Variazione Sul Tema (Linguine Nests with Fish Fillet- Nidi di Linguine al Pesce)

There is no sea like the Adriatic. Its waves gently "caress" the coast of Bari, the place where I was born. The sound of those waves gently crashing against the rocks, the smell of the seaweed, the song of the seagulls and the taste of salt on your arms, on Summer's day, are always there, hiding, deep inside me, a constant reminder  of who I am and where I came from. I love the sea!

Today, I made this dish which reminds of the colours, tastes and aromas of my land and of "my" sea. Maybe not one my mother would have made (she was a classic cook) but... I remember her making frittata using eggs, cheese and spaghetti! So, maybe the dish I am about to show you is a variation on a traditional theme and one of the main ingredients is fish!

Food, just the same as language changes, evolves, expresses itself in new and different ways. Today I made some Nidi di Pasta al Pesce "Pasta nests with fish." Would I call this an innovation, a modern recipe? Maybe! The ingredients are traditional, but the end product, I think, is quite innovative.

This dish could be served as a starter to a meal, served in small portions, like I did, or as a main course. Believe me, when I say it's truly delicious. On this occasion, I enjoyed marrying up some of  my favourite flavours! 

Here it is:

Nidi di Linguine al Pesce

Linguine Nests With Fish

Serves 4

For the "nests":

4X100g fish fillets

(about 1lb altogether-

(could use sea bass or cod)

a few tbsp olive oil

1 garlic clove

salt, black pepper

200g ( 7 oz) linguine pasta

For the sauce:

3 tbsp olive oil

1 garlic clove

1 tbsp capers in vinegar

handful black olives (pitted)
8 sundried tomatoes

handufl fresh parsley

some basil

1 tbsp passata or

pureed tomato

few slices chilli pepper (optional, but not for me! I love it!)

Before you start, bring some water to the boil, in a saucepan. When really boiling, add your linguine with some salt. Cook until "al dente", rinse in cold water, drain and reserve.

Prepare all your other ingredients. This dish is very quick to prepare.

Next, take a piece of fish and wrap it in a quarter of your linguine, to make a nest shape, with the fish in the middle of it. The linguine will be very slippery, but don't worry, as, during the next stage you will be able to bring it all together. Make and keep your nests, one at a time, on a flat plate.

Take a non stick frying pan, put a few of tablespoons of olive oil in it, and, when hot, slowly and carefully slide your first nest into it. Try to turn the nest over a few times, until your linguine turns a lovely golden colour. Don't worry if the "nest" looks messy. I used a fish slice, to turn the mine over. Add a clove of garlic, finely chopped, salt and pepper.

Remove your nests from the pan when nice and golden and keep in a warm place (warm oven?) as you are now ready to finish the dish.

Using the same frying pan, make the sauce. Add the rest of the oil, heat up, then add a clove of garlic, chopped (cook until golden) followed by: capers, sundried tomatoes (chopped really small) parsley, basil and chilli pepper, if you are using it. I then added a tiny amount of passata (less than a tbsp!) to make a sauce which wasn't too dry. I also added a couple of tbsp of the water I drained off my linguine. 

Let the sauce reduce slightly, cook for about five minutes, then divide amongst the four portions. This should be a kind of dry sauce, but, if you find it too dry, you can, like I did, add a few tablespoons of the water in which your pasta was cooked.

When you taste the fish in the middle of the nest you will be surprised: it cooks, but keeps all its moisture and flavour. I combined some of my favourite "things," but had to chop the sundried tomatoes very finely, as I don't like the texture of tomato skin.

The dish is very Mediterranean, indeed. The flavours robust and very familiar to me... it's a good dish, easy to make and well worth trying!

                                                            DE-LI-ZIO-SO!

Happiness is... Gnocchi alla Sorrentina (Potato Gnocchi with Buffalo Mozzarella)

I just finished watching a show on Italian TV, all about Cilento. This is the wonderful area where we have a house, perched on the top of a mountain, overlooking the Gulf of Salerno and the Island of Capri and not too far from the Amalfi Coast.

We so love our place. We so love the blue of the deep sea, the sunsets, the lights at night and the world waking up at five in the morning. Being there is a kind of spiritual experience, as, from our terrace you really feel like you're on top of the world. With every sunset you get a taste of eternity, feel in touch with something deeply magical which permeates the atmosphere.

We spend hours watching clouds, the sun changing colour. It's like an immense palette. We make up stories... we see "things": battles, horses, camels chasing each other... Are they really clouds? Are we watching nature, or is nature watching us, while we try to make sense of so much beauty?

 

Through the atmoshere, the smell of wild fennel, fig leaves, seaweed and basil, growing by our door and voices...

Food in Cilento is not for the faint hearted: strong flavours (lots of garlic and basil) chunky, sometimes really heavy homemade fusilli, game (rabbit, wild boar) cooked with garlic, tomatoes, capers and olives, and cheese... lots of cheese. Do not expect Camembert or Brie, as you won't get any in the shops: "No need for foreign stuff" they say and I agree. Not as many vegetables as we eat in Puglia, or fish, but a diet made for people who were born and live in little towns perched on mountain sides... good, substantial food, somehow different from the food of my native Puglia. Not as green, but delicious, in a different way!

I have come to love and respect the flavours of Cilento. They go with the landscape and with the people... Strong and stubborn, they  always think they know better and they know everything!
  

 Cilento is a very beautiful part of the Campania region.  I learnt how to cook my husband's favourite  cilentani dishes ( I make a truly mean Fagioli e Scarole and I even learnt how to cook rabbit and have become a massive fan of scialatielli, a local pasta good with my mixed seafood sauce!)

Yesterday, I made a dish which contained all the flavours and aromas of Summer and Cilento: Gnocchi alla Sorrentina. I used mozzarella di bufala (buffalo mozzarella) as it is produced in Cilento and virtually the only type of mozzarella sold there. It's more acidy than the other kind, made from cow's milk and at its best eaten raw, in salad (Insalata Caprese) or just as it comes!

If you ever visit the area, you must go to "Tenuta Vannulo" in Capaccio (not too far from Paestum and Pompeii) I love it there.

Tenuta Vannulo- buffalo farm
click on link to visit Tenuta Vannulo

 The buffalos are so happy and friendly they come to say hello, if you talk to them!

Here is my delicious recipe. I even made my own gnocchi!

Gnocchi di Patate alla Sorrentina

( Sorrento Style Potato Gnocchi with

buffalo mozzarella)

Ingredients:

( 4 servings or

3 very generous ones!)

For the gnocchi:

400 g  (14 oz) potatoes

250 g  (9 oz) plain-all purpose flour

1 small egg

some salt

For the sauce:

1X 500g (about 1 pint) carton passata

2 garlic cloves

4 tbasp olive oil

generous handful fresh basil

salt, black pepper

You will also need:

Pecorino or Parmigiano

200g ( 7 oz) rucola (rocket)

This is how I made my beautiful gnocchi ( Fact: "Did you know that a good looking man in Italy is called a "gnocco?" and a beautiful woman is a "gnocca?" )

I placed my unpeeled potatoes  in a pan of water and cooked until soft. Next, I peeled  and mashed my potatoes and, when still warm, I placed them onto a floured surface, made a well in the middle and gradually added my egg and flour, till I got a soft dough. I covered and left to rest for ten minutes. ( If your dough is too "wet" when you make gnocchi you can add more flour.)

 

 Next, I took a piece of the dough (the size of a tennis ball) and, using both  hands, I rolled it, till I get a long thin dough "snake." Using a knife, I cut this into small rectangular, rounded shapes (this is your basic plain gnocchi.)

 

I decided my gnocchi would be a bit like a kind of cavatelli, so I took each one and, using a small nutmeg grater (You can also use the back of a fork) and two fingers, I pressed each gnocco down, to obtain the shape I wanted (see photos.) You don't have to do this, though! But they look lovely!

Having made my gnocchi, I left it on the board and made a simple tomato sauce, by heating the oil until really piping hot and then adding the garlic and when this was golden. I added my passata (make your own sauces. Don't buy the stuff in jars... it's sickly, not Italian and really bad for you!)  and cooked my sauce for about twenty minutes. A handful of fresh basil made my sauce smell really Mediterranean.

By this time the water I had previously placed in a pan was boiling, ( You didn't know I had done this, did you? I did it while you weren't watching!) so I added my gnocchi and waited for each one of them to float to the surface (that means they are done!) I drained them and got ready to serve.

As I come from Puglia, I always want something green with my food, so, I made a base of uncooked rucola (rocket) and other leaves on each plate,  then placed my gnocchi over it (I made portions, for a change!)  with some tomato and basil sauce, grated cheese and some mozzarella di bufala, cut into small cubes! The pungency and crunchiness of the uncooked rocket made this dish a delight! This is not in the original recipe, but I think it adds extra depth to it.

Gnocchi is so easy and quick to make! A sprinkling of Pecorino or Parmesan is a must, at this point! Keep on reading... there's MORE!

If you prefer a different version, you can substitute the tomato sauce with a very simple sauce made with blue cheese ( it could be Gorgonzola or Gorgogonzola -Mascarpone) melted in three or four tablespoons of milk ( you do this over the heat, in a small pan)

 This you can pour over your drained gnocchi, mix , then add Pecorino or Parmesan and black pepper (I have just discovered the beauty and flavour of pink peppercorns!) Again, I had rucola with this and a small handful of diced aubergine fried in oil and garlic (but you don't have to!)

Gnocchi al formaggio

For the sauce:

250g ( 9 oz) Italian Blue Cheese

(I used Castello, but you can use a different one!)

3-4 tabsp milk

Black Pepper

Rucola- rocket as much as you like

Some diced and fried in hot oil and garlic aubergine

(Extremely optional-don't make hard work for yourselves!)

When I made my cheese gnocchi I also added rocket, as its pungency goes well with blue cheese. I can't believe how easy and delicious home made gnocchi is!

PS: Please note my beautiful pink peppercorns!

"YOU MAKE ME SMILE WITH MY HEART...."

LOVE-LENNON

click on link above

It's Valentine's Day, today, and I want to post here, on my blog, a poem by Pablo Neruda, my favourite poet, in Italian, as I think that Neruda only "works" in Spanish and Italian.

It's Sonnet XVII (17) from Cien Sonnetos de Amor (One Hundred Love Sonnets) which he wrote for his Muse, his wife Matilde (English version can be found on the internet) 

 Here it is:



HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY

XVII

Non t'amo come fossi rosa di sale, topazio

o freccia di garofani che propagano il fuoco:

t'amo come si amano certe cose oscure,

segretamente, entro l'ombra e l'anima.

T'amo come la pianta che non fiorisce e reca

dentro di se`, nascosta, la luce di quei fiori;

grazie al tuo amore vive oscuro nel mio corpo

il concentrato amore che viene dalla terra.

T'amo senza sapere come, ne` quando, ne` da dove,

t'amo direttamente senza problemi, ne` orgoglio:

cosi` ti amo, perche` non so amare altrimenti

che cosi`, in questo modo in cui non sono e non sei,

cosi` vicino che la tua mano sul mio petto e` mia,

cosi` vicino che si chiudono i tuoi occhi col mio sonno

PABLO NERUDA

Ragu` alla Genovese (From Genova With Love:Beef, Onions and Wine Pasta Sauce)

She sat at the dressing table... her legs too short, to even reach the floor. A little girl, she would often visit her aunt: Annina (her mum's sister) must have been very beautiful, once. An old lady (at least that is what the little girl thought she was!) she had a beautiful face: nice lips, pearly white smile and a small, almost square, but delicate chin. She truly a beauty.

 

I will never forget the tiny little window in my aunt's little kitchen, on the top floor of a palazzo which belonged to the family. Nonna lived downstairs. On the windowsill, a jug with a painted landscape (little did I know that one day I would have a house by the sea from which I could see exactly the same "panorama!")

 

On the dressing table, a snow globe: if I turned it upside down, I could make it "snow" all over Rome! How my aunt would have laughed if she could have seen Anna play non stop with the snow globe and "swimming" with her imagination inside the globe, just like a fish in a bowl: the little girl could swim all over Rome!

 

I bought an old snow globe, a few days ago. I just had to, and,  if I told you how much time I spend playing with it, to watch the snow fall, you wouldn't believe it! How wonderful, being able to "trap" people, places and time inside a plastic globe! How weird and wonderful it feels still being able to be a child...

 

 

 

 

Today, I am "trapped" inside. It's snowing! It snowed all night and the world looks beautiful and very clean. I fed my birds, in the garden, and looked at the footprints by my kitchen door: the big black cat must have walked all round the house, down the long path, climbed up the old wooden gate and then gone home to curl up by the fire...

 

As I write, I look at the old mill, out of the window, and a forest, in the distance. From downstairs, a delicious aroma makes its way and... hmmm... I can smell it right now... just the dish for a cold Winter's day, all the way from Northern Italy, and a family favourite: Ragu` alla Genovese. It smells like home and brings back memories... so many warm, cosy memories... open the gate!

 

 

 

 

Ragu` alla Genovese

(Beef Ragu` Genova Style)

 

Ingredients:

Serves 4

 

Olive oil (enough to cover the bottom of the pan, but be very generous with the amount)

4 large onions

(about 500 g- just over 1lb)

500g ( just over 1lb) stewing steak (casserole beef)

2 glasses white wine

1tbsp passata

a chunk of Parmesan Cheese

salt

 

500g ( just over 1lb) pasta of your choice

( penne or rigatoni is ideal for this)

Plenty grated Parmesan or Pecorino Cheese

 

 

 

This is a dish which originated from Genova, in Liguria, which has become a family classic. It's not a tomato based meat sauce, but a lovely golden brown, extremely delicious sauce you serve on pasta. The meat is reserved for a second course, usually eaten with a contorno (side) salad, or potatoes (square potato pieces baked with olive oil, garlic and rosemary) or just some delicious bread! In Italy, salad is always served after pasta, as a side dish. Never, ever before!

 

Before you start, peel your onions and chop very finely (in a food processor, if you have one, or using a knife)

 

 

 

 

Next, heat the oil in a saucepan (the amount is up to you, but remember that the meat will cook in oil and wine, so, be generous, as you are cooking a lot of onion plus meat,) Now you can add your onions and your chunk of cheese.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Cook until the onions begin to turn golden. Add your meat (in biggish pieces) and stir until it has browned. You can now turn the heat right up and add your wine, stir till it blends in with the onions and the meat, and then you small amount of passata.

 

 

 

 

 

All you have to do now is add salt, stir, turn the heat down and wait till the meat is cooked and the sauce has turned a gorgeous creamy golden brown colour. If you think your onions might be sticking to the bottom of the pan, add a small amount of water. The might might take over three hours to cook, on a low heat.

 

We serve the sauce on pasta, first, with a generous sprinkling of cheese, and the meat next, on a separate plate, with salad, or potatoes, or any other vegetable we fancy!

 

 

Delicious! You won't know HOW DELICIOUS until you try!

 

 

I Miei Ravioli Di Sogno (My wonderful ravioli filled with prawns and fresh basil)

Today I felt really creative! I wanted to invent, create a new pasta dish that no one had made before! Could I do that? I am not a natural pasta maker, as my pasta usually comes out of a packet and, when my mum used to make orecchiette or cavatelli, I would sit next to her and use pasta dough to make snails and crocodiles out of it! I never wanted to learn!

But the dough smelt fresh and good and I would eat it, when I thought my mum couldn't see me! She had eyes everywhere, and regularly, I got told off, but with a smile...

My recipe, you won't find in any book, as it's "MINE!" and I'm very proud of it, as the flavours are well balanced and so are the textures. The flavour of my dish is ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS and I'm very proud of it!

I Miei Ravioli Di Sogno

( My Gorgeous Prawn and Basil Filled Ravioli

with a Basil and Chilli Oil)

Ingredients:

Serves 4

250 g plain (all purpose flour)

2 eggs

pinch of salt

warm water

16 peeled prawns (shrimps)

2 tbsp olive oil

handful fresh basil

handful fresh rocket

1 cloves garlic

few slices red chilli (optional)

salt

pepper

Pecorino cheese

For the Chilli Oil Sauce:

4 tbsp olive oil

1 clove garlic

some red chilli

2 handfuls mixed

rocket and basil

Generous grating of Pecorino Romano Cheese

salt

pepper

I began my "adventure" by making my pasta dough. I made mine by hand, because I am very lazy when it comes to using machines. I made a well in my flour and added my eggs, some salt and enough water to make a firm, but soft dough.

And I almost forgot the eggs! If you have a mixer, you can just throw the ingredients in and switch on to mix till you have a soft dough.

I covered my your dough and left  it to rest for 30 minutes.

In the meantime...

I took 16 prawns, a few extras, to use as garnish. I put a couple of glugs of olive oil in a frying pan. When hot, I added  1 clove of finely chopped garlic and some chilli pepper (this is optional, but I LOVE IT!)

When the garlic turned a lovely golden colour, I added my prawns (shrimps) and cooked until they turned a sort of pinky orangey colour. At this point, I added two handfuls of rocket and fresh basil. I quickly stirred and turned off.



I was now ready to make my ravioli. I rolled  out my pasta dough, making sure my pasta sheet wasas thin as paper ( it really wasn't, but don't tell anyone!)

I didn't use my Nonna Papera (pasta machine) so my dough was slightly thicker than I wanted it to be!

Anyway! I cut 16 pasta circles using a big glass (About 2 1/2'' diameter- 6 cm)

and placed one prawn and some basil, plus a small piece of chilli pepper in the middle of it. I then wet the edge of my pasta circle with water, placed another round over the top and sealed, all the way round, by pressing with a fork. They looked very pretty!

I only made eight ravioli and froze the rest of my dough, but my recipe will make 16!

As you normally do, I cooked my ravioli in boiling salted water, then drained and poured my pasta in the pan where the prawns had been cooked.

I added another very generous handful of rocket and basil, plenty of grated Pecorino cheese, pepper and more chilli pepper, as I love it so (did you know you can buy chilli pepper flavoured chocolate?) and a small cup of the water in which my pasta was cooked.

I stirred very proudly as the aroma told me I was onto a winner, then grated a lot of Pecorino over my dish (I find that it goes well with some fish dishes, as it's pungent, strange enough!)

I served my lovely dish, tasted it and felt very proud of myself!

Dolce & Gabbana Eat your Heart Out! Peperoni Ripieni Aromatici- Mozzarella Filled Peppers

 

Christmas seems just a distant memory. As I look out of the window,  a ray of sunshine over the frozen lawn and pond and the loud sound of birds singing, fill me with hope. Spring must be round the corner... I need light, I need colour and I need warmth and hope.

I went out and bought some "happy" food: tiny, sweet little peppers, in warm colours, ranging from bright red to yellow, a jar of big capers in vinegar and two deliciously milky white mozzarelle. I needed to fill the house with the smell of happy times, the warmth of eternal love and colour!

 

Colourful food to cheer me up

So, I made dish that my mother used to make, using beautiful, big, thin fleshed yellow, peppers, sweet tenders peppers which smelt of Summer and love.

I used six quite small peppers for my dish, but the recipe can be adapted ( 3 large peppers cut into halves, instead, to make six portions... nothing needs to be measured... just feel and taste the food!)

The aroma of dish dish is incredible, and so is the taste. Dolce & Gabbana, eat your heart out!

Peperoni Ripeni Aromatici

Delicious  Mozzarella Stuffed Peppers

Ingredients:

6 small peppers

or 3 medium sized ones

1 white bread roll

1 egg

grated Pecorino Romano or

Parmigiano Cheese

small bunch of fresh Italian parsley

1 egg

1 mozzarella

2 cloves garlic

some capers in vinegar

six or seven cherry tomatoes

(can use tinned instead)

olive oil

salt

black pepper

Preheat oven ( 200 C, 400F, Gas 6 )

Before you start, wash or wipe your peppers and cut each of then in half, lengthways. Discard stalk and seeds.

Cover the bottom of an oven proof earthenware dish with some oil, add one finely chopped clove of garlic, some grated cheese, three or four chopped cherry tomatoes, some parsley, salt and pepper, and reserve until later.

In a small bowl, soak your bread roll in water or milk. Once softened, squeeze most of the liquid out and add: 1 finely chopped garlic clove, 1 egg, some grated cheese, salt, pepper and your mozzarella, cut into smallish pieces. Mix all the ingredients, add some chopped fresh parsley, and... here's your stuffing!

1) ingredients for stuffing 2) the stuffing is ready 3) olive oil at the base of my oven dish

My peppers were really quite small, so I used just one tbsp of stuffing to fill each of the halves. If you are using big peppers, you'll need more- the stuffing is so easy to make, so if you need more... make more of it! (And please... don't fill peppers with rice, it's so heavy, unrefined and just not nice!)

Once the peppers are filled, place them in the oven dish, over the olive oil, garlic, cheese and the rest of the ingredients I listed before. Now... all you need to do is place a small piece of tomato (you can use tinned) over each pepper and sprinkle a generous spoonfull of capers all over the dish, followed by an equally generous sprinkling of cheese, all over the peppers, followed by some olive oil. Add half a glass of water to the base, to make a sauce, and bake until golden.

My peppers before and after baking

I had mine with a lovely mixed peppery salad with poppy seeds and some Italian taralli.

Olive Oil Taralli are fantastic!

 But...  a bread roll or some delicious crusty bread would allow you to soak up and enjoy the delicious juices at the bottom of plate.

And "Here's one I made earlierl!"

BUON APPETITO!