SPINACH PUDDING WITH PARMIGIANO SAUCE

This sformato (pudding ) is an extremely simple but elegant way to create a main course which is quite unusual and tasty. In the Italian tradition, there is a rich collection of this kind of dish, made with vegetables and cheeses, or rice and pasta and complemented sauces.

Spinach pudding is an excellent escamotage to make people who do not love vegetables to enjoy them. I have always loved the combination of Spinach sautè in a pan with butter and then enriched by a generous sprinkle of Parmesan. In my family, it was a way to make us respect the prohibition of eating meat on Friday and we cooked eggs with the spinach. Fundamentally, these are the same ingredients, but the presentation is much nicer.

This spinach pudding is ideal for vegetarians or guest who follow a gluten-free diet if you remember to replace the normal flour of the sauce with a gluten-free one.

Ingredients for the puddings

2,5 oz. (80 g.) grated Parmigiano
17 oz. (500 g.) frozen spinach
1 oz. (30 g). pine nuts
4 medium eggs
1 pinch freshly grated nutmeg
Sea salt
Freshly milled black pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 garlic clove
Butter and breadcrumbs for the ramequins

Ingredients for the Parmigiano sauce

1 cup (250 ml) whole milk
3 tablespoons (25 gr.) 00 flour
2 tablespoons (30 g.) butter
1 oz. (30 g.) grated Parmesan

Instructions for the puddings

Cook the raw spinach in a large pot of salted boiling water until just cooked through, about 1 minute. If using frozen spinach, let defrost, or microwave.

Using a slotted spoon, transfer the cooked spinach in small batches to a sieve. Use the sieve to squeeze ALL the water out of the spinach by pushing the spinach against the sieve.

In a frying pan, fry the garlic clove in the oil until the garlic is golden. Discard the garlic and sauté the spinach in the flavored oil.

Place spinach and pine nuts in a food processor and pulse. Add the other ingredients. Make sure the spinach is in tiny pieces and the mixture is thoroughly combined.

Carefully spread the ramequins with butter, line with breadcrumbs, and pour the mix to three quarters fill the ramequins.

Bake in a pre-heated oven at 400F – 200C for 30 minutes.

Instructions for the Parmigiano sauce

In a small pot, melt the butter and add the flour and salt. When your roux is golden add the warm milk (not boiled) and mix with a whisk. Bring to a simmer and thicken for 5-6 minutes, constantly mixing with a whisk. Take the pot off the stove and add gradually the Parmesan, whisking until the cheese is perfectly melted. Your sauce is ready to complement the pudding.

SEA POTAGE, A LACTOSE-FREE CREATION

Usually “potage” and “sea” contradict each other. This recipe is connected to “land” ingredients like potatoes, leeks, and a lot of fresh cream.

I created this recipe when trying to exalt Autumn vegetables, and trying to propose something healthy but extremely stimulating. I have always been inspired by French cuisine, but the recipe of the normal potage sounded really a bit too rich with all that cream. I decided to keep potatoes and leeks, add squash and a good fish stock and prawns, and I have to admit that it is very appreciated.

This encounter of fresh ingredients, poor in calories and rich in vitamins and fibers, is an excellent way to taste an unusual dish, light but full of taste.

In Italy, there are other dishes, mainly first courses, that enhance squash, like butternut squash gnocchi, the Ferrara squash ravioli, the Mantua ravioli. This vegetable is wonderful and versatile, rich in fibers, minerals and increases the sensation of fullness, helping a lot for the diets.

While in traditional Italian first courses squash is processed and squeezed, here the labor is extremely reduced; the addition of prawns and chili pepper balances the sweet note of squash and leeks.

Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cooking Time: 25 minutes | Total Time: 45 minutes | Yield: Makes 4 servings.

Ingredients

16 oz. (500 gr.) potatoes, peeled and chopped
24 oz. (750 gr.) butternut squash, deseeded, peeled, and cut into chunks
2 leeks, only the white part finely sliced
18 prawns with heads and shells
½ cup + 2 tablespoons (120 ml) dry white wine
1 small carrot, cut into chunks
1 small onion, cut into chunks
½ small celery stalk
4 grains black pepper
Sea salt
2 cups (500 ml.) water
1 garlic clove
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 pinch chili pepper

Instructions

Prepare the stock simmering in a pot with the heads and shells of the prawns, vegetables, pepper, salt, water and wine for 30 minutes.

In a pot, sautè the leeks with 2 tablespoons olive oil. Then add the squash, potatoes and the filtered stock and boil for almost an hour; check the salt and season, eventually.

When the soup is cooked, mix the soup using an immersion blender, making a silky velouté.

In a non-stick pan, pour the oil and sauté the garlic clove in it. Discard the garlic and sauté the prawns, when they are roasted add the wine. Season with chili and salt.

After the wine has evaporated, pour the soup in the bowls and add 3 prawns for each serving.

BUTTERNUT SQUASH: THE JOY OF AUTUMN

Butternut squash is one of the many joys of the season: rain and cold temperatures are compensated by incredibly rich and comforting foods. It is another gift from the Americas, like potatoes.

Accompanied by a creamy Taleggio cheese sauce, this dish speaks about the valley crossed through the Po river, its fog, its chilly temperatures. In this discomforting weather, nevertheless, the inhabitants created a varied cuisine, sophisticated, that requires some manual skills but is a great source of satisfaction.

One of my personal favorites is this recipe of gnocchi: the great canonic recipe of gnocchi is enriched by the addition of Butternut squash. It is extremely versatile: the 00 flour can be easily replaced by the same quantity of gluten-free flour in order to create a dish which can be tasted by our celiac guests. It is important to underline that the temperature of potatoes and squash is fundamental: just tepid, not too hot, or it would require an excessive quantity of flour, nor too cold, or it would be very hard to knead. Still, for the egg intolerant or vegan tablemates, we can decide not to add the egg. We must be quite skilled, though, since the egg makes pasta easier to knead. (and of course, the Taleggio sauce should be replaced by a vegetables one.

This recipe, like many others, is a starting point for a journey in the pleasures of Autumn.

Prep Time: 5 minutes | Cooking Time: 25 minutes | Total Time: 2 hours | Yield: Makes 6 servings.

Ingredients for gnocchi

2 pounds (800 gr.) Hubbard squash, deseeded and cut in thin slices, then baked
1 pound (400 gr.) russet potatoes , steamed and peeled
1 medium egg
1 cup (130 gr.) pastry/00 flour

Ingredients for Taleggio sauce

7 oz. (200 gr.) Taleggio cheese
¾ cup (200 ml.) milk
1 tablespoon (20 gr.) butter
2 tablespoons (20 gr.) pastry/00 flour
1 pinch freshly grated nutmeg

Preparation of gnocchi

Push the potatoes (while still tepid/warm) through a food mill or potato ricer, onto a lightly floured work surface. In case the potatoes are too humid (moist) bake them for 5 minutes in the oven, before mashing them.

Gather the potatoes into a mound and make a well in the center. Peel the squash. Squeeze it, push it through a potato ricer and add it to the well. Sprinkle ¾ of the flour into the well and add in the egg.

Mix the ingredients by hand until a soft dough forms. If necessary, add more flour, a little at a time, until the dough has a smooth, evenly moistened consistency.

Lightly flour your work surface and divide the dough into at least eight portions. Roll the portions into 1-inch-thick ropes and cut the ropes into 1-inch pieces. Roll the gnocchi over a fork to shape them, if desired.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the gnocchi and stir a few times with a wooden spoon to submerge and separate them. Cook at a gentle boil until the gnocchi is tender and just beginning to float about 2 to 3 minutes.

Preparation of Taleggio sauce

Make a béchamel melting the butter over low heat, combining the flour and salt and whisking with a fork as you add to prevent lumps. Add the milk a little at a time, whisking as you pour.

Raise the heat to medium-high, and bring to a boil. Simmer for about 5 minutes to thicken, whisking to prevent and break up any lumps (eventually, use an immersion blender). Add the Taleggio, whisk for about 5 minutes to break up any lumps and join the gnocchi. Grate a pinch of nutmeg on the dish.

CACCIATORA CHICKEN STEW

Cacciatora stew is one of those simple dishes which comfort you, above all if served with mashed potatoes on a cold winter day.

It is an incredibly rich and simple dish, the result is an amazing sauce in which you can plunge bread and collect it in the famous “scarpetta”. It is a gesture not be made in a restaurant, still the most of us would not resist the temptation. It is almost a moral obligation, none could waste such a treasure.

With some variations, this Tuscan dish is loved and prepared in all Italy. Some cooks add olives, they use dry white wine and no tomato, probably the version I am proposing is revised compared to it. Tomatoes appeared on the tables of Central and Northern Italy quite late, only in the second half of the nineteenth century, I guess that this addition was made more recently.

For the white version, follow the same recipe replacing the red wine with a dry white one and do not add tomato. Some also add pitted olives half an hour before the end of the cooking process.

The same recipe is used for the rabbit too, and the result is always excellent.

It is those of these dishes that represents Italy at its best: Mediterranean herbs, vegetables, wine. The frequent use of wine allows us to use fewer fats and keeping the meat or fish moist. In the meanwhile, it enhances the taste of the seasoning, letting us to use less salt.

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cooking Time: 2 hours + 20 minutes | Total Time: 2 hours + 30 minutes | Yield: Makes 4 servings.

Ingredients

1 medium-size chicken, chopped in small pieces
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 celery rib, finely chopped
1 medium carrot, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
3 sage leaves
2 bay leaves
2 oz. fresh pancetta, chopped in cubes
3 tablespoons EVO oil
½ cup red wine

Instructions

To cook, brown the chicken pieces in a heavy pot with the oil. Once the meat is brown, add the vegetables, pancetta, and herbs. Make the chicken simmer, cover with a lid.

Cook until the vegetables are golden, then add the wine and season the meat. It is important to add salt and pepper with the wine because it enhances the tastes and you use less salt.

Wait until the wine has completely evaporated in order to add the tomato puree. Cook for a couple of hours, adding some water or stock if needed.

EGGPLANT BALLS, THE PERFECT FINGER FOOD.

These eggplant balls are perfect for finger food at your next summer party, or as an entrée for any summer meal. Eggplants are at their peak right now, being the sweetest and most delicious they can be during the year.
This is the simplified and lighter version of a recipe I had in Calabria, earlier this year. The ones I enjoyed in my Southern holiday were bigger – the food size is always bigger in Southern Italy – and had a heart of Caciocavallo cheese that melted in my mouth, burning my taste buds.
Eggplant is another incredible ingredient that demonstrates, once again, that Italian cuisine has always been welcoming ingredients and cultural influences all over the world.
Cultivated in Southern and Eastern Asia since prehistory, it reached the countries of the Mediterranean thanks to the Arabs. This is indicated by the numerous Arabic and North African names for it, along with the lack of the ancient Greek and Roman names.
While the cultivation of this solanaceous plant took root in Southern Mediterranean in the Middle Ages, it was only introduced in Central and Northern Italy after the unification of Italy in the second half of 19th century.
Pellegrino Artusi, the author of the first book of Italian cuisine of a unified Italy in 1891, The Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well, is the first to exalt this versatile vegetable.
“Forty years ago,” he writes in his recipe 399, “one hardly saw eggplant or fennel in the markets of Florence; they were considered to be vile because they were foods eaten by Jews. As in other matters of greater moment, here again the Jews show how they have always had a better nose than the Christians.”

Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cooking Time: 45 minutes | Total Time: 60 minutes | Yield: Makes 4 servings.

Ingredients

2 medium globe eggplant (about 1 pound – 800 gr.) (peeled and cubed ½ inch thick)
2 medium eggs
½ + ¼ cups breadcrumbs (100 gr.)
1 cup grated Pecorino or Grana cheese (100 gr.)
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
2 tbsp fresh flat parsley, finely chopped
marine salt and black pepper to season
1 + ½ cups sunflower oil (300 ml.)

Instructions

Boil the eggplant cubes in salted water from 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Check with a fork when they are soft. Drain the cubes and set aside to cool.

Squeeze all liquid from eggplant through the strainer and transfer the eggplant to a food processor. Add parsley, eggs, cheese, garlic, season with pepper, and pulse.

Scrape down sides of bowl, and blend again until smooth. Test to check if salt is needed, if so, add it and pulse again.

Grease your hands with oil, take a tablespoon of the mixture and form a ball using your hands.

Heat the oil in a deep frying pan over medium heat and fry the balls. You can also spread a bit of olive oil on parchment and bake them instead of frying.

Move to a serving dish and serve.

CLAMS AND SUMMER, AN INSEPARABLE DUO.

When summer approaches, two things cannot be missed on an Italian table: spaghetti with fresh clams and a bottle of chilled dry wine
Usually, I love making fresh home-made pasta. However, sometimes stopping for a while, opening a bag of excellent durum wheat spaghetti, and making this simple and delicious pasta means it is summer – the holiday period for the most of Italians.
According to personal and regional preferences, there are a lot of variations in this dish: a pinch of chilli peppers, or 4-5 roughly chopped cherry tomatoes… This version is my favourite because nothing interferes with the taste of clams. To me, it is the symbol of Northern Adriatic – a small, enclosed sea and one of the richest for the production of seafood, particularly shellfish.

Spaghetti with fresh clams

1 lb. (400 gr.) spaghetti
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
3 tablespoons olive oil (extra virgin)
1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp chopped fresh Italian parsley
2 lbs. fresh clums, purged*
6 teaspoons marine salt

*How to purge clams:Purging the clams is a simple but time-consuming process: first, pour fresh water in a bowl with a tablespoon salt, and lay a strainer in it. Move the clams in it, discarding the ones with cracked shells. Leave them sit for 20 minutes. Take the strainer off the bowl. You will find sand on the bottom of the bowl, discard the water and rinse the bowl, then pour more cold water in the bowl, a tablespoon salt and the strainer with the clams back in water. Repeat this operation four times more for a total amount of 2 hours.
Heat the clams in a heavy large skillet over medium-high heat, covered with its lid, until clams pop open.
Check them one by one as you move them to a bowl, discarding the ones which did not open (it means that they were not fresh).
Filter half of the water produced by the clams pouring it through a white cotton napkin laid inside a fine mesh sieve. Since the quantity of water is a very limited one, also replacing the napkin with cheesecloth or a coffee filter is not a very lengthy process.
Rinse the skillet and heat oil in it.
Add sliced garlic and sauté until light brown, about 1 minute. Add 1/4 cup chopped Italian parsley; stir 2 minutes. Add clams and their juice. Cover and simmer about a couple of minutes.
Meanwhile, cook pasta in large pot of boiling salted water until just tender but still firm to bite. Drain. Add pasta to clams and toss to coat. Usually there is no need to season to with salt, just add pepper.
Sprinkle with remaining 2 tablespoons parsley and serve.

RABBIT TUNA

Tuna and rabbit, together? Why this odd name?

A legend says that in 19^th century the rules about fasting were particularly strict, and the friars in a convent of Avigliana, near Turin, decided to circumvent them by baptising their chickens and rabbits and calling them ‘tuna’ in order to eat them without sinning.

In spite of its country origin and simplicity, it is an elegant and delicious dish, perfect in every season, but particularly appreciated in summer. It was created in Piedmont, in a time where even the most modest families had barnyard animals and because it was necessary to find a way to preserve their meat, given there were no freezers, they started imitating the techniques used for tuna.

Rabbit meat is white and light, perfect for kids and all those who want or need to be careful with red meats. It is healthy and delicious – far from the sadness of eating kale or other depressing vegetables.

RABBIT TUNA

1 (3-lb) rabbit carcass, cleaned with no head
4-5 stems of fresh sage
2 bulbs of garlic
sea salt and pepper for seasoning
1 bottle delicate olive oil, possibly Ligurian (extra virgin)

For the broth

1 medium onion, chopped
1 medium carrot, chopped
2 celery ribs, chopped
1 cup light dry white wine
70 fl. oz. water
4-5 black peppercorns
2 bay leaves
4-5 fresh basil leaves
1 stem fresh thyme
3 stems of fresh parsley
2 cloves

Prepare an aromatic broth with basil, peppercorns, celery, onion, carrot, rosemary, bay leaves, cloves, salt, parsley, wine, and water. Let it simmer for 30 minutes and then carefully place the rabbit in the broth.
Cook for 90 minutes, letting it simmer until the meat comes off the bones.
In the meanwhile, wash and dry the sage leaves and clean the cloves of garlic.
Take the rabbit out of the broth and when it is at room temperature bone it by hand, removing the smallest bones and gristle (cartilage). As you do it, season the meat with marine salt and freshly grounded black pepper.
Prepare 4 small jars or a container, pour a bit of oil, add some meat, a clove of garlic, a couple of sage leaves, more oil, meat, garlic and sage and so on until the jar is full. Finish the last layer with garlic, sage and ¼ inch oil.
Wait 2 days before serving it so the flavours have the time to blend beautifully.
Serving suggestion: I highly recommend steaming 3-4 potatoes, slicing and seasoning them, and serving rabbit pieces on them with its aromatic oil.
The jars can be preserved like this for a week, or frozen.

Filter the broth and freeze in 2-3 jars, it is excellent for rabbit stews or rabbit paella.

GNUDI, TYPICAL TUSCAN RICOTTA AND SPINACH GNOCCHI

Gnudi is a typical Tuscan dish, simple and tasty, where the filling is served in the form of gnocchi but without the pasta wrap. The name comes from ‘gnudo’ meaning naked one, in the Tuscan vernacular. The dish comes from the southern Tuscan region of Maremma, one of Italy’s areas for sheep.

In Italy in Spring we have the best ricotta, it is the time of new-borns and fresh milk. Try this recipe, you won’t regret it.

Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cooking Time: 15 minutes | Total Time: 30 minutes | Yield: Makes 4 servings.

Ingredients

20 oz. (700 gr.) raw spinach or 10 oz. block (350 gr.) frozen chopped spinach
1 medium egg
1 cup (250gr.) whole milk ricotta cheese
6,5 tbsp (50 gr.) 00 flour (plus more for dusting a sheet of kitchen paper and your hands while rolling)
1 pinch grated nutmeg
sea salt and black pepper, to season
1/3 cup (50 gr.) butter
5-6 sage leaves
2 tbsp (30 gr.) grated Parmesan

In advance: Using a strainer over a bowl, strain the ricotta overnight in the fridge to remove all the liquid.

TIP: Cover the strainer with plastic wrap to protect the cheese from absorbing scents in the fridge as it drains.

When you are ready to start making the gnudi, cook the raw spinach in a large pot of boiling salted water until just cooked through, about 1 minute. If using frozen spinach, let defrost, or microwave.

Using a slotted spoon, transfer the cooked spinach in small batches to a sieve. Use the sieve to squeeze ALL the water out of the spinach by pushing the spinach against the sieve. Cut the spinach.

In a frying pan, fry the garlic clove in the oil, discard the garlic and sauté the spinach in the flavored oil.

Place all of the ingredients in a food processor and pulse. You want to make sure the spinach is in tiny pieces and the mixture is thoroughly combined.

Dust your hands with a little flour so the mixture doesn’t stick to your hands.

Take 1 tablespoon of the spinach mixture and roll into balls about the size of a golf ball.

Place on a plate lined with waxed paper or parchment and sprinkled with flour, so the balls don’t stick.

In a small pot, melt the butter and carefully add the sage leaves.

TIP: It is important that the sage leaves do not fry.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil for cooking the gnudi.

Add the gnudi to the water one at a time and cook for 3 minutes or until they rise to the surface. Using a wooden spoon, carefully make sure they aren’t sticking to the bottom of the pot as they are cooking.

When they all float to the top, use a slotted spoon to remove the gnudi and place in your plate or bowl.

Sprinkle with parmesan cheese, pour the melted butter with sage over the top and serve.

You can replace a part of cow milk ricotta with a bit of sheep milk one, the taste will be really intriguing. In this case, be careful when seasoning with salt.