing the
"Pastiera napoletana".
Eggs and wheat berries are the key ingredients of this Easter
recipe, because they represent the beginning of life so they
are also symbolic of resurrection.
I started preparing the pastry, that is very similar to the one
I make for the crostata, only difference is: more eggs!
Then I prepared the filling mixing the grains with ricotta and
eggs. Usually it takes a long time because you have to cook the
wheat berries first, but this time I was lucky enough to find
them pre-cooked at an Italian gourmet shop close to my house.
If you leave outside Italy and in an area where there are not
too many Italian products available then you have to prepare
the wheat in this way:
soak overnight 450 grams of dry wheat berries in water , then drain
and cook them covered with water till soft (45 minutes).
Drain excess water and let them boil in 1/2 cup of warm milk for 5
minutes or till milk is absorbed. Cool it down.

Following you will find the full recipe!

PASTIERA NAPOLETANA

Ingredients for pastry
(it's enough for 2 big pies):
3 sticks of unsalted butter (400 gr)
800 gr flour
4 yolks + 2 eggs
2 TBS liquor (Martini)
2 TBS water
peel of 1 lemon

Ingredients for filling:
1 1/2 pound of ricotta (750 gr)
1 tin of pre-cooked wheat
(or 450 gr of dry one to be cooked)
1/4 cup milk
1 cup sugar
peel of 1 lemon
half candied citron (or candied lemon peel)

To prepare pastry, dispose flour on a wooden board, make a hole in the middle,
add sugar, eggs, water, liquor and lemon peel and start mixing taking in little
by little some flour.
Add butter at room temperature and mix with the rest of flour in order to form
an homogeneous dough.
Cut dough in two parts, cover with cling paper and let it rest in fridge for
30 minutes.
To prepare filling, boil cooked grains in milk for 5 minutes (if you have
cooked grains at home you can skip this step). Transfer grains in a bowl and
cool them down.
In another bowl mix ricotta with sugar, egg yolks, lemon peel and candied citron.
Whip egg whites to transform them in soft peaks.
Mix well wheat berries with ricotta mixture, then fold in the egg whites little by
little.
Prepare pastry flattening dough with a rolling pin.
Butter a round baking tin and add in pastry. Fill pastry with half filling, then
on top form a grid with thin dough stripes.

Bake "pastiera" in oven at 375 F (or 200 C) for 1 hour. If top it's not brown yet
leave it for other 15 minutes.

Serve it cold with a sprinkle of powder sugar!

EASTER IS COMING....

Easter is for me a magic time!
It's when nature starts awakening and weather warms up...I just love it!
My kitchen gets busy renewing the old Italian tradition:
fiatoni di bietole (swiss chards), fiatoni alle uova e formaggi
(eggs and cheeses),
frittate (omelettes), torta pasqualina (spinach and eggs tart)
pastiera di grano (tart filled with cooked wheat grains and ricotta).
Today I have prepared "fiatoni di bietole", a sort of calzone filled with
swiss chards, and I'm going to share the recipe with you!

FIATONI DI BIETOLE

Ingredients for 9/10 fiatoni:

to make pizza dough:

500 g (or 3 cups) of bread flour
1 cup of warm water with 1 tsp yeast and a pinch of sugar
2 cups of warm water
1 TBS olive oil
3 tsp salt

In a bowl mix flour with salt, add the water where yeast
has been melted with sugar, and start mixing.
Add more water and the oil and keep mixing till you obtain a soft,
homogenic dough.
Let it rest covered with a cloth for 1 hour.
Then knead it on a wooden board, cut it in small pieces.
Knead each piece, form a ball and let it rest
covered with a cloth, for half an hour.
With a rolling pin flatten each ball in a fine round sheet.

To prepare filling:

4 bunches of fresh swiss chards
1 pot of anchovies
2 TBS capers
1 clove of garlic
2 TBS chopped green olives
a pinch of pepper flakes
olive oil

Wash chards and blanch them in salty water, drain, and let them cool down.
Squeeze out all excess of water from the chards, chop them finely and put
them in a bowl.
Add capers, olives, anchovies, garlic, pepper flakes and a bit of olive oil,
then mix well.

Fill in the fine dough with 2/3 TBS of chards mixture, close in half moon shape,
brush top with olive oil and bake at 475 degrees for 10 minutes or till golden
brown.

THE POWERFUL BERRIES

This is the time when the farmer stalls become colorful with berries!
Strawberries, rasberries and blueberries are antioxidants full of Vit C
and minerals like potassium and magnesium.
As soon as the fresh berries start popping out in the market I use them
in my kitchen simply as they are or I serve them as dessert in a tart shell.
Here it is my favourite tart:

CROSTATA WITH BERRIES AND MASCARPONE CREAM

Ingredients:
- for pastry:
250 gr flour
100 gr white sugar
120 gr butter
1 egg
2 TBS Martini liquor
- for filling:
300 gr mascarpone cheese
3 TBS white sugar
3 eggs
- for topping:
2 cups mixed berries, blueberries, rasberries or strawberries

To prepare the pastry:
Place flour as a fountain on a wooden board and in the middle add sugar,
eggs and liquor and start mixing. Add softened butter and mix to form a
dough.
Put dough in a bowl, cover with cling paper and refrigerate for 20 min.
Transfer dough on a wooden board and flatten it with a rolling pin in a
round shape .
Transfer pastry in a baking pan, cover with parchment paper topped by dry
beans and bake it for 15/20 minutes.

To prepare filling:
In a bowl mix egg yolks with sugar to form a soft cream.
Add mascarpone to mixture and mix it well.
Beat egg whites till stiff,and add them gently to the
cream.

To prepare topping:
Wash well berries, then place them in a bowl with 1 TBS of sugar and 1 lemon juice.
Mix and let it rest.

To assemble the crostata:
Free pastry from parchment paper and beans and fill it with mascarpone
cream, add mixed berries on top.

Refrigerate before serving.