BASIL, the last leaves of the season

This morning I harvested the last leaves of my basil plant on the terrace.
The chilly nights are here so the basil won't survive for longer unless I
put the plant indoor.

I collected the best leaves and left the long stems with flowers to get
seads for next year.

Basil is full of antioxidants, vitamin A, K, C and manganese.
Pine kernels are rich of vitamin A,C,D,E,K and magnesium, manganese and antioxidants.
Olive oil is rich in monounsaturated fats, helping lower your risk of
heart disease, and it contains important vitamins and antioxidants.

This said we may conclude that Pesto is a bomb of health.

I made a nice pesto that I will use for my pasta at lunch time.

BASIL PESTO

Put in a blender 2 cups of basil leaves and chop them.
Add 1 cup of pine kernels and blend them with the basil.
Add a pinch of salt and half cup of parmesan cheese.
Blend again then add 1 cup of good extra virgin olive oil.

Mix well to obtain a creamy sauce.

You can use Pesto as a spread on toasted whole wheat bread or
to toss on pasta with half cup of the pasta cooking water.

Buon appetito!

WELCOME BACK!

I took a long break from my blog this summer because I
was busy writing my newborn blog Mela e Pistacchio that
I have created for my Italian speaking friends.

But I am back to my routine now and I am excited to keep
posting my recepes also for my English speaking friends.

One of the MUST EAT of this time of the year is FIGS.
They are in full season now and you can find white or black
ones easily on the market shelves.
Figs are a good source of potassium, a mineral that helps
to control blood pressure and they are also rich in good
dietary fiber.

I was in New York in August and my friend Allison made
me try baked figs with balsamic vinegar.
It is such an easy and delicious recepe that I have to
share it with you.



Rinse well 6 black figs.
Slice them in quarters.
Put them on a baking tray lined with parchment paper and sprinkle
them with balsamic vinegar and just a pinch of Himalayan salt.
Bake in the oven at 200 degrees Celsius or 370 Farenheit for 20 minutes.
Let them cool down before serving as a snack.

I use them as a top on toasted whole wheat bread spread with ricotta.

ROASTED RED PEPPERS

Red peppers are the Star of summer.
They are tasty and full of vitamine C, A and antioxidants.
I love to prepare them roasted and serve them as a side dish
in a summer light lunch made of fresh mozzarella or breasaola.

I usually buy 3 big red peppers, rinse them, put thenm on a tray
lined with aluminium foil and I roast them under the oven grill.
Every time one side starts burning (you can smell it!) I turn the pepper a bit so each
piece of them can roast. The secret to a nice pealing is to get the
peal half burnt and wrinkly.



When the whole pepper is well roasted I take the tray out of the oven
and cover it with a cloth, letting the pepper cool down.
Only then I remove the burnt skin.
I also remove all the seeds and slice them in thin stripes.
I put them in a glass jar or container, season them with salt and origanum, add
a clove of garlic and couple of TBS of extra virgin olive oil.
I cover the jar with a lid and refrigerate them.
You can keep them for couple of days in the fridge.

SWORDFISH with POMODORINI

I am so delighted by the choice of fish I have in Italy!
Me and my husband love fish and when we were living abroad
we always missed fish shops abundant of freshly caught fishes.
Although also here in Italy the majority of fish is farm raised,
you can still find wild fishes, like swordfish, tunafish, anchovies,
clams, cuttlefish, squids, etc.

The other day I bought nice slices of swordfish and I prepared it
Sicilian way, with fresh tomatoes, capers and origanum.
Here is the recipe.


PESCE SPADA ALLA SICILIANA

Ingredients for 3 people:

3 slices of fresh swordfish
2 cups of small tomatoes (cherry or Roma)
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 TBS capers, drained
1 tsp of dried origanum
1 TBS of fresh origanum leaves
2 TBS extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper

Rinse swordfish and dry it.
Sprinkle it with salt and pepper on both sides and put it aside.

In a frying pan cook onions in olive oil until soft.
Meanwhile slice tomatoes in halves and add them into the frying pan.
Add caper, dry origanum and salt and cook for 5 minutes or until tomatoes are
tender. Once done, add fresh origanum leaves and set it aside.

Warm up a grill and cook swordfish slices until they are brown on
both sides.
Spread tomatoes mix on top and serve them warm.

Arugula, Rocket, Rugola is the star of Spring time

I love this tiny green leaf that grows nicely from Spring to Summer!
Along with other leafy greens, arugula contains very high nitrate levels.
High intakes of dietary nitrate have been shown to lower blood pressure,
reduce the amount of oxygen needed during exercise and enhance
athletic performance.
This means that if you are feeling athletic when the sun comes out,
arugula will give you more energy to keep moving.
I use arugula in salads, but I also make a delicious pesto with it.
My dear friend Piera shared this recipe with me when I was living in
South Africa.

HOMEMADE PASTA WITH ARUGULA PESTO

Ingredients for 4/5 people:

1 bunch of arugula (around 2 cups)
2 cups of small sweet tomatoes (cherry or roma)
half cup pine kernels
half cup grated parmesan cheese
half tsp salt
few basil leaves (optional)
extra virgin olive oil to blend and make it creamy

500 g home made pasta or linguini

Combine the arugula, basil, and pine nuts in a food processor and
pulse until coarsely chopped.
Add 1 cup of tomatoes and pulse.
Add parmesan and salt.
Add 1/2 cup ( or more) of oil and process until fully incorporated
and smooth.

Add 2 TBS of olive oil in a frying pan and roast the rest of tomatoes, cut in halves,
for few minutes , then add the pesto in the pan.

Cook the pasta in boiling water following package instructions,
drain it and mix it with the pesto.

Serve warm or cold.

LEMON CAKES

I love lemons!
They are yellow and happy like the sun, and they smell nice and
refreshing!
I thought the big lemons with thick peel belonged to the
Costiera Amalfitana, the capital of Limoncello (a famous liquor
made with lemon peel).
That is not so!
I have discovered beautiful lemons also here in the Verona area.
Citrus fruits were brought from the Liguria Riviera to Lake Garda
during the 13th century by the monks of the San Francesco Monastery
of Gargnano.
In the 16th century Bongianni Grattarolo wrote,
"For nearly ten miles along the lake, from Salò to Gargnano, there
are many gardens whose amenities do not pale in comparison with what
the poets wrote of Atlantis, Alcino, and the Hesperides, full in every
season of the year of all those fruits with the golden peel."
So here I am with lots of perfect lemons to prepare my favorite lemon
cake, and maybe another time some sweet Limoncello.

LEMON CAKES

Ingredients:

2 free range eggs
half cup plain yogurt
half cup extra virgin olive oil
grated peel of one big lemon with thick peel
juice of one lemon
half cup brown sugar
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Grease and flour 6 mini loaf pans or a regular one.
In a bowl mix the eggs with the sugar until creamy.
Add all the wet ingredients and the grated lemon peel.
Add the flour and the baking powder to the mixture.
Divide the batter evenly into the pans, smooth the tops,
sprinkle with granulated sugar,and bake for 30 minutes,
until a cake tester comes out clean.



I serve the small cakes for tea or I give them as a
school snack to my son.

WILD ASPARAGUS

On Sunday it was a beautiful day for a walk in the wild.
Me and my family got our sneakers on and went for a nice walk
along the path that, from our new house, takes to a small forest.
This spring day was ideal to look for some wild asparagus, a fun
activity that reminds me of when I was young.
We found some thin asparagus, but still enough to make a nice omelette.

Wild asparagus are very good for you, they are a nutrient-packed source
of vitamins, minerals and essential proteins.
Asparagus are rich in vitamin A, B1 (thiamine), B2 (riboflavin), B3 (niacin),
B5 (pantothenic acid), B-6, folate, C, E (alpha-tocopherol), and K (phylloquinone).
The mineral treasures that are stored in asparagus include iron, calcium,
phosphorous, magnesium, manganese, zinc, selenium, and potassium.

Lets cook them!

ASPARAGUS OMELETTE

Ingredients:
A bunch of fresh wild asparagus
half onion
6 eggs
1 cup mozzarella (optional)
extra virgin olive oil
salt
pepper

Take off the hard part of each asparagus and cut them in small sticks.

Put them in a frying pan, cover with water and let it boil
until it evaporates.
Meanwhile beat eggs in a bowl with salt and pepper.
Cube mozzarella.
Add asparagus and mozzarella to the egg mixture and
mix well.
Cover the bottom of the frying pan with olive oil and
add the thinly sliced onion.
Once the onion is translucent, add egg mixture.
Cover with a lid and let it cook for 5 minutes at low heat.
Holding the lid tight on the pan with one hand turn the pan upside down
in order to turn around the omelette
(do this operation on the sink so if some egg mixture spills
it is not a problem).
Let the omelette cook for few minutes more, until it becomes golden brown.

Serve it with a mixed herbs salad and a crunchy baguette.

FINALLY BACK HOME!

I love my new kitchen in my new apartment in Verona!
Every time I move, once the kitchen is functioning, I fill at home again.

I am excited to start cooking with nice genuine Italian ingredients.

I was at a vegetable market the other day and I saw something that I
hadn't seen for a very long time: the "agretti", a green vegetable that
I used to prepare as salad when I lived in Italy, before becoming
a gipsy around the world.
I don't know how to translate "agretti" in English so I show you them in a picture.

The "agretti" are rich in water and fibre, therefore they are good diuretic,
depurative and laxative.
They contain vitamin A, C, B group and they are rich of minerals
like potassium, calcium, magnesium and iron.
They can be prepared as salad, as I usually prefer them,
or they can be added in a "frittata' together with a tasty cheese.

To prepare them as salad I rinse them well, cut the roots and boil them
in salted water for few minutes.
I drain them and season them with a lemon vinagraitte, made with
extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice and salt.
That is all what you need to do!

This vegetable is found at Spring time, when is the right time
to start detox and remineralize the body after a long winter.
Go look for it!

A surprise with eggplants

Three weeks ago I moved to Verona with my family and we are still
in a temporary apartment. Although I don't have my kitchen with
all my gadgets I decided to prepare a surprise dinner for my boys.
One of their favorite Italian dish: Melanzane alla parmiggiana.
And this time with genuine, local ingredients.

Eggplants parmigiana

Ingredients:
2 eggplants
1 scamorza (mozzarella cheese)
1 cup grated parmesan
600 g tomato sauce
1 clove garlic
2/3 TBS extra virgin olive oil
Pinch of origan
Salt

Rinse the eggplants, dry them and cut them vertically in thin slices.
Grill them on both sides on a cast iron pan.
Put grilled eggplants on a plate and add salt.
Meanwhile prepare a simple tomato sauce, adding
in a pot oil, garlic, tomato puree,origan and salt.
Let it cook for 20 minutes and remove from stove.
Spread some of the tomato sauce at the bottom of
A baking tray.
Make a layer of eggplants and cover them with tomato sauce than sprinkle with parmesan and mozzarella cheese.
Repeat process till all the eggplants are used.
Top it with a layer of tomato sauce and sprinkle with cheeses.
Cover the tray with aluminium foil and bake in the oven at 350 F or
180 C for half hour.
Remove aluminium foil and bake for ten minutes more.
Let it rests for 15 minutes before serving the melanzane.

A sweet detox dessert

Everybody knows how good are apples. They taste so good and they are very healthy being full of antioxidants, flavonoids and dietary fibre.
When my tummy feels a bit congested or I crave a comfort snack I prepare this traditional recipe.

Le mele cotte


Ingredients:
2 big apples Golden
1 organic lemon
1 tsp raw honey
1TBS cranberries or raisins
A pinch of cinnamon


Peel the apples and dice them.
Put them in a small pot together with the lemon juice, cranberries,
honey and a pinch of cinnamon (optional).
Let them cook, at low heat, for 15 minutes or until soft.
Serve them warm or cold.

A new life.......again!

After only one year and four months in Denmark I am moving again!
This time I go back to Italy after eighteen years abroad!
I will be living in the beautiful town of Verona and that is exciting!
Being back in Italy means being able to find familiar ingredients and
enjoying going out to eat the delicious food this country produces!
I will surely add more pasta dishes in my diet and maybe gain some extra weight.
I take the risk!
I want to share with you a pasta dish I haven't made for ages because it was always difficult to find the right ingredients:

Orecchiette alla ricotta

Ingredients for 4 people

350 g orecchiette pasta
250 g fresh ricotta cheese
200 g cubed pancetta
1 TBS extra virgin olive oil
1 TBS grated parmesan cheese

Bring water to boil in a pasta pot.
Meanwhile, add in a big frying pan oil and pancetta.
Let it cool for few minutes, then add ricotta and half glass of water.
Add salt and pepper and cook for 5 minutes.
Add a TBS of coarse salt into the boiling water and cook orecchiette al dente.
Drain pasta, reserving half glass of cooking water.
Add the pasta and the water into the ricotta sauce together with parmesan and mix well.
Serve pasta very warm.