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.