Rosemary focaccia bread

It's been a very very long time since I've last posted a recipe. Not that I haven't prepared or eaten any food, I just couldn't make myself to take time and write down on the blog. But here we are, a new recipe and hopefully more recipes will be posted in the months to come.

This is the recipe for the italian focaccia. It's not the proper recipe, if you want to try the proper one, just replace the splet flour with wheat flour. Let's proceed.

Ingredients:
250 gr - white wheat flour
100 gr - wholegrain spelt flour
200 ml - water
14 gr - brewer's yeast
1 potato (about 150 gr)
2 teaspoons salt
100 ml extra virgin olive oil
fresh rosemary
coarse salt

First boil the potato with the skin. Let it cook for about 20 minutes (check with the fork if it's ready). Then peel it and mash it in a large bowl. Add flour and mix well.
In the meantime let the yeast melt in the water (heat it a little bit before adding yeast).
Add salt and oil to the flour and slowly add the water with yeast. Mix well with your hands and form a ball with the dough. Cover it with a wet cloth and let it rise for 45 minutes.
Stretch the dough on a baking tray, covered with greaseproof paper. With a fork make some little wholes on the surface, put some olive oil on the top and sprinkle with coarse salt and rosemary. If you don't have fresh rosemary the dried one will work fine as well.
Let it grow 15 minutes and afterwards bake at 180° C for about 30 minutes.

Balsamic beef with rosa di Gorizia on a bed of lettuce

There is one dish that is very typical for the town where I come from and this is the chicory called rosa di Gorizia (rose of Gorizia). It's a vegetable with a long tradition and lots of work is hidden under those tender leafs that form a tiny rose, but the flavour is just something you need to try.

Our rosa di Gorizia it's been long forgotten and only some farmer families still ate it and produce it by themselves, but a few years ago some farmers stepped together and tryed to add some value to this amazing vegetable, that's now been very popular among the finest restaurants in the north-east region in Italy Friuli.

The special flavour of this radicchio is also coming from the long procedure before it comes from the land to the plates on our tables. There is a lot of work behind every rose of this radicchio. More about this lovely plant on this website, unfortunately only in italian: rosa di Gorizia. 

Ingredients:
300 gr beef meat
25-30 leafs of radicchio(rosa di Gorizia)
1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar
3 leafs of sage (salvia)
olive oil
water
salt
pepper
4 leafs of lettuce

Heat some olive oil in the pan with the sage, add the radicchio leafs. Stir for a minute, then add balsamic vinegar. Add salt and pepper and mix well until the vinegar evaporates. Add some water and continue to stir until it evaporates. Slowly add the beef meat, that you've previously cut into slices. Add just a few slices at time and cook them for a few minutes, then mix them with the radicchio. Continue until all the meat is ready, mix well and put everything on the top of 2 leafs of lettuce. (If you want, you can also use radicchio.)

Enjoy the meal.

Spicy garlic spaghetti

Today I came home from work "starving" (can't really use this word in our part of the world though) and I just wanted to eat as fast as I could. What is better than a really quick pasta? 

Ingredients:
spaghetti (80-100 gr per person)
salt (a tablespoon)
2 cloves of garlic
1 fresh chili
1 egg
some olive oil
pepper (a pinch)

Boil the water, add salt and cook the spaghetti. (Check on the box for the cooking time, all the types of pasta are way better if they're cooked "al dente".) Stir the chopped garlic and chili on some olive oil. Add the cooked pasta and crack an egg of the top. Mix well while it's still hot and put some pepper on the top. Serve and enjoy your really quick meal.
I was in such a hurry I didn't really bother about the pics.. Next time better! ;) 

Pineapple smoothie

After monday workout I craved for something delicious and... I made a smoothie
I've decided to give a try to some raw foodism recipes, but before I've got time to try any of those I invented my own smoothie.

Ingredients:
1/2 pineapple
1 banana
1 orange
1 lemon

Cut the banana and pineapple into slices and put them in the blender. Blend for a while, then add fresh juice from one orange and one lemon and voilà... your smoothie is ready! Easy, right?
If you want it less thick, just add some water.

Jam cookies with puff pastry

Ingredients:
450 gr frosted puff pastry
75 gr jam

Defrost the puff pastry. Use some flour, so it doesn't get sticky and roll the pastry into squares. Spread a little bit of jam on the top and roll them into a sausage. Cut the slices and put them on a baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes at 200°C.

Pan-cooked potatoes with sausage

 A simple recipe for those rainy autumn days, when you just neer more warm and nutritious.

Ingredients:
4-5 boiled potatoes (with the skin)
1/2 onion
1 sausage
olive oil
salt
pepper
water

Peel the potatoes while they're still warm and cut them into cubes. Chop the onion and cut the sausage into cubes. Fry the onion on some olive oil until golden, then add the sausage and fry for a few minutes. Add the potatoes. Put some salt and pepper according to your taste and stir well. Cook for 15 minutes and add some water, so that it doesn't get burnt.
Eat with some vegetables or meet. 

French toast

I can't believe I didn't know what french toast is, until I went to India. Our kitchen ladies used to prepare a different kind of egg every morning for breakfast and when they did french toast my room-mate was particulary happy! I found out later that I like it as well and that the recipe is quite easy! 

 

This recipe serves 2 people

Ingredients:
4 slices of bread
2 eggs
120 ml milk
pinch of salt
butter
honey or naple syrup






Mix the eggs in a jar, add the milk and salt. Put the bread slice in the mixture and let it retain it. Heat a non stick pan with a little bit of butter and place all the bread slices on it. When it's cooked on one side, flip it over and then serve still hot with some honey or naple syrup. 

Red chutney

This is a good chutney to serve with a dosa, but don't put it too much! It's spicy!! 

 Ingredients:
2 tbsp roasted lentils
4-5 garlic cloves
2-3 red chillies
1 onion, roughly chopped
salt as required
water

In our store you usually don't get roasted dal, so for the roasted lentils you can just fry them with some oil in a small pan, until they're brown.
Blend all the ingredients and add some water until you have a smooth paste.
This chutney keeps good in the fridge for 1-2 days. 

Masala dosa

One of my relative once told me that the best way to impress your guests at dinner is to prepare some exotic food. That's not exactly why I usually prepare indian food, but he was right. I tried to do dosas at home, a typical south indian dish and everyone that's ever been in India knows that the picture below doesn't look like a real dosa. Yeah, even my experiments aren't always successful, but on the other hand the taste was good, so I'm sharing the recipe anyway! 

Ingredients: 

Dosa batter: 

240 gr parboiled rice

75 gr lentils

salt as required 

water as required

Masala filling:

2 large potatoes

1 small onion

1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp mustard seeds

1tsp masala powder

oil

Wash and soak both rice and lentils 5-6 hour separately. Drain the water and grind the lentils adding needed water until smooth and fluffy. Do the same with the rice. Mix them together and add salt. Leave it for 7-8 hours in a large container.

Masala potatoes: 

Cook the potatoes with the skin in cold water. When the water start boiling, cook for 15 minutes. 

Heat some oil and fry the finely chopped onion. Peel the potatoes and cut them into small cubes. Add them to the onion with the spices. Stir well and cook a few minutes. 

Heat a non stick flat pan (tawa) and add some oil. Take some batter and pour it on the pan from the centre towards the edges in a circular motion. When cooked on one side, flip it over. 

When it's ready put it on a plate, add the masala potatoes and fold it. Serve with some red chutney or with the chutney you prefer. 

Zucchini and zucchini flower lasagna

 Ingredients:
15 zucchini flowers
3 zucchini
0,5 l besciamella sauce
3 tblsp parmesan cheese

for the thin pancakes:
eggs (2)
flour (3 cups)
milk (1/2 l)
salt
oil (for frying)



First of all, you need to make the thin pancakes. I prefer to use these instead of the buyed lasagna sheets, because home-made pancakes are much more soft.
After that put the first layer: a pancake and on it some zucchini flowers (that you've carefully washed and eliminated the inside of the flower) and zucchini (that you've previously cut in the shape you prefer). Put some besciamella sauce on the top. Lay another pancake, flowers and zucchini and besciamella on the top. I used a small baking pan, so that was enough for 2 persons. When you've reached the top, cover with another pancake, put some besciamella sauce and the parmesan cheese on the top.
Bake it in a preheated oven on 180°C for around 30 minutes.

Wholewheat farfalle with home-made pesto

Do you love pesto? I adore it! It's very easy to do at home and there are tons of different ways to do it. The important is to have basil, any kind of nuts and some kind of cheese that is similar to pecorino cheese.
The recipe I'm showing is with the ingredients I had at home, so it's not the original one, but still very tasty! 

Ingredients: 

60-70 basil leaf

40 gr parmesan cheese 

65 gr walnuts

1-2 cloves of garlic

salt

5 tblsp of olive oil

wholewheat pasta (approximately 90 gr per person)

 Wash the basil leafs and put them in the blender (it's better to do it manually, but if you don't have a lot of time, the blender should also work fine), add parmesan cheese, garlic and walnuts and start blending. When you have a thick paste, add salt and olive oil until you have a smooth paste. Your pesto is now ready! (You can also put it in the freezer: put it in a jar, cover with some olive oil and freeze. When you'll need it, it will take only 5 minutes to have it ready to use.)

Cook the pasta according to your taste (I prefer pasta al dente). Mix the pasta and 1 or 2 spoons of pesto well and serve still hot!

Another idea to serve pesto is as an appetizer. Use small bread slices and spread a teaspoon of pesto on the top. You can also scratch a clove of garlic on the bread before adding pesto, it will make it so much tastier.

Cookies in a jar - gift ideas

COUNTRY OATMEAL COOKIE

Put the ingredients in the jar in layers:
60 gr white sugar
60 gr brown sugar
35 gr oats
80 gr flour
3 gr baking powder
1 g salt
70 gr chocolate chips

Attach the instructions for baking:
Preheat oven to 175°C.
In a medium bowl cream together 85 gr softened butter, with 1 egg and 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla.
Add the entire content of the jar, and mix by hand until combined. Drop dough by heaping spoonfuls onto a cookie sheet.
Bake for 12-15 minutes.

Lentil & zucchini soup

Ingredients:
2 red capsicums
1 zucchini
1 leek
250 gr lentils
1 l water
mix of spices for soups
salt
pepper
thyme
1 tsp brown sugar
2 tblsp vinegar

Wash the vegetables and cut them in thin slices. Wash the lentils and cook them in the water with the spices for 30 minutes (or 15 in pressure cooker). When the lentils are cooked, add the rest of the vegetables and cook 10 more minutes on low flame. Add salt, pepper, sugar and vinegar before serving and decorate with some thyme.

Parmigiana

Ingredients:
3 eggplants
5 big tomatoes
1/2 onion
1 clove of garlic
250 gr scamorza smoked cheese
salt
oregano
basil
olive oil






Cut the eggplants in thin slices, put some salt on the top and leave them on a plate for an hour, afterwards dry them with a paper tissue. Grill them in a non-stick pan, if you want it very light, don't use oil.
Chop the onion and garlic and fry them in a little bit of olive oil until golden. Add the tomatoes cut in small pieces. Cook for some time, until you have a tomato sauce.

In a casserole put some of the tomato sauce first, then make a layer out of eggplants and cover them with scamorza cheese. Add again some tomato sauce, eggplants and scamorza cheese and cover the top with a little bit of tomato sauce.

Put the casserole in a preheated oven on 180°C for about 25 minutes and serve still hot with some fresh vegetables.

Coconut rice (for ricecooker)

This is a great rice to serve as a side dish with spicy indian food. It will make a great combination of flavours.

Ingredients: 

290 gr basmati rice

240 ml coconut milk

480 ml water

1/2 tsp salt

2-3 tbsp shredded coconut

If you don't have coconut milk, don't worry, it's very easy to do at home. You need 225 gr desiccated coconut and 450 ml boiling water. Put the coconut in a food processor and pour the over the boiling water. Process for 20-30 seconds, then cool. 

Place a cloth over, bring the ends together and twist it to extract the liquid. You can keep the coconut milk in the fridge 1-2 days or it can be frozen until you need it.

To prepare the coconut rice, put all the ingredients in a rice cooker and stir well. Cover and set to cook. Stir once or twice while it's cooking. Serve with some indian curry or with the food you prefer, but I think it's the best way to balance the flavours with very spicy food. 

Fried zucchini flowers

Summer is the perfect season for zucchini at my home and besides the vegetables, also the flowers are edible and very tasty! Here is a very simple recipe for deep fried zucchini flowers. 

 Ingredients:

zucchini flowers (12-15)
150 gr flour
250 ml water
pinch of salt
1 tsp turmeric powder (optional)
1 tsp sweet chili powder (optional)
oil for deep frying





Put the flour and the salt with the spices in a bowl. Slowly add the water and stir until you have a smooth dough. Heat the oil in a pan and when it's hot enough put the flowers, you've put in the mixture before. Fry until ready and let them cool a little bit.
You can serve them with some fresh vegetables and it will make a perfect summer dinner.

Banana & Pistachio Lassi

What about a cool drink for these hot summer days?
My suggestion is to have a cold indian drink called lassi. In India they drink it with the spicy food (it helps to digest it), but you can actually have it whenever you want to. :)

This recipe serves 4 people.

 Ingredients:
300 ml natural low fat yogurt
1 tsp sugar (optional or according to your taste)
300 ml milk
30 ml puréed banana
1 tbsp crushed pistachio nuts, to decorate

The preparation of this drink is very easy. Put the yogurt in a pitcher and whisk it until frothy. Pour in the milk and the fruit and continue to whisk 2 minutes. Serve in long glasses and decorate with some pistachio nuts on the top. 

Pasta omelette (frittata di pasta)

You never know how much pasta should you cook? You're never sure if you're too hungry and you put waay to much pasta in the pan? I have a recipe today that will help you to deal with all your leftover pasta. Because food is a blessing and we should not waste it! 

Ingredients:
leftover pasta (with any kind of sauce, I had some pasta with zucchini and tomato)
2 tblsp parmesan cheese
5 eggs
2 boiled potatoes
1 fresh chili (if you don't like spicy food, leave it)
olive oil
salt
pepper



Mash the boiled potatoes, add the eggs and mix well. Add the leftover pasta, cut the chili and add it with salt and pepper (according to your taste). Mix well (you should have something like the picture above).
Put some olive oil in a non stick pan and wait a few minutes until it becomes warm. Put the mixture in the pan and cook until it's crispy on one side. Then help yourself with the top of the pan to turn it over. Cook on the other side until it's crispy also there and serve still hot.

If you fell you don't have enough pasta to do it, add the vegetables you prefer. It's a great way to reuse the already cooked food and it's tasty as well! :)

Tiramisu cupcakes

A wonderful small cupcake to put in a large paper cup, Katerina's recipe that I've slightly changed. :)

 

Ingredients:

Dough: 

3 eggs

100 gr sugar

50 gr wheat starch

50 gr flour

1 tblspn vanilla pudding powder

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Decoration:

2 cups espresso coffees

500 gr mascarpone cheese

90 gr powdered sugar

200 ml whipped cream

bitter cocoa powder

Whip the whites of the egg and slowly add sugar. Slowly add one at the time wheat starch, flour, vanilla pudding powder, baking pouder and the yolks. Place the mixture in the muffin cups, but leave them half empty and bake in a preheated oven at 180°C for about 20 minutes. This recipe should make around 20 muffins. 

Make the coffee and when the muffins are cold, perforate them with a fork and put 2 teaspoons of coffee on each muffin. 

For the decoration whip the cream and slowly add sugar. At the end add mascarpone cheese and gently mix together until smooth. Now you can either use a knife or a sac a poche to put the cream on the top of the muffins. Before you put them in the fridge cover them with some bitter cocoa. The muffins should rest in the fridge for at least 15 hours to get the best taste. 

I hope you'll like it, me and my friend certainly did! :)

Summer salad

What about a light summer salad for the hottest days. A perfect dinner and very tasty!

Ingredients:

500 gr cherry tomatoes
15 dark olives
150 gr feta cheese
80 gr corn
oregano
salt
olive oil


Cut the tomatoes and olives and put them in a bowl. Add the corn and pieces of feta cheese. Add some salt, oregano and olive oil and serve with some wholewheat bread.