Spaghetti Ai frutti di Mare, seafood Spaghetti in a white wine sauce. In a Pan with some extra virgin Olive Oil, add 3 cloves of minced garlic, 2 minced scallions, until translucent, add the Shrimps, Scallops and Vongole Clams, mist with some white wine, cook for 2 minutes, incorporate the pasta, a nut of butter, and some of the water from the cooking pasta if needed, mix all together couple of times, add the chopped parsley and serve.
Gnocchetti Sardi con Funghi, Sardinian Gnocchi with a creamy Time, Fresh tomato cherry, Mushroom sauce. In a hot pan add half Extra Virgin olive oil and half butter, add 2 minced shallots and 2 cloves of minced garlic, until translucent, add wild mushrooms, a tiny bit of white wine and time, cook mushrooms until nice and brown, add the diced cherry tomatoes and the heavy cream, add the almost fully cooked pasta, always keep some of the cooking water in case you need to add. Add the Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, and serve.
Bigoli in Salsa,
Typical Venetian dish, made with Sardines, Confit onions and pine nuts. Get butterfly open and clean Sardines, slightly flower and deep fried the in Extra Virgin Olive oil, Diced some onions and cook them slowly until they are caramelized. just layer the Sardines after cooked on a container and alternate layers of Sardines, confit onions, Pine nuts and few Sultan Raisins previously re-hydrated in a mix of water and white vinegar, let rest in the fridge for a day or two, then remove the Raisins and blend to make the sauce. Bigoli is a type of spaghetti, thicker and egg made, typical from Bassano del Grappa.
Risotto al Radicchio,
(Risotto with Radicchio) Another regional specialty, there are several types of Radicchio, depending on the season, note that Radicchio is slightly bitter. Diced Onions, diced Radicchio, diced smoked Pancetta, Chorizo, Lardo di Colonnata or Italian Sausage, 2 Garlic cloves, Extra Virgin Olive oil, Salt & Pepper, Butter, Time, Parmiggiano Reggiano, Carnaroli or Arborio Rice and Chicken broth, to be added slowly to the rice while cooking it. Don’t forget to toast the rice before adding the broth for a couple of minutes. Towards the end when the rice is almost done add the nut of butter and the Parmiggiano Reggiano, mix vigorously, and let rest, 2-3 min before serving.
Risotto Con Asparagi e Capesante, (Risotto with Asparagus and Scallops) another regional dish, towards the end of march the season begins, nevertheless today they are widely available almost all year long, imported from different countries. Thinly diced one onions, thinly dice the tips of the Asparagus, for about one inch and half or 4 cm. Use the remaining to make a broth, use a casserole, add 1.5 lt water, and add salt to it. On a flat pan add Extra Virgin Olive Oil, the diced onions and asparagus tips, some Salt & Pepper, fry at medium heat until onions are translucent, then add 2 cups of Carnaroli or Arborio rice, toast the rice for 2-3 minutes, that will prevent the rice from releasing too much starch. start adding the broth, a little bit at the time and keep steering constantly, once liquid evaporated repeat, until almost cooked, add the Scallops, then add a nut of butter, and 2 cups of grated Parmiggiano Reggiano, mix vigorously, and let rest for 2-3 minutes and serve.
Fettuccine Al Ragu di Cinghiale, (Fettuccine with Wild Boar) This time, i’m drifting away from the Veneto, and immersing myself into the Abruzzo’s a mainly mountainous region, home of the wild boar, this typical dish, easy to make, we start with the Typical Sofritto, used in many Italian dishes, (Onions, Carrots, Celery) Garlic, Salt & Pepper, Red Wine, Laurel leafs, Time or Rosemary. Brown the Sofritto in some Extra Virgin Olive oil, add the Ground Wild Boar, the various spices, you might also add Juniper Berries, brawn the meat, and then add the wine, let it dry, before adding Strained tomato coulis, Lower the intensity and let simmer until the sauce thickens up. Taste and adjust if needed. Fettuccine is larger than linguine therefore it might take more time to cook. Before adding the Sauce, incorporate a nut of butter to the dry cooked pasta, and then add the sauce until desired consistency.
Fusilli Al Ragu di Manzo, ( Fusilli with hand cut beef tenderloin ) I would say this is the Est met west, since i will use some spices not usually known or used in the Italian traditional cuisine. We start with a Sofritto made with scallions, red pepper, green onions, Garlic, knife cut beef tenderloin into tiny cubes, season with Salt, Black and Red Pepper, Smoked Paprika, Cumin, and Extra Virgin Olive Oil, mix all ingredients together and cook in a large pan, fry until meat is brown, add 1 cp of white wine, let wine evaporate, reduce fire and add strained tomato, about 1cp. let simmer covered for at least another 20min.
Gnocchetti Sardi con Astice e Gamberi, ( Sardinian gnocchi with seafood ) The island of Sardinia, often ignored by tourist considered by italians as a hidden treasure. Incredible people, amazing food, unbelievable breathtaking beaches, and outstanding landscape.
For the recipe you will need two scallion onion, garlic, parseli, white wine, Argentinian shrimps, Lobster meat and Scallops, consider 1 pound of each. We start by chopping the scallions and the 3 cloves of garlic very thin, then add them in a pan with Extra virgin olive oil, add Peperoncino, pepper, paprika, fry until scallion are caramelized, add 1 cp of white wine, let wine evaporate, add seafood, cook at high heat for 5 min, add the not entirely cooked pasta ( Al dente ) to the sauce, and sprinkle with freshly cut parsley
Tortellini Ricotta e Spinaci con Pomodorini secchi e Panna,
( Tortellini filled with Ricotta cheese, and spinach and sun dried cherry tomato on a Cream sauce ) Tortellini and other filled pasta are typically from the region of Emilia-Romana, but not only Bologna is considered the culinary Capital of Italy.
To make the dough for the Tortellini, just half pound of flowers, two eggs, half a teaspoon of salt, and one teaspoon of Extra virgin olive oil, mix wet ingredients before adding them to the flower, work the dough until nice and homogeneous. To make the Tortellini, cut squares of about 3×3 inches, fold opposite corners to form a triangle, then fold the two other opposite sides by pressing on them to attache them together. Don’t forget to wet the edges with some water, that will act as a glue two stick the two pieces together, also dont over fill them or they will break easily. For the Filler, 1 pound of Ricotta, 1 cup of Parmiggiano Reggiano or Padano, salt, pepper, and add the sun dried tomatoes after passing them in the food processor to obtain small pieces. To make the sauce, use a casserole at medium low heat and add one cup of 35% cooking cream, 4 tablespoons of melted butter, chucks of sun dried tomatoes, two teaspoons of tomato paste, and half a cup of Parmiggiano reggiano, whisk until even homogeneous consistency. Put some water to boil, salted generously, and add the tortellini to it, for a couple of minutes, fresh pasta cooks really fast, drain them and add them to the sauce, let them rest to finish the cooking and also to absorb some of the flavours.
Tempeh Stir-Fry, my most recent VEGAN creation, i discover this great natural fermented grain food called Tempeh, a recipe from ancient Indonesia. Tempeh can be marinated, as it picks up any flavour, in this case Soya, Sesame oil, Fish Sauce, some Rice Vinegar, fry in into a pan with coconut oil, or grape seed oil, add sliced zucchini, Pleurote mushrooms, oignons, garlic, Bell peppers and Jalapeno Peppers. You can also add Coriander to enhance the flavour.