Mar 29

Orecchiette con Cime di Rapa


This is a typical recipe from Puglia and is among my favorite pasta recipes. A part from the boring part of cleaning the Cime di Rapa (Broccoli Rabe) it is very easy to prepare. The secrets are to boil the orecchiette in the same water where you boiled the Cime di Rapa, and to add some toasted bread crumbs.

These quantities will make enough for 3 people or 2 hungry ones!

Ingredients

  • one bunch of Cime di Rapa (also known as Broccoli Rabe or Rapini)
  • 200 gr of orecchiette
  • 1 or 2 cloves of garlic
  • chili pepper, dry or fresh
  • extra virgin olive oil
  • bread crumbs

1. Clean the Cime di Rapa. First of all clean the Cime di Rapa, keep only the smaller and more tender leaves and discard the harder parts of the stem. Wash the cleaned Cime di Rapa in abundant fresh water.

2. Boil the Cime di Rapa. Bring the water to boil in a pasta pot. When the water boils add salt and then the Cime di Rapa and cook for about  5 minutes or until the stems are tender ( I usually check them with a fork). When ready take the greens out of the water, but leave the water in the pot because it will be used to cook the orecchiette.

3. Toast the bread crumbs. While the greens are boiling, toast a few Tbsp of bread crumbs in a heavy non stick pan. Stir often and toast until golden brown.

4. Boil the Orecchiette. Bring the water of the Cime di Rapa back to boil and then add the orecchiette. Coock them al dente!

5. Stir fry the Cime di Rapa. While the orecchiette are boiling, heat some extra virgin olive oil in a wok or large pan. When the oil is hot add the cleaned garlic cloves halved or crushed, and some pieces of hot chili pepper. Fry a bit and then add the Cime di Rapa. Cook the cime di rapa for 5 or 6 minutes adding a few spoons of their cooking water. Remove and discard the garlic.

When the orecchiette are ready and al dente, drain them and add them into the wok with the Cime di Rapa. Let blend the flavour on a medium flame. At the end add the toasted bread crumbs. Serve right away. Sprinkle some more toasted bread crumbs on each serving and some extra virgin olive oil if needed.

Enjoy!

Mar 25

Shanghai Soup Dumplings in Flushing

One of the great advantages of  New York City is the possibility to tour the world in just a short subway ride.

You want to try Shanghai soup dumplings? You can find the best at Nan Xiang Xiao Long Bao, in Flushing. I have been here with friends who have been in Shanghai and confirmed that these dumplings are excellent!

The dumplings are hand made right when you order them!

Shanghai soup dumplings, or Xiao Long Bao, are made of a delicate and light partially raised dough. They are filled with pork, or crab-meat and pork, and plenty of delicious soup. Yes, the soup is inside the dumplings!

To eat the Xiao Long Bao, delicately pick one from the top using the metal thongs, lift very gently and put the dumpling in your spoon. Bite just the tip of the dumpling to let the hot steam out. Then enjoy it!

Q: How does the soup gets into the dumplings? (Scroll down for the answer)

Nanxiang Xiaolong Bao is located at 38-12 Prince St. in Flushing, New York. Not far from the 7 train stop Flushing-Main St.

A: Simple! Solid soup gelatin is mixed with the filling and melts into liquid soup while steaming.

Mar 24

Panini all’olio

Every now and then I like to bake bread. These panini all’olio are soft buns with a very thin crust made with extra virgin olive oil. Wrapped in a paper bag they will be good also the day after.  I like them with some prosciutto crudo or with butter and jam for my brakfast!

I followed the recipe from VivaLaFocaccia.com (this recipe), a fantastic blog of an italian living in California with the passion for home bread baking, thank you Vittorio! He has many excellent video recipes on his blog, my favorite is the Focaccia Genovese.

I translate here the recipe with only two slight changes: I did not add the egg and I used an electric mixer.

Ingredients (for 8 buns)

  • 250 g Water
  • 7 g Dry Yeast
  • 50 g Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  • 6 g Sugar
  • 500 g All Purpose Flour
  • 15 g Salt

1. Make the dough

In a bowl dissolve the yeast in the warm water (slightly warmed to 30C – 86F).

Add the olive oil and the sugar and mix well.

Add half of the flour (250g) and mix until all the flour is incorporated.

When the flour is incorporated, add the salt.  This way the salt will not be in direct contact with the yeast.

Add half of the remaining flour (125g) and mix until all the flour is incorporated.

Keep mixing and gradually add the rest of the flour (125g) until you incorporated all the flour. Keep mixing for about 10 or 15 minutes to obtain a very smooth dough.

2. First Rise

Cover the dough with some clear plastic wrap and a towel. Let rise for 1 hour.

3. Shape the buns

Divide the dough in pieces of about 100g.

Flatten each piece in a rectangular shape, and roll it on itself forming a long and thin cylinder. This step is necessary for a good rise of the bread.

Then roll the the cylinder on itself in the opposite direction to form a spiral like a snail.

You can make other shapes, like a braid or a knot. Watch Vittorio’s video for a detailed tutorial.

4. Second Rise

If you want brush the surface of the buns with water and sprinkle with some sesame seads.

Put the buns on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Cover the buns with clear plastic wrap. Put them in the oven turned off with the oven light on. Let them rise for 45 minutes.

5. Bake

Take the buns out of the oven. Preheat the oven to 430F. When the oven reached the set temperature, bake the buns for about 10 minutes or until golden. Right before baking spray the buns with water, and also spray some water on the bottom of the oven for moisture while baking.

I use a convection oven, with a regular oven you may try 440F and bake a bit longer for 12 or 15 min. Take them out when golden.

Instructions for freezing

After step 3 (shape the buns) you can freeze the buns. Take them out of the freezer 8 to 10 hours before baking, to let them thaw and rise. Then bake them as in step 5.

Mar 22

Gnocchi di Patate

Giovedi gnocchi! (Thursday gnocchi) This is what we say in Rome. So here is the recipe for making potatoes gnocchi. To make the gnocchi soft and light I do not use any eggs and I only add a minimal amount of flour. It is very important to use the right type of potatoes, they should not be waxy, they should be floury and with minimum water content. If the potatoes are not right the gnocchi may not hold together and melt in the water when you boil them!

If you are not sure about the potatoes I suggest to make a few gnocchi as a test with just one potato.

I found that white potatoes are a good choice. I read that old Russet potatoes should be good, but have not tried them yet. The addition of egg to the dough, serves the purpose of holding the preparation together better. Choosing the right potatoes the egg is not needed.

Gnocchi go very well with a meat based tomato sauce.

Ingredients (for up to 3 people)

  • 500 gr of potatoes
  • 1/2 cup of flour
  • salt

Boil the potatoes, whole and with the skin on so that they do not absorb too much moisture. I find that if I steam the potatoes in the microwave, I can cut them in pieces.

Peel the potatoes and put them through a potato ricer with small holes.

Spread the potatoes on the working surface and let them cool down. A wood working surface is the best.

Sift most of the flour on the potatoes, add a pinch  or two of salt, and quickly knead the dough. Add the rest of the flour until the dough has a nice consistency, add a bit more (or less) flour as needed. Do not work the dough too long and do not add to much flour.

Dust the working surface with flour. Take the dough, a piece at a time, and roll it out gently to form rolls about 2 cm  in diameter. It is very important to keep a light touch while you are rolling the dough.

To form the gnocchi, cut each roll into pieces 3 cm long. When done roll each one on a fork exercising a slight pressure with your thumb. This will give the gnocchi the typical shape with ridges on one side and a dip on the other side. This texture on the gnocchi will collect the dressing sauce.

To cook the gnocchi boil them in abundant salted boiling water. Add a few gnocchi at a time in the water, to avoid that they stick together. As soon as the gnocchi begin to float they are ready. Pick them up  with a strainer as they float, drain them well,  lay them in a wide dish, and add a bit of sauce. Keep doing this until all the gnocchi are cooked and dressed.

Here they are with involtini sauce (Gnocchi con Sugo di Involtini)

Mar 19

Baby Spinach and Pear Salad

I made this baby spinach salad inspired by one I had in a restaurant. It is simple but yet not too basic. Only four ingredients and some dressing! Baby-spinach, pear, toasted almonds, and parmigiano.

Ingredients

  • baby spinach
  • one Anjou pear
  • parmigiano reggiano or grana padano cheese
  • 4 Tbsp of sliced almonds
  • salt, fresh lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil

Toast the almond slices in a non stick heavy pan on medium heat, until light brown.

Clean and cut the pear in half. Take out the core and slice it in very thin slices, 1 or 2 mm.

For the dressing, in a glass, whisk together 1 Tbsp of lemon juice and 2 or 3 Tbsp of olive oil. Toss together the spinach, the sliced pair and the toasted almonds. Add salt to taste and the lemon-oil vinaigrette. Mix well.

Shave some parmigiano on the salad and enjoy!

Mar 11

Ravioli con Stracchino e Granella di Pistacchi

Ravioli with stracchino and pistachios.

I came up with the idea for this recipe a few days ago. I was making the classic ravioli di magro (ravioli with spinach and ricotta) when I run out of filling and still had a bit of extra dough left. So I decided to make a few extra ravioli with a different filling and thought to use stracchino and pistachios!

Ingredients for the filling: stracchino, and pistachio meat very finely chopped.

Ingredients for the dressing: butter, extra virgin olive oil, sage, parmigiano, and pistachio meat finely chopped.

I filled the ravioli with about one tsp of stracchino and a bit of finely chopped pistachio meat. I used a chef knife to chop the pistachio meat.

Then I boiled the ravioli in abundant salted water. Keep the heat low, the water should boil gently otherwise the ravioli will break.

To prepare the dressing, in a small pot, I melted some butter (1 tsp of butter for a portion of 8 ravioli) with 2 or 3 sage leaves. Then added some good extra virgin olive oil.

Finally I served the ravioli dressed with the melted butter/oil, and sprinkled with grated parmigiano and chopped pistachios.

I used this dressing also for the spinach-ricotta ravioli.

I really liked the final result and will make them again!

Mar 09

Salmone al Cartoccio

I received a special request from a friend to post a salmon recipe, here it is! A super easy and quick way to prepare salmon, I am not even sure it can be classified as a recipe! Because salmon has an intense flavor I decided to make it using very few ingredients. Also I chose to bake it in a cartoccio to avoid the salmon smell  in the house.

All you need is

  • salmon ( I used a fillet of 0.75 lb cut in two slices)
  • lemon slices
  • fresh thyme (or other herb of your preference)
  • salt

Preheat the oven to 400F. On a sheet of parchment paper (or aluminum foil) lay the salmon with some fresh thyme, a couple of thin lemon slices, and salt. Do not ad oil, since the salmon is already an oily fish. Wrap the paper around the fish, close tightly so that the cooking vapor and juices will remain inside the cartoccio. (For an example of wrapped cartoccio see branzino al cartoccio )

Put in the hot oven and cook for 15 to 20 minutes.

Be careful when opening the cartoccio as hot vapor will come out. Serve with cooked vegetables or salad.

Feb 28

Torta di Carote, Nocciole, e Mele

Carrot, hazelnut, and apple cake.  This is one of my favorite cakes for breakfast, with some caffellatte. If you don’t have hazelnut flour, blend the nuts together with some of the sugar. The sugar will absorb the oil released by the nuts and will help to blend them into a fine powder.

Ingredients

  • 3 eggs
  • 150 g sugar
  • 300 g all purpose flour
  • 50 g hazelnut flour
  • 300 g carrots
  • 1 Tbsp fresh ginger, grated
  • 1 Tbsp baking powder
  • a pinch of salt
  • 60 ml walnut oil
  • 2 Tbsp milk
  • 1 apple, cleaned and cut in small cubes
  • powder sugar for garnish

(1) Clean the carrots and grate them finely with an electric mixer.

(2) With an electric whisk, beat together eggs and sugar until almost white.

(3) In a bowl mix the flour, the hazelnut flour, baking powder, the grated carrots, the grated ginger, and a pinch of salt.

(4) With a wooden spoon, slowly add the flour mixture to the beaten eggs. Mix carefully adding the walnut oil, and the milk, obtaining a dense mixture. Finally add the apple cut in small cubes.

(5) Pour the mixture in a baking silicone mold (or in a cake pan previously spread with a thin layer of butter and sprinkled with flour).

(6) Put in the oven preheated to 360 F. Bake for 25 minutes, then lower the temperature to 345 F and cook for other 10 minutes or until ready (insert a wooden pick, when it comes out dry the cake is ready.

Hope you enjoy it!

Feb 22

Red Snapper Baked with Potatoes

Fish baked with potatoes is a classic. The potatoes baked with the fish are deliciously tasty, and the the grape tomatoes add a nice touch of sweetness. This is how I made this red snapper.

Ingredients

  • one red snapper (1.5 lb), cleaned
  • Italian parsley
  • few slices of lemon
  • 5 large Yukon Gold potatoes
  • some grape tomatoes
  • few sprigs of rosemary
  • 1/2 clove of garlic
  • extra virgin olive oil
  • salt, pepper

First we prepare the potatoes. Clean and peal the potatoes. Cut them in very thin slices, about 2 mm, using a mandoline. Immerse the sliced potatoes in a bowl of cold water, then drain them and pat dry.

Preheat the oven to 375F.

Chop finely the rosemary leaves together with the garlic. To dress the potatoes, put them in a bowl and add the copped rosemary/garlic, some salt and pepper, and some olive oil. Mix very well.

Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper. Put the lemon slices in the center and lay the red snapper on them. Insert some parsley in the fish and dress with salt and a bit of olive oil. Lay the potatoes slices all around the fish and add on top the grape tomatoes cut in halves.

Insert in the hot oven and bake for 30 min, or until the fish is ready. If the potatoes are not ready yet take out only the fish and bake the potatoes until ready. I baked them for other 10 min.

Clean the fish and and serve it with the baked potatoes.

Feb 15

Castagnole for Carnevale

Tomorrow is Giovedi Grasso (Fat Thursday)!

This time of the year, in Italy, we celebrate Carnevale. Although Carnevale begins about two weeks before Lent, the heart of  it are the last six days from Giovedi Grasso to Martedi Grasso (Fat Tuesday or Mardi Gras).

What a better excuse to make these Castagnole, one of the traditional Italian sweets prepared during Carnevale.

Ingredients

  • 3 eggs
  • 9 Tbsp of sugar
  • 1 lemon zest, grated
  • 150 gr  of heavy cream
  • 1/4 tsp of vanilla extract
  • 3 Tbsp of rum
  • 300 gr of flour
  • 3/4 Tbsp baking powder (mixed with the flour)
  • peanut oil, for frying

Beat the eggs with the sugar using an electric whisk, then add all the other ingredients mixing with a wooden spoon to obtain a smooth and soft mixture.

Heat the peanut oil to 180-200 C, the oil has to be enough that the castagnole can float and turn while frying. With a spoon  take a small quantity of the mixture and with the help of second spoon put it in the oil. Lower the flame, so that the castagnole can cook all the way through without becoming to dark. Turn the castagnole so they turn golden all around, uniformly.

As the castagnole are ready take them out of the oil, drain them well, and put them on a paper towel to absorb any remaining oil. Sprinkle the castagnole with powder sugar.

Buon Carnevale!