Skip to main content

Sea Grasshoppers Gratin (Cicale di mare gratinate)

The most difficult part of this dish is... finding the Sea Grasshoppers. In italy they are very common, but it can be very difficult to find them abroad. I had the chance to get them very fresh just few days before to leave Italy...  I cooked them with my mother... her favourite way: filled with a bread, parmesan and parsley mixture then baked in the oven. Simply delicious! I reccomend this recipe to you, it can be a perfect starter for your fish based dinners!

Serves 4
Ingredients:
12 sea grasshoppers (cicale di mare)
150g day old bread
50g bread crumbs
1+ 1/2  tbs grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
6  tbs extra virgin olive oil
1 tbs dry white wine
1small bunch of fresh parsley
1 garlic clove
salt and peper to taste
Instructions:
Wash and open lenghtside the upper part of the grasshoppers with a good knife, keep aside. Preheat the over at 180°C. Prepare the filling mixture. In a food mixer mix all the other ingredients and 3 tbs of olive oil and the white wine.
Fill each grasshopper with the mixture and place them on a baking tray covered with parchment paper. Pour the remaining olive oil on the top. Bake 180°C for about 10 to 15 minutes.
Your Sea Grasshopper Gratin is ready! Serve warm. Buon Appetito!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Neapolitan "Sfogliatella Frolla" (sfogliatella frolla napoletana)

 The content and pictures of this post are copyright registered & protected ©myitaliancuisine I miss Italy tremendously... so today I will propose you something very traditional from Naple: the Sfogliatella! Neapolitan most famous pastry:"Sfogliatella"comes in two styles: "riccia", with a crust of many crisp, papery layers, and "frolla", with a thicker pastry crust. The riccia's tender exterior (made with flour, water, and lard) consists of concentric squashed rings. The frolla shell (made with flour, sugar, and butter or lard) is like the best sweet piecrust. Both hold fillings of sweetened ricotta and cooked semolina flavored with vanilla, "millefiori" flavour and mixed candied fruits. I propose you the Sfogliatella frolla, much easier to make at home....but terrific as well as the Riccia! The filling is, anyway, always the same. Makes about 20 Sfogliatelle Ingredients for the pastry crust: 500gr Pastry flour 180gr

Croissants with apricot jam filling (cornetti alla marmellata di albicocche)

These croissants briochés with apricot jam filling are perfect for the traditional Italian breakfast: Cornetto e Cappuccino ! WOOOW I feel back in Italy already! Freshly baked they are delicious and the good baking smell will go all over your house...so what are you waiting to bake your own cornetti? The basic dough is the same of the French braided brioche Ingredients: 1French brioche dough  see recipe here 1 cup of apricot jam 1 beaten egg for the glaze 1 tbs of milt for the glaze few tbs of pearl sugar for decoration Instructions: With a rolling pin start to roll out your brioche dough till you get a large circle. Try the get a perfect circle like the one above. Cut the circle in 16 triangles. Make a small cut at the base of the triangle. Fill with a teaspoon of jam. Roll the croissant starting from the large base. Roll all the croissants.  Place them on an oven tray with parchment paper and make them rest for one hour. In the meanwhile p

Pastiera Napoletana, Neapolitan Easter Grain Pie

 The content and pictures of this post are copyright registered & protected ©myitaliancuisine The Pastiera is the most famous Neapolitan Easter traditional pastry. Prepared since centuries, in the region of Campania almost every family own his special Pastiera recipe. It's a pie crust with a filling of boiled grains (grano cotto), milk, ricotta, candied fruits (cedro, zucca e arancia candita), orange blossoms water (acqua di fiori d'arancio). The  Pastiera is so famous to deserve its own website: www.pastiera.com, I have got Pastiera from the Italian bakeries since I was a child.... and now I've finally baked it myself, a few times, trying to get the good recipe.... finally I think I got it! This  is my own Pstiera recipe: the crust is the one I use for crust pies in general, the traditional recipe uses lard I prefer to use butter, you can use what you like. The canned cooked grains are a must, you will normally find it in the italian grocery stores, as wel