Pearl Barley and Fresh Broad Beans Soup (Zuppa di Fave e Orzo Perlato)

Yes it's broad beans season. In Italy we love to eat fresh broad beans with a very simple slice of rustic bread with olive oil and salt... back to my childhood at the grandparents farm... Here is very difficult to find fresh broad beans, they do not easily grow in such a cold country... but sometimes I am so am lucky to find some at the italian grocery. Broad beans are good for salads, just eated the italian way with bread or in a nice soup, that's what I did: a pearl barley and broad beans soup, it's healthy and nice, you can eat it warm or cold, the taste is great! Perfect vegan dish ; ) Enjoy cooking simple!

Serving 4
Ingredients:
3/4 cup offresh  broad beans
3/4 cup of pearl barley
1 medium carrot
1 medium onion
1 Stalk of celery
1 garlic clove
4 Tbs of extra virgin olive oil
a small piece of fresh red hot chili (optional)
3 or 4 small tomatoes
1 small branch of lemon thyme
1and half to 2 liters of water
1 small branch of marjolane
1/4 cup of dry white wine
salt and pepper to taste

Finely cut carrot, onion and celery. Chop the tomatoes and the chili (optional). Pour the olive oil onto a pot. Heat up. Add the cut veggies and the garlic clove. Cook for a few minutes. Add the pearl barley and the broad beans. Stir well.

Toast for a couple of minutes. Add the wine, make it evaporate, stir well.

Add the chopped tomatoes and chili. Add the water, salt, pepper and herbs. Cover. Bring to a boil. When boiling, reduce the heat to a minimum and cook for 20 to 30 minutes. Check the cooking from time to time. Add some more water if needed.

 

Your soup is ready! Set on a serving cup and eat warm or cold if you like. You can sprinkle some grated Parmigiano cheese on the top if you like. Buon appetito!

Gnocchi al ragu' bolognese semplice (Gnocchi with easy bolognese sauce)

Gnocchi are one of favourite italian dishes. When I was a child, my mother used to handmake gnocchi every Sunday morning. The good smell of the tomato sauce used to wake me up every Sunday morning and I knew what we were going to eat for lunch... Today when I can I make my gnocchi at home, when I can't I buy some fresh gnocchi at the italian crocery shop...  I prepare gnocchi with a very simple bolognese sauce, the original "Bolognese sauce" is very fat (using pancetta, butter and milk or cream) and has a very long cooking time. Try this recipe, you will not be disappointed ; )

Makes 4 servings
Ingredients:
500 gr fresh Italian Potato Gnocchi
400gr of beef mince
3/4 liter of tomato puree "Passata"
Half glass of dry white wine (red will also do  but I prefer the white one)
5 Tbs of extra virgin olive oil
1 small onion
1 carrot
1 celery stalk
2 cloves
Salt and pepper to taste
5 liters of salty boiling water

Preparing the bolognese sauce:
Finely cut the carot, celery and onion.

 Pour the olive oil in a sauce pan, when hot add the veggies mix. Cook till the onion get transparent;

Add the beef mince.

When well roasted add the white wine, make it evaporate.

Add the tomato puree. Add the cloves,  salt and pepper to taste. Cover and cook for 45 to 60 minutes.
Once the sauce cooked, place 5 liters of salty water on medium heat and brig o a boil. When the water is boiling add the Gnocchi one by one. Gnocchi are cooked when they come back on surface, do not overcook...

 Drain the gnocchi and place them on a serving bowl with the bolognese sauce.

 Top with grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese.

Your Sunday "Gnocchi al sugo bolognese" are ready...buon appetito!

Macha Tea Biscuits (Biscotti al the macha - Sablés au thé Macha)

I am a big fan of Italian expresso coffee of course, there is no way to start my day without a good expresso, but in the evening I like to have my cup of tea. My favourite is the Dong Ding Oolong tea (from the Dong Ding region in central Taiwan) which due to its low theine content is a good tea for an afternoon or evening break. Only recently I discovered this marveillous green powder called Macha tea. Macha is uniquely Japanese, it is the highest quality tea available in Japan. Macha is traditionally used for the Japanese tea ceremony. Benefits of green tea are well known, with Macha tea the actual entire tea leaf is consumed wich gives even higher concentrations of antioxindants, catechins and vitamins. Consider reading this for more info about Macha tea. Macha is also widely used for cooking: cookies, micho and a large variety of food preparations. I love Macha tea special taste... so today I will start a new recipes category: "Cooking with Macha". Here is the first very easy recipe, a shortbread cookie which will surely surprise you. This recipe is from lovescool.com and have being travelling all over the world since it was posted in 2007!

Makes  about 25 biscuits
ingredients:
65gr of powdered sugar
140gr good quality butter at room temperature
1 and 1/2 Tbs of Macha Tea
3 egg yolks
220gr pastry flour
1 cup of granulated sugar for decoration

Mix powdered sugar and macha tea. Place the softened butter in a large bowl.

Add the sugar-macha mixture to the butter, beat till creamy.

 Add the yolks, beat till very well mixed, slowly add the flour.

Keep on kneading with your hands till you get a dough ball.

Wrap into a plastic film and refrigerate for minimum 30 minutes. Preheat your oven to 180°C (350°F).

Roll out the dough on a floured worktop, shape your bisquits the way you like...

 

Coat with Granulated sugar.

Place on baking parchment and place in the oven for 13 to 15 minutes. Biscuits should not turn brown. Wait till cooled, eat  with a good cup of Dong Ding Oolong tea... it's paradise!

It's Pizza Time! (Voglia di pizza!)

Making pizza at home is nice and much more healthy (less salt, less fat and you know what you eat!) and more: you can make your own pizza on your taste ;) It's funny to do it with children: they love preparing and decorating their own small pizzas in a funny way. Last week I had a pizza party at home. I prepared a variety of my handmade pizzas...with olives and salami, Speck ham and mushrooms, asparagus and cherry tomatoes and a classic Margherita with oregano. Here you have some pictures and you can use them as suggestion for your own Home made pizza parties. For the pizza dough please see our basic pizza recipe here.

Makes 4 round Pizzas:
Ingredients:
1 portion of Pizza dough, see recipe here devided in 4 parts
For the "pizza with green olives, mushrooms and salami":
1 medium mozzarella
2 Tbs of tomato puree
1 cup of green olives
1 cup of finely sliced fresh mushrooms
Few slices of salami Milano
1 teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil
Pepper to taste

For the pizza with speck mushrooms and rosmary
1 medium mozzarella
2tbs of tomato puree
1 cup of finely sliced fresh mushrooms
3 slices of Italian Speck ham
1 teaspoon of fresh or dry rosemary
1 teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil

 

For the pizza with asparagus and cherry tomatoes:
1 medium mozzarella
6 cooked (steamed or boiled) green asparagus
6 cherry tomatoes
salt and pepper to taste

For the pizza Margherita with origan:
1 medium mozzarella
2 Tbs of tomato puree
1 Tbs of olive oil
1 teaspoon of dry or fresh oregano

My cooking method from GIOGGIO' (sorry it's in italian) which I will never stop to thank. Preheat your oven to 220°C (preferably use the fan programm with bottom heat)

Devide the doug in 4 Parts.

Roll out each pizza pizza dough on a piece of parchment paper, with a rolling pin.

Decorate the pizza with all the ingredients starting from the Tomato puree.  Using the oven grid, place it on the bottom part of your electric oven (this cooking method only works for electric ovens!!). Cook for a few minutes, check  the cooking constantly, it burns very fast!

 Pizzas are now ready to eat...... have a nice pizza party, buon appetito!

Speck wrapped mozzarella bites (Mozzarelline allo speck)

Days are getting longer and warmer here in the north...soon the berbecue season will start... I am already preparing... mentally! This nice and simple appetizer is perfect to start a nice garden party and barbecue. Speck is a distinctively juniper-flavored ham originally from Tyrol, an historical region that since 1918 partially lies in Italy (Alto Adige). Speck's origins at the intersection of two culinary worlds is reflected in its synthesis of salt-curing and smoking. You can find the "Speck" in Italian grocery shops as well as the "bocconcini mozzarellas", very small mozzarellas, the same size of a cherry tomato. Have fun preparing and eating these delicious bites!

Makes 20 bites

10 slices of Italian speck

20 Bocconcini mozzarellas

few branches of fresh Thyme

Unrefined Grey Sea salt to taste

 Freshly grounded pepper

2-3 stbs of very good quality extra virgin olive oil

20 toothsticks

Preparation:

Drain the mozzarellas in a colander. Cut the speck slices in half. Roll the speck around each cherry mozzarella. Set on a serving plate and fix with a toothstick.

When all the bites are ready cut and sprinkle the fresh thyme on the top, pour olive oil and add grey sea salt and pepper to taste! Buon Appetito!

Berry Cake (Torta leggera ai frutti di bosco)

I like berries so much.... and I love to make this cake for tea time or coffea with friends, it is soft, light and nice. If you like soft fruits this is perfect, it is also loved by children at any time of the day... it is very easy to make so... give it a try!!!

Ingredients:
250gr of mixed berries (frozen berries will also do)
3 eggs
6 full tbs of sugar
1 sachet of baking powder (16 gr)
Few drops of vanilla extract
a pinch of salt
1 small pot of yogurth (125gr)
Half cup of peanuts oil (or another veg. oil but not olive)
50gr corn starch
200 gr flour (or more if your mixture is too liquid)

Preheat your oven to180°C. Line a deep 20cm cake spring-form tin with parachment paper or grease and flour it. Mix all the ingredients except the berries in a mixer, pour half of  the mixture in the cake spring form. cover with half of the berries. Pour the left mixture and cover again with berries.

 

Place in the preheated oven for 1 hour. Check if cooked (specially in the middle) with a toothstick, when it comes out completly dry the cake is cooked.

Take off the oven, make it cool. Take out from the pan and.....Buon Appetito!

Chicken Rolls with Parma Ham and Mozzarella (Rotolini di pollo con prosciutto di Parma e mozzarella)

Here we go for another "easy to make" recipe, perfect for an improvised dinner.... just need few chicken breast fillets, ham ( I use the Parma ham)  mozzarella or another cheese of your choice and herbs, the sauce is made by fresh cherry tomatoes mixed in a food processor with basil leaves, garlic and extra virgin olive oil....very good and fresh!

Serving 4
Ingredients for the rolls:
4 chicken breast fillets
4 slices of parma ham
1 mozzarella
2 garlic cloves
1 teaspoon of fresh thyme leaves
1 teaspoon of fresh marjolane leaves
4 tbs of extra virgin olive oil
For the sauce:
2Tbs extra virgin olive oil
8 cherry tomatoes
4 leaves of fresh basil
half garlic clove
salt and pepper to taste


Directions
Place chicken breast on a worktop and using a meat mallet pound each breast to 1/4-inch thickness. Repeat with remaining chicken breasts.

Lay chicken breasts flat on a cutting board place 1 slice of ham on each filletand few pieces of mozzarella , thyme, and marjolane in the middle of each breast.

 

Roll the chicken and secure with toothpicks. Season the outside of the rolls with salt and pepper.

 Heat the olive oil in skillet over medium-high heat. add the garlic and herbs. Brown the chicken evenly all over for 7 minutes or until golden, add the white wine, then reduce the heat to medium and cover the skillet. Let it cook for about 8 minutes more.

 Prepare the sauce: place tomatoes, half garlic clove and basil leaaves, salt in a food mixer, add the olive oil and mix till it is reduced in a puree. Add salt and pepper and set apart.

Your chicken rolls are ready, Slices each roll. In every serving plate spoon some tomato sauce and place the sliced chicken on top. Add a little olive oil and pepper. Eat warm or cold. Buon Appetito!