Traditional Lasagne alla Bolognese

Traditional Lasagne alla Bolognese

Ingredients

Ragu Bolognese:

5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

3 tablespoons butter

1 carrot, finely, diced

1 medium onion, diced

1 rib celery, finely diced

1 clove garlic, sliced
2 bayleafs

500g veal, ground

500g pork, ground

1/4 pound pancetta or slab bacon, ground

1 tube tomato paste

1 cup milk

1 cup dry white wine

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Parmigiano-Reggiano, for grating

Lasagna al Forno:

4 extra-large eggs

6 ounces frozen chopped spinach, defrosted and squeezed very dry and chopped very fine

3 1/2 to 4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus 1/2 cup for dusting the work surface

1/2 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil

Besciamella:

5 tablespoons butter

4 tablespoons flour

3 cups milk

2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

8 ounces Parmigiano-Reggiano, for grating

Directions

For the ragu bolognese:

In a 6 to 8-quart, heavy-bottomed saucepan, heat the olive oil and butter over medium heat. Add the carrots, pancetta, onions, celery, and garlic and sweat over medium heat until the vegetables are translucent and soft but not browned, about 10 to 15 minutes. Add the bayleaf, veal and pork and stir into the vegetables. Add the meat over high heat, stirring to keep the meat from sticking together until browned. Add the tomato paste, milk, and wine and simmer over medium-low heat for 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Season with salt and pepper, to taste, and remove from the heat.

For the lasagna al forno:

Combine eggs and spinach. Mound 3 1/2 cups of the flour in the center of a large wooden cutting board. Make a well in the middle of the flour and add the egg and spinach mixture and the olive oil. Using a fork, beat together the spinach, eggs and oil and begin to incorporate the flour, starting with the inner rim of the well.

As you expand the well, keep pushing the flour up from the base of the mound to retain the well shape. The dough will come together when half of the flour is incorporated.

Start kneading the dough with both hands, using the palms of your hands. Once you have a cohesive mass, remove the dough from the board and scrape up and discard any leftover bits. Lightly reflour the board and continue kneading for 6 more minutes. The dough should be elastic and a little sticky. Wrap the dough in plastic and allow to rest for 30 minutes at room temperature. Divide the dough into 3 equal portions and roll each out to the thin setting on a pasta rolling machine. If you are using a Marcato machine number 7.

For the besciamella:

In a medium saucepan, heat butter until melted. Add flour and stir until smooth. Over medium heat, cook until light golden brown, about 6 to 7 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat milk in separate pan until just about to boil. Add milk to butter mixture 1 cup at a time, whisking continuously until very smooth and bring to a boil. Cook 30 seconds and remove from heat. Season with salt and nutmeg and set aside.

For assembly: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. In a lasagna pan, assemble the lasagne, beginning with a layer of ragu, a sprinkling of grated Parmigiano, a layer of pasta, a layer of bechamel, a layer of ragu, a sprinkling of grated Parmigiano etc. until all sauce and pasta are used up. The top layer should be pasta with bechamel over it. Top the lasagne with grated Parmigiano-Reggiano and bake in the oven for 30 to 45 minutes, until the edges are browned and the sauces are bubbling. Remove and allow to cool for 30 minutes before slicing.

Squid Ink Risotto

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 large onion, finely chopped

3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

2 cups arborio or carnaroli rice

1 cup dry white wine

6 cups shrimp stock, clam stock or vegetable stock

2 tablespoons squid ink

1/2 pound squid, cut into 1/4-inch rings

1/4 cup finely chopped flat leaf parsley
1 lemon, for juice and zesting 

Salt and freshly ground pepper

1. Heat olive oil in medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onions and garlic and saute until soft.

2. Add the rice and mix to coat with the oil and cook for 2 minutes. Raise the heat to high, add the wine and cook until all the liquid has evaporated.

3. Place the stock and the squid ink in a large saucepan over high heat and stir to combine. Begin adding the hot squid stock 1 1/2 cups at a time and cook until the liquid is absorbed. Continue until the stock is gone and the rice is al dente.

4. Add the squid, and juice from one lemon and cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the parsley and season with salt and pepper to taste. Zest lemon on the top before serving.

Grilled trout with tarragon sauce

Grilled trout with tarragon sauce

Sauce Recipe

Ingredients

            1/2 bottle (1 1/2 cups) white wine

            1 small yellow onion, thinly sliced

            1/4 teaspoon black pepper

            2 sprigs fresh tarragon, plus 1/2 tablespoon chopped leaves

            1 cup heavy cream

            1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Directions

1. In a large saucepan, over medium-high heat, bring the wine, onion, pepper, and whole tarragon sprigs to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, until the mixture is reduced by two-thirds, 20 to 25 minutes, depending on size of pan.

2. Remove and discard the tarragon sprigs. Add the cream, reduce heat, and simmer gently until slightly thickened, about 15 minutes.

Remove from heat and stir in the salt and chopped tarragon. Serve over chicken, fish, or vegetables.

Trout Recipe:

Grill the trout in a simple way, just a grill salt, pepper and olive oil!

Easy frittelle

1 cup milk

2 eggs
6 Tbsp sugar
2 1/2 cup of cake flour (sifted)
1 Tbsp baking powder
Zest of 2 oranges
Oil to fry (vegetable, sunflower or canola)
Sugar and cinnamon


In a bowl mix all the ingredients until creamy consistency.  With a help of a spoon drop the dough into hot oil (350F). Fry until golden brown.  Remove promptly onto a plate with some paper towels to absorb the oil.  Roll the frittelle in desired amounts of sugar and cinnamon.

Castagnole For Carnivale (Frittelle)

Castagnole For Carnivale  

Frittelle recipe

Yield: Makes 30

Prep Time: 10 mins

Cook Time: 15 mins

Some of the fried sweets most popular across Italy during Carnivale are frittelle, cenci, chiacchiere and these little fried balls of dough called Castagnole.

Ingredients:

8 Ounces All-purpose Flour
2 Ounces Melted Butter
2 Whole Eggs
4 Tablespoons Sugar
1 Tablespoon Amaretto
Oil For Frying
For Serving:
Powdered Sugar

Directions:

Mix together the flour, butter, eggs, sugar and liqueur until blended.
Heat up the oil in a heavy saucepan to 350 degrees F.
Take a small spoonful of the dough (size of a large olive or 1 1/2 inches) and gently roll into a ball and drop into the hot oil.
Fry until golden brown on all sides and then remove with a slotted spoon to a paper towel lined tray to remove any excess oil.
Dust liberly with powdered sugar and serve warm.

Chestnut ravioli filled with Guinea fowl

For the pasta dough: 

120gr (½cup - 4oz) chestnut flour  

180gr (0.8cup - 6.4oz) Semolina

3 eggs

Mix together chestnut and hard wheat flour and eggs and leave the dough to rest about half an hour. Roll out the dough with the pasta machine or the rolling pin, then cut it with the fettuccine accessory if you use the pasta machine, otherwise do like this: roll the sheet of dough up into a tube, then slice the tube into rounds of 1cm wide and shake the skeet out with your hands to free the strands; set them to dry on a rack for few hours.

For the Guinea Fowl filling:

1 Guinea Fowl
1 onion
1 carrot
4 cloves of Garlic
1 Smal potato
1 tea spoon of smoked paprika

In a big pan, cook all the ingredients expect the paprika.  Once the meat is cooked, pull out of the bones and add to the food processor the meat, potatoes, garlic and the carrot.

For the sauce:

2 tablespoons of butter
1 tablespoon of pine nuts
8 leafs of sage
Salt & Pepper

Serve with Parmiggiano cheese on the top. 

Black ravioli with Smoked salmon and lemon sauce

Black dough

4 oz (1/2 cup) of Semolina flour

1 egg

1 sachet of squid ink 

Using a fork begging mixing in the egg and the squid ink with the flour.  Once egg has been mixed in enough, begin using your hands to work the dough.  Continues until reaches a smooth consistency, adding a light dust of flour if necessary.  Cover the dough with plastic wrap to protect from drying.  For best results, let the dough rest for at least 10 minutes.

Smoked salmon fill

Smoked salmon
1/2 cup of mashed potatoes
1 tea spoon of nutmeg
Salt & Pepper

Mix all the ingredients and meme into a paste with a help or a mortar or food processor.

Dill and Lemon sauce 

1/2 box of cream (panna)

1 chopped onion

3 Tbls of olive oil

1 juicy lemon

1 tbls of dill

Salt and pepper to taste

In a large sauce pan, sauté the onions until lightly browned.  Add the cream (Panna), the lemon juice, the dill and add salt and pepper to taste.  If the sauce is too thick, add small spoons of the water from the pasta that is cooking.  Add the al dente pasta to the sauce and sauté for a minute.  The pasta is ready to be served.

Broccoli with almonds and garlic

1 head of Broccoli 

1 hand full of almonds (Crushed or sliced)
3 cloves of garlic (Sliced)
Olive oil
Salt & Pepper to taste

1. Wash and clean the broccoli, steam for not more than 5 minutes.
2. In a frying pan, add the olive oil, garlic and almond until brown (be careful to don't burn the garlic!).
3. Sauté the broccoli with the olive oil, garlic and almond. Add salt & pepper if necessary.

Benefits of Broccoli:

Broccoli is high in vitamin C and dietary fiber; it also contains multiple nutrients with potent anti-cancer properties, such asdiindolylmethane and small amounts of selenium. A single serving provides more than 30 mg of vitamin C and a half-cup provides 52 mg of vitamin C. The 3,3'-Diindolylmethane found in broccoli is a potent modulator of the innate immune response system with anti-viral, anti-bacterial and anti-cancer activity. Broccoli also contains the compound glucoraphanin, which can be processed into an anti-cancer compound sulforaphane, though the anti-cancer benefits of broccoli are greatly reduced if the vegetable is boiled. Broccoli is also an excellent source of indole-3-carbinol, a chemical which boosts DNA repair in cells and appears to block the growth of cancer cells.

Boiling broccoli reduces the levels of suspected anti-carcinogenic compounds, such as sulforaphane, with losses of 20–30% after five minutes, 40–50% after ten minutes, and 77% after thirty minutes. However, other preparation methods such as steaming, microwaving, and stir frying had no significant effect on the compounds.

Broccoli has the highest levels of carotenoids in the brassica family. It is particularly rich in lutein and also provides a modest amount of beta-carotene.

(Wikipedia)