Morning Glory Muffin

If you are thinking about hosting a great veggie brunch or want to make something tasty for a pic-nic date, then here is the recipe you need: Zucchini Muffin with sun blushed tomatoes on top 

To make 6 of these babies you'll need: 

Wet ingredients: 

3 eggs
100ml of Milk 
50ml of Sunflower Oil
50g of Herb's Flavored Cream Cheese ( Ricotta is also good) 

Dried Ingredients: 

200 g of Flour
a teaspoon of Baking powder
Salt

 For the filling: 
 2 Zucchini diced and sauteed in a non-stick pan  with a little bit of oil and seasoned with salt,pepper and fresh thyme

sun blushed tomatoes ( cheery tomatoes are also good)

 Preparation: 

Mix all the wet ingredients in a bowl and then start to slowly add the dry ingredients using a sieve. Add the zucchini and pour the batter into the muffin shapes. Before putting them into the oven at 180°, don't forget to put the tomatoes on top. They should be ready in about 25 minutes depending on how big they are and how good your oven is. Better to start checking them after the first 20 min!

Tasty Vegetarian Sandwich

How can you make a sandwich without a nice slice of prosciutto crudo?! First of all, I think that if you make sure to have some " jolly" ingredients , as I like to call them, in your kitchen like tapenade, olives, hummus, any vegetables in a jar like artichokes or caperberries in this case, it is much easier, faster and tastier to make a vegetarian quick snack.

I have thin-sliced and grilled some zucchini and then i have seasoned them in a bowl with salt, pepper and fresh rosemary. I have toasted some bread, and then I have started to build my sandwish with:
- Some slices of grilled and seasoned zucchini
-  Fresh Mozzarella
- Slices of Tomatoes and Radish
- Hummus
- Caperberries

The Vegetarian Alternative to a Sunday Supper

The most challenging thing about being vegetarian is keeping the tradition alive. Especially when you come from Emilia Romagna and it is Sunday, and you kinda wanna eat some Lasagne, Tagliatelle or…Pasticcio. This is my Vegetarian alternative to the most famous dish of Ferrara: Pasticcio di Maccheroni.

As I have turned vegetarian only 3 months ago, I still have fresh memories of how the original one should taste like and I have to admit that the meat plays an important role in this recipe. But if you can pimp your vegetarian ragù with the right spices you are more than just fine.

For the pastry, the béchamel, how to cook the pasta and how to build this masterpiece follow the instruction of the previous post about the original pasticcio.

The only thing that changes is the ragù.

First, diced 1 carrot, half of a big white onion, 1 celery and some green cabbage. Oil the pot and put the diced vegetables. Cover and stir occasionally for about 10 minutes. If you have one zucchini, this is the time to dice it and throw it inside the pot. Add a bay leaf. After 10 more minutes add a glass of red wine and higher the heat. You can add some tomato concentrate diluted in some warm water or just leave it “ white” with no sauce. It is up to your own preference. For pasticcio I prefer not to put tomato sauce but if I were making lasagna, I would add tomato to the veg ragù.

Now it is time to pimp the ragù with some smoked paprika, salt and pepper. I found that smoked paprika is like an injection of pork flavoring but without actually involving any pork.  

Once the ragù is ready, you can start mixing it with the béchamel, the pasta and start building the masterpiece.

Portobello Mushroom Burger

Many people have been upset by my decision of turning vegetarian, especially my 94 years old Granma Curti Giannina aka Carmen who has survived all of these years with a diet of cappelletti, cappellacci, cotolette and lasagne. 

Here is a veg recipe that will cheer everyone up. 

First prepare the marinade for the mushroom by adding all of these ingredients in a mixing ball:

·      3 tablespoons Dijon mustard

·      3 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar

·      3 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil

·      Salt and pepper

Clean the Portobello mushroom and brush them with the marinade and let them soaked for 1 hour. After that, heat a grill pan and grill the mushroom.

I have made a fresh salsa with tomatoes and Danish blue cheese, olive oil and salt to taste. Add some mixed salad green and if you want, you can add some shaves of Parmesan cheese.

But don’t forget to steam the buns!!!

Keeping the tradition alive: Pasticcio di Maccheroni Ferrara Style

This is the most traditional dish of my city that dates back to the Estense Dinasty of the 15 century. I think that this represents the most amazing food heritage  in the history of food heritage in the world. Quite a statement, but unquestionable true. If my aunt knew that I was sharing this family recipe she would probably be very upset with me but when you own something so precious, you have to share it.

You’ll need:

For the pastry:

·      250g of white flour

·      115g of butter

·      1 egg

·      100g of sugar

For the béchamel:

·      600ml of milk

·      60g of butter

·      60 g of flour

·      A pinch of salt

·      Some grated nutmeg

For the filling:

·      150g of maccheroncini cooked in milk al dente

·      300g of chicken liver and heart

·      A glass of marsala

·      Dried Porcini mushroom

·      1 glass of milk

·      Truffle

 Melt the butter into a bowl and add the sugar, if it is not too warm you can add the egg, otherwise wait a little and gradually add the flour. Make a ball and put it in the fridge for about 30 minutes.

The béchamel is not a very difficult sauce but you have to be careful not to create lumps once you add the flour. So start by melting the butter in a pot and gradually add the flour. You have to make what the French call “ roux blanc”. Once you are done with flour start adding the warm milk (it is important that the milk is warm to avoid lumps) help yourself by stirring repeatedly with a whisk. Once the béchamel is thick remove it from the heat and season with salt, pepper nutmeg and Parmesan cheese.  

For the white ragout, oil a pan with some chopped onions and start cooking the chicken’s liver and heart. Once they start changing color, add the Marsala. After the alcohol has evaporated add the dried porcini that have been revitalized in warm water: add a glass of milk and a teaspoon of truffle paste.

Once you have the ragout, the Maccheroni cooked in milk and the béchamel ready, you can combine the three and make the filling.

Divide the dough in 2, one bigger than the other. Take the bigger one, roll it and fold a cake tin. Add the filling and cover it with the other half. Make a hole in the center and cover it with a cute little tap made with leftover dough. It very important to do that for some physical reasons . Brush the surface with egg yok for a beautiful yellow color.

Bake it for 30 minutes at 180°C    

Sunday Obsession: Poached eggs on toast / how to make an egg look like a mozzarella

Going out for brunch during the weekend an ordering an overpriced poached egg just because it looks  like a miracle of gastronomy,  is something that i also do on a regular basis untill i discovered this morning that making poached egg is mega easy and also crazy cheap.

The process of making poached eggs might seem like a chemistry experiment but it is actually quite fun and rewarding at the end.

First of all take a deep pot, like the one you would use for making pasta and fill it with water. Put it in a stove and let it simmer till it reaches a temperature of 75 °C 85 °C. basically you want the water hot but not boiling otherwise the yoks will cook too fast.
Once you reach the temperature, splash some white wine vinegar into the water and a teaspoon of salt per liter of water. The vinegar help the coagulation of the egg whites.....i have been told :-)

Crack an egg into a small ball, making sure that the yoks doesn't break. create a whirpool of water with a straning spoon and pour the egg into the vortex. at this point i suggest to remove the pot from the heat and wait 2 minutes. The egg white will coagulate and the yok will remain runny.
After 2 minutes you can collect the poached egg and trim the excessive egg white part and dry the egg.

To serve the poached egg i have sliced some mushrooms, oil a pan with some garlic and sauted them.
Toast a slice of white bread and rub the cut edge of a garlic clove on the surface of the toast.
Place the mushrooms on top of the bread and then put the poached egg. Drizzle with some extra virgin olive oil and grind some black pepper.

Bloody Beetroot Gazpacho

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This is a bloody good starter or a main course. It’s good when it’s cold and it’s good when it’s warm. It’s basically the perfect cheap dish.

You’ll need:

·      1 red onion

·      2 carrots

·      2 potatoes

·      2 red beetroot

·      Vegetable stock enough to cover the vegetable

·      Balsamic Vinegar

·      Extra virgin olive oil, slat and pepper

·      Fresh Greek yogurt or Feta or ricotta

 How to make it:

Dice the vegetables in small pieces and add them to a pot with some extra virgin olive oil. Stir for a few minutes at medium heat and then add the stock until you cover the vegetable. After 20 or 30 minutes or until the vegetable are tender, blend the soup, season with salt and pepper to taste and the add 2 teaspoon of balsamic vinegar. Serve it at room temperature and add a knob of Greek yoghurt and few drops of balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil.