Hearts with Pumpkin

Valentine's Day Recipe

For the dough:               
300 g flour                  
3 eggs                
1 tablespoon of olive oil   
a pinch of salt
For the filling:
200 kg of pumpkin
80 g of grated Parmesan cheese
50 g cream
50 g of bread crumbs
2 eggs     
nutmeg and salt to taste
for 27 hearts

Clean the pumpkin, removing the seeds from the central part , cut into thick slices, wash and dry them, then put them to cook in the oven at 200 ° C for one hour.

When the pumpkin is cooked, remove the peel and pass the pulp through a strainer, collecting it in a bowl.

Add the eggs, cream, Parmesan cheese, bread crumbs, salt and nutmeg.Stir  the mixture with a  spoon and then let it rest for a few hours.

 With flour, eggs, oil and a pinch of salt, prepare the dough and roll it out , not too thin. Cut into squares. Place in the center of each square a spoonful of filling, fold in on itself and cut with a heart shaped cookie-cutter .Press the edges with your fingers  to make it adhere well.

Boil a pot of salted water, bring to a boil, pour the hearts  (7/8 at a time) in the water  to cook  for seven or eight minutes.

Pull them out of the water with a slotted spoon when they float, pour in layers in a bowl and toss with butter, sage and parmesan cheese.

Tomatoes, Olives , Capers snd Basil Spaghetti Sauce

Puttanesca sauce is made from tomatoes, black olives, capers, anchovies,  garlic, and herbs, usually oregano and parsley but sometimes also basil.  It is an easy sauce, briefly cooked, or  no cooed and served cold in summertime It' s very fragrant and spicy.  The name derives from the Italian word "puttana" which means whore.  Why does we call it with this name?  There are multiple explanations.
Whatever its origins, Puttanesca is a tasty sauce.  There are many different recipes, most of them varying on the amounts of the ingredients.  Below there is the one we prefer

Salsa alla Puttanesca

150g black olives

150g green olives

500g peeled tomatoes

6 anchovies

1 spoonful  of capers

garlic

Salt  and pepper

Oregano

Olive oil

Chop  the garlic, olives, anchovies and cappers . Put them in a saucepan with oil and fry gently for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add tomatoes, season to taste with salt , pepper and oregano. Simmer for a further 20 minutes. Cook the pasta an pour over the sauce, toss everything together and serve at once or put in the oven at 200° C for 10 minutes.

Suggestion: in summer you can use fresh tomatoes. Cut tomatoes and olives, anchovies and caper and place them in a bowl. Add the oil, mixing well. Cook the pasta and add immediately the sauce.  Put it in the refrigerator for a few hours

Tuscan Week Menu

An idea for a Tuscan menu from Toscana Mia cooking classes last week


Apetizer/Starter  Antipasto

Black Olives Crostini  
Crostini alle Olive Nere

http://toscanamiacooking.blogspot.it/2011/12/italian-black-olives-apetizer.html

First course Primo Pasta

Tuscan Spaghetti with  Garlic and Cherry Tomatoes  
                           Pici all' Aglione 

http://toscanamiacooking.blogspot.it/2011/12/how-to-make-pici.html

http://toscanamiacooking.blogspot.it/2011/12/cherry-tomatoes-garlic-sauce.html

Second Course  Secondo 
Balsamic Vinegar Scaloppine Scaloppine all' Aceto Balsamico

http://toscanamiacooking.blogspot.it/2012/03/scaloppine-balsamic-for-poultry-day.html

Contorno
Beans Tuscan Way   Fagioli al Fiasco

http://toscanamiacooking.blogspot.it/2009/01/cooking-cookery-typical-tuscan-cooking.html

Dessert  Dolce 
Panna Cotta with Chocolate and Safron Panna Cotta con Cioccolato e Zafferano

http://toscanamiacooking.blogspot.it/2009/10/panna-cotta-in-tuscany.html 

Black Olives crostini

Pici with Garlic and Cherry Tomatoes

Fagioli al Fiasco

Pici all' Aglione

balsamic Vinegar with Beans

Panna Cotta with chocolate

Panna Cotta with Safron and Chocolate

Lumaconi with Parmesan and Eggplants

The "lumaconi" are a main dish with Parmesan, unusual and very tasty. The main ingredients are eggplant and mozzarella that can be buffalo  or cow mozzarella.

Lumaconi  with Parmesan and Eggplants

For the pasta 

• Basil ,20 leaves
• Salt ,3 pinches
• Parmigiano Reggiano cheese ,120 gr
• Lumaconi Pasta 500 gr 
• Eggplant ,two medium 
• Mozzarella , 400 g
• Olive oil ,3-4 tablespoons

For the sauce

• Garlic ,2 cloves
• Salt ,3 pinches
• Tomatoes ,1200 g pulp
• Black Olives ,50 g 
• Olive oil ,4 tablespoons

Mince the garlic and slice the olives into rings . Fry garlic and olives in a pan .

Add the chopped tomatoes. Simmer the sauce, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon .

Prepare the eggplant, cut them  rounds about 2 cm thick and then cut into cubes : fry in a pan . 
Once the cubes are fried, drain from the oil and put them  on a plate covered with absorbent paper .Dice mozzarella .

Cook the pasta in salted water, drain it  “al dente”. 

Fill  the lumaconi with some of the sauce and then  season with some . 

Sprinkle bottom of pan with oil and place a layer of pasta, continue with half of  the eggplant and  with the diced mozzarella ,   cut  the basil leaves in half with your fingers. 

Finish with a sprinkling of grated Parmesan cheese . Continue with another layer of pasta to which you add all other ingredients and finish with the sauce .

Bake for 35-40 minutes at 160° C 

Grate  Parmesan cheese on the lumaconi  and serve immediately.

Italian Family Tomato Sauce

Tomatoe sauce is probably the most  used of our  sauces and for this reason we give a lot of attention in choosing the right tomatoes or the right  canned tomatoes to make it.

Salsa di Pomodoro

500 gr. ripe tomatoes

(or 400 gr. peeled  canned tomatoes)

50 gr. onion

50 gr. carrots

50 gr. celery

parsley

basil

2 spoonfuls oil

salt ,pepper, sugar

Cut all the vegetables in small pieces .Pour the oil in a casserole and cook the chopped vegetables for 10 minutes  on moderate heat .Add the tomatoes possibly cut in half by hand and let them cook for 30 /40 minutes. Put them through a vegetable mill and then  cook them with oil, a small  glass warm water, salt, pepper, basil, parsley and 2 pinches sugar and cook for approximately 20 minutes.

You can add:

* A little sugar will take out some of the Tomatoes' acidity..

* A little peperoncino (Italian hot Chili pepper)will give  a hot taste

* A little cream will create  a more delicate taste.

Neapolitan Timbale

The film Big Night of 1996 presents a timbale Neapolitan 

"The ear drum is a drum ... 

and inside there are good things in the world!": 

First prepare the recipe as Pelaggi, the cook chariot Night

It 'a recipe for a while' complex, which requires two days of preparation. 
It is commonly cooked as well as being complex is a rich dish, for many people

Timballo Napoletano

To prepare it for 6 / 8 people
8 dl wet sauce
500 g macaroni
50 g butter
400 g of diced mozzarella
100 g of grated parmesan cheese
500 g of meat patties

for wet sauce
1.5 kg of pork (walker)
500 g of chopped onions
900 g bacon, cut into slices
1 dl of olive oil
50 g of lard
1 / 2 dl dry and full bodied wine
2 sprigs of rosemary
2 sprigs of thyme
1 bunch of basil abundant
500 g of tomato paste
1 l of tomato puree
Salt and pepper

for meatballs
1 / 2 kg of cooked meat sauce, stewed
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
1 egg
Salt q.b.
flour
Oil for frying

for the pastry
500 g of flour
250 g of sugar
250 g of lard
6 egg yolks

The day before

You begin to prepare the sauce by placing the wet rosemary and thyme over the meat. Then wrap with slices of bacon and tie tightly with kitchen string. Choose a saucepan that is neither too broad nor too narrow for the volume of meat. Put on the bottom of the oil and lard, then add the onions, lying over the meat and cook over medium heat until the meat acquires a dark amber crust. 

You must do this constantly checking the cooking, adding a little wine when necessary, and stirring constantly. When the meat is very colorful and onions dried completely, remove the meat from the sauce and keep warm without teasing. Lower the temperature for cooking at low heat, add the tomato paste to the gravy and stir with a wooden spoon slowly. When the sauce starts to stick to the bottom of the pan, pour a little wine and continue stirring. This work must be done until the sauce becomes thick and creamy, it will take about two hours of continuous presence. Now put back the meat, cover with tomato sauce, salt slightly, stir, cover the pan, leaving a small gap between the edge and the cover, and simmer slowly on fire sweet sauce. Will be ready when he bought a thick syrup, about 1 hour. Remove the meat from the sauce and add basil. The walker is left to cool and removed the wire from the kitchen, chop finely and then prepare the meatballs.While the sauce is cooking, prepare the dough by kneading with your hands quickly all the ingredients to make a thick dough and let rest for at least an hour in the refrigerator covered with a cloth. Then prepare the meatballs, the size of hazelnuts, with 500 g of minced meat mixed with 1 egg earlier, the chopped parsley and a pinch of salt. Fry in hot oil and keep aside. Keep in the fridge until ready to use.

On the same day: the big day!

Cook the macaroni al dente, drain, toss with sauce moist, butter, parmesan and let cool. Grease a cake tin and pull the top ring of 30 cm in diameter and cover the bottom and edges with a third of the dough you've stretched thin, about 1 / 2 cm. It is important that the pasta po'dai a protruding edges so that you can easily close the pie with the other disk of dough. Disponeteci over half of the macaroni, distribuiteci over the meatballs, mozzarella into cubes, sprinkle with the Parmesan advanced, then cover with the remaining macaroni. Cover the pastry with tympani advanced pressing down the edges to hold onto the first. Brush surface with beaten egg her and cook for about 45 minutes in the oven to 180 degrees. Before removing

A Perfect sauce for Tagliatelle

The other day we have explained how to prepare fresh homemade pasta. Which is the best sauce for tagliatelle ? Here is the answer :

Salsa ai Funghi

20g dried porcini mushrooms

80g butter 

80g pancetta (if you like it)

1 glass white wine

100g cream

Salt,Pepper

Parsley

2 tbs.Extra vergin olive oil

Chop the garlic and parsley.Cut the pancetta in cubes. 

Soak the dried porcini mushrooms in warm water for 20 minutes, then drain  and chop them.   

Gently fry  garlic,  parsley and  pancetta in the butter and oil. Add the mushrooms , add a glass of wine and when it evaporates add the  liquid of the mushroom, salt and pepper.

 Cook for 20 minutes over a low flame. Add  the cream and cook for another 2 minutes, without boiling it.

How to prepare Fresh Homemade Pasta

During our Cooking classes one of the most requested recipes is

PASTA FRESCA all’Uovo (Basic Recipe)

200g Italian flour 00 similar to  all purpose/or plain flour

200 gr. durum wheat flour / semolina

4 eggs

2 tbs.extra vergin olive  oil

1 pinch Salt 

Place the flour on the rolling-board or in a bowl, make a well in the centre and add the  salt. Crack the eggs into it  and beat them lightly with a fork or with your hands and  work the eggs in with the flour until smooth.

 Continue kneading the pasta-dough with your hands until it reaches the right consistency,that is when your pasta starts to feel smooth and silky  . Make it into a ball and leave aside for half an hour. 

Then roll it out on the previously floured board and cut it into the desired shape: tagliatelle, fettuccine, lasagne, ravioli, tortellini. 

To roll out and cut the pasta you can use a pasta machine or only by hand and rolling pin

Tagliatelle 

 Prepare the fresh pasta using the basic recipe. Stretch out the pasta into strips a few centimetres wide. Make it into a roll and then cut it into 2 cm wide strips . 

Cherry Tomatoes & Garlic Sauce

AGLIO, AGLIO,AGLIO GARLIC ,GARLIC,GARLIC

When  preparing pici  the best sauce to serve them with 

Salsa all’ Aglione

garlic 6 big cloves

fresh tomatoes, gr 300

( preferably cherry tomatoes or Pachino)

wine vinegar, only  a few drops

1peperoncino ( red Italian  hot pepper)

extra vergin olive oil

Take a high-sided pan , large enough because you have to warm  then the pasta in it . Clean 6 garlic cloves, crush them and put them in the skillet where you’ve previously heated  extra virgin olive oil of excellent quality. 

Make them just “ take colour” and add the crushed dried peperoncino and vinegar .Finally add tomatoes cut in half.

. Add salt and cook for 10 minutes

Drain the pasta   and pour into the skillet . Serve with a generous grating of pecorino cheese .