Stuffed giant shells-ricotta, spinach, shredded Italian cheese

Conchiglioni ricotta and spinach, a first course of baked pasta easy and tasty, is prepared in a heartbeat and makes the whole family happy. To make the conchiglioni tasty I prepare a quick tomato sauce in a pan, or if you prefer a good slow cooking sauce. For the filling the goodness of spinach with butter and ricotta. I advise you to choose a good ricotta, which is tasty, better if mixed, cow and sheep, but always follow your tastes. The stuffed conchiglioni, baked, with spinach and ricotta with sauce, are an excellent first for occasions, it takes little to prepare them carefully, to make them perfect, even aesthetically, because even the eye wants its part.

Ingredients

25 Conchiglioni

300 g Ricotta

500 g Spinach

750 ml Tomato puree

1/2 Onion

Nutmeg

Grated cheese

Salt

Olive oil

Preparation

Let's cook the tomato sauce first. Prepare a light chopped onion, put it in a pan with a little oil, let stew then add the puree, add a little' water, the one you need to rinse the bottle, salt and cook with lid at least half an hour. We also put the spinach on the fire, if they are fresh, well washed with a pinch of salt and a piece of butter, at the end of cooking, after about 10-15 minutes. If they are frozen we put them in a pan with a drop of water, with salt and cover, the butter we always add at the end of cooking. If we use fresh ones they need at least twice as much. We put the water on the fire to cook the conchiglioni, we salt it and as soon as it boils we drop the pasta, I considered 5 conchiglioni each, as a single dish, you adjust a little depending on how many you prepare, and how much you prepare. We always put a few more to cook, in case someone opens in cooking. We prepare the filling, in a bowl we put the cottage cheese, with grated cheese and nutmeg. We mix well. As soon as the spinach is ready, add them and mix everything. If you want you can also chop the spinach, so you have them less big, I put them as they were after cooked. We drain the pasta al dente, or cooked to the point you prefer, even harder if you want it firmer. We put the tomato sauce in the pan. We put the filling in a plastic bag, a piping bag or a freezer bag, make a hole on one side and go to stuff a shell at a time and place it in the pan with the sauce. We put the right sauce so as not to cover the shells. We arrange the shells in two trays as in the picture, or in a larger one. Once all filled we can sprinkle with more grated cheese and bake for 20 minutes at 200 ° c in a ventilated oven. We leave a few minutes in the oven off before taking out of the oven and serving our good conchiglioni with ricotta and baked spinach.

 

 

Potato gnocchi alla romana

Roman potato gnocchi: a classic of Lazio cuisine, perfect for Sunday lunch, is really suitable for everyone. No one will be able to say no to a tasty first course with meat and tomato: adults will appreciate every single flavor and children will be thrilled.

How to make potato dumplings: will it be such a difficult thing? Nothing could be more wrong, the gnocchi recipe is very simple and you do not need special tools, just a little patience in boiling the potatoes! Making homemade gnocchi is really a great satisfaction because they are a classic of Italian cuisine. Making gnocchi at home is absolutely not difficult, it is indeed a nice time to spend with the family if you have someone to do them with. The recipe that I propose here is the classic one of grandmothers, but obviously you can vary it as you see fit. Try this recipe and you will see that they will be excellent even if you are a beginner. 

Ingredients

1 kg potato

200 gr peeled tomato

300 gr flour

350 gr beef pulp

1 carrot

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 eggs

red wine

1 onion

parsley

1 celery ribs (stem)

3 basil leaves

salt

Pepper

Preparation

Wash 1 kg of potatoes and boil them in lightly salted cold water for 20 minutes, then drain and peel them. Pass them to the potato masher and let cool, then place them on a pastry board and knead them with 300 g of white flour until the mixture is compact but soft; Then add 1 egg and continue to knead until the consistency is homogeneous and free of lumps. Cut cords the width of a finger from the dough and cut them into many pieces of 1-2 cm. Roll each dumpling on a grater or fork and practice a small central dimple with a finger, a procedure that will allow the gnocchi to better absorb the sauce. Peel and chop 1 celery stalk, 1 carrot, 1 onion, 3 basil leaves and 1 sprig of parsley, then put them to dry in oil; When the sauté is well browned, add 350 g of beef cut into small pieces. As soon as the meat has taken color, season with salt and pepper, dry red wine and let it evaporate. Add 200 g of chopped peeled tomatoes, mix well and bring to a boil, then cover, lower the heat and continue cooking, stirring occasionally for 2 hours. About a quarter of an hour after the end of cooking, remove the meat from the sauce, grind it briefly and put it back in the sauce until the end of cooking. Bring plenty of salted water to a boil and pour the gnocchi, draining them as soon as they come back to the surface. Dress them with the meat sauce prepared, stir and serve immediately on the table.

 

Pizza with Calabrian chilies, fresh mozzarella and fresh basil 

The Neapolitan pizza is an extremely versatile product of Italian gastronomy and owes its fortune in the world to the possibility of being seasoned according to one's tastes and choosing practically any type of filling. Although the ways to garnish a pizza are almost countless, the ingredients that can never be missing on a real Neapolitan artisan pizza are tomato, mozzarella, oil, oregano or basil.

The tomato is an integral part of the centuries-old history of this typical Italian dish and thanks to its richness in organic acids, carotene, vitamin C and potassium makes the Neapolitan pizza a simple and balanced meal. Precisely for this reason the choice of tomato is an important step to prepare a quality pizza that is faithful as much as possible to the standards of the Italian culinary tradition. Here are the tips of Pizza Fra Diavolo to help you understand which tomato to use for a real Neapolitan pizza.

Peeled tomatoes: they are the variety of tomato most used to season a Neapolitan pizza and tradition has it that they are broken up and drained of excess water before going to season the dough. These tomatoes have in fact the characteristic of being scalded in water to be skinned and are then immersed without peel in the sauce and packaged in a jar.

Tomato puree: it is the easiest and most functional choice, since it is purchased ready-made and the tomato is already previously chopped, cooked and bottled. The tomato puree is particularly indicated for its dense consistency and for a Neapolitan pizza with short cooking and is often enriched in the aroma with spices and herbs.

Fresh cherry tomatoes: they are generally cut into fillets or chunks and placed on the dough raw. Their characteristic is that during cooking they tend to caramelize and therefore become sweeter. The fresh tomato can also be pureed and drained before cooking your Neapolitan pizza.

The San Marzano tomato of the Sarnese-Nocerino countryside is the variety widely most appreciated by chefs and pizza makers for the realization of a Neapolitan pizza, as it lends itself excellently to the transformation into peeled and cooking without losing its characteristic sweet and sour taste. In addition to being one of the best tomatoes to taste in my recipes, San Marzano is a versatile vegetable and exceptionally rich in pulp and from its processing you get the best peeled tomatoes for a Neapolitan pizza.

Many green peppers for a Calabrian pizza that will leave you speechless!

Ingredients

SALT TO TASTE

300 GRAMS BREAD DOUGH

200 GRAMS SPICY GREEN CHILI PEPPER

250 GRAMS TOMATO 

ANCHOVIES IN SALT

1 EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL to taste

Preparation 

For the spicy pizza recipe start by dipping the anchovies in cold water for about 30 minutes, drain, rinse, remove entrails and bone and cut them into chunks. Wash the tomatoes, cut them in half, remove some of the vegetable water and seeds, then cut them into small pieces. Follow the same process for chili peppers. Pour 4 tablespoons of oil into a pan, put the anchovies, let them cook for a few minutes, then add the chilies and tomatoes and cook the spicy pizza dressing for another 30 minutes over low heat.

Note

The baked fried pizza, which after cooking is "dried" with the diffused heat to obtain a different consistency; The dish arrives hot and fragrant, divided into wedges and ready to bite. 

'Green bits' farfalle pasta soup 

On the classic cold day I absolutely do not want to go out, let alone go shopping. So I prepare this quick soup with what I have at home, a couple of slices of toast and it's done! What goodness! A colorful concentrate of health, vitamins and minerals...

Ingredients (serves 6-8)

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

3 cloves of garlic, minced

1 medium chopped blond onion 

1 bay leaf 

salt, pepper

4 tomatoes, seeded and chopped 

2 chopped carrots

8 cups water 

1 bunch of chard (about 340 g) coarsely chopped

1/2 bunch of escarole (about 230 g) cut off the stems and coarsely

chopped 

230 g of pasta Farfalle

110 g of baby spinach

grated vegan cheese, parmesan type

HOW TO PREPARE

Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat, then add garlic, onion, bay leaf, salt and pepper and cook, stirring often, until caramelized (about 15 min), then add the tomatoes and cook until most of the liquid is released and absorbed (about another 5 min), finally add the carrots and water and bring to a boil checking that nothing sticks to the bottom of the pot. Add the chard, escarole and pasta, reduce the heat, cover and let simmer until the broth is tasty and the vegetables and pasta are tender (about 15 min), finally add the spinach and season with salt and pepper. Remove the bay leaf, garnish with vegan Parmesan cheese and serve.

Pappardelle Arrabbiata aux pointes d'anchois et d'asperges.

Je ne sais pas quelle est la star de ce plat - les pâtes pappardelle délicieusement grasses et moelleuses ou la sauce ardente arrabbiata dans laquelle il est habillé. Quoi qu'il en soit, c'est un bol de pâtes qui satisfait l'estomac et le cœur. L'idée de faire de la sauce tomate à partir de zéro peut sembler intimidante, mais je vous promets que celle-ci est un jeu d'enfant ! Des ingrédients simples, peu de préparation et un temps de cuisson court qui offre toujours des tonnes de saveur.

Pappardelle : Des rubans de pâtes larges, plats et savoureux qui facilitent la saisie de la sauce lorsque vous les faites tourner autour de votre fourchette, vous promettant une bouchée de délices à chaque fois. C'est normal que pappare soit le verbe "avaler", parce que VOUS LE FAIREZ. Les pâtes pappardelle sont similaires aux fettuccini, mais avec plus de punch. Vous pouvez généralement le trouver dans la section réfrigérée de votre épicerie avec des pâtes fraîches, ou vous pouvez trouver des variétés séchées dans des emballages spécialisés avec vos pâtes en conserve habituelles.

Plongez dans ce beau plat de la cuisine italienne, épicé et acidulé à la fois, les pâtes pappardelle aux saveurs d'ail, tomates, oignons, anchois et pointes d'asperges. Mamma-Mia…

Ingrédients

1 cuillère à soupe de persil

4 cuillères à soupe d'huile d'olive extra vierge

1 vin blanc

200 g d'asperges surgelées

320 g de pâtes pappardelle

300 g d'anchois

200g de poivron

sel au goût

Poivre à goûter

2 gousses d'ail

Instructions

Cuire les pâtes et pendant ce temps préparer la vinaigrette. Faire bouillir les asperges dans de l'eau bouillante salée pendant 10 minutes, les égoutter et les faire dorer avec une gousse d'ail pelée et 2 cuillères à soupe d'huile. Salez et poivrez, ajoutez les poivrons aux filets et laissez cuire 3-4 minutes. Assaisonnez les anchois en petits morceaux pendant 5 minutes dans une poêle avec le reste d'huile et d'ail. Arrosez avec le vin que vous évaporer à feu vif, ajouter les légumes et cuire 2 minutes. Assaisonnez avec du sel. Égouttez les pâtes, versez-les dans la poêle avec la sauce et laissez-les parfumer quelques instants. Retirer l'ail, saupoudrer de persil et servir.

 

Steak pizzaiola 

Delicious and tasty pizzaiola steak second course, very easy and quick to make, perfect if you are in a hurry or do not have much desire to stay in the kitchen, but you still want to eat something tasty. Steak pizzaiola a recipe easy and quick to prepare, is prepared in a short time and with little effort. One of the few recipes with which I can convince to eat. I really like the pizzaiola. It is not dry at all but remains very soft, juicy and perfect as a second course but also as a single dish to tell the truth because I am very sure that in the end you will clean the dish with bread and make the scarpetta and in this way we will also have carbohydrates no? If we also add the fact that children love it... This meat dish pizzaiola is an excellent strategy to make our children eat meat and, accompanied by a creamy mashed or crispy baked potatoes, it will be an excellent single dish and dinner is guaranteed. Well what are you waiting for to try to prepare it?

And now...

Well, fasten your apron...!

Ingredients for 4 people

4 slices of beef (about 120-140 g each)

400 g tomato pulp

half an onion

2-3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2-3 tablespoons vinegar

oregano

parsley

salt and pepper

Method

To prepare the steak alla pizzaiola chop the onion and sauté in a pan with 3 tablespoons of oil and a cup of water. When the water has evaporated, add the slices of meat and brown them on both sides. Salt the slices, deglaze with vinegar that you will evaporate over high heat. Add the tomato pulp, salt, oregano, half a glass of water, put the lid on and cook the meat for about 30-40 minutes, turning it occasionally, until the tomato is thickened and the meat tender if pierced with a fork. If the meat is still hard, add more water and prolong cooking. The end result will be meat that is cut without a knife. At the end of cooking, season with salt if necessary, sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve the slices with crispy baked potatoes. They will also be excellent lukewarm.

Enjoy!

See you soon!

STUFFED PIZZA ROLL

I present to you my stuffed Pizza Roll; stringy and super tasty... Ideal for a nice appetizer. Today I prepare a very tasty recipe, STUFFED PIZZA ROLL, a delicious recipe with pizza dough, you can also serve it as an appetizer with a delicious filling.  The pizza adored by adults and children is a dish that knows no seasons and that is made in many variations. The recipe that I propose today is inspired by a typical rustic pizza the Stromboli pizza a way to enjoy all the goodness of pizza but in a different format! 

This stuffed pizza roll is a really quick recipe to make, the classic dinner saving recipe. Nothing to leaven. Everything ready in the refrigerator. It is convenient to have pasta ready to use when you arrive home at the last moment. The longest thing is baking in the oven, but while the pizza roll cooks you can do something else, right?

A vortex of taste made with the pizza dough that wraps a tasty and stringy filling, giving shape to an appetizing roll reminiscent of the traditional Ragusan scaccia. In Ragusa and surroundings, a wonderful place, rich of history, Baroque buildings, landscapes and a mouthwatering gastronomy. And one of the most typical things of this area is the Scaccia Ragusana, which is also one the most popular street food there. Once cooked, the crunchy shell contrasts with the soft filling made with tomato, mozzarella and prosciutto. This preparation is also very versatile, excellent to enjoy both cold and hot! It is ideal for a picnic, for a trip out of town, but also for an informal dinner with friends. Once baked, just let it cool down a few minutes before cutting it, in order to get tasty pizza swivels that will be a perfect finger food! If you are also looking for a tasty alternative to the classic pizza Margherita what are you waiting for? You can try the stuffed pizza roll and maybe start a diet!

INGREDIENTS

Water (at room temperature) 155 g

Flour 250 g

Extra virgin olive oil 10 g

Brewer's yeast 2 g

Salt up 5 g

Malt 5 g

FOR THE FILLING

Tomato puree 150 g

Basil 10 g

Mozzarella 150 g

Cooked prosciutto (thinly sliced) 100 g

FOR BRUSHING

Extra virgin olive oil 10 g

PREPARATION

To make the stuffed pizza roll start preparing the basic dough: pour the water at room temperature into a bowl, add salt and stir with a spoon to dissolve it, then pour the extra virgin olive oil and stir the emulsion again. In another large bowl, sift the flour. Then, always in the same bowl also add the dehydrated brewer's yeast, malt, and about half of the mixture of water, salt and oil. Start kneading with your hands or a fork. Keep a little flour and the remaining emulsion close to you, which you will integrate into the dough little by little, until you reach the desired consistency, which must be soft and elastic (depending on the flour used, you may need a little more or less water). Continue to knead on a surface until you get a smooth and soft but consistent dough, with which you will form a ball. Leave it in the bowl and cover with plastic wrap; Put it back to rise in the oven off only with the light on, until the dough has doubled its volume (about 2-3 hours): you will need a temperature between 26-30 °C. Meanwhile, prepare the ingredients for the filling. In a bowl pour the tomato puree and season with salt, extra virgin olive oil and basil leaves, chopped with your hands. Cut the mozzarella into cubes and put it to drain in a colander, it is important that it is dry, otherwise during cooking it will lose liquids moistening the dough. After the leavening time, resume the dough that will have doubled its volume, transfer it to a lightly floured pastry board and roll out with a rolling pin until you get a sheet with a slightly oval shape measuring 38x34 cm. Sprinkle the tomato sauce on the dough, taking care to leave a couple of centimeters from the edge. Cover with diced mozzarella, fresh basil leaves; Finally, lay the slices of cooked prosciutto. Brush the edges left free with oil to make the roll adhere well when you go to close it. Then close the edges inwards so that they fall on part of the filling, to prevent the filling from spilling during cooking. At this point roll the dough from the longest side, seal the ends well and transfer the roll to a baking tray lined with baking paper. Brush the surface with olive oil and bake in a preheated static oven at 180 °C for about 40 minutes (if you use the ventilated oven cook the roll at 160 °C for about 30 minutes). Take your stuffed pizza roll out of the oven and let it cool for at least 10 minutes before cutting it into slices!

PRESERVATION

You can keep your pizza roll stuffed for 1 day in the refrigerator and heat it when serving. Alternatively, if you have used all fresh ingredients, you can take it halfway through cooking and freeze it, so as to complete the baking in the oven as needed.

ADVICE

If you prefer you can prepare the dough the night before and leave it in the refrigerator overnight. The next day it will be enough to leave it a couple of hours at room temperature before spreading it. Try filling your pizza roll with different cold cuts, or grilled vegetables!

 

Chicken pastina soup 

The chicken broth is very easy to prepare and is ideal for warming up from the cold of these days to the tail of winter. The use of the pressure cooker in addition to meeting you producing an inevitable economic saving also allows you a considerable saving of time. For this reason I always recommend using it for long-cooking dishes. The chicken broth is ideal to prepare especially for children, as it is very nutritious and useful even against seasonal ailments, as it is an effective anti-inflammatory and is therefore very suitable in case of flu or exhaustion (typical of the winter season). In fact, boiling a chicken dissolves some proteins in the water that help the immune system to strengthen. The chicken broth then contains just 36 calories per 100 milligrams, but has a high satiating power and helps to rehydrate the body in the colder seasons, during which the stimulus of thirst is reduced and we tend to drink little water.

For this reason, you can consume chicken broth in your winter dinners, natural, with the addition of short pasta or other, adding aromatic herbs, such as parsley or basil or whatever suits you, then eating it as if it were a soup and perhaps adding croutons or pieces of bread. If you have children you can prepare chicken broth and combine pasta from the most disparate shapes: from pastina. You will get a more nutritious pasta than the one made with vegetable broth, which will also marry perfectly with the addition of the classic cheese of grated Parmesan. If you have made chicken broth in large quantities you can also portion it and keep it in the fridge for a few days, so as to use it in any other recipes, avoiding buying ready-made broths.

Homemade Italian chicken pastina soup is a soul-warming soup, as delicious and traditional as any chicken noodle soup! The fine pasta goes perfectly with the rich broth, tender chicken. Chicken broth is a basic preparation of Italian cuisine, with which you can prepare so many classic recipes. You can wet risottos, season roasts, prepare excellent barley soups, vegetables or short pasta. In addition, chicken broth is the fundamental ingredient for making ravioli, cappelletti and agnolotti in broth. Chicken broth is also used to bring egg tagliatelle or steaming tortellini to the table, enriched with this cheap ingredient that warms the winters of Canadians.

Ingredients for 2 people: broth pasta

180 gr  potatoes 

100 gr carrot 

Parmesan crust

60/80 gr tomato

chicken legs 3

parsley a bunch

extra virgin olive oil to taste  

water about 1 lt 

salt to taste 

pepper to taste 

nutmeg the tip of a teaspoon

Preparation 

Thoroughly clean potato, carrots and tomato. Place everything in your pressure cooker. Add water, Parmesan crust, nutmeg. Finally put the chicken legs, previously rinsed under a stream of fresh water.

Secure the lid tightly after correcting the salt broth. Turn on the heat and cook at a moderate heat intensity for about twenty minutes.

Reopen the pressure cooker and check the cooking of the potatoes and chicken. Correct pepper and add a little parsley. Remove the chicken thighs from the pressure cooker. Stir and blend everything with the immersion mix until you get a homogeneous gold-colored cream. Transfer the broth to a non-stick pan and bring to a boil, add the pasta and a drop of oil. Cook over moderate heat and stir occasionally to prevent the pasta from sticking to the bottom. When the pasta is al dente or a little more, turn off the heat, the pasta will still cook in the boiling broth. Serve, sprinkle with a little Parmesan cheese to taste, pass a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil raw and serve hot. This delicate soup goes very well with croutons or toast.

Therefore I invite you to pass in a pan with a drizzle of oil slices of bread pressed in grated Parmesan cheese to accompany the broth.

Note

For the dish to be balanced I would not exceed in leaving the soup too thick (when the spoon passes it must move easily). If it were, stretch it with a little water, taking care to correct it with salt.

Thinly sliced prosciutto di Parma, wet mozzarella and a baguette with seeds

An easy prosciutto and mozzarella sandwich with fresh tomato and basil on a baguette makes the perfect picnic lunch! All you need is 6 ingredients and less than 10 minutes for the most delicious Italian sandwich. A prosciutto and mozzarella sandwich is the perfect bundle of fresh, Italian flavors on soft bread. There’s nothing quite like biting into the layers of salty prosciutto, creamy mozzarella, juicy tomato, and peppery basil. It’s one of my favorite sandwiches to pack for a summer picnic – so fresh and light that it’s best enjoyed under the sun, with a cool breeze blowing in the air.

If you’re wondering what to put in a prosciutto sandwich, or what kind of cheese goes with a prosciutto sandwich, the answer is simple: fresh mozzarella! Mozzarella cheese and prosciutto is a classic Italian pairing that makes the best sandwich, along with fresh tomatoes and basil. To round out your prosciutto sandwich, drizzle some extra virgin olive oil on a sliced baguette and lightly toast it under the broiler. This adds a nice hint of olive oil flavor without making this sandwich too messy, and the lightly crispy bread contrasts the soft bites of prosciutto and mozzarella. You’ll want to purchase most of your ingredients for prosciutto and mozzarella sandwiches either the day of, or the day before, you want to make them. 

Here are some suggestions for specific ingredients and what to look for at the grocery store:

Prosciutto di Parma is a sweeter prosciutto that pairs nicely with creamy mozzarella cheese and fresh bread. If you can, get it freshly sliced from the deli – it’s softer and much more flavorful than the prepackaged slices.

Fresh mozzarella – You can’t go wrong with any kind of fresh mozzarella, but I love to pick out local cheeses from the grocery store if I can! The closer you are to your food source, the fresher the taste.

Vine tomato – You’ll want to pick out a firm, bright red vine tomato for this sandwich for the juiciest, most flavorful slices.

Fresh basil leaves – You can buy fresh basil leaves at the store, but you’ll want to use them within a day or two of purchasing for the freshest taste. But there’s nothing quite like fresh basil picked straight from the plant! If you have a green thumb, it’s one of the best herbs to grow at home.

Extra virgin olive oil – There are many kinds of extra virgin olive oil, all with different aromas and flavor profiles. I recommend using a high quality Italian extra virgin olive oil for prosciutto and mozzarella sandwiches.

Baguette – Although not quite Italian, prosciutto and mozzarella sandwiches taste great in a baguette! Make sure you choose one that’s soft and freshly baked.

How To Make A Prosciutto And Mozzarella Sandwich

It’s so easy to make a delicious prosciutto and mozzarella sandwich at home! As soon as you take one bite, you’ll be hooked – who can resist a sandwich this tasty and simple? All you need is about 8 minutes of prep time before you can start chowing down. Here’s how to make it:

Slice your baguette in half lengthwise, place it open-face on a baking sheet and brush or drizzle olive oil on both halves.

Broil the bread on LOW for about 4 minutes, until very lightly toasted.

While the bread toasts, slice your mozzarella and tomato. Try to get your slices about a quarter-inch thick or less – thinner slices can be layered for more interesting textures in every bite of this sandwich. The trick is to use a very sharp knife and work slowly. Next, make sure your fresh basil leaves are washed and dried, and have your sliced prosciutto ready to go. Once your bread is toasted, assemble the sandwich. First, lay a slice of prosciutto on the bottom of the sandwich. Then, add alternating slices of mozzarella, tomato, and basil, starting at one end of the sandwich and working your way to the other. Finally, top with another slice of prosciutto and close the sandwich. The trick to layering the flavors of prosciutto, mozzarella, tomato, and basil in this sandwich is to overlap your ingredients. The prosciutto almost encases the whole sandwich, with one slice on the bottom and one slice on the top of the sandwich. Then the mozzarella, tomato, and basil are layered half-overlapping down the length of the sandwich to create the perfect filling. 

Crafting sandwiches is an art – so have fun with this! The most visually appealing sandwiches really do taste the best.

Try the recipe below for the best Prosciutto and Mozzarella Sandwich. Whenever you’re craving a sweet and savory Italian sandwich or packing a picnic lunch, you’ll want to make this easy and delicious take on a Caprese with prosciutto and fresh mozzarella! 

Ingredients

99 ¼ g baguette

2 tsp extra virgin olive oil

85 g fresh mozzarella cheese

1 small vine tomato

2 slices prosciutto di Parma

6 fresh basil leaves washed and dried

Instructions

First, prepare the sandwich bread. Slice the baguette in half lengthwise and place open face on a baking sheet. Brush both halves with extra virgin olive oil, then broil on LOW until very lightly toasted, about 4 minutes. Next, cut the mozzarella and tomato into thin slices, about a quarter-inch thick or less. Use a very sharp knife and work slowly to achieve consistently sized slices. Once the bread is toasted, assemble the sandwich. First, lay one slice of prosciutto on the bottom half of the sandwich. Next, alternate slices of mozzarella, tomato, and basil, working your way from one end of the baguette to the other. Finally, top with another slice of prosciutto and close the sandwich. Serve immediately, or wrap in parchment paper to bring to a picnic.

Notes

Serving suggestions: You can easily prep this sandwich and pack it for a picnic lunch by wrapping it in parchment paper or foil. Refrigerate or pack in a cooler if it will be a few hours until you eat.

NEAPOLITAN CURLY SFOGLIATELLE 

Curly sfogliatelle are a typical dessert of the Neapolitan pastry tradition. If we want to enjoy a good homemade curly sfogliatella we must arm ourselves with patience, layers of puff pastry stuffed with ricotta cream, semolina and candied oranges, one of the Neapolitan desserts that I love most of all together with babà and the legendary Neapolitan pastry.

Making homemade curly sfogliatelle is simple, even if there are rest times to be respected and obviously the right ingredients, if you have the pasta machine you should prepare the dough with that, otherwise go with the rolling pin and I tell you will get muscles, but it's worth it to taste the Neapolitan sfogliatella made with your own hands!

Let's see how to make Neapolitan curly sfogliatelle!

And if you try them let me know...

INGREDIENTS 

for the dough

250 g flour 

70 g lard

100 g water

Half a tablespoon of honey

1 pinch of salt

For the filling

200 g milk

100 g semolina

200 g ricotta cheese

125 g sugar

candied orange to taste

1 egg yolk

Preparation

For the dough

In a bowl pour the flour, salt, honey and water. Start working until you get a grainy dough. Continue to work until it forms a ball, then grease it with lard, wrap it in a cloth and let it rest for 30 minutes. After the rest time, take the dough of curly sfogliatelle and knead it again, do not be afraid if initially it will seem very hard, with the warmth of the hands it will become nice workable. Keep working, form the ball again and sprinkle it again with lard. Wrap it in plastic wrap and let it rest in the fridge for 2 hours. After the rest time, remove the dough from the refrigerator and let it soften for about 20-30 minutes then start rolling it out with a rolling pin until it forms a rectangle. If you have a pasta machine, use it to pass your dough in order to get it thinner. You will have to get a very long sheet Take the dough and roll it up on a rolling pin, greasing it abundantly with lard at each turn, then let it rest in the refrigerator for a few hours, even better if all night.

The filling

Pour the milk into a pot and let it heat. Now add the semolina and cook for a few minutes, stirring constantly. Remove it from heat and let it cool. In a bowl work the ricotta with candied orange, sugar and yolk and stir until everything is well mixed. Add the cold semolina to the ricotta cream, stir, cover with plastic wrap and put the filling of the Neapolitan sfogliatelle in the refrigerator.

How to make curly sfogliatelle

Take the roll back and unroll it gently and cut slices 1 cm thick. With your hands, form a space in the center so as to contain the filling. Fill them with plenty of filling, because the curly sfogliatelle must be well swollen and close the flaps well. Put them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake in a static oven at 180 C degrees for about 20 minutes. Remove from the oven the Neapolitan curly sfogliatelle and sprinkle with icing sugar before enjoying them.

TIPS

You can also add custard to the ricotta filling. You can also flavor ricotta with candied citron or orange peel.

PRESERVATION

The Neapolitan curly sfogliatelle keep in the fridge for a couple of days, you can freeze them and store them in the freezer for about 2 months.

Caciocavallo

Cette spécialité provient des provinces du sud de l'Italie, les Abruzzes, la Calabre, la Campanie et la Sicile. La signification de son nom a été débattue pendant des siècles, mais ses racines latines sont Cacio - fromage et Cavallo - cheval. Certains historiens pensent qu'il est ainsi appelé parce qu'il était à l'origine fabriqué à partir de lait de jument, d'autres parce qu'il était transporté à cheval. La théorie la plus populaire est que le nom n'a rien à voir avec un cheval, mais plutôt que le caciocavallo est une copie d'un ancien fromage turc appelé qasqawal. Malgré l'origine de son nom, le caciocavallo est un fromage traditionnel à pâte filée à base de lait de vache. Les autres fromages à pâte filée sont la mozzarella et le provolone. Les caciocavalli ont la forme d'une citrouille et se présentent par paires, attachées ensemble par une ficelle qui s'enroule autour du "cou" de chaque roue. Après un affinage de trois mois, ce fromage ancien prend une saveur savoureuse et charnue avec des notes d'anis et d'amande.

Fromage à pâte dure, typique du sud de l'Italie, à base de lait de vache ou de bufflonne demi-écrémé, en forme de poire caractéristique. Caciocavallo appartient à un groupe de fromages facilement disponibles au Canada. Pour le mettre formellement en place ; il s'agit d'un fromage à pâte filée, tout comme la mozzarella et le provolone très disponibles. Mais c'est à peu près toutes les similitudes qu'il y a. Comme les autres fromages de cette famille, il provient du sud de l'Italie, en particulier le long de la chaîne des Apennins. Il faut dire que la plupart de ces fromages sont pasteurisés, mais il existe quelques exceptions louables.

Tel qu'il est, cela signifie en fait du fromage de cheval. C'est du moins l'une des interprétations, sans insinuer que le fromage a quoi que ce soit à voir avec les chevaux. Normalement produit avec du lait de vache, mais il existe des variétés à base de lait de brebis, de chèvre et, dans de rares cas, de bufflonne. Cependant, toutes ces variétés spéciales sont pasteurisées. Puisque nous avons mentionné l'étymologie, il semble que le nom dérive du fait que deux fromages étaient attachés à une corde et suspendus à une perche pour l'affinage. Tout comme seller un cheval. Bien sûr, il se peut qu'ils aient également accroché les fromages au cheval lorsqu'ils étaient en déplacement - pour un pique-nique ou quelque chose comme ça.

 

Ravioli with mushroom 

Today I present you an appetizing and very inviting first course. I am talking about Ravioli with mushrooms. Simple to prepare, they will allow you to make with little effort and few ingredients, and almost all at very low cost, a really tasty and delicate first course. These ravioli, prepared with a fresh pasta without oil with a filling of mushrooms and ricotta and flavored with a light dressing, are really light and tasty.

They are prepared in a few simple steps, whether you have the necessary tools to give them a classic shape or whether you do them entirely by hand. Calculate the time well, however, because, in addition to the time to make the pastry and shape the ravioli, you will have to wait half an hour to let the fresh pasta rest before you can use it.

Ingredients

for 300 g of fresh pasta

a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil

2 eggs

a pinch of fine salt

200 g flour

for ravioli

300 g fresh pasta

parsley to taste

a clove of garlic

2 tablespoons ricotta cheese

a pinch of fine salt

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

400 g champignon mushrooms

a pinch of freshly ground black pepper

100 g leeks

Procedure

Form a fountain with the flour and add the eggs, oil and a pinch of salt in the central hole. Knead with your fingertips until you get an elastic and uniform dough of fresh pasta that you will let rest, covered with a cloth, at room temperature for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, sweeten the garlic in a pan for a few minutes. Add the mushrooms with the leek and remove the garlic. Season with finely chopped parsley and cook with lid on for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. After the necessary minutes, blend everything with the ricotta and adjust the creamy salt and pepper filling to your liking. After the rest time, divide the fresh dough into three loaves, roll out and fold each dough three times before shaping your ravioli stuffing them with a little mushroom filling and carefully sealing their edges. Let the ravioli rest on a floured tray and cook them in a pot of boiling salted water for 3-4 minutes. After the necessary time, drain and dress them in a plate with a light dressing of your choice. 

 

Wallet pizzas 

Also called pizza a libretto due to the way it is folded, it is the street food of the alleys of Naples. The wallet pizza, in fact, was designed to be eaten while walking while getting lost in the beauties of the Neapolitan city. Here is its history and its characteristics, told by a true master of this specialty: Salvatore Di Matteo, the one who gave the President of the United States of America a taste of the wallet pizza.

Everyone knows the story of Margherita pizza, the real one and the fictional one, but there is an equally loved little sister that we often take for granted: wallet pizza, or booklet pizza. You are in Naples, stroll through the alleys of the city, touching the capuzzelle placed in front of the churches. In the distance a lady calls her son from the balcony who is playing football with friends, it doesn't matter if it's 4 in the afternoon or 10 in the evening, he will be there to play, you know. You get tired but you don't feel like stopping at the pizzeria, what are you eating? The answer is simple: wallet pizza. Just like the child who plays soccer: it doesn't matter who, it doesn't matter where, it doesn't matter when, the booklet pizza is in the window, waiting for the hurried tramps of the alleys of Naples.

The history of wallet pizza

Contrary to popular belief, wallet pizza is not very ancient, certainly not as old as classic pizza. It seems to have been invented at the Pizzeria Port'Alba, founded in 1738 but it is obviously impossible to trace the real origin. It most likely dates back to the middle of the last century and we deduce it from Matilde Serao's "Ventre di Napoli". The founder of Il Mattino codified the street food of Naples in the early 1900s, a book designed for poor people. The great absentee from this book is the wallet pizza because at the time the pizzas were large and were sold in slices, like in America.

It reads: "The pizza maker who has a shop, during the night, makes a large number of these round crushed dough, of a dense pasta, which burns but does not cook, loaded with raw tomato, garlic, pepper, oregano : in many sectors, these penny-priced pizzas are entrusted to a boy, who goes to sell them in some street corner, on a traveling stall and stays there almost all day. There are also slices of two cents, for the children who go to school; when the supply is finished, the pizza maker supplies it, until nightfall. There are also, for the night, some boys who wear a large convex tin shield on their heads, in which these slices of pizza are placed and turn along the alleys and give a special cry, saying that pizza is made with tomatoes and garlic, with mozzarella and salted anchovies. The poor women sitting on the bottom step buys some and has dinner, that is, lunch, with this penny of pizza".

This short excerpt highlights two things: the Naples of the early 1900s is a very lively city. Poor perhaps, but very much alive: the slice pizza already existed, invented in Italy and not in the United States as many Americans claim. The boy carried the pizzas along the streets, up to the houses and workplaces, in fact we are talking about delivery. There is also another significant passage by Serao in this regard: slices of pizza at home were loved by women, not just those of the lower classes. The boy walked along the streets and these slices arrived above all on the counters of the seamstresses in via Duomo, historically the street of Neapolitan high fashion. Serao tells us about early 1900s women who worked and couldn't cook. We note, sadly, that it is futuristic even for today.

Have you ever wondered what the difference is between the two products? We asked one of the masters of this specialty, Salvatore Di Matteo, owner of the historic Pizzeria Di Matteo in via Tribunali 94.

The wallet pizza was therefore probably born after the Second World War, with the economic boom and the birth of numerous pizzerias, many of which were reconverted: from low with fryers they became real restaurants. In the counters with croquettes and arancini there are also these small pizzas, different from those of the bar and different from the classic round ones. A food to eat while walking, after school just like the children of Serao. Curiously, even the wallet pizza is made with the same method as the pizzas sold to children for a few cents: the "waste" is used.

The booklet pizza in the 90s took a turn, fashion exploded, everyone wanted to eat it and, thanks to the opening of the subway in 1993, the province was finally well connected to the city center. Many Neapolitans reluctant to travel by bus, especially of the older generations, can move from neighboring towns to the city center in comfort and at reduced costs. The following year the G7 was held in Naples and the city was preparing for the arrival of Bill Clinton, welcomed as a real star. The President of the United States of America is a good fork and tries various pizzas in the city, including Di Matteo's wallet pizza: "Clinton first tasted the pizza in the booklet, he liked it very much, after which he ate no less than two fried pizzas accompanied from the inevitable Coca-Cola, because it is still American".

Thanks to Bill Clinton's taste, the wallet pizza makes a great leap forward in the world of the Neapolitan pizzeria, going beyond the confines of the Courts. Even themed pizzerias are born. Salvatore Di Matteo also tells us another anecdote concerning the pizza makers of the historic families of Naples: "For us, the memory is even more different. Those who grew up in a family with a historic brand started right from the booklet pizzas. It is the springboard for pizza makers because the small size makes handling easier, it's an initial approach. I also have many memories as a customer: when I skipped school, with friends, I ate pizzas in wallets from other pizzerias because of course I couldn't go to my father".