This cherry tomatoes Tarte Tatin is a very intriguing and tasty appetizer which gives a new perspective to a typical Italian ingredient. in these last years, in Italy too there was the introduction of the recipe of the Taste Tatin with its fascinating story as one of the many masterpieces that was created by a mistake.

There are different versions in Italy, since many decided to replace the sweet apples with confit cherry tomatoes and the crisp pastry, in which Parmigiano cheese and thyme combine to make this heavenly Italian appetizer.

I copied this recipe from a brilliant blogger, one of the best in Italy, Sonia Peronaci  and if we follow the instructions you can make it perfectly every time.

In case you need to serve it to a celiac person or want to try a variation with spring onions there is an interesting variation in the blog.

Bring it to room temperature before serving.

Prep Time: 30 mins | Cooking Time: 35 mins | Yield: it serves 4.

Ingredients 

Ingredients for a 26 cm (10 inch) diameter cake tin,  3-4 cm (2-2,5 inch) high

For the savory shortcrust pastry

• 250 g (2 cups) multi-purpose flour
• 40 g (1,4 oz) Parmigiano Reggiano, grated
• 140 g (5 oz) unsalted butter, very cold
• 1 medium egg
• 6 thyme sprigs
• salt and pepper to taste

For the filling

• 650 g (1,5 lb) red cherry tomatoes
• 20 g (1 + 1/2 tbsp or 0,7 oz) white sugar
• 1 clove garlic
• 4- 5 thyme sprigs
• salt and pepper to taste
• 15 g (0,5 oz) pine nuts

Preparation

The savory shortcrust pastry

In a food processor, add flour and cold butter into small piecesand blend for a few moments until the butter is reduced to very fine crumbs.

Add the grated cheese, egg, thyme, salt and pepper and blend again until all the ingredients are mixed together.

Turn the mixture over on the work surface and knead quickly until the mixture is smooth and homogeneous. Form a ball with the dough and, using a rolling pin, roll it out between two sheets of parchment paper. Once you have created a circle of about 30 cm, place it on a baking sheet and store in the refrigerator to firm.

The filling

Take a cake tin or pan suitable for baking in the oven and cooking on the stovetop with a diameter of 26 cm and add a little extra virgin olive oil to the bottom, a clove of garlic, and thyme leaves. On medium heat on the stove top, sauté and brown the garlic then remove it and put the whole tomatoes in a pan adding sugar, salt and pepper then cook for 10 minutes and then turn off the heat.

Pine nuts

Put the pine nuts in a pan on low heat and cook until golden and crispy, taking care to turn them often so as not to burn them. Let them cool.

Assemble and bake

Take the salted pastry, pierce the surface with the tines of a fork (or with a toothpick) and place it on the cherry tomatoes treading the outer edges towards the inside of the pan as if to embrace them. You can help yourself in this operation with a spatula.

Bake the tarte tatin in a preheated static oven at 175 degrees Celsius for about 35 minutes (or 350 F for 30 mins)

Remove from the oven, wait 10 minutes so that the juice of the tomatoes is absorbed by the pastry and turn it upside down on a serving plate. Add some toasted pine nuts on the surface, a few fresh thyme leaves and serve your slice of tasty salted tarte tatin with cherry tomatoes!

This gluten-free dark chocolate cake was created by accident in Capri in 1920, in a similar way to the birth of Tarte Tatin. The pastry chef was in a stressful day and created this magic cake with chocolate and ground almonds forgetting flour: the result is this magic cake covered by a thin and crunchy crust that contains a moist and soft interior like a chocolate truffle.

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cooking Time: 30 minutes | Total Time: 40 minutes | Yield: Makes 8 servings.

Ingredients for a 7 IN (20 cm) mold

• 6,5 oz (g 185) almond flour
• 4,5 oz (125 g) dark chocolate 70%, crumbled
• 4,5 oz (125 g) butter, soft
• 3 medium eggs, room temperature (kept out of the fridge at least 12 hours in advance)
• 4,5 oz (125 g) white sugar
• 1 tablespoon dark rhum

Instructions

Maltagliati pasta is a very traditional shape in Emilia-Romagna, used for rustic soups like pasta & chickpeas or pasta & beans. Literally, its name means “badly cut”.

All good Italian housewives never waste food and this pasta is made from the remnants of dough cut for other shapes. When you roll pasta dough with a rolling pin you get an irregular shape, when you wrap it in a roll in order to cut fettuccine, or squares for tortelli, you cut the irregular edges.

I set the remnants aside, pile them up one on top of the other, and cut diagonally, first in one direction, then in the other, creating very irregular diamonds. I even cut small pieces into smaller ones by hand.

I then let them dry for an hour and freeze them in a bag.

If you need to make them from scratch, this is the recipe for 4 servings:

Prep Time: 15 minutes | Sitting Time: 2 hours minutes | Total Time: 2 hours and 15 minutes | Yield: Makes 4  servings.

Ingredients

• 7 oz (200 g) all-purpose flour
• 2 eggs

Instructions

On a wooden pastry board, pour the flour into a mound, make a hole in its centre and pour the eggs in it.

Mix by hand to make a dough that you are going to roll out using a rolling pin.

Let the dough sit for at least 30 minutes, wrap it in cling film or, even better, cover it in a glass bowl.

Roll the dough into a sheet about two millimetres (1/24-inch) thick. Let it dry for at least an hour and 1/2.

Flour it lightly, fold a few times to form stacking layers and, using a knife, cut fettuccine about ½ inch wide.

Follow the instructions above.

This fig cookie recipe brings out the magic flavour of an incredible, sugary fruit. Figs are at their best at the second part of August and the beginning of September, and if you have the possibility to buy them or better yet get them ripened on the tree, you are a very lucky person. The filling could be replaced by fig jam, but it would not have the same incredible taste enhanced by lemon zest and almond flour, which create an unmistakable taste.

Since the flour reacts differently depending on the country of origin and the percentage of gluten, it is difficult to be precise. Moreover, the size of the egg can also contribute to a great variation. Add one or two tablespoons of milk to the pastry if the dough is too dry.

Prep Time: 5 minutes | Cooking Time: 35 minutes | Total Time: 40 minutes | Yield: Makes 4  servings.

Ingredients for the shortcrust pastry

• 1 cup (140 g) multi-purpose flour
• ¼ cup (40 g) corn starch
• 1½ tbsp (10 g) almond flour
• 1 tsp (3 g) baking powder
• ¼ cup (50 g) white sugar
• 2 tbsp (60 g) butter
• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp (15 ml) milk

Ingredients for the filling

• 9 oz (250 g) fresh figs, peeled and chopped
• 2 tbsp (30 g) white sugar
• ½ lemon zest, grated
• 3 tbsp (20 g)  almond flour

Instructions for the shortcrust pastry

In a mixer, mix all the dry ingredients with the butter until it crumbles. Place in a bowl or on a marble surface and knead with the egg and milk. Wrap in plastic wrap and let it sit in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Instructions for the filling

In a pot, cook the sugar, figs and lemon zest together for 10 minutes. When it cools, add the almond flour and mix again.

Roll the shortbread pastry between two sheets of parchment paper. Cut the pastry edges into a rectangle, then cut again into two rectangles. Place the filling in the centre of each rectangle lengthwise and seal it, overlapping the two edges.  Move the two rolls to the fridge and let sit for 15 minutes.

Heat the oven to 350 F (180 C) Bake the cookies for 25 minutes and cut them only when they reach room temperature.

Orvieto is a beautiful Etruscan town built on a sheer cliff that is mainly composed of tuff and pozzolana, a soft material easy to excavate.

The Orvieto cliff was apt to being easily defendable thanks to its structure; meanwhile its inhabitants started to excavate its underground in order to obtain factories, storehouses and plants without distancing themselves from the powerful walls which defended the town.

Over the three thousand years of its history, the inhabitants bored more than one thousand cavities: I visited the widest, where there are the remnants of an oil mill and some millstones. Toward the interior of the cliff, the cavity is articulated in a series of rooms: among them, three Etruscan wells with their characteristic notches were workers who were excavating put their feet (pedarole in Italian). Another cavity, bordering with it, overlooks the cliff sides, and it is characterized by a great quantity of columbaria or dovecotes. These are rooms with a great quantity of recesses where pigeon could nest. This function is validated by the presence of water tanks and openings in the cliff edge to allow the pigeon keeper to give his animals liberty for purposes of exercise while allowing them to re-enter the house without special assistance from the keeper. At the same time, these houses are constructed to keep the pigeons safe from predators and inclement weather and give them nesting places in which to raise their squabs.

Pigeons were especially prized because they would produce fresh meat during the winter months when larger animals were unavailable as a food source. In the past wealthy landowners often had pigeon houses and there are still remnants of them in some European manor houses. Orvieto dovecots were especially useful in case the town were under siege and deprived of supplies of fresh food from the country nearby.

Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cooking Time: 1 hour + 35 minutes | Total Time: 1 hour + 50 minutes | Yield: Makes 4  servings.

Ingredients

• 2 pigeons about 10-14 oz. (300-400 g.) each.

For the stuffing

• 2 fresh Italian sausages, peeled OR 9 oz. (250 g.) ground pork generously seasoned with salt and freshly milled black pepper
• 2 tablespoons fresh Pecorino cheese, grated
• 1,5 oz. (40 g.) stale bread (Ciabatta-like), deprived of crust
• 1 egg
• ¼ cup milk
• 1 tablespoon fresh parsley, finely minced

For the cooking

• 3 garlic cloves
• ½ cup dry white wine
• 3 sage leaves
• 4 Juniper berries
• 2 sprigs of rosemary
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 slices pancetta

Instructions

In a small bowl, pour the milk and soak the bread in it. Squeeze the milk out of it, put it in a bowl with the meat, and mix it with all the other ingredients, using your hands.

Season the pigeons with salt and pepper and the Juniper berries lightly crushed, and then stuff them but not completely, since the stuffing will swell when cooking. Close the pigeon with a toothpick or needle and thread.

Pour the oil in a heavy saucepan and add garlic, rosemary and sage. Place the pigeons in it and pancetta on the pigeons. Pigeons tend to dry, so choose a saucepan that fits them perfectly, not too large.

Roast the pigeons in all their sides and simmer with the wine until reduced.

Make the pigeons simmer for about 1 hour, covered with the lid, and add some tablespoons of water if necessary.

Serve them still warm, cut in two halves. Great with mashed potatoes.

Paccheri is a new pasta shape particularly well suited for being stuffed. With truffle sauce, sausage, and porcini mushrooms, it is ideal for festive occasions. In winter, I always look for occasions to turn on the oven, and this recipe is perfect for holidays and meals with friends and family around a festive table.

It is a rich dish, and a bit time-consuming, but you can prepare the filling in a piping-bag and the sauce in advance, and compose the dish at the last moment.

Porcini mushrooms and white truffle are seasonal and are considered  the sovereigns of Italian cuisine.

Prep Time: 1 hour | Cooking Time: 30 minutes | Total Time: 1 hour + 30 minutes | Yield: Makes 4 servings.

Ingredients

• ¾ lb. (300 g.) Paccheri pasta

Ingredients for the stuffing

• 13 oz. (400 g.) potatoes, boiled and mashed
• 6,5 oz. (180 g.) Italian sausage
• 1 big egg
• 1,5 oz. – 1/3 cup (50 g.) white truffle paste
• Sea salt and black pepper for seasoning

Ingredients for the sauce

• 1 + ½ tablespoons (20 g.) butter
• 3 tablespoons (20 g.) flour
• 1 cup (200 ml.) milk
• 3 oz. (100 g.) Porcini mushrooms
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon of fresh parsley, finely minced
• 1 garlic clove, finely minced
• For the final touch:
• Parmigiano Reggiano, a piece

Instructions

In a blender, combine the ingredients for the filling. Mince everything finely and pour them in a piping bag.

In a pot, 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).

In another small pot, combine olive oil, parsley and garlic and simmer for 1 minute over very low heat, then join the mushroom, cover with a lid and cook for 2 minutes.

Join half of the mushroom to the béchamel and mix with an immersion blender.

Pour the sauce on a serving dish that can be used in the oven.

In a pot with salted water, boil the pasta for 2/3 of the cooking time indicated on the box.

Drain pasta and sprinkle with a tablespoon of olive oil and mix. When it is tepid, stuff it with the filling and gently lay it on the sauce, vertically.

Arrange the remaining mushroom around pasta and grate chips of Parmigiano using a potato-peeler.

Bake it in pre-heated oven for 10 minutes at 400 F. (200 C).

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.

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

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.”

Potato gnocchi recipe is relatively recent in the Italian tradition, compared to the other ones.

Gnocchi is spread in all regions of Italy, and with all possible ingredients, depending on where it comes from: flour, corn, semolina, bread, chestnut flour, ricotta, or vegetables – from squash to spinach to classic potato.

The potato was discovered by chance by the conquistadores of Spain, who rode over the tubers in pursuit of the Inca leader, Atahualpa, and his riches. They almost literally “stumbled upon” this precious tuber in the first decades of 15^th century.

The story of the conquest by the humble potato of the rest of the world was slow and full of misunderstandings, particularly in Italy. Imported from Spain, it appeared in botanical gardens of Padua and Verona as a scientific “curiosity” in 1591 and 1608. In 1565, King Philip II had gifted the Vatican court with some sample of tubers which were mistaken for truffles, and of course, used improperly. This episode and some other related to food poisoning (potatoes can develop toxicity in certain conditions), prevented a fast growth of its popularity.

While other countries realized the nutritious potential and resiliency in conditions often hostile to the cultivation of cereals, in Italy, the extensive cultivation of potatoes appeared only in the second half of the 19^th century.  Probably the political divisions of Italy in so many small kingdoms prevented modern agricultural development.