Zucchini and chicken gnocchi

A summer, light and tasty variant of the classic gnocchi, easy to make and versatile: let's season them as we prefer and bring them to the table for a family lunch! When we say "gnocchi" we usually immediately think of the classic potato gnocchi. But this format of fresh pasta is very versatile and lends itself to many variations, enriched in the dough with vegetables of many types. Have you ever tried, for example, zucchini gnocchi? A summer version, with a delicate flavor and which we can combine with many condiments. I used zucchini from my garden to prepare them with a simple and very quick recipe: using grated and squeezed raw zucchini, we don't waste time cooking them and then perhaps having to crush them, but we can use them immediately for the dough!

ingredients

250 g of zucchini

250 ricotta

1 egg

1 tablespoon grated cheese

250 g of flour

nutmeg

Fine salt

How to make: Zucchini gnocchi

Let's start preparing our zucchini gnocchi by grating the zucchini into a bowl. Add the salt and leave to flavor for a few minutes. In the meantime, in another bowl, place the ricotta, the egg, the grated cheese, a pinch of salt and a little nutmeg. Mix everything well with a fork. Add the zucchini, well squeezed, to eliminate all the water they have released, and mix. Begin adding the flour, little at a time and continuing to mix. When the dough has taken consistency, continue to work it on the surface, adding a little more flour if necessary. Once the dough is ready (it must be smooth and soft but not too sticky), roll it out lightly with a rolling pin. Using a knife, cut it into many strips and then round them with your hands. Cut the "tails" into many pieces to shape the gnocchi. Boil the gnocchi in boiling salted water. Drain them after a few minutes, as soon as they come back to the surface. Then season our zucchini gnocchi as we prefer and bring them to the table piping hot! We can prepare butter and sage: a classic, delicate and fragrant condiment. Or garnished with a delicious saffron cream: a rich and enveloping flavor! Or maybe in the more traditional way: with a nice tomato and basil sauce! A perfect first course for Sunday family lunch.

 

Grilled vegetables and a mozzarella 

A quick appetizer to prepare, but very tasty and delicious. Grilled summer vegetables with mozzarella are an exceptional summer side dish. 

INGREDIENTS

100 g zucchini

100 g pumpkin

1 fennel

1 tomato

garlic oil (60 ml olive oil and 1 clove garlic)

To finish

salt

freshly ground pepper

100 g  Mozzarella

1 tbsp olive oil

basil for garnish

PREPARATION

Wash the zucchini and pumpkin, peel and cut into slices. Clean the fennel and cut it into thin slices. Wash the tomato, cut it into quarters, remove the seeds and flatten it. Preheat the grill, peel the garlic, chop finely and add to the oil. Leave the prepared vegetables to marinate for 10 minutes in garlic oil, season with salt, cook on the hot grill on both sides. Put the mozzarella. Arrange the vegetables on the plates together with the mozzarella; pepper, drizzle with olive oil and basil and serve. Vegetable cooking time: about 5 minutes.

RECOMMENDATIONS

You can also cut the tomatoes into thick slices and then grill them.

Other types of vegetables are also suitable for this recipe, such as eggplant, asparagus, avocado, radicchio or potatoes.

Spaghettini with tuna, capers and black olives

Spaghettini with tuna, capers and black olives is a quick and easy first course. Ready in the cooking time of the pasta, but at the same time delicious, I prepare them often, I always have a few cans of tuna and olives at home, they solve several last-minute lunches for me. I often enjoy varying the basic recipe a bit, perhaps replacing the tuna with mackerel, or changing the type of olives, if you like them you can also add a few pieces of sun-dried tomatoes. The secret of this very simple spaghettini dish is to finish cooking in a pan, to absorb all the aromas, I recommend not to overcook the pasta.

Ingredients

180 g spaghettini

10/15 cherry tomatoes

100 g tuna in oil

10 pitted black olives

1 tbsp desalted capers

2 anchovy fillets in oil

parsley

extra virgin olive oil

garlic and chili pepper 

salt

Preparation

Dip the spaghetti in plenty of salted water. In a frying pan, add the anchovies, capers and pitted olives and cook for another 2 minutes. Next, add the tuna in oil, chopped cherry tomatoes, parsley, salt and pepper and leave them on the heat for 5-6 minutes. Fry oil, garlic and chili pepper together with the anchovies and capers. Add the drained tuna and olives, cook for a couple of minutes. Drain the spaghetti al dente and pour them into the pan, cook for a couple of minutes, sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve.

 

Clams and friarielli 

I think that soon they will forbid me to go to the market, because between the fruit and vegetable stalls and the fish stalls, I risk spending more than in a clothing store! From my trip to the market on Saturday, the dish that I present to you today was also born. I had taken the broccoli to prepare sausage & friarielli, a very successful combination, while the clams were intended for the classic or spaghetti with clams. But it went differently and I found myself with boiled friarielli and clams to cook and I decided to try the combination of clams & friarielli. Since I also had a pack of orecchiette in the fridge and it seemed to me that orecchiette went better with friarielli, I also changed the shape of pasta! The result was amazing: I really recommend you to try this combination! Orecchiette with clams and friarielli.

Ingredients

300 g of fresh orecchiette 

350 g of clams

350 g of friarielli (already cleaned)

1/3 glass of white

wine 2 cloves of garlic

1 pepper 

Salt to taste

Extra virgin olive oil 

Procedure

Boil and the broccoli (already cleaned) in boiling salted water. Drain them after 3 minutes, taking care to keep the cooking water to boil the orecchiette, and run them under a jet of cold water to preserve their color. Pour a drizzle of oil into a non-stick pan and add a clove of garlic and a half chili pepper and brown over very low heat. Add the squeezed broccoli and sauté over high heat. Place the broccoli on a plate and keep warm. Add a drizzle of oil to the pan used for the broccoli and brown the remaining garlic clove and half a chili pepper. Add the clams and deglaze with the white wine. As soon as the alcohol has evaporated, cover the pan with a lid and continue to cook until the clams open. In this way, the water from the clams remains in the pan and gives flavor to the orecchiette. Shell some of the clams and return them to the pan. In the meantime, boil the orecchiette in the cooking water of the broccoli and drain them al dente. Add them to the pan of the clams and cook them by seasoning them in the water released by the clams. Add the broccoli as well, stirring to mix well.

Note

I was undecided whether to use orecchiette or classic spaghetti, but I think that fresh pasta better picks up the taste of the water released by the clams and I recommend it. You can also use turnip greens, which generally go well with orecchiette, but personally the combination of the flavor of the clams and the bitterness of the broccoli has won me over and I would not change it.

The longest pizza in Italy measures 50 meters

A nice news that arrived: the longest pizza in the world, prepared in Naples on May 18th, 2016 has officially entered the 2017 edition of the "Guinness World Record" book, published and ready for sale. Oh yes, we are talking about the pizza prepared on the Caracciolo seafront whose dimensions have reached not insignificant figures: a length of 1853.88 meters and a width of about 50 centimeters.

The "titanic" undertaking, organized by the "Pizza Village" and the "Neapolitan Pizzaiuoli" association, carried out on the Caracciolo seafront, which for the occasion was equipped with five mobile ovens, two thousand kilos of flour and fiór of milk, a ton and a half of tomato, thirty kilos of fresh basil and loaves moistened by two hundred liters of oil, all completed by a host of expert labor, 250 pizza makers ready to knead everything, had a great resonance in the media that not only intrigued the whole world but drew attention to the fact that until then no pizza made in the past could match it. The testimonies of those who were able to see it live that day are truly surprising, a culinary wonder not only for the eyes but also for the palate.

Pizza, a dish that has made the city of Naples famous all over the world, thanks to the majesty of this strictly made in Naples enterprise, has acquired another important record, this time a place of honor in the most curious book there is.

The longest pizza in the world? It is almost 2 km long and weighs 7,800 kilos. No, they didn't do it in Naples: this time the record was conquered in Los Angeles, California, on June 10, thus snatching the record from the Neapolitan capital. To make the longest pizza in the world, flour from the Caputo Mill was used (the same as the record pizza in Naples), it took 1,600 kilos of cheese, 2,542 kilos of tomato sauce and hours and hours of work by chefs and volunteers inside the Fontana car circuit. The cooking of the very long pizza was done by leaning it on a track that crossed a two-mouthed oven.

The Californian pizza thus beat the Neapolitan one, made on the city's Caracciolo promenade, on May 18, 2016, "only" 1 kilometer long, 853 meters and 88 centimeters. At the news, the Neapolitans declared "war": the pizza maker Ernesto Fico posted on Facebook a photo of last year's Guinness World Record with the phrase: "Ce ripigliamm' chell che è 'o nuost"... we didn't have to stop at Castel dell'Ovo...».

 

Frisella, tomato and mozzarella 🤩

Easy, quick and tasty as a dish. Even if you have guests at home, you can offer this FRISELLA as a delicious appetizer! I would eat a dish like this every day, I find it very satisfying both on the palate and on the eyes, in the end everyone likes it, of course it is possible to make the FRISA at home, but when time is short, we can find excellent and quality products in the market.

Ingredients

4 Friselle

8 cherry tomatoes

1 mozzarella fiordilatte of 300 gr

EVO Oil 

Parsley

Salt

Chili pepper

Prosciutto

1 teaspoon mayonnaise

Preparation

First wet the friselle. Let them rest for a few minutes and season with extra virgin olive oil. In the meantime, prepare the cooked prosciutto cream, chopping the cooked prosciutto, a little mayonnaise and a drizzle of oil in a food processor, simple and tasty. The mayonnaise is only used to flavor at the right point and mix, do not overdo it. Wash and cut the cherry tomatoes. Place previously cut slices of mozzarella, the ham cream, the cherry tomatoes, salt, drizzle with a drizzle of oil, parsley and a sprinkling of chilli pepper. A very fresh dish, it drives me crazy and you?

 I accompanied it with a super mixed salad topped with balsamic vinegar!

 

Pizza with zucchini and sweet sausage

I don't know about you, but I would eat pizza every day... I often make it by varying the filling... sausage and zucchini are the ingredients I use the most in the kitchen and together they are delicious. Pizza with zucchini and sausage is one of the many quick recipes to prepare, clearly excluding the rising time of the dough. If you want to cook a delicious pizza at home, here is the right recipe.

Ingredients

300 g tomato pulp

200 g zucchini, cut into julienne strips

240 g crumbled sweet sausages

2 - 4 tbsp olive oil

salt

Preparation

Spread half of the tomato pulp, half of the sausage and half of the zucchini over each pizza, leaving a 1 cm border empty. Top with 1-2 tablespoons of oil and salt to taste. Bake the pizzas for 15-20 minutes in the middle and lower part of the preheated oven (electric: 220°, fan:), alternating the position of the trays halfway through cooking. Congratulations, great result!

 

Sausage Pizza 

The red sausage pizza is the first on the list when I think about how to top pizzas, when at home we only eat pizza, this is the best for our palates! Yes, it's true, it's a bit heavy, but the crumbled sausage dough on pizza is really exceptional, in fact I use it in many savory leavened recipes. Of course, try to find some decent sausage, because the ones on the market almost always have the antioxidant and when you cook them they are fuchsia... A good sausage turns grey when cooked! In my house, pizza on Saturdays or Sundays is a ritual, but I try not to make it every week, even if especially in winter my son scolds me when I try to skip the week. As you can see from the photo my pizza is thin, but obviously if you make thicker sheets, you will get thicker pizzas, in short, adjust according to your taste! If you make some of my recipes, send me the photos that I will publish on my page with your name. Try my pizza !

INGREDIENTS

500 g pizza dough (basic dough)

80 g mozzarella fiordilatte

100 g tomato puree

80 g sausage

Oregano

Marjoram

PREPARATION

Prepare the pizza dough according to the basic recipe. Once the leavening is complete, preheat the oven to 250° C by turning on the heating elements both above and below. Cut the mozzarella into small pieces by crumbling it coarsely with your hands. Divide the pizza dough into portions and roll them out with your fingertips directly into the pans, leaving the edge a little thicker. One portion is capable of lining a round baking pan with a diameter of 28 cm. Sprinkle with tomato, add mozzarella and a handful of oregano and marjoram. Coarsely chop the sausage and spread it over the pizza. Bake for 15 minutes, covering for the first 12 minutes with another upside-down baking sheet or aluminum foil.

Irrésistible Pizza Puttanesca

Tout l'esprit italien et les arômes de puttanesca sur une pâte réalisée à la perfection. Composée de tomates, d'olives, de câpres et d'anchois, la Puttanesca est une sauce pour pâtes classique qui est tout aussi délicieuse sur la pizza. La pizza Puttanesca s'inspire de l'une des recettes les plus populaires de Naples : les pâtes puttanesca. Le plat fusionne les saveurs affirmées des anchois, des câpres et des olives avec des tomates. Les pâtes sont ensuite ajoutées et cuites dans la sauce, ce qui donne une préparation audacieuse qui danse en bouche. Les pâtes sont traditionnellement servies avec des spaghettis ou des types de pâtes longues comme les linguines. Récemment, cependant, la puttanesca a commencé à apparaître comme garniture de pizza en Italie.

Originaire de Campanie, la sauce puttanesca est généralement composée d'ingrédients régionaux : tomates San Marzano (broyées à la main selon la tradition), anchois, olives noires, huile d'olive extra vierge, câpres, ail rouge, origan sauvage et basilic frais. Bien sûr, si vous n'êtes pas près de la Campanie, utilisez les ingrédients de la meilleure qualité dont vous disposez.

Évitez les plats à emporter et la livraison. Cette recette est aussi simple que délicieuse. Avec une poignée d’ingrédients que vous avez probablement déjà sous la main, je vais vous guider à travers chaque étape de Pizza Puttanesca. Pour votre pâte à pizza, vous pouvez utiliser soit celle faite maison, soit celle achetée en magasin. Laissez-le toujours reposer et revenez à température ambiante. Cela vous permettra d'étirer la croûte facilement. Pour une croûte croustillante ultime, j'adore utiliser une poêle en fonte pour y cuire ma pizza. Préchauffez votre poêle en fonte dans votre four. Cela vous donnera un fond croustillant et un intérieur moelleux.

Préchauffez votre four à la température la plus élevée, 500-520 degrés. Cela vous permet de créer une expérience semblable à un four à pizza à la maison.

INGRÉDIENTS

1 lb de pâte à pizza, maison ou achetée en magasin

1/2 tasse de sauce 

1 tasse de fromage mozzarella, râpé

2-3 gousses d'ail, tranchées finement

6-8 filets d'anchois

1 cuillère à soupe de câpres, égouttées

1/4 tasse d'olives Kalamata

1/2 cuillère à café de flocons de piment rouge

huile d'olive pour badigeonner

basilic frais, pour la garniture

origan séché, pour la garniture

Fromage Parmigiano-Reggiano, pour la garniture

INSTRUCTIONS

Préchauffez votre four à la température la plus élevée, 520 degrés. Placez votre poêle en fonte dans le four préchauffé pendant que vous préparez le reste des ingrédients. Étalez votre pâte à pizza sur une surface légèrement farinée. Vous voulez qu’elle ait à peu près la même taille que votre poêle en fonte. Retirez délicatement la poêle en fonte du four. Placez la pâte à pizza dans la poêle et pressez doucement la pâte vers les côtés. Badigeonnez l'extérieur de la pâte à pizza d'huile d'olive, environ 1". Étalez votre sauce sur le fond de la croûte. Ajoutez votre fromage. Garnissez avec le reste des ingrédients. Cuire au four pendant 15 minutes jusqu'à ce que le fromage bouillonne et que la croûte soit dorée. Retirez délicatement la poêle du four et glissez délicatement la pizza sur une planche à découper. Laissez refroidir 3 minutes. Garnissez d'origan, de basilic frais et de Parmigiano-Reggiano. Tranchez et dégustez.

 

Plateau d'antipasti 

Pendant que vous terminez de préparer votre festin, accueillez vos convives ou votre famille à table avec un copieux plateau de collations. Celui-ci ne prend que 20 minutes à assembler et propose une variété de spécialités régionales, notamment du prosciutto, du salami, du jambon, de la mozzarella, des olives, des poivrons cerises farcis, des champignons marinés, des tomates et des concombres frais et des tranches de baguette grillées. L'antipasti est l'un des plats les plus caractéristiques de la cuisine italienne.

L'antipasti peut être basique ou orné, mais il y a une règle à suivre : il doit compléter le repas. La couleur et le design de ce qui est inclus dans ce plat sont destinés à provoquer les sens et à exciter votre palais pour le reste du repas. En tant que tel, il ne doit pas être trop gros ou trop copieux, et il doit mélanger parfaitement les couleurs, les textures et les saveurs. L’antipasti étant présenté sur un plateau ou une planche, il s’agit d’une portion familiale. En Italie, il se compose de quelques bouchées assemblées, offrant des saveurs intenses tout en contrastant les textures à la fois. Avec 20 versions régionales différentes, vous les constaterez variées lorsque vous voyagez à travers l’Italie.

En règle générale, vous trouverez des choses comme des champignons, des poivrons, des olives, de la charcuterie, des fromages et des légumes. Les légumes sont peut-être les plus fascinants puisque vous les verrez de toutes les manières, du grillé au rôti et du cru au mariné. La plupart du temps, ce plat est servi à température ambiante, c'est pourquoi les ingrédients ont tendance à être marinés, salés ou conservés d'une manière ou d'une autre.

L'antipasti peut vraiment être aussi simple que quelques fines tranches de prosciutto, un bol d'olives ou des légumes marinés. Un exemple de tartinade traditionnelle comprendrait une sorte de charcuterie, un fromage et un légume, accompagnés d’une baguette ou d’un pain. Parfois, des grissini, un mince gressin, peuvent également être servis. Si vous préparez des antipasti à la maison pour vos amis et votre famille, n'oubliez pas qu'ils doivent correspondre à votre repas. Il est destiné à exciter le palais pour les plats suivants. Ainsi, même si offrir un goût succulent de viandes, de fromages, de légumes et de plats marinés est une bonne façon de commencer, vos invités ne devraient pas être trop rassasiés pour en prendre une bouchée. tous les autres articles que vous servirez.

Neapolitan Saltimbocca

The Neapolitan saltimbocca is a Neapolitan recipe for making a sandwich with pizza dough with a classic elongated shape. The Neapolitan saltimbocca is a sandwich made with pizza dough, very similar to another Neapolitan product, the panuozzo. It is said that the difference between panuozzo and saltimbocca lies in the size, the former being larger, the latter smaller. In reality, the change of name is probably mainly due to the fact that the panuozzo is a registered trademark of the Mascolo family, as the Gragnano pizza maker Giuseppe Mascolo invented it in 1983, for his children's dinner. The panuozzo is now a tradition of Gragnano, and also a tourist attraction, and has spread throughout the Neapolitan territory so as to be prepared in families in a smaller form and with the most diverse fillings, in this case we speak of Neapolitan saltimbocca. The dough is very simple: just flour, salt, water and yeast, completely fat-free. It involves kneading the ingredients for a long time until you get a smooth mixture and then letting it rise until doubled in size. You won't get a particularly hydrated dough, but rather firm and therefore easy to work with. The ideal would be to cook the saltimbocca in a wood-fired oven, to obtain the typical patchy burns of the surface, but it is obviously not necessary. What is important, however, is that the cooking is done quickly, so as not to dry out the dough too much, the ideal would be to use a refractory stone, in order to shorten the cooking time, which can be brought to 4 minutes. The stone also dries the surface of the dough, making it particularly crispy. Finally, the saltimbocca can be cooked in a pan, which must first be heated on the fire.

INGREDIENTS

Flour 500 g

Lukewarm water 250 ml

Salt 10 g

Fresh brewer's yeast 10 g

For filling

4 sausages

160 g fiordilatte

120 g cooked prosciutto

400 g broccoli

METHOD

Prepare the pizza dough, pour the flour into a bowl, dissolve the yeast in the water and add it to the flour then add the salt and knead well. Make a ball and let it rest for an hour then put it in the fridge overnight. The next day, take the dough and leave it at room temperature for an hour, then make 3 rounds of folds with a rest of 15 minutes between each round. That is, take the dough, make a rectangle, bring one long side towards the center and cover with the other side, do the same with the short sides and let it rest. After the last rest, take the dough and divide it into 4 pieces and roll them out like ciabatta, not too thin, about 1.5 cm. Bake in a preheated oven at 250°C for about 15-20 minutes, remove from the oven and let cool. Cut the sausages into small pieces after removing the casing and cook in a pan with a lid. Remove the hard stems from the broccoli, wash them well and cook them in a pan with oil, without water and over medium-low heat. Fill the bread with broccoli, sausages, cheese and prosciutto.

Preservation

The Neapolitan saltimbocca can be kept fragrant for a couple of days, if it is closed in a bread cupboard, in a paper bag or in a tightly closed cotton canvas bag. You can also freeze it, to thaw it you leave it out of the fridge for a few hours, and then you can cut and stuff it.

Variations and tips for filling

The dough can also be made with very little yeast, 2 or 3 grams, in this case the leavening may be longer, but not necessarily, especially if you prepare this recipe in summer when the room temperature is higher. The fillings can be the most disparate, but some are particularly delicious, and very Neapolitan. Mortadella, chopped pistachios and stracciatella is the most contemporary, inspired by food porn, but sausage and broccoli or sausage and bacon are also excellent. For something more summery and vegetarian, there is the everlasting arugula, cherry tomatoes and burrata.

 

Potato and zucchini omelet 

A very simple and tasty omelet, perfect for everyday dinner... The omelet with zucchini and potatoes is prepared quickly, it cooks in the oven with very little oil and the cubes of provolone cheese added to the surface make it even more appetizing! Try it too, it's a nutritious and cheap vegetarian dish!

Ingredients

3 eggs (large)

350 g potatoes

2 zucchini

50 g milk

1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese

50 g provolone cheese

Half a spring onion (to taste)

aromatic herbs (thyme, oregano or others to taste)

extra virgin olive oil

salt

Pepper

Preparation

Wash and peel the potatoes, then cut them into slices. Brown them in a pan with a drizzle of oil and a pinch of salt for about ten minutes, they should be cooked but a little consistent. As soon as they are ready, transfer them to a tray with paper towels to remove excess oil. Wash and trim the zucchini, cut them into cubes or slices. Cook them in a pan with a little oil and salt for 5-6 minutes. When they are browned, add the sliced spring onion and sauté for a minute or two. Turn off the stove and let the vegetables cool. In a bowl, beat the eggs with the milk, Parmesan cheese, salt, pepper and herbs. Add the potatoes and zucchini to the mixture and stir. Cut the provolone cheese into cubes. Put everything in a convection oven at 180° and bake for about 25 minutes, or until the omelet is cooked and lightly golden. Your omelet with zucchini and potatoes is ready, remove it from the pan and serve it cut into wedges... Enjoy your meal!

Frisella, tomato and mozzarella

Today I prepare a light and very easy dish, Frisella with Tomato and Mozzarella.

Friselle are one of the typical specialties of Puglia, crunchy taralli made with durum wheat flour that are cut in half horizontally and then baked again until they are biscuits. The dough, obtained by leavening wheat or barley flour with water, salt and brewer's yeast, is kneaded by hand, cut according to local tradition and worked into the shape of a lozenge which is then rolled up into a spiral shape with a small central hole and then baked. After the first cooking it is cut in half with a thread and put back in the oven to be toasted. It was born as a poor food for sailors who, having to stay away from home for a long time, needed a bread that could be kept for a long time without molding. Before the post-war period, wheat flour frisella was reserved for the tables of the well-to-do and for a few other festive occasions. The lower classes of the population consumed friselle made from barley flour or mixtures of barley and wheat. Frisella can be stored for a long time and this made it a valid alternative to bread, in periods when flour was scarcer. To season the classic Apulian friselle, only tomato, garlic, oil and salt are usually used. 

Ingredients 

400 g of small cherry tomatoes 

4 friselle

2 mozzarella

2 small

thyme to taste basil

salt and pepper to taste 

extra virgin olive oil to taste

Method

Before seasoning, the frisella should be soaked with water, being careful not to overdo it because otherwise it could break. Then cut the tomatoes and mozzarella into small pieces. Drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, salt, pepper and fresh thyme. Place this dressing on each frisella and finish with basil leaves. Your Frisella with Tomato and Mozzarella is ready to be enjoyed.

 

Jaboulet Hermitage La Chapelle

Tasting notes

Intense ruby red, limpid and bright. Highly complex, distinguished nose, revealing the Syrah’s great finesse. Black fruits, sweet spices and, ultimately, finely woody. Full and generous, silky tannins and a very long finish.

98 Points Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

Last year, I giddily speculated whether the 2019 Hermitage La Chapelle would warrant a 100-point score. While close—and I wouldn't completely discount it reaching that pinnacle in another decade or two—I'm not sure this wine is as good as I thought. It boasts exciting aromas of roasted meat, mocha, crushed stone, plum and cassis on the nose. It's full-bodied, concentrated, richly tannic and velvety in texture. It's long and complex on the finish, adding hints of cracked pepper and salted licorice. And yet, as much as I enjoyed tasting it and as undeniably great it is, angels didn't sing from the heavens. Maybe next bottle. Best after 2025. Rating: 98+

97 Points Jeb Dunnuck

Showing even better than when I tasted it last year, the 2019 Hermitage La Chapelle is another ripe, powerful, sexy, and full-bodied example of this cuvée that brings classic La Chapelle gamey darker fruits as well as smoked meats, chocolate, sandalwood, and peppery spice. Full-bodied on the palate, it has good concentration, lots of ripeness, polished tannins, and a great, great finish. As with the 2018, it's opened up beautifully on the palate since I tasted it at the domaine and is a ripe, expansive, pure, beautiful Hermitage.

95 Points James Suckling

A big, rich wine with intense fruit, showing blackberry, black olive and black truffle character. Full-bodied and layered with chewy tannins that are soft and juicy. It’s a little warm on the finish. Yet, the decadence is so attractive and the phenolics keep it in line. This is very solid.

 

Amatriciana, Cacio e pepe, Carbonara, Gricia

Carbonara: anything but easy to make

The ingredients are few, but this does not mean that the recipe - whose origin is still debated - is simple to make. Mistakes are lurking: shredded eggs, thick sauce, burnt bacon and pepper. Then whether the pasta is long or short is just a matter of taste... Well prepared, it is a first course to enjoy.

One of the (pleasant) characteristics of traditional Roman cuisine was the ability to create delicious dishes, based on ingredients of rural and peasant origin. Just think of the role of meat: the saltimbocca and the famous lamb were destined for the feast day. For the rest, lots of vegetables, cheeses from the region or at most from Abruzzo and pasta. In this, Roman chefs have been exceptional because they have managed - over time, in some cases over centuries - to create a poker of great delicacy. Carbonara, amatriciana, cacio e pepe and gricia represent a "block" that is impossible to escape if you live in or pass through the capital. 

AMATRICIANA SAUCE RECIPE

Ingredients: The ingredients, referring to the preparation of 500 g of pasta, are: - 125 g of "Guanciale Amatriciano".; - a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil; - a dash of dry white wine; - 6 or 7 San Marzano tomatoes or 400 g of quality peeled tomatoes; - a piece of fresh or dried chili pepper (if necessary); - salt and pepper to taste. Method: Brown the "Guanciale Amatriciano" in a strictly iron pan, lightly browning in extra virgin olive oil, well cleansed from the rind and cut into long strips. Add the white wine and black pepper to taste, and possibly the chili pepper, and cook over low heat for a few minutes until the guanciale is lightly golden, taking great care that it does not brown too much, a fundamental rule for the success of the recipe. Remove the strips of guanciale from the pan, drain well and keep them aside, if possible, warm, thus avoiding the risk of them becoming too dry and salty. Add the sliced tomatoes and remove the seeds, having previously blanched them, or use 400 g of quality peeled tomatoes. 

For the Amatriciana Sauce recipe, as is the case with many traditional Italian recipes, everyone has their own trick and their own "familiar" and "official" recipe. But there is a "sum", the "perfect recipe". It is the one codified by the municipality of Amatrice, which has designated Amatriciana as a recipe with a Municipal Denomination and has drawn up a specification. It's the classic recipe, in two versions. The first is the "white" one, which we all actually know as "gricia", which is the original recipe, the one born with the shepherds of Amatrice who in the period of transhumance brought with them a few ingredients, easy to preserve, to prepare a meal: guanciale, aged pecorino cheese and flour. The second is the "red" one, born with the introduction of the tomato in the eighteenth century when the Neapolitans recognized the organoleptic qualities of the tomato and consequently, the Amatriciani (Amatrice at that time was part of the Kingdom of Naples), who added it to the traditional recipe.

Pasta alla gricia (pasta with guanciale) is one of the most famous dishes of Lazio cuisine, considered the ancestor of pasta amatriciana. As with the recipe for the amatriciana, in fact, it includes guanciale and Pecorino Romano cheese. The main difference lies in the tomato sauce, which is absent in pasta alla gricia because its origin even predates the importation of tomatoes into Europe. It is said that pasta alla gricia was invented by the shepherds of Lazio, who, with the few ingredients they had available, prepared this simple but equally tasty and substantial dish. You can choose to add a long type of pasta like bucatini, or a short one like rigatoni!

INGREDIENTS

Rigatoni  (320 g)

Guanciale (250 g) - (already peppered)

Pecorino Romano PDO cheese ½ cup (60 g) - to grate

Fine salt to taste

PREPARATION

To prepare pasta alla gricia, first place a pot full of water on the burner that will be used to cook the pasta. At this point take the guanciale and cut slices 1/2" (1 cm) 1 thick. Then separate any rind that may be present (you can keep it in the fridge and use it in other recipes, such as soups) and from the slices you get strips about 1/8" (half a cm) thick. Pour the guanciale into a pan already hot, without adding more fat. Let it sizzle on medium heat for about ten minutes until it is golden and crisp, taking care not to burn it. In the meantime the water will have come to a boil, salt and cook the pasta; while the pasta cooks, finely grate Pecorino cheese. When 2 minutes are left before the pasta is done, slow down the cooking of the guanciale by adding a ladle of cooking water. The cooking of the guanciale will stop and the starch released from the pasta will create a pleasant cream. Jiggle the pan a little bit to move the pieces of guanciale. At this point your pasta is done, add it directly to the sauce, preserving the cooking water. Stir for about 1 minute, shake the pan and stir. Then remove the pan from the heat, sprinkle with a third of grated Pecorino cheese and add a little more cooking water if necessary. Stir and toss the pasta again; you will notice that a tasty cream will have been created. You can then serve pasta alla gricia and garnish each plate with the remaining Pecorino cheese.

STORAGE

I recommend eating immediately. If you prefer, pasta alla gricia can be stored in the fridge for up to 1 day. Freezing is not recommended.

TIPS

Guanciale should be cooked in a hot pan over medium heat, checking occasionally to avoid burning it. If the guanciale you use is not already peppered on the outside, add grated black pepper to taste while cooking.

"Yes, life is a butt, here you stub well". This is one of the typical phrases that introduce menus in Roman trattorias or fraschette. But Carbonara and amatriciana, like spaghetti cacio e pepe, have now become symbolic dishes of Italian nature, made with PDO ingredients linked to the traditions of the territories in which they were born. 

INGREDIENTS

Spaghetti 320 g

Medium-aged Pecorino Romano , to be grated 200 g

Black peppercorns 5 g

PREPARATION

To prepare spaghetti cacio e pepe, first put a pot with water on the stove to cook the pasta: fill it with about half of the water you usually use, in this way it will be richer in starch. In the meantime, grate the Pecorino Romano and transfer almost all of it to a bowl, keeping a little aside for serving. When the water has come to a boil, add a moderate salt and dip the spaghetti. Meanwhile, crush the peppercorns with a meat mallet (or use a grinder leaving it rather slow so that you also have larger pieces of pepper). Pour the pepper into a large non-stick pan and toast it over low heat, stirring with a wooden spoon. Deglaze with a couple of ladles of the pasta cooking water. Keep stirring over low heat. Drain the spaghetti 2-3 minutes before the time indicated on the package and transfer them to the pan, taking care to preserve the cooking water. Finish cooking the spaghetti in the pan, risotto, then add hot water as needed and stirring continuously with tongs. Wait until the bottom of the pan is almost dry before adding more water. You can prepare the Pecorino cream (do not start earlier because it would tend to congeal or be too cold compared to the temperature of the pasta): pour a ladle of hot cooking water into the bowl with the grated Pecorino cheese, then stir vigorously with a hand whisk. The consistency you will have to get is more pasty than creamy, don't worry if it will be very dry. If, once the cream is ready, the pasta is not ready for creaming, place the bowl briefly on the pot with the hot water, continuing to stir with the whisk, so as to have the cream at a temperature similar to that of the pasta. When the spaghetti is cooked, turn off the heat and add the Pecorino cream, stirring constantly with tongs. For the ideal creaminess, adjust by adding more Pecorino or a little cooking water as needed. Serve your spaghetti cacio e pepe sprinkled with the remaining grated Pecorino cheese and more freshly ground pepper to taste!

PRESERVATION

It is recommended to consume the spaghetti cacio e pepe immediately. Any form of storage is not recommended.

ADVICE

It is important that the pasta cooking water is rich in starch because it will help you obtain a creamy sauce without lumps. If you prefer to test your ability to make cacio e pepe, the advice is to make half a dose so that it is easier to manage the ingredients of the cream cheese. Lovers of short pasta can use mezze maniche or rigatoni instead of spaghetti! There is also a tasty version with pici, typical of Tuscany. A gem? If you want to slightly "degrease" the dish, you can grate a little lemon zest into the Pecorino cream: purists won't want it.

 

The pizza Margherita

Pizza is not bread. Anything that moves away from this basic concept is focaccia, aka decomposed Margherita: on one side the bread, on the other the filling. So I prefer bread, mozzarella and raw tomato:-) Obviously we are talking about Margherita even if in the last two years the imagination is running wild. But when I go to a pizzeria I always ask for a marinara, then a Margherita and then we talk about it! These are not the only good Margherita pizzas in Naples, but they are the ones that right now are the ones that I prefer among those that you can take home. The Neapolitan pizza without ifs and buts, the one that determined the cartwheel style and the tradition from which there is no departure. A safe reference for the whole neighborhood, effective and good. A traditional and effective pizza, with an immediate, reassuring impact. 

Naples is a thousand shades * of pizza! But, if you ask around, they’ll tell you that there’s just one original, the Margherita pizza, and that tomato, mozzarella, and basil are the only toppings there are. Every self-respecting pizza chef, or pizzaiolo, has their own recipe that they guard jealously, but I’d like to share the one that I’ve come up with. By following our instructions step by step, your homemade Margherita pizza will be just as good as one from a pizzeria! There are just a few secrets that you’ll soon discover: First of all, the ingredients must all be of the highest quality, the oven must be red-hot, and last, but not least, you must put all your love for cooking into the dough – it’s the only way to make the pizza really special!

INGREDIENTS

flour 1 ½ cup (200 g)

Water 1 ⅓ cup (300 ml) - at room temperature

Fine salt 1 ½ tsp (10 g)

Fresh brewer's yeast 1 ¼ tsp (4 g)

FOR THE TOPPING

Tomato puree 1 ¼ cup (300 g)

Mozzarella cheese 0.5 lbs (200 g)

Basil to taste

Extra virgin olive oil to taste

FOR ROLLING OUT THE PIZZAS

Re-milled durum wheat semolina to taste

PREPARATION

To make the pizza dough, we’ve chosen to knead by hand, but if you prefer to use a mixer or kneading machine, you can follow the same steps, using the dough hook at low medium speed. First of all, pour the two flours into a bowl, crumble the yeast into it, and pour in the water a little at a time. The ideal water temperature is 77°F (25°C). As you pour the water in, stir slowly using a wooden spoon, and once you’ve added nearly all the water, add the salt as well. Continue adding the water and begin to knead with your hands to combine the ingredients well. Finally, transfer the dough to a work surface and work it with your hands until it is smooth and even. At this point, leave it to rest on the work surface for around 10 minutes, covering it with a bowl. Once rested, give it a little fold: Imagine that the ball of dough is divided into 4 parts; take the end of each part, pull it out delicately, and fold it in toward the center. After making the 4 folds, shape the dough into a ball again by turning it over on itself. Transfer the ball of dough into a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and leave it to rise. For your convenience, you can place the bowl in an oven that’s turned off but with the light on; that way, the inside will reach a temperature of 79-82°F (26-28°C), which is ideal for leavening. Otherwise, you can put the bowl in a warm place. The leavening times are approximate because the dough itself, temperature, and weather conditions all have an influence on the leavening: On average, it should take 6 hours for the dough to double its volume. After this leavening time has passed, the dough will be nice and puffed up, so transfer it to the work surface and divide it into three 9½-oz (365-g) pieces using a dough cutter. If needed, you can lightly flour the work surface. Next, take each portion of dough and lift up one end of it and bring it toward the center, like you did before in step 9. Repeat this process for the other 3 ends of the dough. Turn the dough over and carry on with the rounding: Rounding the dough means turning it around with your hands on the work surface, bringing it toward you and then moving it away repeatedly until you get a smooth, even ball. As you form these little balls, transfer them to a greased pizza dough container and cover with the lid. Let the balls of dough rise for another 30 minutes. In the meantime, place the pizza stone in the upper part of the oven. Turn the oven on and heat to 480°F (250°C) in conventional mode. Now, using a dough cutter, carefully lift the first ball out of the dough container. Transfer it to a work surface with plenty of semolina and also add some semolina to the surface of the dough. Press down in the middle of the ball using your fingertips. Keep doing this, with a rotating movement, so the dough gets stretched out. Be sure not to press the edges down, however, and continue pressing and rotating until you get an 11-inch (28-cm) disc. Transfer the dough to a pizza peel, taking care not to damage it. Now, using a spoon to help you, spread some tomato purée on the dough, leaving some room around the edge. Place the raw pizza in the oven by sliding it carefully onto the stone. Let it cook for around 6 minutes. In the meantime, cut the mozzarella into strips or pull it apart with your hands. You can squeeze it out gently so that it doesn’t release too much water when it gets cooked. After 6 minutes have passed, take the pizza out of the oven using the peel. Arrange the pieces of mozzarella on top and then put it back in the oven for another 6 minutes, approximately. Once it’s nice and golden, take it out of the oven, add the basil leaves, and a drizzle of oil if you like, and serve up your Margherita pizza. Finish the other two pizzas following the same steps and enjoy while still hot.

STORAGE

Once leavened, you can also freeze the pizza dough; in this case, it’s better to divide it into portions before freezing and store in a freezer bag. Later, all you’ll have to do is let the portion(s) you want to use defrost at room temperature, and then follow the steps in the recipe. If you like, you can also freeze the Margherita pizza once it’s partially cooked: Just cook it halfway, let it cool, and then freeze it covered with aluminum foil. When you’re ready to cook it, you can do so from frozen, at a slightly lower temperature.

INTERESTING FACTS

Created in Naples in 1889 in an inspired move by Neapolitan pizzaiolo Raffaele Esposito, Margherita pizza was born out of a visit to the city by Queen Margherita, who was at that time reigning alongside King Umberto I. Esposito created three very different pizzas for the occasion, but the queen liked the one with mozzarella and tomato in particular, which from then on was known as the “Margherita” in her honor.