RADICCHIO SALAD

As you know I moved back to Italy last year and I live in Verona now.
Radicchio is a kind of red, bitter lettuce very popular in this area,
so I have started using it in my diet.

Radicchio is full of minerals, vitamins, aminoacids, has depurative
and digestive properties.
I want to share with you an interesting salad found on my favorite
cooking magazine "Sale e Pepe"; it is easy to make and very tasty.

RADICCHIO SALAD


Ingredients:
2 pieces of radicchio trevisano
1 red onion
5 pieces of dry apricots or figues
50 gr of hazelnuts
1 orange
1 TBS apple cider vinegar
1 tsp honey
extra virgin olive oil
salt

Cut into stripes the apricots and soak them in the orange juice for 1 hour.

Slice the radicchio and rinse it.

Cook the sliced onion in 2 TBS of oil for 5 minutes or until soft.
Add a pinch of salt.

Prepare a vinegraitte mixing together 4 TBS of oil with 2 TBS of vinegar,
1 tsp of honey and a pinch of salt.

Drain the apricots/figues.

Toast the hazelnuts in a pan for few minutes.

In a large dish mix together all the ingredients and toss in the vinegraitte
and 1 TBS of orange juice.

Serve with toasted bread.

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!