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Showing posts from October, 2011

Pasta with marinated dried Tomatoes, Ricotta and Oregano (Pasta ricotta, pomodorini secchi e origano)

Last week during the "Italiaanse Dagen" in The Netherlands I received a nice present from our friend Chef Giuseppe Migliaccio (the founder of Happy Cooking ), a big bowl of his famous little marinated dried tomatoes... fantastic present! Once again... thank you Giuseppe! Today I will propose you a recipe I have built around his tomatoes... I thought that ricotta, oregano and pecorino cheese will make a nice combination together with Giuseppe's marinated dried tomatoes. The result was surprising, so I want to share the recipe with you. Serving 4 Ingredients: 350g Italian short pasta( I have used farfalle) 250g Fresh Ricotta cheese 250g marinated dried cherry tomatoes 4 Tbs Grated Pecorino cheese 4 tbs Extra Virgin Olive Oil 1 Tbs Italian Oregano Salt and pepper to taste A small piece of Italian red chili (optional) 1 Garlic clove Bring to a boil a big pot of salted water. When boiling add the pasta and cook "al dente". While the pasta is

Chocolate, Pear and Cinnamon Cake (Torta al cioccolato con pere e cannella)

Another fanstastic cake for your Halloween weekend party? Here we go with a Chocolate and Pear soft cake, with a light flavour of cinnamon.....pure pleasure.... for you, your friends and family. It is very easy to make if you can have a mixer and an electric hand egg beater. I am sure everybody will love it! If you don't like cinnamon, don't add it.  I personally love the taste of Chocolate, pears and cinnamon together... Use a good dark chocolate for this cake, a 70% cacao minumum. Enjoy! Ingredients: 150gr Dark chocolate 1 Tbs Powdered cacao 200gr Sugar 100gr Butter (softed) 230gr Flour 70gr Potato flour 125gr Plain yogurth 80gr milk 3 eggs 1 Teaspoon of baking powder 1/2 teaspoon powdered cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract A pinch of salt 3 Medium pears Powdered sugar for decoration Instructions: Butter and flour a round baking pan (24cm), keep aside. Peel the pears and cut in tin slides, keep aside. Preheat the oven 170 C° (340 F°). Add in a mixer

Pasta with Zucchini, Pancetta and Mushrooms (pasta con zucchine, pancetta e funghi)

Another quick and easy Pasta recipie, full of autumn's flavours... You can add a little red chili if you like and this pasta will warm you up when outside is cold! I used "mezze maniche" but you can use any other kind of short pasta, penne or tortiglioni for example. Serving 4 Ingredients: 350 gr short Italian pasta 250gr Mushrooms (Champignons de Paris or else) 1 Zucchini 200 gr Smoked Pancetta cut in small cubes 2 Tbs Grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese 2 Tbs Extra Virgin Olive Oil 1 small onion 1 garlic clove 1/4 cup white wine 1 Tbs finely cut Parsley Salt to taste Pepper to taste Bring to a boil a pot of salty water. While the water gets to a boil, clean and cut the mushrooms and the Zucchini. Finely chop garlic and onion. When the water is boiling add the short pasta, while the pasta is cooking prepare the sauce: Pour Olive Oil in a large frying pan, add garlic and onion, cook till the onion gets tranparent, ad

Halloween pumpkin cake (Torta di Halloween alla zucca)

Just back from a fantastic cooking weekend at the ''Italiaanse dagen'' in Rosmalen, NL, where we've met a lots of new friends and Italian cuisine lovers :-) I want to propose you a cake recipie for the coming Halloween weekend parties.... a pumpkin cake with hazelnuts and chocolate (once again... not for a diet). I have baked the pumking to get a puree, you could also use canned puree but the taste will not be the same, if you have a little time, please try to make your puree at home, it is easy and healthy, you will taste the difference! Ingredients: - For the cake 1 small pumpkin (or 2 cups of canned pumpkin puree) 4 eggs 250ml of flavourless oil (sunflowers or else) 300gr wheatmeat organic flour (I use the 96%) 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 250gr granulated white sugar 200 gr roasted and crushed hazelnuts 2 Teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon baking soda A pinch of salt 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger A pinch of ground

Cabbage and Orange salad with pine nuts (Insalata di cavolo e arance con pinoli)

Dear Friends, first of all I want to remind you that this weekend you can meet us at the "Italiaanse Dagen" Italian Food Fair in Rosmalen, The Netherlands (Europe) together with our Italian wine specialist partner Purapassione . We will present some traditional products from the Italian region Abruzzi (Zafferano from l'Aquila, Hand made Tuna in olive oil, Crema di Pecorino, Caciotta allo zafferano etc..) and delight the pulic with some of our most famous Appetizers and Bruschette. If you live in the neighbourhoods... come visit the Myitaliacuisine stand, you will receive a warm welcome! For all the other friends here is a new recipie! A quick and easy salad with two products that apparently have nothig in common: Cabbage and Orange, melted with a vinegrette made of Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Balsamic vinegar from Modena, Honey, French mustard, grated fresh ginger and sprinkled with roasted pine nuts and a pinch of pepper...what else? It is simply delicious. Dedicated t

How to make Italian Chicken Broth - Come fare il brodo di pollo tradizionale

This is a recipie for a very tasteful chicken broth. The spices give to this broth a special taste, really appriciated during winter. I use it for soups and many preparations, I usually make it in big quantity and freeze it, to use it when i need. This  broth should be cooked not less than two hours, more you cook it, richer it gets. It is really better if you get organic chicken and veggies for this praparation. Organic chickens are in general much more tasteful and healthy as well as organic veggies. Well... home made broth is very easy to make and much better than any bouillon cube or canned broth you can find in shops, so why don't you try it and let me know how it worked out? Makes about 3 liter of broth Ingredients: 500gr Chicken (better if organic) cut in pieces 1 Medium onion 1 Carrot 1 Medium tomato 1 Rib of celery 1 Medium potato 1 Bay leaf 6 black peppercorns 4 Cloves 1 Star Anice (optional) 2 Garlic cloves (optional) 1 Tbs unrifined grey sea salt 4

Blackberry Tart with Chantilly Cream (Torta di mirtilli alla crema chantilly)

To make your Sunday a little sweet I propose you a new dessert recipie which is for sure not a diet recipie! I've made this tart for my friends using the last fresh blackberries of the season (this year my garden produced an incredible amount of berries) it was delicious...but ok just for special occasions! If you don't have blackberries you can use any other fruit... the one you like. You could also mix different fruits and create a very colourful tart! Serving 8 Ingredients: 1 portion of Short Crust Pastry 1 portion of Italian Pastry Cream 500gr of Blackberries(or any other fruit) 250ml  of 35% fat cream (to be whipped) 2Tbs powdered sugar Instructions: Preheat the oven 180°C (360°F). Roll out the Short Crust Pastry on a floured surface with a rolling pin, until it is about 30cm in diameter, lift it up using the rolling pin and drape carefully over a buttered and floured tart pan.   Carefully push the pastry down into the edges of the pan. Run the rolli