Spinach Frittata : a family recipe

When I was a  child,  our  mother used to prepare  frittata  several times a month :sometimes   with freshly  prepared  ingredients, sometimes with leftovers of vegetables  or pasta. Anyway we were always happy to eat  it .Now  I know while we had it  so many time: best  way to recycle  leftovers…

Frittata di Spinaci

• 300 gr. spinach
• 3 eggs 
• 2 spoons parmigiano reggiano
• Salt and pepper
• Olive oil     1 spoon 

Cook the spinach in water with a pinch of salt. When they are cooked, squeeze  them well and chop them  with a mezza luna. In a bowl, beat the eggs, add the Parmesan and season with salt and pepper. Add spinach and mix them well in.

In a pan heat the oil, pour the mixture and cook for 10 minutes until the mixture is well cooked on one side. 

Turn it into the pan and cook the other side for 5 minutes.

Serve hot or cold. A slice is also excellent in a sandwich!

How to make Pici

Today is Saturday, we have more time available and  then we can test ourselves in  a little longer   but so Tuscan recipe : pici .  This is truly the most typical homemade pasta in Tuscany. 

Some technique and patience are necessary  but  it is not so difficult and you can bring the whole family to work

Pici

500 gr flour

2 tablespoons oil

1 egg

200ml water

Mix the flour ,the egg and  the water. Add 2  tablespoons  of olive oil and knead well adding a pinch of salt. Keep kneading the pasta until it becomes elastic in texture. Leave for half an hour before rolling it out  and slice into spaghetti strips, which you will make round by hand. Naturally they will be irregular which is typical of this Tuscan pasta

Happy Valentines Day!

The hours pass and you still have not decided how to impress your sweetheart? Do not panic! We help you with an idea for a simple and delicious cake for a tet-a-tet romantic.

Safron is such a versatile spice and can be added to  a wide range of Italian foods including pasta dishes,meat, bread and dessert.In Panna cotta to change  the pure white colour of the cream , in Biscotti di Prato / Cantucci as a contrast  to almonds .

Important is that only small quantities of saffron are required in cooking because of its strong flavour and colour.

Torta di ricotta and Zafferano is a  light recipe to enjoy the colour and taste of saffron.

Grounded saffron is mixed directly with the other ingredients,otherwise   squeeze a orange/lemon, warm the juice slightly and dissolve the saffron in it before mixing to the dough.

Ricotta Cheese & Safron Cake

250g flour

300g ricotta cheese

1 packet of saffron

250g sugar

3 eggs

Grated peel of 1 lemon

16 gr. baking powder 

0,5 gr. Vanilla powder 

1 pinch of salt

Decoration:icing sugar

Fruit amarena

Place the ricotta in a bowl with the sugar and work them together until you have a cream. Add the flour and the other ingredients  and  mix well. Add the egg yolks and the grated lemon peel  and  mix. Whisk the  egg whites stiffly and then gently mix them  with the prepared mixture.

 Then pour into a cake tin and  bake  in a pre-heated oven at 180°C  for 40-45 minutes.

Then remove the cake from the oven and leave it to cool. Transfer it  to a serving plate,dust with icing sugar and serve with  gelato and fruit marena on  a side.

Tuscan Dessert : Biscotti di Prato

Biscotti di Prato with Vin Santo by Jacqui Lui

The first documented recipe for this cake is a eighteenth century centuries-old manuscript. The recipe was then taken , by  the pastry chef Antonio Mattei ,to the Universal Exhibition in Paris in 1867, winning a special mention..
For dessert, they are usually paired with a bottle of vin santo of Tuscany.
There is a small discussion on the name. Some say that the biscuits of Prato are erroneously called Cantucci or Cantuccini. In fact, the nooks and almond biscuits are prepared by another method, are in fact made of bread dough and anise. For others, the common name of "cantuccini"or "nooks" has a curious origin and dates back many years ago when the Biscuit Mattei di Prato, in its glory years, was selling scraps of biscuits (the edges, both ends of the loaf, in fact the "nooks" in Prato) at a lower price.

Biscotti di Prato

• 500g  (5 cups and  a half) all purpose flour / plain flour    
• 300 g (1 cup and a half) sugar                                         
• 150g  (¾ cup) almonds  
• 4 eggs and 2 egg yolks
• 8  g  (2 teaspoons) powder                          
• 1 pinch saffron
• 1 pinch of salt 

Place  the flour on the table and make a well in the middle.Add sugar, 3 eggs, 2 egg yolks, baking powder, salt and a pinch of saffron. 
Knead the dough  and add the unpeeled almonds , oven toasted , mixing them  well into the dough. 
Prepare  large loaves about 2-3 cm.wide 1 cm high.

Place them well apart on a greased and floured  baking tray.Bake them for  ca. 15 minutes at 180 C ( till they are firm  enough).

Take the tray out and  brush the loaves  with beaten egg , cut obliquely just about every inch in order to obtain the typical shape of the biscuits of Prato and  bake them for other 10 minutes

     

Gnocchi alla Romana

Thinking of  the important meals  probably most of us are going to  have during  next holidays, we’d like to suggest something light but filling,  coming from the  typical Roman cooking .

1 l milk

250g ( 2 cups) semolina

100g (half  a cup) butter

2  egg yolks 

Abundant grated Parmigiano

Salt

Bring the milk to a boil, add 1/5 of the butter and 2 pinches of salt . Gradually stir in the semolina, stirring constantly to prevent lumps and keep the mixture from sticking to the pot. 

The mixture will become quite thick; continue cooking and stirring for about 20 minutes, and remove the pot from the fire.

Beat the yolks with a little more milk, and add them to the semolina, together with the cheese, solid butter, and a pinch of salt.

 Mix well and spread the mixture out onto a moistened work-surface and using a moistened spatula . Roll out a thick sheet, half an inch thick ( 1 cm.)

Let the semolina cool for 2 hours, and cut it into squares or diamonds or , using a glass, make 4cm-wide discs.

In   an ovenproof dish  make 3 or 4  layers of the discs .In between each layer and on top, sprinkle melted  butter and the Parmigiano .

Bake the gnocchi 15 minutes in a hot (400 F or 200 C) oven, until golden, and serve at once. 

 4-6 servings

Suggestion : Some recipes suggest to cook the discs in boiling water for a min. and then lay them on the oven dish.

Pizze Fritte

Something fragrant when you smell it
Something catchy when you see it
Something tasty when you bite it


Pizze Fritte


500 g  flour
300 g  potato

1 tablespoon oil      
water
yeast
1 egg
salt
seed oil
tomato sauce
Parmigiano

Boil the potatoes for 40 minutes. Peel them, mash them and leave to cool. 

Then mix the potatoes, flour, yeast, salt and some water. 

Knead the dough for 10 minutes.

 And leave to rise for 1 hour in a warm place.

 Then knead again for a few minutes.

Roll the dough  out and,using a glass,cut out some small “pizzette” from the disc of dough. 

Using a glass, cut out some small "pizzette" from the discs of dough.

Fry in boiling oil until golden.

 While still hot add tomato sauce, salt and grated Parmigiano on top. 

Serve hot.