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

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 Zucchini Pie

Zucchini seem to be the vegetables that best grow  in the orchards/ vegetable gardens around the world and so we  never have too many recipes with them. This is called Lucchesia  because it comes from the area near Lucca

Tortino della Lucchesia

1Kg courgettes (zucchini)

5 spoonfuls oil

6 basil leaves

½ spoonful parsley

1 garlic clove

40g Parmigiano

3 eggs

40g Pecorino cheese

4 spoonfuls breadcrumbs

20g butter

Oil  

Salt and pepper

Slice the courgettes, brown them in a frying pan with the oil and the chopped parsley, basil and garlic. 

Cook over a moderate flame until they begin to disintegrate. 

Remove from the heat and leave to cool. Add the grated Parmesan and pecorino, the eggs, 2 spoonfuls of breadcrumbs, salt and pepper.

Mix the ingredients well, then pour the mixture into the oiled baking tray. 

Sprinkle the top with the remaining breadcrumbs and place the flakes of butter on top.Place in the oven at 180°C for 30 minutes.        

Suggestion:

* you can use only parmesan cheese

* Instead of the zucchine you can use: asparagus, spinach, green                      

   beans, artichokes or mixed vegetables.

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 .

Giardiniera Granma recipe

 Holidays are approaching  and so are  gifts for friends and relatives, why not  something homemade ? We can prepare something to eat every day that goes well with vegetarian friends:  la giardiniera (the gardener), who is one of the most popular  traditional Italian pickles. It can be prepared with different vegetables depending on the season.

Oh, it’s called “gardener” because when  prepared with different vegetables  it’s a feast of colours like a garden!

Giardiniera 

The ingredients that we used:
Black pepper 1/2 teaspoons
 Water: 1/2 liter
 4 tablespoons coarse salt
 Vinegar 2 liters
 4 tablespoons sugar
 Laurel leaves 3
 200 g red peppers
 Cauliflower 200 gr

but you can make it with onions, celery, carrots, peppers of various colors, green beans, peas, cucumbers,cauliflowers

Clean and wash all the vegetables, cut into small pieces, peppers and cauliflowers into thin strips
Put the vinegar  and water in a pan on the fire  with the bay leaves, salt and sugar.
When the vinegar boils, throw in the carrots, green beans and peas and let simmer for around 10 minutes.

Then add the cauliflower, peppers, cucumbers and continue cooking until all the vegetables are ready: they’ll be tender but not soft.
Drain the vegetables well and leave to cool.
Then toss gently and place the pickles in jars, close them, sterilize by boiling for half an hour in a pan covered with water.

Wait 30 days before you eat your pickles.

Tortino Tricolore

It 's a colorful savoury cake , with   a fresh Mediterranean taste.In summer  we like serving “caprese”, but in winter it is delicious  to serve  this  warm dish .

Tortino with mozzarella, tomatoes and basil

Ingredients (for a loaf pan by 24x10x7cm)

250g of bread for sandwiches

250 gr. mozzarella, preferably buffalo

300g firm tomatoes

40g of grated grana or parmesan cheese 

12 basil leaves

2 eggs

150ml milk 

Olive oil as much as needed

Salt  3 pinches 

We wash the tomatoes, divide into two parts and, in a bowl, dress them with salt, cheese, oil and  chopped basil leaves. 

In a bowl, beat eggs with milk, dip the slices of bread cut appropriately to coat the bottom and the edge of the pan,previously lined with parchment paper. 

We distribute half of the seasoned tomatoes  into the pan, then place over the well-drained mozzarella,  then cover it with the other tomatoes  and end with a layer ofslices of bread.

Bake at 200 C° for about 40  minutes or until golden brownWhen baked , leave the cake to cool and decorate with basil leaves and tomatoes.

Summer Pasta Salad

In summer we start getting in the mood for fresh and cool food.  We love cold pasta dishes!  One of our favorite go-to recipes is something our mom made often growing up, Italian Pasta Salad.  It's really simple, and can easily be customized.  Here's our version of it with fresh red tomatoes, celery, garlic , basil and a lots of Parmigiano Reggiano:

 Spaghetti in Insalata

300g spaghetti

2 fresh tomatoes              

80g celery

Basil, parsley

1 clove of garlic

Grated Parmigiano

100g olive oil                   

Salt, black pepper

Chop celery, parsley and basil and place them in a bowl. Add the oil, mixing well. Cut the garlic in half and add it to the sauce. Cut the tomatoes into small cubes and add them to the sauce, along with salt and pepper. Cover the recipient and leave in a cool place for at least 1½ hours. Meanwhile cook the spaghetti, pour it into the recipient and mix well, adding the Parmigiano.

"Fiasco" for Cooking Tuscan Beans

FIASCO IN US

Grazie, grazie, grazie, to Ed  and Patti …thank you, thank you, thank you… 

our friends  have been looking for a fiasco and sent us this email we’re transmitting to all of you interested in cooking fagioli al fiasco in US. We hope this can be useful to you …

<< I finally located the fiasco bottle and I have a batch of "Fagioli al Fiasco" on right now!  

It took a lot of searching and phone calls in the US, but I located a website that carries the supplies.  

If you have any other students who ask about where to get the equipment in the US, tell them to order on the following website:

www.onlinesciencemall.com  

I ordered a 3L Flask, a number 17 cork stopper, and a 12 inch piece of 8mm glass tubing.  When the order arrived, I drilled a hole in the center of the cork, went to a local glass shop and asked them to cut the 12 inch glass 

into three 4 inch pieces.  So, I have a couple of extra tubing pieces in case I break the first one. The 3L flask is larger than yours, but I think it is going to be fine.

Thanks again for a wonderful cooking class.  

Ed and Patti


For the recipe "Fagioli al Fiasco" open the link http://toscanamiacooking.blogspot.com/2009/01/cooking-cookery-typical-tuscan-cooking.html

Tuscan Summer Vegetables Recipe

This is a summer Tuscan  traditional recipe, which have different names all over Italy and  You can prepare and eat the same day, but it’s perfect also the day after It’s good also cold . Perfect recipe in the hot summer days  and when you have vegetarian or vegan friends.

GURGUGLIONE

300g  Aubergines (Egg-plants)
300g  Courgettes (Zucchini)
1 onion
2 cloves of garlic
200g  Potatoes
150g  Peppers
300g  Peeled tomatoes
Oil
Salt and Pepper
Basil

Cut all the vegetables into small pieces Soften the chopped onion and garlic in the oil in a saucepan. Add the peppers, leave to cook for 5 minutes, then add the other vegetables, salt and pepper and leave to stew. Cook for 20 minutes in the last 5 minutes add  the basil and finish cooking.

Here' s a quick way to cook artichokes

Artichokes are typical of Mediterranean area, Italy, Spain, Greek since the Roman time Their cultivation is typical of winter time . Today we have thought to  give you ome of the most typical Italian recipe with artichokes

Carciofi Ripieni

Stuffed Artichokes

8 artichokes

4 anchovies

50g breadcrumbs

parsley

1 spoonful of capers

1 clove of garlic

1 glass of oil

1 lemon

Salt,pepper

Clean the artichokes and place them in water and lemon juice. Lightly fry the chopped garlic and parsley in the oil. Chop the anchovies. In a frying pan, toast the breadcrumbs in a little oil, then add them to the garlic and oil together with the anchovies and the capers. Mix well and spread the mixture inside each artichoke. Then place the artichokes upright in an oven dish. Sprinkle them with the remaining oil and a glass of water.

Place in the oven for approx.30 minutes at a low temperature (160°C).