Italian cooking

MypinchofItaly said:
Recipe - Spaghetti with Marinara Sauce

View attachment 52487


Marinara sauce is one of the simplest pasta sauce there could be: it’s just garlic, peeled tomatoes or tomato sauce and dried oregano. This sauce comes from Campania, a southern Italian region that is indeed famous for its exceptionally good tomatoes.

Marinara Sauce was born in the 1700s and afterwards also gave birth to the namesake Pizza Marinara which, needless to say, has the same ingredients.
It must be said that this sauce has nothing to do with the sea itself and its seafood although the name may be misleading as it contains the Italian word Mare – Sea in English. Its seasonings are only garlic, oregano and EVOO all combined in a tomato sauce.
The Neapolitan sailors (Marinai, in Italian) left for long journeys across the sea, they needed to bring with them ingredients that would have last over time and easy to find, namely tomato, garlic and oregano to fill their flat breads.

For this reason, Marinara Sauce has to do with sailors (Marinai) and not with seafood.
Click to expand...

I love simple meals like this. I make a marinara sauce at home, with canned San Marzano tomatoes. I use fresh oregano, because I have a huge amount of it growing in my garden all year long. I don't know if that's the best way, but I figure if I have in growing ten feet from my kitchen door -- use it.

CD
 
caseydog said:
I love simple meals like this. I make a marinara sauce at home, with canned San Marzano tomatoes. I use fresh oregano, because I have a huge amount of it growing in my garden all year long. I don't know if thats the best way, but I figure if I have in growing ten feet from my kitchen door -- use it.

CD
Click to expand...

Of course it’s the best way!
I’m used to add the dried oregano because I like it, but if I had fresh oregano ten feet from my kitchen door, I’d use it too, why not? 😉
 
52991



Acquerello – the Carnaroli aged Rice​


Acquerello rice is grown and packaged by the Rondolino family on the Colombara farmhouse since 1936, in the heart of the plain of Vercelli, an area historically devoted to the cultivation of rice in Piedmont region.

The aging of the paddy rice starts at least a year before turning it into white rice, according to the popular saying “fresh old processed rice”, and to keep it well it uses the refrigeration technique.
It is then aged 7 years in the silos.

Why the name ‘Acquerello’?

Well, quite easy to say: Acquerello contains the Italian word ‘Acqua’ , ‘Water’ in English, thus as rice cultivation is done in water which is the life of rice, the idea of the name came from it.
It is a particularly refined rice and for this reason it is a precious gift and considered among the best in the world, in fact the great chefs use it for their dishes and it is an Italian excellence.

What are its characteristics?

It is classified as aged Carnaroli rice.
Basically, Acquerello Rice is a white rice, but it has all the nutritional characteristics of a brown rice!

As said, Acquerello is aged rough, then refined and reintegrated with its gemstone through a process called “helix” – in order to transform the raw rice into white rice – which allows the most precious nutritional elements (mineral salts, proteins, vitamins), contained in a greater percentage in the external part of the grain, to penetrate inside the grain itself. With this method, the rice is enriched, stays perfectly intact.

Aging is an ancient process, a system invented in 1875, then abandoned, but now revalued for the processing of Acquerello rice. Anyway it remains very little practiced: it is considered a luxury for storage and refrigeration costs.

That’s why Acquerello values so much.

Its grains are whole, firm and tasty, this rice is perfect for all dishes, needless to say this rice is renowned as the best for risotti.

To preserve its qualities it is sold in practical vacuum cans of various sizes.
Processing and packaging are carried out with care directly in the farmhouse, in full respect of nature and the surrounding habitat.
 
Recipe - Arancini – Sicilian Rice Balls

53437



Arancini di riso or Arancine in Italian, are a staple of Sicilian cuisine, saffron-flavoured rice balls stuffed with Ragout, peas and stringy cheese, generally Caciocavallo cheese, or also mozzarella or provola, then breaded and fried.

There are at least 20 different types of filling, although the classic one is with ragout and peas. In order to differentiate the filling, Sicilian Arancini are traditionally pear-shape when stuffed with ragout (meat sauce) and peas, whilst round-shape when they are ‘white’, that is with a filling of bechamel, diced ham or diced speck and provola cheese.

The name Arancini is because they resemble an arancia, i.e. orange.
 
Last edited:
Burrata. This is what I consider the quintessential mozzarella, I never get tired of eating it!

53441

53442


Burrata is a fresh Italian pasta filata cheese without rind, produced in Apulia region, in the Murge area and in particular in the city of Andria, its home town.

It is made with cow or bufala milk, its weight can vary from 150 to 500 grams, it looks like a smooth mozzarella, but it differs from it inside, in which it encloses a very soft heart of cream and delicious buffalo stracciatella which has a buttery consistency.
Burrata quickly became popular throughout Italy and then the world, as one of the tastiest and most recognisable typical products of the Apulian culinary tradition.
The unmistakable taste is given by the flavour of fresh or cooked milk combined with cream. The best way to enjoy this real delicacy is a taste that combines the outer bag and the inside stracciatella in a single mouthful.

How was Burrata di Andria born?
Burrata di Andria was born thanks to the intuition of the Andria dairyman Lorenzo Bianchino. During a heavy snowfall in the winter of 1956, which hit the Murgia region and Andria in particular, the cheesemaker tried to find a way to preserve and transport the dairy products, which was becoming increasingly difficult due to the cold weather. So he thought of creating a sort of protective bag made of the same texture as the mozzarella to protect the one he had frayed, combined with cow’s cream. Burrata di Andria was born.
And from a simple and ingenious idea, in a short time became an extraordinary success in Italy and around the world, becoming a symbolic product of Puglia.

Why is it called Burrata?
The name comes from the Italian word ‘Burro’ for Butter. Burrata was given to it just to recall the “buttery” taste of its tasty heart and not because its filling is enriched with butter.


How is Burrata made?
It is a product made following a strictly manual and artisanal processing method that involves several stages: from the heating of the initial milk to its acidification, from the addition of rennet to the filling. After these initial stages, part of the cheese is cut into small irregular pieces and frayed. These pieces are then combined with the liquid cream: this is the stracciatella, which will form the soft filling of the Burrata.
The remaining part is instead used to form the bags that will be its outer shell and is sealed with a string and boiling water, then stored at a temperature between 4 ° C and 6 ° C.

What to pair Burrata with?
Burrata should be taken out of the fridge at least an hour before eating it in order to fully appreciate its flavour and texture at its best. According to tradition, it should be eaten at room temperature as it is.
Otherwise it can be served with tomatoes and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, but it is also perfect in pasta or risotto for a stringy effect!
 
Polenta Taragna - the Buckwheat Polenta

53752


The tradition of eating polenta in Italy is older than the introduction of sweetcorn in the 16th century. However, in Lombardy region, precisely in its Alpine region Valtellina and in the surroundings of Bergamo and Brescia, besides the classic polenta made with corn flour, you can also find a coarse, darker polenta due to the use of buckwheat flour - Grano Saraceno in Italian : it's the Polenta Taragna, suitable for the winter season.

Polenta Taragna is a variant of the classic polenta, and in addition to corn flour it also contains buckwheat flour, which gives it its characteristic dark colour, while butter and Casera cheese, typical products of the high mountains that give it the right elasticity, are added once it is cooked.

What does 'Taragna' mean? Polenta taragna owes its name to the "Tarai", the big wooden stick used to "tar" the polenta (in Valtellina dialect tarare means to stir).

The cultivation of buckwheat began in the area of Verona (Veneto) at the beginning of the 16th century, and in the second half of the same century also in Valtellina. The farmers who lived on the borders of Italy with Germany used buckwheat flour to make polenta.

Little by little, buckwheat became one of the fundamental foods in the diet of the farmers of Valtellina and the Lombard Alps, as first consumed in the form of soups.

Pairings: Polenta Taragna is ideal with porcini or champignon mushrooms or braised game or beef or pork sausages.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Serves 4 , Cooking time 45 mins to 2 hrs

  • 300 gr. buckwheat flour
  • 200 gr. of corn flour
  • 250 gr. of traditional Casera or Bitto cheese, alternatives Fontina or Taleggio cheese
  • 150 g unsalted butter
  • a handful of coarse salt
  • 2 litres of water


Method

Boil 2 litres of water in a crockpot. When the water is about to reach boiling temperature (bubbles start to form on the bottom of the pot), add salt and pour in the flour, previously mixed, stirring with a wooden spoon or a whisk, to ensure that no lumps form and that the mixture is well blended.
When it begins to thicken, add the butter.
The cooking time, unless you are using pre-cooked flour, varies - depending on the recipe - from 45 minutes to 2 hours; in order for the polenta to reach the right consistency, it is better to check the cooking to find the desired density.

In addition, since the cooking time is long, it is better to keep stirring the mixture so that it does not stick to the bottom of the pot, which must be closed with a lid anyway, so as not to disperse heat.

At the end of cooking, add slices or cubes of cheese, stirring to melt it. Remove from the heat and serve.
Do not miss a glass of good red wine!


Personally I prefer Polenta Taragna paired with Brasato, i.e. Beef meat cooked with red wine.

53753
 
Recipe - Risi e Bisi – Rice with Green Peas and Pancetta

54956



Risi e bisi (in venetian dialect means rice and peas - riso e piselli in Italian) is a dish based on rice and green peas typical of the Veneto region, in particular of the city of Venice, but also of Vicenza and Verona.

The rice usually used is the quality Vialone Nano which swells during cooking and absorbs the sauce, resulting in a final dish halfway between risotto and soup: risi e bisi, in fact, should be neither too brothy nor too dry, but soft and creamy. Carnaroli and Arborio will be fine, however.

The addition of pancetta gives even more flavor to the dish.
 

Sulmona Red Garlic​

55991


Every now and then I am lucky enough to stumble across Sulmona red garlic. I love it. And that's what I've used for my Garlic and Herb Wholemeal Bread!

Recipe - Garlic and Herb Wholemeal Bread

Sulmona Red Garlic, takes its name from the city of Sulmona and precisely in the Peligna Valley, province of L’Aquila, has been cultivated for centuries in Abruzzo, a region in Central Italy. An Italian excellence known as Aglio Rosso di Sulmona, a wine-coloured garlic casing prized for its strong aroma and piquant flavour.

The soil in which it is grown is particularly rich in potassium.

Immediately after harvesting, the garlic is cleaned, tied in bunches and placed in the sun on pallets to dry.

It is spicier and has a stronger smell than the common white garlic we are used to using in cooking.

It is sown until the end of January and harvested in June.

This red garlic can be eaten fresh, in oil or sweet and sour.

Red garlic contrasts the development of some bacterias, it helps preventing cardiovascular diseases, regulates the arteries pressure and favorites the lowering of cholesterol percentage in blood.

The red garlic from Sulmona, thanks to the high content of allicin, contains the peculiarities of this product in a larger quantity than the other kind of garlic from other territories, for this reason the concession of the PDO certificate is in progress.
 
Recipe - Torta Carrarina – Rice & Eggs Cake from Tuscany


Torta Carrarina takes its name from the city of Carrara, in Tuscany, known as the city of marble. It is made with rice, lots of eggs and milk and a small glass of Marsala or Rum or even Sambuca which is anise booze. No flour or yeast is needed.

Working the marble quarries around Carrara has always been a very dangerous and strenuous job – this simple tart with a rice base was a caloric but inexpensive meal to sustain the workers during their long days at the quarries.

My Tuscan aunt used to make this cake for me sometimes when I visited her and her family; the recipe comes directly from her. She still makes it now, especially in winter when the cold bites. But without going to the marble quarry :laugh:

It's traditional, in the sense that the basic ingredients are the same as always, but it also includes variations such as the type of booze to add or the amount of eggs to put. They also make it in the final part of Liguria which turns to the East and meets the beginning of Tuscany and therefore the first province of Massa Carrara, or as the Tuscans say, 'Massa Harrara' because the Tuscans pronounce the C as H.

58399


58400
 
Last edited:
Recipe - Frico – Cheese and Potato Pie from Friuli Venezia Giulia

59662



It is basically a cheese pie with potato and onion and it’s a typical regional recipe from Friuli Venezia Giulia - Friuli in short - a region in north-east Italy, whose main city is Trieste.
Friulian Frico is best enjoyed as a hearty single dish or main course. In Friuli it is usually served along with Polenta.

There are two versions of Frico: a soft and a crunchy one. The first one is made with sliced potatoes and sliced cheese and looks more like a thick frittata, while the second one is very thin and crumbly and is prepared with grated potatoes and grated cheese.
Main ingredient is cheese, traditionally Montasio, a typical creamy, unpasteurised cow’s milk cheese of Friuli.
Although Montasio is the typical cheese used for Frico, other cheeses as Asiago or a mix of different ones might be used (generally both mild and aged) since this recipe was originally born as a way of recycling cheese rinds.

Timenspace If I'm not mistaken, is it possible that they make a similar version in your area? As you know, Trieste is a crossroads of nationalities, especially from Eastern Europe, so I imagine that there are many culinary influences here too?
 
Last edited:
MypinchofItaly said:
Recipe - Frico – Cheese and Potato Pie from Friuli Venezia Giulia

View attachment 59662


It is basically a cheese pie with potato and onion and it’s a typical regional recipe from Friuli Venezia Giulia - Friuli in short - a region in north-east Italy, whose main city is Trieste.
Friulian Frico is best enjoyed as a hearty single dish or main course. In Friuli it is usually served along with Polenta.

There are two versions of Frico: a soft and a crunchy one. The first one is made with sliced potatoes and sliced cheese and looks more like a thick frittata, while the second one is very thin and crumbly and is prepared with grated potatoes and grated cheese.
Main ingredient is cheese, traditionally Montasio, a typical creamy, unpasteurised cow’s milk cheese of Friuli.
Although Montasio is the typical cheese used for Frico, other cheeses as Asiago or a mix of different ones might be used (generally both mild and aged) since this recipe was originally born as a way of recycling cheese rinds.

Timenspace If I'm not mistaken, is it possible that they make a similar version in your area? As you know, Trieste is a crossroads of nationalities, especially from Eastern Europe, so I imagine that there are many culinary influences here too?
Click to expand...
It looks very tasty! Simple and filling dish, love it. I will certainly research...on a first glance, I do not recognize it as a dish often served or eaten in Zagreb, but I may be mistaken, maybe it is eaten in Istria, the coastal region north, closest to Trieste...

Trieste left a strange impression on me, we went there long time ago, kid was 1 year old, there were some nice parts, my ex husband even took a swim, but I never wished to go back, there was this very strange hotel, strange people around, a darkish place, very uncomfortable, when we entered the room, and then decided to check out and look for another hotel, we never did such a thing before or after... we did not know the city, and booked online prior, so it might have been just our lack of knowledge and circumstances...

I almost completely forgot that, I tend to forget, both good and bad :roflmao:, particularly bad...

But, I will definitely have a look. Thank you for asking, very nice of you.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom