Ricotta Cheesecake Gluten Free

Today during the Hands on Italian Cooking class , Sonia , a guest from Arizona, asked for a cake with Ricotta cheese. I  remembered two days ago  Krista’s request for our Ricotta Cheese cake .And so here it is  for you our simple recipe,  without flour so perfect also for  Gluten Free friends .

Dolce di Ricotta

1 Kg ricotta 

300gr sugar

7 eggs

50 gr dark chocolate

Salt

Breadcrumbs

Oil

Decoration Icing /confectioner’ssugar sugar

Drain the ricotta cheese and mix it with sugar and salt.Place in the refrigerator for all the night.

The day after  add eggs and grated chocolate. Grease and sprinkle with breadcrumbs a cake tin. Pour the mixture in the cake tin. Bake it in the oven at 160°c for 1 hour.

To decorate,sprinkle the top with the icing/confectioer’s sugar.

Another excellent cake recipe is Crosta di Ricotta

Tuscan Sausages an Potatoes

Dedicated to a young Knight !!!The first historical evidence on the use of   pork meat  bagged in its gut with spices and salt goes  back to  ancient Rome time.

The sausages  are the potatoeseasiest  cold meat to produce and the types are virtually endless, ranging from  spicy sausage typical of southern Italy to the  north east smoked ones. They can  be heavily seasoned with chili pepper or fennel.

Tuscan Sausages and Potatoes

1 kg of sausages 

1 kg of potatoes 

half a glass of dry white wine

rosemary 

olive oil

salt

pepper 

6 cloves of garlic

Peel potatoes, wash and cut into chunks .Punch the   sausages with a fork on both sides.

 In a baking dish pour on a little oil , lay the potatoes and sausages.
Add salt and pepper, sprinkle with rosemary, garlic cloves with the skin and more oil .

Bake  in preheated oven at 200° C for 20 minutes ,add a glass of white wine, cook for other 20 minutes.

If you like you can also add in the pan fennel seeds
Serve hot. 

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

Aromatic Herbs and Tomatoes Crostini

Aromatic herbs in the garden ? Mint, Tarragon , parsley and tomatoes for a fresh summer appetizer

Crostini Empoli

• 3 spoonfuls of parsley
• ½spoonful of tarragon
• 5 mint leaves
• 3 spoonfuls of capers
• 1 hard-boiled egg
• 2 tomatoes
• ½small glass of olive oil
• Salt and Pepper

Chop up parsley, tarragon, mint, capers, egg, add a spoonful of oil and salt in a bowl.

 In another bowl, cut the tomatoes into small pieces. Then mix them with the rest of the oil, salt and pepper.

 Place the two bowls in the fridge for one hour. Then, mix the two sauces .Place them on some slices of bread and serve.

This recipe was also named on Cooking Light by the editor.

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Tuscan Fresh Fennel with Olives

When out it’s hot this dish is so refreshing.Fennels are not so well known  even if they are very  fresh taste a and no calories

Insalata di Finocchi

4 fennels

1  handful green olives

1 clove garlic

parsley

origano

oil, 

vinegar, 

salt 

peperoncino 

Slice the fennels as finely as possible,mix them with the olives, then add a small chopped garlic clove ,a spoonful of parsley and some fresh origano.  Prepare  a  dressing  with oil , vinegar, salt a and a pinch of peperoncino. Season the fennels, stir and serve cold.

Tuscan Bruschetta

Bruschetta is an Italian starter whose origin dates back to the 15th century and earlier. It consists of roasted bread rubbed with garlic and topped with extra-virgin olive, salt and pepper. Variations may include  different toppings the most popular involves basil and fresh tomato. In Tuscany it  is also called fettunta and it is usually served without toppings, in November, to taste new oil.

Bruschetta 

• Tomato
• Bread
• Oil
• Salt
• Garlic
• Pepper
• Basil

Cut the tomatoes in pieces, add basil, oil, salt and pepper. Leave to marinate for ½ hour. Toast the slices of bread on the grill.  

Rub both sides of the bread with garlic, sprinkle with salt and season with the oil. Place the marinate on the slices of bread and serve hot. 

Tuscan Zuppa Inglese Dessert

Zuppa Inglese , is an Italian dessert  with a variety of composition it should not come as a surprise that many regions of Italy claim to be its progenitor. The so-called classic Zuppa Inglese includes layers of Pan di Spagna or lady finger, soaked in Alkermes liqueur and alternated layers of simple custard (crema pasticciera). 

According to an unproven tradition, it was created in Ferrara, a town near Bologna, during the 16th century, at the Court of the Lords of Este. 

 According to a Tuscan gastronome, zuppa inglese instead was born in the hills surrounding Florence, “invented” by a maid working for an English family. It was a way to recycle the left over biscuits used for tea or Port. 

These variations were rather common and, in fact, in Italy there are  different versions of the sweet. In theory every cook can invent a variation In Naples they substitute the custard with ricotta cheese 

ZUPPA INGLESE

Approx. 120g sponge (lady) fingers

1 glass alkermes (or kasis or red kirsch)

6 egg yolks

6 spoonfuls of sugar

5 spoonfuls of flour

1 spoonful of potato starch

1l of milk

1 vanilla bean

100 gr. bitter cooking chocolate

Boil the milk, flavoured with the vanilla.

Beat the egg yolks to a froth with the sugar. Add the flour and the starch.  

Then add the boiled milk, taking the vanilla bean out. 

Let the mixture thicken over a low heat, mixing continuously, until you have a cream. 

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler.

Divide the cream into two bowls. Add the melted cooking chocolate to half of the cream.

 Leave the creams to cool. 

Pour a glass of alkermes in a  bowl and add a glass of water. 

Place a layer of sponge fingers soaked in alkermes in a glass bowl and cover with a layer of the yellow cream. 

Place another layer of sponge fingers soaked in alkermes on top and cover with the chocolate cream. Decorate as you please. Place the dessert in the refrigerator, in the least cold part.

Italian Chocolate Gelato

The chorus of the song from the 80s, presented by the Tuscan Pupo, still occasionally plays in the ear

“Gelato al cioccolato

dolce e un po' salato

tu gelato al cioccolato

un bacio al cioccolato

io te l'ho rubato……..”

"Chocolate ice cream

sweet and a little 'salty

you chocolate ice cream

a chocolate kiss

I've stolen from you ........

CHOCOLATE GELATO 

100 gr. dark chocolate

1 egg

200 gr. sugar

250 gr.  whipping cream

250 gr. milk

Half a vanilla bean

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler with a little milk, flavor with vanilla.

Leave to  cool.

Beat the egg with the sugar, dilute with milk, cream and melted chocolate.

Prepare the gelato.