GNOCCHI ALLA SORRENTINA

When we were living in Cape Town the best Italian restaurant for us was "Pappa and Ciccia".
The owner was Nando, who then became a very good friend of ours.
One of his many specialities were "Gnocchi alla sorrentina", my son Luca's favorite dish.
I prepared them the other night and I decided to share the recepe with you!

Gnocchi alla sorrentina



Ingredienti for gnocchi:

(Ingr. for 4/6 people)

850 g white potatoes
200 g flour
1 egg
nutmeg

Boil potatoes with skin on for around 40 min or till soft.
Let them cool down, peel them and mash them on a wooden board.
Add flour, egg and 2 pinches of nutmeg and form a dough.
If dough is too soft add more flour.
Form a ball.
Cut a small piece from ball and roll it in a tubular shape of half inch diameter.
Then cut it with a knife in small cubes.



Ingredients for tomatoe sauce:

1 can of tomatoes puree
1 celery stick
1 carrot
half onion
1 clove of garlic
origanum
olive oil
1 cup shredded mozzarella
2 TBS parmesan cheese
basil leaves


Cover base of a pot with 2/3 TBS of olive oil.
Add garlic, onion, celery and carrot and warm it up.
Add tomatoes puree, a pinch of salt and oreganum.
Cook for 15 min then add basil.

Cook gnocchi in boiling salted water till they come up to surface
(4/5 minutes), then drain them.
Mix gnocchi with a bit of tomato sauce, add mozzarella and stir well.
Add more tomato sauce, sprinkle with parmesan and decorate with basil leaves,
if in season.

A FEAST WITH MY ITALIAN FRIEND, THE CHEF!

My friend Elisa is a talented Executive Chef and she is staying for
few days at my house as a special guest!
What a joy this morning when she offered to cook for us!
We went shopping together at WholeFood for good quality ingredients
and I came back home excited for the experience to come.
She decided to prepare "Tagliolini with asparagus cream,
topped with bacon", "Saltimbocca alla romana" and "Peperonata"
as a side dish.
I thought I had to share these superdelicious recepes with you!

Elisa in action!


"TAGLIOLINI ALLA CREMA DI ASPARAGI CON BACON"


Ingredients for 4 people:
1 pound homemade tagliolini (we bought them in Arthur Avenue)
2 bunches asparagus
3 TBS cream
8 slices bacon
olive oil
salt
pepper
parmesan or pecorino cheese

Slice bacon in small pieces and fry them in 4 TBS olive oil till crispy.
Remove them from oil and let them dry on a paper towel.
Reserve oil for later.
Wash asparagus and cut the woody part.
Cook them in boiling salted water till very tender.
Blend asparagus till creamy.
Add cream and 2TBS bacon flavoured oil.

Cook Tagliolini in salted water for 6/8 minutes, drain them and put them in
a frying pan with asparagus cream.
Sautee' them adding a bit of the asparagus flavoured water.
Add bacon bits, sprinkle with cheese and serve immediately.

Let's get ready with the meat!


"SALTIMBOCCA ALLA ROMANA"


Ingredients for 4 people:
1 sirloin steak (or 8 veal meat slices)
8/10 Parma ham slices
8/10 sage leaves
flour
butter
oil
1 glass dry white wine
salt
pepper

Cut sirloin in thin slices, then cover each slice with clingpaper and beat them
with a special tool or the back of a frying pan till they flatten.
Cover each slice with flour on both sides.
Lay a slice of prosciutto on each piece of meat.
Top it with a sage leaf and pin the three ingredients together with a toothpick.

In a frying pan melt 2TBS of butter, add 2/3 TBS og olive oil and when warm
add the pieces of meat with ham facing down.
Let them cook for few minutes, till the prosciutto is crispy, then turn them
and cook for few minutes.
Add wine and let it evaporate. Add some water (2/3 TBS) if sauce is too dry.
Season with salt and pepper and serve warm.

Time for the side dish!


"PEPERONATA"


Ingredients (for a big quantity, you can keep leftovers in fridge for a week):
6 different colours peppers
2 onions
1 clove of garlic
3/4 cup olive oil
1 cup of pine kernels (pignones)
1 cup raisin
2/3 TBS balsamic vinegar

Wash peppers and cube them.
Slice onions in small pieces.
Peel and cut garlic.

Soften raisins in water.
Roast pine kernels in a frying pan.

Put oil in a pot with peppers, onions and garlic.
Season with salt and pepper and let ingredients cook slowly for about 15/20 minutes.
Add pine kernels and raisins and stir.
Add balsamic vinegar and cook for few more minutes.

Serve "Peperonata" warm or cold as a side dish.


I had LOTS OF FUN!

THANK YOU ELISA!

RICOTTA AND STRAWBERRIES TIRAMISU'

When my friend Mara invited me to partecipate to a cooking workshop at the
local school's Italian Club, I had to make up a recepe that would represent
the Italian flavour and could be easely prepared by children
without being baked.
I thought that ricotta together with "Savoiardi" biscuits and strawberries
(children love them)would do the trick.
The result looks like a Tiramisu', but it is a fake tiramisu' in the content
because doesn't contain eggs and coffee, the main ingredients to keep you
awake and energetic
("Tirami su" in Italian means "lift me up").

Ricotta and strawberries tiramisu'



Ingredients for 4 dessert bowls:

8 TBS of ricotta cheese
6 TBS white sugar
1 grated lemon peel
1 lemon juice
8 TBS of sliced strawberries
8 "Savoiardi" biscuits (Lady fingers)
2 TBS water (or liquor for adults)
8 mint leaves

Wash strawberries and slice them in small pieces.
Put them in a bowl and sprinkle them with 2 TBS of sugar and the lemon juice.
Mix well and let them rest in the fridge for half an hour or more.

Put biscuits in a plastic bag and crash them.

Mix ricotta with 4 TBS of sugar to obtain a smooth cream.

Strain strawberries to collect the juice in a bowl.
Add water and mix.

Put 2 TBS of crashed biscuits at the bottom of a bowl and mix with 1 TBS of
strawberries juice.
Tap it down with a spoon to form a firm layer.
Add on top 2 TBS of ricotta to form a second layer.
End with 2 TBS of strawberries.
Decorate each bowl with a mint leaf, so to have the Italian flags colours
(red, white and green).

Enjoy it!