Salsiccia, friarielli and melted provola

Sausages and friarielli, a real Neapolitan dish! Rustic, tasty and full of character just like the best Neapolitan specialties can be. For friarielli we mean the inflorescence of turnip greens, also called winter broccoli and are traditionally prepared just as indicated in the video recipe. In this case even the sausages are Neapolitan, purchased directly from Luigi, my trusted Neapolitan butcher whom I thank for the excellent products he has provided me.

Ingredients

PORK SAUSAGE

Smoked provola cheese to taste 

FRIARIELLI 4 Decks

CLOVE OF GARLIC 4

HOT RED CHILI pepper 1

EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL (EVO) 1/2 Glass

WHITE WINE 1/2 Glasses

SALT to taste

Preparation

First clean the friarielli: pass them under running water removing the most yellow leaves, then remove the leaves from the stems. Heat a good amount of extra virgin olive oil, about half a glass together with two cloves of garlic and a chopped chili. When the oil starts to sizzle, add the friarielli and cook over high heat in a covered pan. When the oil starts to sizzle, add the friarielli and cook over high heat in a covered pan. Meanwhile, divide the sausages and prick the casing with a sharp knife. Heat a round of oil in a pan with two cloves of garlic, then add the sausages and brown them well. Then blend the sausages with white wine and let the alcohol evaporate over high heat. Continue cooking the sausages for a few more minutes. Drain the sausages from the cooking stock and pass them in a pan with the friarielli; and finish with the provola.  Let it flavor for a couple of minutes. Serve hot.

 

Paccheri, prawns and tomatoes 

Paccheri with shrimp and cherry tomatoes are a tasty first course also suitable for holidays, which is made in a very short time and can be prepared with both fresh and frozen shrimps.

Ingredients

400 g paccheri

500 g shrimp (fresh or frozen already cleaned)

300 g peeled datterini tomatoes (with two tablespoons of their juice)

40 g extra virgin olive oil

2 garlic cloves

1/2 glass dry white wine

1 sprig parsley

1 pinch black pepper

salt to taste

Procedure

First take care of the shrimp: remove the head, remove the carapace and, with the help of a toothpick, remove the black casing which, in addition to being aesthetically ugly to see, makes the shrimp unpleasant to the taste. When you have finished cleaning them, rinse the shrimp under the jet of water and leave them aside momentarily. In a pan large enough to sauté the dough insert the oil and the two whole garlic cloves, as soon as they begin to brown add the shrimps, after less than a minute blend with white wine and let it evaporate. When the wine has evaporated, remove the shrimp from the pan using a slotted spoon and leave them aside, so that they do not overcook. In the pan with the sauce add the canned cherry tomatoes and a few tablespoons of their juice; If you prefer, you can use fresh cherry tomatoes that you will have the foresight to cut in two. Add salt, pepper and cook for five minutes, then add the previously removed shrimp and cook for another minute. Meanwhile, in plenty of salted water boil the paccheri, when cooked drain them remembering to leave a little pasta cooking water to stir the dish, pour the paccheri into the pan with the sauce, add a sprig of chopped parsley and the pasta cooking water and sauté it until it is tied with the sauce. Immediately serve the paccheri with shrimp and cherry tomatoes: you will realize how in no time you will have prepared an exquisite dish ready to taste.

 

Spaghetti with Ox cheek ragù

Choose the job you love and you will not work even a day in your whole life.

Ingredients

500 g spaghetti

1kg oxtail

1 celery stalk

1 onion

1 carrot

tomato preserve

1 l brown ox background

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1 glass of red wine

Pepper

salt

Procedure

To prepare the taglierini with oxtail sauce, clean the vegetables, chop them finely and brown them in a saucepan with oil. Next add the oxtail previously cut into pieces of 5 cm and add salt and pepper. Sauté the oxtail on all sides, then add a tablespoon of preserve and mix. Pour the wine and deglaze the cooking liquid, then cover with the brown ox bottom and let it simmer for about three hours. Remove the pieces of oxtail from the heat and keep them warm, then strain the sauce and pour it into a pan. Boil the noodles in plenty of boiling salted water, drain them al dente and sauté them in a pan with the sauce to flavor them. Finally, arrange the pasta on the plates and serve with portions of oxtail.

  

Curly lasagna rolls 

A delight for the palate and the eyes, curly lasagna rolls are really the ideal dish to prepare and serve during family lunches. A valid alternative to the classic meat cannelloni, these rolls prepared with eggplant and sausage are really rich in taste and full-bodied. They are prepared quite quickly and lend themselves to being cooked in advance to be then heated before serving, this method means that they can be flavored even more thanks to the rest time, always recommended in the preparation of baked first courses. Many ingredients but that maintain an extraordinary balance between them. So let's see together how to make these delicious rolls.

Ingredients

8 sheets of curly lasagna

600 grams sausage paste

400 grams fiordilatte

500 milliliters tomato puree

just enough salt

to taste extra virgin olive oil

just enough seed oil

1 handful fennel seeds

1 eggplant

8 slices mortadella

50 grams grated Grana Padano cheese

50 grams onion

Preparation

Wash the eggplant well and reduce it into slices of a thickness of 3 millimeters, then fry them in plenty of hot seed oil and once golden brown well on both sides, drain them and place with salt. In a large pan, brown the chopped onion with a few tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil. As soon as the onion is golden, add the fennel seeds and let them toast for a couple of seconds, then add the sausage paste. Sauté the sausage over high heat and add about 300 milliliters of tomato puree, then cook for about ten minutes. Once the sausage sauce is ready, pour it into a bowl and let it cool. Then add the diced fiordilatte and 40 grams of grated Grana Padano and mix everything. Place a pot on the heat with plenty of water and salt and boil the sheets of curly lasagna for about 8 minutes, then drain and place it on a plane, then start stuffing them with a layer of fried eggplant. Continue to fill the pasta sheets with mortadella and finally with a light layer of sausage and cheese mixture. Roll the sheets on themselves and place the rolls thus obtained in a baking dish. Spread the tomato puree you have kept aside on all the rolls and sprinkle with the grated Grano Padano. Bake for about thirty minutes in a static oven at 200 C degrees. Once ready, let rest for about ten minutes and serve. And here are the curly lasagna rolls ready to be served.

Note

If you love chili you can add a sprinkling during the preparation of the sausage. Bake the rolls keeping them covered for at least three quarters of the cooking time in the oven. To have dry and oil-free eggplants, it is preferable to cook them a couple of hours before and then let them drain in a colander. When boiling the sheets of lasagna, to prevent them from sticking together, add a teaspoon of oil to the water.

Garlic mushrooms in Parmesan cheese

An easy and refined side dish or appetizer that goes well with fish or meat main courses. The mushrooms are sautéed in a pan with oil and garlic and then served with very thin flakes of Parmesan cheese. A perfect combination of flavors with a surprising scent. Recipe with mushrooms tasty, easy, fast and very chic! Let's see together how to proceed.

Ingredients

800 g mushrooms

2 cloves Garlic

7 tablespoons Extra virgin olive oil

salt and pepper

Parsley

150 g Parmigiano Reggiano flakes

Preparation

Clean the mushrooms by removing the final earthy part. With a damp cloth clean them gently and slice them not too thin. In a large and non-stick pan, pour the oil and lightly brown the peeled garlic. Sauté the mushrooms over high heat for 5 minutes, season with salt and pepper and mix gently. Allow to cool. Transfer the mushrooms to a plate, distribute the parmesan cheese flakes and perfume with chopped parsley. Mushrooms with Parmesan cheese are ready to be served. They can be kept in the fridge for about 3 days. To better combine the flavors it is advisable to add the parmesan flakes on hot mushrooms.

Note

Before buying mushrooms, always check that they are firm and have a pleasant scent. They can be kept in the fridge for a few days wrapped in a damp cloth. How to clean the mushrooms: remove the earthy end with a small knife, gently scrape the stem and clean the hat well with a damp cloth. You can freeze them in slices or whole if they are not too large. Do not thaw them before consuming them otherwise they become watery.

 

Creamy Pasta with Asparagus & Bacon 😋😍💕 

The creamy pasta with asparagus and bacon is a quick and tasty first course. Very easy to prepare and seasonal. Creamy and fast: asparagus and bacon pasta, a first course with asparagus from the easy preparation! It is to season the pasta with creamy asparagus and diced crispy bacon sautéed. A creamy first course, perfect with any shape of short or long pasta: bows, penne, fusilli, spaghetti, linguine as well as fresh pasta or long fusilli. In this recipe asparagus pesto is a cream made from asparagus, parmesan, basil, olive oil, and the addition of spreadable cheese that makes it even creamier. An alternative to asparagus pesto is this cream that is prepared without the addition of cream cheese. The recipe is very simple: pesto is prepared during the cooking of pasta as well as browning bacon in a pan. As soon as the pasta is ready, it is seasoned and flavored: a creamy asparagus and bacon pasta with a unique goodness! Perfect to customize as you prefer using ricotta or other cream cheese. If you have dietary requirements you can use gluten-free pasta of any format, to be seasoned with asparagus pesto. Let's see what we need to prepare the creamy pasta with asparagus and bacon.

Ingredients

160 g pasta (short, long, fresh)

8 asparagus (green)

20 g Parmesan cheese

100 g bacon

4 basil leaves

100 g spreadable cheese (or ricotta)

salt

Preparation

Prepare the asparagus cream: clean the asparagus by removing the white and woody end. Cut them coarsely and put them in a pan with a little water. Cook the asparagus until soft, then drain. Put the asparagus in a mixer with olive oil, basil and Parmesan. Blend intermittently until creamy. Add salt and cheese, continue to blend. Sauté the bacon in a non-stick pan, without oil. It should be crunchy. Drain the pasta al dente: keep a little cooking water if it serves to soften the asparagus pesto and make it creamier. Season the pasta with asparagus pesto and crispy bacon. Stir and serve.

Creamy potato soup

Cream of potatoes a first course very easy to prepare, delicate but delicious and perfect for colder days like these. Lately it's really colder in Montreal, autumn has arrived, and we all want dishes that warm the body but also the heart and this potato soup is really ideal. Adults as well as all children, love soups and even velvety I thought I would try to prepare the cream of potatoes hoping to eat it. Do you like potato soup? Have you ever tried to prepare it with some crouton baked bread with oil, salt and oregano? Try it and I assure you that you will not regret it! Ah... And now... Well, fasten your apron...!

Ingredients

700 ml Water

500 g Potatoes

1 tablespoon nut of vegetable broth

1 sprig Rosemary

1 clove Garlic

Extra virgin olive oil

Preparation

Peel the potatoes and cut them into cubes. Put in a saucepan two or three tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, a clove of garlic cut in half and deprived of the central core and a sprig of rosemary well tied with kitchen string. Sauté and heat for a few minutes then add the potato cubes. Cook the potato cubes for about 5 minutes then add all the water and a tablespoon of vegetable cube. Stir, lower the heat, cover with a lid and cook over low heat for about 25 minutes. When the potatoes are completely cooked, remove the sprig of rosemary and remove the pot from the heat. Blend all the potatoes with an immersion blender together with the cooking liquid until a homogeneous cream is obtained. Pour the potato soup into the plates or in a tureen and finish with a round of extra virgin olive oil and if you want a little bit of ground pepper.

Note

You can also sauté with an onion or shallots instead of a clove of garlic. Remember to tie the rosemary otherwise it will be lost in cooking inside the soup.

 

Ribeye steak with pasta 

Do you have slices of beef at home and want a tasty, simple and quick recipe to not eat the usual "slice"? This is for you! Onions, meat and you're done: you will bring to the table a tasty second course in a few minutes. I am not going to tell you how to cook spaghetti. You can read that on the package. Cut the ribeye into nice slices and put it in the sauce. A little extra cheese over the spaghetti, and you are ready to go.

Ingredients

2 inch-thick ribeyes

salt and pepper

Pasta

3 cloves of garlic

1 large white onion

50 grams of butter

A handful of fresh Italian herbs

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1/2 tsp sugar

a little chili flakes

20 ml of olive oil

Preparation

Melt the butter in a frying pan. Chop the onion and garlic very fine and fry it in the melted butter. Then remove the pan from the heat. Finely chop the Italian herbs and add this to the onions and garlic, along with the salt, pepper, sugar, chili flakes, and olive oil. Prepare the grill at an indirect temperature of 160°C (300F). Remove the platesetters. Set the grids to the lowest setting and heat up the grill. Grill the ribeyes on both sides until a core temperature of 55°C (131F). Let the ribeyes rest and sprinkle on some salt and pepper. Slice the ribeye and serve on top of the sauce with spaghetti.

Grilled shrimp and rice

Grilled prawns are a tasty second course that can also become an excellent appetizer to serve to friends, accompanied by bruschetta or croutons. Grilled king prawns is a tasty dish that lends itself to various uses. It can be an excellent second course to enjoy in end of summer, when the practice of barbecue is the still the most popular, but also a delicious appetizer, to be served during a dinner with friends accompanied by bruschetta or croutons. Brandy is an ingredient that, in the case of this recipe, gives that extra touch of flavor: it is a liqueur widely used in the kitchen, not only for desserts but also in many seconds both meat and fish.

Ingredients

1 kg of king prawns

100 ml of extra virgin olive oil

2 lemons

parsley to taste

salt to taste

pepper to taste

1 ml of Brandy

Procedure

To prepare the grilled prawns it is first necessary to wash the prawns carefully, then let them drip taking care to dry them with a cloth. Chop the parsley and the clove of garlic to prepare the emulsion with which you are going to wet your prawns. In a bowl pour the oil, add the juice of the two lemons, then add the chopped garlic and parsley. Arrange the prawns on a plate and season with the emulsion previously prepared. Add a little Brandy, then let marinate for at least half an hour. If you don't like the idea you can also change the distilled liqueur or omit it altogether. In the meantime, remember to turn on the barbecue or the electric plate so that it is hot once the time comes to cook the prawns on the grill. After half an hour, line the grill with aluminum foil, then arrange the prawns and proceed with cooking. This type of crustaceans cooks in 5-6 minutes: keeping this fish on the grill too long risks making it too dry. Remember to turn them over during cooking. Once ready, serve your grilled prawns hot with rice.

  

Shrimp and mango

Appetizer with mango and shrimp, are you looking for recipes with an exotic touch for your end of summer? Then this simple but tasty appetizer is for you because it is easily prepared but has a unique and irresistible taste! Gourmets friends welcome back to my kitchen, today is the Friday of the Idea Menu column that will present us dishes to create an EXOTIC menu! This time I had to make the appetizer and I decided to use mango, which I love, and spiced shrimp with ginger that is so good. If I have to be honest I saw a similar recipe years ago in a magazine (the classic magazines in waiting rooms) but if I remember correctly there was pineapple instead of mango. This is one of those recipes that the idea remains inside you for years even if you only saw it in passing and not remembering anything else about the preparation I decided to do my own thing and the result was divine believe me!

Ingredients

Half a mango

100 g shrimp

juice of half a lemon

green pepper and salt

ginger powder

extra virgin olive oil to taste

PREPARATION

First take the shrimp, Mango and Shrimp appetizers recipe. Shell them, being careful to leave the tail. Wash them under running water and dry gently with a cloth. Arrange them on a plate and sprinkle with lemon juice, a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, and a sprinkling of green pepper, ginger powder and salt. Stir and let stand.Mango and Shrimp appetizers recipe. Take the mango, wash and dry it and remove the peel. Cut it into cubes (possibly the same number as the shrimp, but even if there are shrimp without base is fine). Heat a grilled pan and put the mango pieces, leave them on one side until the classic dark lines are created. Turn the mango over everywhere until it is mango and shrimp appetizers recipe. Colorful on all sides. Remove the mango from the grilled pan and put the shrimp with all the juice. Cook 1 minute per side over medium-low heat, as soon as the shrimp begin to close, remove them from the heat. Let them cool and place them making sure that the tail protrudes upwards. Place the shrimp on a piece of mango and serve fresh.

 

Carpaccio of cod, nectarines and parmesan cheese with blueberry sauce

A simple and fresh appetizer, to be composed in the dishes interspersing thin slices of cod, nectarines and parmesan flakes with a delicate blueberry sauce. The carpaccio of cod, nectarines and parmesan with blueberry sauce is the demonstration that fish, fruit and cheese can go to the wedding and bring to the palate a marriage of flavors, which complement each other in a fresh embrace.

Ingredients

FOR CARPACCIO

500 g desalted cod fillet

100 g Parmigiano Reggiano 

100 g arugula

1 Walnut peach

extra virgin olive oil

lemon

salt

peppercorns

FOR THE BLUEBERRY SAUCE

160 g seed oil

100 g whole milk

80 g cranberry juice

lemon

salt

Procedure

FOR CARPACCIO

Wash the walnut peach and cut it into very thin slices. Finely slice the cod fillet, cutting it diagonally to obtain a carpaccio; Season with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, the juice of 1/2 lemon and ground pepper, adjusting salt if necessary.

FOR THE BLUEBERRY SAUCE

Blend the milk with a pinch of salt and the seed oil poured flush with an immersion blender, until the mixture has thickened acquiring the consistency of a mayonnaise; Then add the cranberry juice and the juice of 1/2 lemon and blend again to mix the sauce.

TO COMPLETE

Arrange the slices of cod in the individual dishes, interspersing them with the walnut peach slices; add thin flakes of Parmesan cheese; Season again with a drizzle of oil and ground pepper, and at the end complete with rocket leaves, tufts of blueberry sauce and grated lemon zest.