Pasta & Beans Soup

Serves 4

Ingredients

-  200g of dried beans

-  from 1 to 3 teaspoons of salt

-  2 tablespoons of olive oil

-  1 finely chopped medium onion

-  1 finely chopped stick of celery

-  3 carrots, halved lengthways and sliced

-  2 medium potatoes cut into pieces

-  1-2  cloves of garlic

-  100g of short pasta

-   ground chilli (optional), extra virgin oil

Directions

Soak dried beans in cold water overnight.

Put the finely chopped onion, celery, and garlic into a saucepan with a little extra virgin olive oil and cook as gently as possible, with the lid on until all the vegetables are soft, but not brown.

Drain your beans well and rinse them in cold water, then add them to the pan and cover with water.  Add the salt and leave them  gently simmer for at least one hour or more, till they get soft.

Now take a couple of ladles of beans and put them aside.

With a  blender mash the vegetables and part of the beans so as to make a smooth thick cream to which you will now add the beans you had put aside. Season to taste with salt (if needed) and pepper. Add a short kind of pasta and add a little more boiling water, should your soup be too thick.

Before serving drizzle with extra olive oil.

EXTRA TIP

• If you are short of time you can use tinned beans.
• Try adding some chilly: it will taste great
• You can make the soup a day in advance, apart from pasta which must be cooked at the moment. It will taste even better!

Spaghetti with Prawns

 INGREDIENTS

(the amount of ingredients is for four diners)

 

·       - 320 grams  of  noodles  

  - 1/2 kilo  of   fresh Prawns 
 

·       - 500 grams  of  cherry tomatoes
 

·       - 1 chopped sprig  of  parsley 
 

·        - 3 cloves  of  garlic 

·        - Extra virgin olive oil 
 

·        - chilly
 

·        - salt  

PREPARATION

Wash the cherry tomatoes carefully and halve them .

Take the prawns and  wash them.

Put some oil in a large frying pan with the

garlic and heat them. After one minute add  the cherry tomatoes and stir for a few minutes .Then add the prawns. When they turn orange season with chilly  and a pinch of salt.
 

Meanwhile put a large pan of  salted water to boil. Once boiling, put the noodles into the water and cook them according to instructions on the packet . Remember to drain them very much al dente, since you will complete the cooking with the sauce. Scoop out a small cupful of  the pasta water and add it to the sauce together with 2 more tbsp of  extra virgin oil.

Tip the noodles into the prawns’ sauce  and if the sauce is a bit thick add a splash of  cooking water. Add the parsley and serve.

 

 

·                                  

Peperonata

INGREDIENTS:

- 2 onions

- 3 assorted sweet peppers (yellow and red)

- 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

- Salt                                           

INSTRUCTION:

- Prepare the ingredients you'll need to make your delicious vegetarian stew.

- Peel and thinly  slice the onions .

- Put the oil in a large frying pan and when it is hot add the onions. 

- Let them fry gently on low heat for 15 minutes stirring occasionally.         

- When the onions are  soft add the peppers and mix them with the onions.

- Cover with a lid and stew on low heat, without adding liquid for at least 30 minutes. This will help to bring out the flavour of your tasty peperonata.

- Add the tomatoes, salt and stew for another 15 minutes.

                   
EXTRA TIP
- If the Sauce gets too thick pour a little bit of water
- At the end you can add some more extra virgin olive oil
 

 

Mushroom tagliatelle

Serves four

Ingredients for the tagliatelle:

  4 eggs; 400 grams of flour.

Ingredients for the mushroom gravy:

 90 grams of dried  mushrooms;

half an onion,

a clove of garlic and

some cooking cream

half a glass of white wine. 

Directions

Make the tagliatelle: put the flour in a” heap” (a volcano like shape) on the chopping board, then brake the eggs and put them in the middle of the volcano-heap hole. Then knead eggs and flour as shown (video). Tip: put some flour on your hands in order not to let the mixture stick on them, do the same for the chopping board. When the mixture looks very smooth like this (picture) put it between two bowls and let it rest for at least half an hour.

Now you have to stretch the dough to make it thin as shown (picture) with the rolling pin.

Later you have to roll it trying to get a rectangle as shown, then you have to cut it striped like in the picture. Take the stripes and unroll them like shown in the video. Finally twist them like “nests” as shown (picture) and wait until they dry. 

Make  the sauce: put the mushrooms in a bowl of water and soak them, it should take about  twenty minutes

 Meanwhile thinly slice an onion and put it in a frying pan with hot olive oil, add a clove of garlic but remember to take it out at the end. Take the mushrooms out of the bowl and squeeze them so that they lose the absorbed water but remember to keep that water. Put the mushrooms with the fried onion and cook on medium heat , after about  five minutes  blend with wine and wait until it evaporate.

Complete the cooking adding the mushroom’s water when the pan gets dry, season to tastewith salt and black pepper.

Cook the tagliatelle: fill a pot with water and put it on fire, when the water starts boiling add and  the noodles. After about five minutes noodles should be cooked, drain them well al dente  and toss them in the pan with the sauce.

To complete the dish you may put some cream, just enough to mesh the noodles with the sauce but remember that the less is the better,  stir for a couple of minutes and remove the garlic.

EXTRA TIPS

- Sprinkle with parsely

- Sprinkle with parmesan cheese

- if you can get fresh, wild mushrooms, your dish will be even better!

- If you are short of time you can buy pasta instead of making it.

Pizza recipe

Preparation time:  About 2 hours

Ingredients (for 10 pizzas):

-    2 tablespoons of olive oil

-    500g of flour

-    2 glasses of warm water

-   5g of yeast

-    10 gr. of salt

-    10 gr. of sugar

Directions

1.     Put the flour into a large bowl, then stir in the yeast , the sugar which will boost  the yeast and the salt.

2.      Make a well, pour in the  warm water and the olive oil and mix till you get a soft, fairly sticky dough.

3.     Put the dough onto a  floured surface and Knead until the dough is smooth, then put the dough into a bowl and cover it with a cloth.

4.     Leave it to  rest for at least 1 hour but you can make the dough  well in advance and the result will be excellent all the same.

5.     Make some “balls” with the dough and then roll them out with a rolling pin; you can make a round or a rectangular pizza, according to the baking tray you have.

6.     Now you are ready to put your favourite toppings on your pizza: tomato and cheese is a great classic. Season with salt and oil.

7.     Bake  the pizza in your pre-heated oven at about 200° for 20'-However have a look because the baking time depends very much on the oven you use, so it's pretty difficult to give a final word on it.

Your Italian pizza is ready, enjoy your meal!

EXTRA TIP

- If you want, you can add your favourite food on the top (ham, sausages, mushrooms, vegetables, olives etc) just before putting mozzarella cheese.

- Do you love spicy food? Sprinkle some chilli on it!

Chocolate cake

Ingredients:

- 150 grams of butter;

- 150 grams of chocolate;

- 100 grams of sugar;

- 50 grams of flour;

- 50 grams of milk;

- 3 eggs.

Procedure:

- Break the chocolate into pieces and then melt it with milk and butter;

- Separately mix the sugar with the egg yolks and then add the flour;

- Wait till the chocolate is cool and then add the cream;

- Beat the egg whites until stiff and add them the mixture, stirring slowly;

- Pour into a buttered baking mould and bake at 170 degrees for 25 minutes;

- Once cooked sprinkle the cake with icing sugar.

 

 

Bolognaise Sauce or Ragù

This is such a traditional recipe that it is nearly impossible to give a definite version, probably every family has their own way to cook it. This is a fair compromise

Serves six people

Ingredients:

-  250 g  minced pork

-  250 g  minced beef

-  or 500 g minced beef

-  1 carrot

-  1 stick of celery,

-  1 onion

- 2 tablespoons of oil (if possible olive oil)/50 g butter

-  400 g  peeled tomatoes without seeds

-  1 glasses of red wine (optional)

-  salt

-  pepper

Procedure:

Clean, wash and chop all the vegetables.

Put the oil in a pan, add the vegetables and cook gently till they are very well cooked and dry.

Now you can add the meat, break  up lumps with a fork or a spoon, stirring from time to time and season with salt and pepper. Cook it at medium heat till the mince gets brown.

Your meat should get nearly crispy, not boil in its own liquid.

Now you can pour the wine,  and leave it to simmer till it evaporates.

It's time to add the tomatoes, stir a little bit, put a lid on........an forget it over very low heat for at least 2 hours and a half or even more.

We eat it with tagliatelle, maccaroni or different kinds of pasta, but believe it or not............never with spaghetti!!!

EXTRA TIPS

 - A little bit of butter on your pasta will improve the taste of your ragù.

- You can replace the tinned tomatoes with tomato sauce.

- When your ragù is nearly cooked you can add a little bit of milk.

- Should the sauce be too thick, add a little bit of water.

Spaghetti Carbonara

Ingredients for 4: 400 gr of spaghetti,

                              150 gr of bacon,

                              2/3 eggs,

                              100 gr of Parmesan cheese,

                              2 spoon of extravirgin olive oil,

                              salt,

                                pepper

                              nutmeg..

 

 

Put a large pan of salted water on to boil, moderately salty, since the sauce is very  tasty. Meanwhile dice the bacon into small cubes, put it into a pan without adding oil and leave it on low to medium heat until the fat becomes translucent and slightly crisp, then remove from heat and let it cool slightly. Meanwhile, beat the eggs in a bowl then add the Parmesan cheese, pepper and nutmeg if you like it. Mix all the ingredients well with a whip, then add the bacon.

Boil  the pasta  and when it is cooked, drain it, reserving a little of the cooking water. Immediately, toss the pasta in your bowl and stir quickly with the previously prepared sauce. Serve the spaghetti carbonara immediately and if necessary add more Parmesan cheese and pepper. (No more cooking now, otherwise you’ll scramble the eggs). If the sauce is too thick you can add a little of the cooking water you have kept aside.