Zucchini and tuna sauce

4 Zucchini, thin sliced
1 yellow onion, thin sliced
2 garlic cloves, thin sliced
1 cup of Mediterranean tuna under olive oil
1 cup dry white wine
Salt & Pepper
Pepper flakes if you like spicy
Abundant olive oil

In a sauce pan, add the olive oil and let get hot. Add the garlic and onions and let brown. Add the zucchini and turn the fire on low. Add white wine and cook everything for about 20/30 minutes in the low heat. When the zucchini is all cooked and soft, smash as much as you can. Turn the heat off and add the tuna with the olive oil of the tuna and the salt and pepper. Serve hot or cold! Perfect for a summer pasta salad! :)

Alla Norma, 'Alla Lucas'

Quick, easy, healthy and delicious option for a summer meal. This recipe is enough for 3 servings.

4 garlic cloves

4 tomatoes San Marzano (similar to Roma Tomatoes)

1 eggplant

10 basil leafs

1 cup ricotta

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

Olive oil

Salt & Pepper (You can add pepperoncino if you like spicy)

First thing to do is select the best ingredients you can possibly find. Finding a good ricotta and tomatoes is essential for the success! 

In a big frying pan, brown the garlic in abbondant olive oil. When the garlic is brown, toss the tomatoes cutted in cubes and cook just for one minute in high heat and turn it off...

In a separate pan fry the eggplant until brown, when brown add the balsamic vinegar and let the eggplant absorb all the deliciousness of the balsamic. That's how your eggplants will taste amazing! 

In the pan with the tomatoes already turned off, add the fresh ricotta, basil and eggplant.

Toss the pasta and eat! :)

Ricotta cheese is a soft cheese often used in Italian dishes. Ricotta has multiple health benefits that make it a great addition to your daily diet.

Protein

• One half cup serving of whole milk ricotta cheese has 14 g of protein. This is 28 percent of your daily value of protein, which will help to build muscle.

Calcium

• Calcium is needed for strong bones, and is found in all dairy products. Ricotta cheese is no exception. A half cup serving has 257 mg of calcium, or 26 percent of your daily recommended value.

Omega Fatty Acids

• Omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids are known for helping to prevent heart disease and cancer, and are healthy for the body. Ricotta cheese has 139 mg of omega-3 fatty acids and 339 mg of omega-6 fatty acids per half cup serving.

Minerals

• One half cup serving of ricotta is a great source of phosphorus (20%), zinc (10%) and selenium (26%).

Vitamins

• One serving of ricotta cheese is a good source of Vitamin A (11% daily value), Riboflavin (14%) and Vitamin B12 (7%).

Pork medallion with Gorgonzola and walnuts sauce, served with caramelised apples

1 kg pork fillet (whole)
Enough bacon to wrap the pork fillet
Salt & Pepper
(If you have enough time to marinate the pork, use 1 cup of dry white wine and marinate overnight)

100g gorgonzola cheese
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup crushed walnuts

4 apples
2 tbsp butter
If the apple is not ripe enough use a pinch of sugar to help the caramelization

Rub salt & pepper on the pork fillet, (take consideration that the bacon is already salty). Wrap the bacon around the fillet. In a non stick pan, sear the fillet with bacon wrapped in.
Bake the fillet for about 30 minutes in a 180C(350F).

While the pork bakes:

Making the sauce is very simple. In a pan, just melt the cheese with the cream and add the crushed walnuts. If the sauce is to thick add some whole milk or white wine.

Making the apples is easy as well. Cut the apples in wedges, and cook with butter until golden brown. Avoid mixing it. Let it cook!

Ok... So now the pork is ready and the kitchen smells amazing... Slice the pork, and serve with the sauce and the pears as a side dish.

You can also do the same using beef fillet mignon or chicken breasts!

Antipasti

Bruschetta alla Zucca

Ratatouille

Bruschetta al pomodoro

Involtini di melanzane

Patatas Bravas con Chorizo

Tapenade

Eggplant rolls (Involtini di melanzane)

Easy, healthy and impressive antipasto!

2 big eggplants, sliced
1 kg ricotta of good quality (If you are not in Italy the ricotta taste and texture is different, so to make it similar add 4 table spoons of parmiggiano Reggiano grated)
1/2 cup sundried tomatoes, chopped
1 cup of basil leafs
1 tbsp dried or fresh oregano
Chopped olives, roasted almonds and cappers (optional)
Olive oil to grill the eggplants
Salt & Pepper to taste
Arugula to fill the eggplants

The first step is grill the eggplants in a pan until brown. Reserve the eggplant.
Mix all the other ingredients together, expect the arugula.
Wrap the eggplants with the filling and add the arugula if you would like.
That's it! Very simple and delicious summer antipasto that you can enjoy with a good bread and a good glass of dry white wine! :)
It will be good for four days at the refrigerator, depending of the quality of your ricotta. Good quality ricotta smells bad after 4 days.

Tarte tatin (French caramel apple pie)

Tarte tatin

250g puff pastry
75g soft butter
175g caster sugar
750g firm apples
Vanilla ice cream

Roll out the pastry on lightly floured surface and cut out a 26cm disc, slightly larger than the top of a 20cm tarte tarin dish or reliably non stick cast iron frying pan. Transfer to a baking sheet and chill for at least 20 minutes.
Spread the butter over the base of the tarte tatin dish it frying pan, and sprinkle over the sugar in a thick, even layer.
Peel, core and halve the apples, trimming them very slightly if necessary to fit but keeping the sugar. Place the tarte tatin dish or frying pan over a medium heat and cook for 20/25 minutes, gently shaking the pan now and then, until the butter and sugar have amalgamated with the apple juices to produce a rich toffee colored sauce and the apples are just tender. At first the caramel will be pale and liquid from the juices from the apples, but as you keep on cooking the juices will evaporate and the butter and sugar will become darker and thicker. Just take care that the butter and sugar are not allowed to burn.
Preheat the oven to 190C. Lift the pastry top of the apples and tuck the edges down inside the pan. Prick the pastry 5 or 6 times with a tip of a knife. Bake for 25 minutes.
Remove the tarte from the oven and let rest for 5 minutes. Then run a knife around the edge and invert it onto a round flat serving plate.
Serve warm with ice cream or cream fraîche.

Stracchino bread

This soft bread has a delicate cheese flavour, it goes well with cold cuts so it's perfect for your sandwiches! It's very quick to make!

2 cups Bread flour
100g Stracchino (like philadelphia)
3/4 cup milk
1 tbsp sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon of salt
1/2 cube of fresh yeast or 1/2 package of dried yeast


Mix the yeast and the sugar together.Mix cheese, milk, eggs and salt. Add the flour  sifted and work until the dough is smooth. Transfer it into a buttered and floured cake tin, level it with the back of a spoon and bake in the preheated gas oven at 180C for 35/45 minutes,(do the toothpick test. Stick a wooden toothpick into one of the thickest parts of the bread. If it's dry when you pull it our, the bread is done). Remove it from the oven, let cool before cutting.

Pasta fredda alla Mediterranea

For a fancy picnic!

1 package of your favorite short pasta
1 cup of your favorite olives (pitted)
1 tbsp capers
1 cup of cacciota or feta cheese in cubes
2 cups cherry tomatoes (chopped)

1 red and 1 yellow pepper cutted in cubes
2 cloves of garlic very thin sliced or on the garlic press
Oregano or fresh basil
Pepperoncino (optional)
Roasted pine nuts (optional)
½ cup Olive oli
½ cup Balsamic
Salt & Pepper

In a big bowl mix all the ingredients except the pasta.  Cook the pasta al dente and mix the sauce with the pasta very well. Wait at list an hour to serve.

Fresh filled pastas

Agnolotti Alla Siciliana

Agnolotti alla Siciliana

For the impasto:
2 cups Semonina flour
1 1/2 cup 00 flour (cake flour)
1 pinch of saffron
1 cup war water

Add the pinch of saffron to warm water. Knead it into the flour. Should be consistency of play dough.
Cover in plastic and let it sit for at list 15 minutes.
Roll into the pasta machine on the number five if you use a Marcato brand.

For the Ragu:
400g pork belly
400g pork ribs
1/4 cup olive oil
6 cloves garlic (cut cloves in 4 pieces)
3 leaves sage
2 cups tomato pure
1 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup water
Salt & Pepper


In a big pan, brown the pork belly and the ribs. in a separate small pan, brown the garlic and the sage. Add the garlic and sage with the meat. Add the tomato pure and simmer for 45 minutes with the lid cover.

Filling:
1/2 kg Ricotta
400g sausage
A pinch of ground pepperoncino (crushed red peppers)
A pinch of cinnamon
3 leaves of sage diced up
Salt & Pepper

Mix all together with hands

Bavaroise with white chocolate and mint sauce

300ml fresh whole milk
300ml heavy cream
3 eggs
100g white chocolate
50g sugar
1 vanilla bean
3 gelatine leaf of 1tbsp powder

For the mint sauce:
100g heavy cream
50g sugar
2 tbsp mint syrup

In a bowl with water, add the gelatine leafs to hydrate.  In a pan, heat the mild with the vanilla and add the gelatine leaves.
Separate the eggs in two bowls. Using a mixer, mix the egg yolks and sugar until is creamy. In another bowl, mix the egg whites until peaks.
Add the white chocolate on the pan and until melt.
In another bowl mix the heavy cream until is peaks.
Start folding all the ingredients. Be careful to do not over mix! :)
Put the Bavarese for at list 3 hours on the fridge!

Making the mint sauce:
In a small pan, heat the cream and sugar. Add the mint syrup and let reduce.

Pollo alla Cacciatora

Six pieces of chicken tight
3 carrots cut in big cubes
1 onion cut in big cubes
1 celery stick in big cubes
6 cloves of garlic, minced
3 bay leafs
1 rosemary stick
1 cup black pitted olives
1 cup red wine
1 cup cherry tomatoes
Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper
Pepperoncino (optional)

In a big sauce pan, sear the chicken with olive oil. Reserve the chicken and cook the carrots, onion, garlic and celery in high heat. When the vegetables are brown add the chicken and the wine. Let cook in high heat for about five minutes and then add the tomatoes, olives and the herbs. Add salt & pepper and slow cook until the sauce is thick.
Serve with baked potatoes or polenta!

Pollo alla San Patrizio

Recipe created for the Saint Patricks day class in 2015!

For the chicken:
1 Kg (2 pounds) of chicken breast cut in fillet.


Salt & Pepper
Olive oil

For the Pesto sauce:
A jar of pesto (1 cup) or make a homemade pesto recipe. PESTO RECIPE LINK
1/2 cup of heavy cream
1 jar of sundries tomatoes

Grill the chicken. Mix the pesto with the heavy cream. Pour about 1 tbsp of the sauce in each chicken breast. Add a sun dried tomatoes on the top. And is ready to serve! :)