Your Favourite Recipe

09 Sunday Sep 2018

Posted by Un po' di pepe in Mangiamo!, Recipes

Tags

Cannolo Award, Capri, Dolcevitabloggers, Dolci, Gluten-free baking, Gluten-free chocolate cake, Southern Italy, Torta Caprese, Traditional recipes

For the second time in 3 months, I wrote about the wrong topic for the monthly #dolcevitabloggers linkup! I was frantically trying to finish a detailed review of my favourite book, only to find that other posts were on the topic of ‘favourite Italian recipe’. Mannaggia! I had taken a screenshot of the list of topics, but a few of them were switched.

So…. my favourite recipe? Hmmm. That is almost like asking a mamma which one is her favourite child! I love food and have too many faves to pick just one. I think it is better if I write about your favourite recipe! I had a look through the recipe category of my blog. There are 14 recipe posts-half are desserts. My favourite ingredients seem to be ricotta, limoncello, orange and olive oil! The most popular recipe post, by a massively huge margin, is Torta Caprese all’Arancia. I posted this recipe in honour of my 2015 Cannolo Award.

Caprese (cah•PREH•seh) means ‘from Capri’ (CAP•ree) the beautiful island off the coast of Napoli. I suppose caprese could also mean ‘goatlike’ since capra is goat? We’ll stick with ‘from Capri’.

There are a few different stories about how Torta Caprese came to be. The most likely is that it was invented by mistake in the 1920’s by a kitchen worker at an Austrian owned pensione on Capri. He added mandorle tritate –ground almonds, instead of flour while trying to make something similar to an Austrian Sachertorte. It was a big hit, and went on to be served at all of the hotels and tea rooms on Capri.

The basic recipe involves mixing melted butter and chocolate in a ‘bagno-maria’ with sugar and egg yolks, then adding whipped egg whites and ground almonds. Liqueur, usually Strega, is added. The cake has a hard thin shell and moist interior and the center tends to sink in a bit from the sides.

I recently tasted a yummy orange Torta Caprese, so I decided to try my own version. After a bit of experimentation, and substituting Gran Marnier for Strega, I ended up with a very nice Torta Caprese all’ Arancia. It is a 3 bowl recipe, so be prepared to wash them!

Read the rest of the original post Torta Caprese all’ Arancia to find the step-by-step recipe and find out what the Cannolo Award is all about.

This post is written as part of the monthly #dolcevitabloggers linkup, hosted by Jasmine of Questa Dolce Vita, Kelly of Italian at Heart and Kristie of Mamma Prada, the 7th -14th of every month. Hopefully next time I will prepare the correct topic! You will have to wait until November to read about my favourite Italian book!

Here is me posing on my first visit to Capri when I was 16. Unfortunately I didn’t know about Torta Caprese at the time.

Ciao, Cristina

Limoncello Ricotta Cookies

19 Thursday Jul 2018

Posted by Un po' di pepe in Mangiamo!, Recipes

≈ 15 Comments

Tags

Italian food, Limoncello, Limoncello ricotta cookies, Traditional recipes

Last week I had a bancarella at the Italian summer outdoor market. I like to bring dolci for friends who come to visit, or anyone who stops by to chat. Buy a card… get a cookie. It was an unusually hot day, and my espresso cookies would melt and make a mess all over the place, so I made refreshing, sweet and tangy limoncello ricotta cookies. Limoncello and ricotta are 2 of my favourite ingredients.

When I was growing up, our Abruzzesi neighbours often made these soft cakey cookies-minus the limoncello. They used Anice (ah·Nee·cheh), a liqueur similar to Sambuca, and topped them with multi-coloured sprinkles. The ricotta makes them soft, moist and chewy. If fresh is not available***, make your own ricotta!

Limoncello Ricotta Cookies:

350g flour (2½ cups)

5 g salt (1 tsp)

8g Pane degli Angeli (½ bustina/envelope, 2 teaspoons) *

100 g olive oil (½ cup) **

400 g sugar (2 cups)

2 eggs

450 g fresh ricotta (1 lb)

30g limoncello (30 ml, 2 tablespoons)

15 g freshly squeezed lemon juice (15 ml, 1 tablespoon)

Grated peel of 1 lemon

Glaze: same as for Casa Berti Olive Oil Limoncello Cake

200 g (1½ cups) powdered sugar/icing sugar

30g limoncello (30ml, 2 tablespoons)

15g freshly squeezed lemon juice (15 ml, 1 tablespoon)

Grated peel of 1 organic lemon

Preheat oven to 190°C (375°F)

Mix the 3 dry ingredients together. In another bowl, mix sugar and grated lemon peel together with the back of a spoon until the sugar becomes fragrant. Add eggs, 1 at a time. Add oil, then ricotta and limoncello. Stir in dry ingredients.

The dough is quite sticky. Use 2 tablespoons or a small cookie scoop to measure the dough onto a cookie sheet. The dough may be easier to work with if it is left in the fridge for 30-60 minutes. Bake for 15 minutes, being careful not to burn the edges. Let cool.

To make glaze, mix the all ingredients except lemon peel in a small bowl until smooth. If it is too thick and sticky, add more limoncello or lemon juice. Add lemon peel last. Use a teaspoon to spread glaze onto each cookie. Leave glaze to harden and set for 1-2 hours.

Makes 40-60 cookies, depending on the size. Store in a covered container.

* If Pane degli Angeli is not available, substitute 2 tsp baking powder and a tiny splash of vanilla extract

**if you prefer to use 125g unsalted butter (½ cup), mix the sugar and butter together first with a mixer, then add eggs one at a time, followed by the other ingredients

***Cottage cheese is NOT an appropriate substitute for ricotta!

Friends and customers often tell me I should be selling the cookies. I am not sure how to take that. Are they trying to tell me my baking is more appealing than my artwork? Hmmmm, I had better not overthink this one!

If you love limoncello and ricotta as much as I do, check out some of my other posts: Make your own Limoncello, Limoncello Cheesecake, Casa Berti Olive Oil Limoncello Cake, Ricotta fatta in casa, Tortelloni di Ricotta.

Insalata Purtuall’

18 Sunday Mar 2018

Posted by Un po' di pepe in Italian language, Mangiamo!, Recipes

≈ 28 Comments

Tags

Arancia, Gastronomic history, History of oranges, Insalata Purtuall', Italian language, Orange, Orange and fennel salad, Portokali, Traditional recipes

Insalata di arancia e finocchio-orange and fennel salad always brings back memories of my grade 1 lunchroom. My delicious lunches included home made crusty bread stuffed with melanzane and roasted peppers, prosciutto, capicollo or cotoletto di vitello, frittata, pizza or ‘chocolate sandwiches’ made with Nutella. Papà would often make me Insalata Purtuall’, with oranges cut crosswise in rounds, fennel and black olives, drizzled with olive oil and a bit of salt. A true flavour explosion for 6 year old me. I did not know why everyone at school thought my lunches were so weird. The ‘Anglo’ kids made fun of them, and even the teachers eyed my food suspiciously. Today all of these foods are available and trendy, so who is laughing now? Ha! I do not remember being too bothered by the teasing. I actually felt sorry for my classmates. Their lunches were gross, usually consisting of ‘plastic’ cheese on bright white squishy bread that was sliced like cake! Poveretti. I will have to write more about my early gastronomic experiences in another post….

A while back, Frank from Memorie di Angelina wrote about orange and fennel salad, and I commented that we called it ‘Portugal’ salad, but did not know why. I asked Papà why we called it ‘Insalata Purtuall’. Purtuall’ is dialetto for Portogallo which is Portugal in italiano. His answer surprised me. He said it was not a Portuguese salad, but purtuall’ is what the orange were called. Hmmm. Soon after this, I was at a writers’ conference and one of the presenters displayed a map showing the word for orange across Europe in various languages. Aha! I saw that the Greek word for orange is ‘portokali’. This was getting interesting!

Arancia amara, bitter orange, was known to the Romans. Sweet oranges were only introduced to Europe and the Mediterranean in the 14th century. Portuguese ships were the first to circumnavigate Africa and brought sweet oranges back from the Far East. In many countries, oranges were named after Portugal-the country that they seemed to be coming from! In Greek oranges are portokali, in North Africa and most Middle East countries burtuqall, in Iran purtuqol, in Turkey portakal and in Hungary and Romania portokal. In most of Western Europe, the Mediterranean and Britain, the word for orange comes from ‘narangas’, Sanskrit for orange tree. For example, in italiano arancia, in spanish naranja, portuguese laranja, and of course english orange. There are a few places in Italia where the dialetto still uses the ‘portuguese’ term. In Campania, Puglia, Basilicata and Abruzzo, purtuallo or portajalli, in Sicilian partualli (or aranciù), and in Piemonte portugaj. In modern Greek, bitter oranges are called ‘nerantzi’ while sweet oranges are called ‘portokali’. Who knew that the yummy salad I used to bring for lunch in elementary school reflects thousands of years of history, trade voyages and etymology between East and West!

A ‘recipe’ is not really needed for Insalata Purtuall’. Just peel a few oranges and remove as much of the pith as possible, then slice them crosswise and lay them on a plate. Cut half a fennel bulb and slice in either small or larger pieces. Add ‘un filo d’olio’, a drizzle of olive oil and salt, then a few black olives and garnish with fennel fronds. I sometimes like to throw in some pomegranate seeds or rucola. It is hard to mess up this healthy, refreshing winter insalata! I recently found out that Insalata Purtuall’ was served at my parents’ wedding in Orsara di Puglia in the 1960’s, so now it tastes even better!

Buon appetito, Cristina

Spaghetti all’Amatriciana

30 Tuesday Aug 2016

Posted by Un po' di pepe in Italia, Mangiamo!, Recipes, Roma

≈ 16 Comments

Tags

Amatrice, Croce Rossa Italiana, Cucina Romana, Earthquake relief Central Italy, Inspiration, Italian food, Pasta all'Amatriciana, Terremoto 2016, Traditional recipes

My last post was about the terremoto in Italia and I listed ways you can help with earthquake relief. One of these ways was to order Pasta all’Amatriciana at one of the many restaurants participating to raise money for the Croce Rossa Italiana. I realized that not everyone will have a restaurant in their area participating, so I am posting a recipe, just in case anyone wants to host their own small fundraiser. August 27-28 would have been the Spaghetti all’Amatriciana festa in Amatrice.

Pasta all’Amatriciana-also known as Pasta alla Matriciana in dialetto Romano, is made with guanciale (cured pork cheek), Pecorino Romano, and pomodoro (tomato). Peperoncino is often added. Pasta all’Amatriciana originated from Pasta alla Gricia, made with guanciale and Pecorino. It is basically Pasta Carbonara with tomato instead of eggs. Shepherds near Amatrice carried the simple ingredients with them into the fields. The pomodoro had not been brought to Europe yet. In Amatrice, they started making the Pasta alla Gricia with pomodoro, once it had been introduced. When Amatriciani moved from the outlaying areas to Roma, the sauce became popular, and is now considered a staple of Cucina Romana. In Roma, Amatriciana is made with bucatini, which are spaghetti with a hole down the middle, or rigatoni, but in Amatrice, it is only made with spaghetti!

Spaghetti all’Amatriciana

100g guanciale (pancetta can be used if guanciale not available)

350g passata di pomodoro, or pelati (peeled tomatoes)-about 1 500ml canning jar

75g Pecorino Romano, freshly grated

Black pepper, freshly grated

320g spaghetti or bucatini (80g per person)

Cut guanciale into strips or cubes. In a frying pan, cook guanciale until crispy. When the white part becomes transparent, add tomatoes and pepper. While this is simmering, cook spaghetti in a large pot of salted water. Cook for 1 minute less than the time it says on the box! Drain well then add to the pan and toss in the sauce and add Pecorino. Serve with extra Pecorino Romano on top. Serves 4. Buon Appetito!

Gnocchi di Zucca

15 Sunday Nov 2015

Posted by Un po' di pepe in Mangiamo!, Recipes

≈ 15 Comments

Tags

Gnocchi, Gnocchi di zucca, Italian food, Pumpkin carving, Pumpkin gnocchi recipe, Traditional recipes

One of my favourite things about fall is zucca (ZOOK•kah). Zucca can mean pumpkin or squash and I love them both. Risotto di zucca, zuppa di zucca, roasted zucca…..yum! It always makes me sad to throw out my carved hallowe’en pumpkin, so this year, I used a small battery operated candle and ‘recycled’ my zucca into another one of my favourite things- gnocchi! Gnocchi (NYOK•kee) are usually made with potatoes, but they can also be made with ricotta, zucca, or a combination. I made mine with no potato- just zucca as they are lighter and have a more intense zucca flavour. A large hallowe’en zucca makes a lot of gnocchi, but you don’t have to use all of the polpa di zucca (pumpkin flesh) at once. It can keep in the fridge for 3 days until you have time to make more gnocchi. All of the measurements in this recipe are very approximate, as it depends on the water content of the zucca.

Gnocchi di Zucca

500-600 grams mashed roasted zucca (pumpkin) with excess water removed (2 cups)

1 small egg, beaten

160g 00 flour (about 1¼ cup) + extra for dusting

60g (¼cup) grated Pecorino Romano (or Parmigiano if you don’t have Pecorino)

Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg (optional)

Pinch of salt

Cut zucca into pieces, wrap in aluminum foil and bake at 180⁰C (350⁰F) for 50 minutes
Scoop out the flesh and mash by hand with a potato masher or a fork, or use a potato ricer. Unless you plan to make zuppa di zucca (pumpkin soup) do NOT use a food processor or immersion blender!
Remove as much water as possible, or the gnocchi will absorb too much flour and become dense and rubbery. Do this by straining the mashed zucca through a tea towel. A lot of water will come out! If this is too messy for you, return the mashed zucca to the oven, uncovered for half an hour to remove moisture. The tea towel method works better.
Stir in the egg and mix well, then salt, nutmeg and Pecorino.
Add half of the flour and mix well
Add more flour as needed-only a little at a time. Use as little flour as possible-only enough to make the dough hold together
On a floured surface, cut off sections of dough and hand roll into 1.5 cm (½ inch) ropes
Cut rope into 2-2.5 cm (1 inch) lengths and roll each gnocco with your thumb against the the back tines of a forchetta (fork) or over a rigagnocchi. Rigagnocchi literally means ‘gnocchi line-maker’. It is a small wooden paddle with lines carved into it, as seen in the photos. I used a forchetta to roll my gnocco over the rigagnocchi.
Place finished gnocchi on a floured tray or surface and sprinkle with more flour to prevent sticking. To freeze the gnocchi, place on a floured tea towel on a tray or baking sheet and freeze for half an hour, then put the frozen gnocchi into zip-loc® bags or containers and refreeze.
To cook gnocchi, drop them into a large pot of boiling, salted water. They only need about 3 minutes to cook, then lift them out with a slotted spoon. If cooking frozen gnocchi, do not thaw them. Take them directly from the freezer into the boiling water. Frozen gnocchi hold their shape well, but not if they have been defrosted. They will take about 4 minutes to cook.
Gnocchi di zucca should be served with a simple sauce, so as not to overpower the delicate taste. I like to heat some extra virgin olive oil and add finely chopped garlic and whole sage leaves, then toss this over my gnocchi. I sprinkled on freshly grated cacioricotta from Orsara di Puglia. If you aren’t lucky enough to have cacioricotta, use freshly grated Pecorino or Parmigiano.Buon Appetito!

Pesto Genovese

18 Friday Sep 2015

Posted by Un po' di pepe in Mangiamo!, Recipes

≈ 24 Comments

Tags

Basilico, Italian food, Moretum, Mortar and pestle, Pesto, Pesto Genovese, Pesto recipe, Traditional recipes

This year, I grew basilico (basil) from seed again. Thanks to the unusually warm summer, my plants were happy and grew nicely. I love to shake the basilico plant a bit, stick my face in it and inhale the incredible aroma. Some of my basilico was already used to make passata di pomodoro. The rest will be used to make Pesto, before it starts to rain and the leaves turn brown.

Pesto Genovese, usually just called Pesto, originated in Genoa, Liguria. It is made with fresh basil leaves, garlic, pine nuts, extra virgin olive oil, Pecorino Sardo or Pecorino Romano, and Parmigiano Reggiano.

Before the age of food-processors, Pesto was made by grinding the ingredients in a marble or stone mortar with a wooden pestle. The words ‘pesto’ and ‘pestle’ come from ‘pestare‘ which means to pound or crush. The most flavourful pesto is actually made by hand with a mortar and pestle, but it is hard work! Ligurian basilico has very small leaves and is easier to grind. My basilico tends to have very large leaves and is difficult to crush. The biggest problem with the food processor is that it gets very hot. I recommend putting the blades in the freezer for an hour before making pesto. This prevents the food processor from overheating and the pesto is also less likely to turn brown.

The ancient Romans made something similar called Moretum. They named it after the mortar instead of the pestle! Moretum was a spread made with fresh sheep milk cheese, herbs, salt, pine nuts and olive oil.

Basilico was likely brought to Italia from India, and the climate of Liguria was perfect for it. The Genovese adapted the Romans’ recipe to include basilico, and Pesto Genovese was born! In Liguria, Pesto is usually served with trofie or linguine. It is also used on pasta, potatoes and green beans, all cooked in the same pot of water. Yum!

When I make Pesto, I do not measure the ingredients, but I estimated them here for you. Good quality ingredients are necessary to make delicious Pesto. No skimping!

Pesto Genovese

2 firmly packed cups (500 ml) large basil leaves

3 cloves of garlic

¼ cup (50 grams) European pine nuts

salt and pepper

½ cup (125 ml) good quality extra virgin olive oil

½ cup (45 grams) grated Pecorino Sardo or Pecorino Romano

½ cup (45 grams) grated Parmigiano Reggiano

Put the blades of the food processor in the freezer for an hour
Wash the basil and dry well. Water on the leaves will turn them brown and the Pesto will go bad. Yuck!
I like to toast the pine nuts as it brings out the flavour, but this is optional
Blend garlic and pine nuts in a food processor until fine
Add basil, pulsing a handful at a time until blended
Add salt and pepper. Not too much salt, as the cheese is salty too
Pour in olive oil slowly while food processor is running
Pour it all into a bowl and add the Pecorino and Parmigiano
Spoon the Pesto into small jars with tight fitting lids
Seal the jar with a thin film of olive oil
Pesto keeps well in the fridge for 6-8 months. If you use part of a jar, add another thin film of olive oil before putting it back in the fridge
To freeze the Pesto, leave out the 2 cheeses and add them when you are going to use it

Buon Appetito!

Il Pomodoro

07 Monday Sep 2015

Posted by Un po' di pepe in Italian life, Mangiamo!

≈ 24 Comments

Tags

Acqua sale, Antonio Latini, Conserva di pomodoro, Francesco Leonardi, History of the tomato, Italian food, Mediterranean diet, Passata di pomodoro, Pomodori, Tomato sauce, Traditional recipes

Late August/early September is pomodoro season. Last weekend my family made passata di pomodoro and pomodori pelati in the garage. If you haven’t read last year’s post, check ‘Passata di Pomodoro’ out for a step by step commentary! Passata di pomodoro, or simply ‘salsa’ as we usually call it, is very versatile. It is used to make sugo (tomato sauce) or ragù (meat sauce) and pizza, or added to fagioli (beans) and lenticchie (lentils), minestrone and other zuppe (soups).

To make pomodori pelati, pomodori are cut into quarters, the seeds removed, and then tightly packed into vasetti (jars) with basilico and a spoonful of salt. The vasetti are sealed and cooked, then turned upside down to cool. Pelati are used for pizza al pomodoro and zuppe. They can also be used for making sauces, although I am not a fan of skins and seeds in my sugo!

Canning or bottling pomodori is a yearly domestic ritual for many Italian and Italocanadese families. It’s a lot of work, but totally worth it. All year round you have the taste of summer in a jar!

The pomodoro was not always such a staple in the Italian cucina. First grown by the Aztecs in Mexico, then also in the South American Andes, the pomodoro was brought to Europe by the Spanish in the 16^th Century. The first documentation of pomodori in Italia is a 1548 note from Cosimo de’ Medici’s household to his secretary. The note states that ‘un cestino di pomodori’ (a basket of tomatoes) from one of the Medici estates had been received. At this time, pomodori were not eaten or used in cooking. They were exotic but their taste was considered really gross, so they were mostly ornamental and sometimes used in potions as an aphrodisiac. Hmmmm.

Early pomodori did not taste anything like they do today, and some varieties were even toxic. Fortunately, the Mediterranean climate was ideal for growing the pomodoro. It was able to mutate and create better tasting, sweeter versions of itself. It did take awhile for anyone to figure out what to do with the pomodoro. I’m really glad someone thought of adding olive oil, basilico, salt and of course, un po’ di pepe!

The earliest recorded recipe using pomodori was in Napoli, in Antonio Latini’s book ‘Il Scalco alla Moderna’. This translates to something like ‘The Modern Butler’. The recipe was for ‘Salsa alla Spagnuola’, a Spanish condiment made with pomodoro, melanzane (eggplant) and cipolla (onion). Sounds a bit like ratatouille. The first recipe using pomodori on pasta was in Roman chef Francesco Leonardi’s 1790 cookbook ‘L’Apicio Moderno’. By the mid 1800’s the pomodoro was a staple food of Italian contadini. The ‘Contadino diet’ was mostly raw or cooked pomodori and other vegetables, legumes, bread or pasta, salt and olive oil. Today they call this the ‘Mediterranean diet’.

‘Acqua Sale’ is a classic Orsarese comfort food. Older bread slices are soaked in water and then pomodori are squished over it. A drizzle of olive oil, salt, and basilico or oregano and it’s an instant delicious meal, similar to Panzanella Toscana. This tastes even better on freshly baked bread-minus the soaking in water! We always ate ‘pan’ e pomodoro’ when the bread came out of the oven. Yum. So simple yet so delicious.

I asked Mamma what they did before glass vasetti and other modern canning conveniences were available. She said they made ‘la conserva’ which was like a tomato paste that could be stored. It was used in winter to make sugo for pasta or to add flavor to other foods. In August, pomodori were cooked with skins and seeds removed, similar to passata. This salsa was salted, placed in large earthenware dishes and left out in the sun for several days. Once it was dark and thick, la conserva was transferred to terracotta or glass containers and covered with a film of olive oil and fig leaves or basilico to seal it. The container was then covered and tied with un straccio (a dishrag). Quartered pomodori were also sundried to use in winter.

My recreation of ‘la conserva’. The passata was dried in the sun, then the thickened stuff was placed in an earthenware bowl, covered with a film of olive oil and fig leaves, then covered with a dishrag

Talking about pomodori is making me hungry! I’ll go pick some in the garden and make some pan’ e pomodoro!

Torta Caprese all’ Arancia

25 Saturday Jul 2015

Posted by Un po' di pepe in Mangiamo!, Recipes

≈ 24 Comments

Tags

Cannolo Award, Capri, Dolci, Gluten-free chocolate cake, Italian food, Southern Italy, Torta Caprese, Traditional recipes

In honour of my recent Cannolo Award, I thought this post should be food related. What is a Cannolo Award? Read about it here. Although I love them, I will not be writing about cannoli, but rather about Torta Caprese.

The super cute-issimo cannolo logo

Caprese (cah•PREH•seh) means ‘from Capri’ (CAP•ree) the beautiful island off the coast of Napoli. I suppose caprese could also mean ‘goatlike’ since capra is goat? We’ll stick with ‘from Capri’.

There are a few different stories about how Torta Caprese came to be. The most likely is that it was invented by mistake in the 1920’s or 30’s by a kitchen worker who added ground almonds (mandorle tritate) instead of flour while trying to make something similar to an Austrian Sachertorte for visitors at an Austrian owned pensione on Capri. It was a big hit, and went on to be served at all of the hotels and tea rooms on the island.

The basic recipe involves mixing melted butter and chocolate in a ‘bagno-maria’ with sugar and egg yolks, then adding whipped egg whites and ground almonds. Liqueur, usually Strega, is added. The cake has a hard thin shell and moist interior and the center tends to sink in a bit from the sides.

I recently tasted a yummy orange Torta Caprese, so I decided to try my own version. After a bit of experimentation, and substituting Gran Marnier for Strega, I ended up with a very nice Torta Caprese all’ Arancia. It is a 3 bowl recipe, so be prepared to wash lots of dishes!

Torta Caprese all’ Arancia

Ingredients:

250g dark chocolate 70%
175g (¾ cup) butter at room temperature
110g (½ cup) sugar
110g (½ cup) brown or golden sugar
grated peel of a large orange
3 tablespoons Gran Marnier, Mandarino, or other orange liqueur
6 eggs, separated
150g (1½ cups) ground blanched almonds (also called almond flour or almond meal)
½ a bustina (packet) Lievito Bertolini or Pane degli Angeli (substitute 2½ teaspoons baking powder if you can’t find these)
pinch of salt
Icing sugar for dusting

1. Preheat oven to 180° C (350° F).

2. Butter the sides of a round springform pan and line the bottom with parchment paper.

3. Melt butter and chocolate in a double boiler or ‘bagno-maria’ (a stainless steel bowl in a pan of hot water) and let cool. This can also be done with a glass bowl in the microwave but be careful-only heat in 30 second intervals and stir well.

4. In another bowl, whisk the egg yolks and brown sugar, then add to the chocolate. Stir in alcohol and grated orange peel.

5. Whip egg whites with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form. Add the white sugar.

6. In another bowl, mix almond flour, lievito or baking powder and salt together with a fork. Fold the chocolate mixture in with a rubber spatula, then fold in egg whites.

7. Pour batter into pan and bake for 55 minutes to 1 hour, until center is firm. The center sink in a bit. Remove the sides of the pan and slide the cake onto a platter.

8. Dust with icing sugar and serve with orange slices and whipped cream or gelato. Store at room temperature for up to 3 days…if it lasts that long!

Buon Appetito! Mille grazie to my amiche Anna and Shannon who were very motivated to help me photograph the finished cake. I wouldn’t let them cut it and have a piece until the photos were done!

Here is me posing on my first visit to Capri when I was 16. Unfortunately I didn’t know about Torta Caprese at the time.

Downloadable recipe and recipe in italiano will be added as soon as I am home from Italia. Buon Appetito!

Fiori di Zucca

12 Sunday Oct 2014

Posted by Un po' di pepe in Mangiamo!, Recipes

≈ 13 Comments

Tags

Fiori di zucca, Fritelle di zucca, Italian cooking, Pastella, Peppe Zullo, Traditional recipes

È davvero finita l’estate! Summer is really over. I just picked the last fiori di zucca in my garden and I’ll have to wait a long time to taste them again. Fiori di zucca are a real delicacy and one of my favourite foods. They are ‘i fiori maschili della zucchina’ the male flowers of the zucchina plant. The flowers growing off of long, thin stems are male. The ones growing off the end of a future zucchina are female (femminile). The female flowers are edible too, but if you pick them there will be no crop of zucchine! If you pick too many of the male flowers, you will also have no zucchine!

Fiori di zucca maschile e femminile-male flowers grow off of long thin stems and female flowers grow off the end of future zucchine.

To clarify, zucca is Italiano for squash or pumpkin. ‘Zucchina’ (given a sex change and called zucchini in North America) means little squash. The flowers of all 3 can be called fiori di zucca, but it is usually the flowers of zucchine (zucchina is singular and zucchine is plural) that are used in cooking. Squash and pumpkin flowers can also be used, but they can have a bittery taste.

Fiori di zucca are extremely delicate and will only last a few days after picking. They are even too delicate to freeze. In Italia it isn’t hard to find fiori di zucca in season. I recently bought a ‘bouquet’ of them at a market in Foggia for 1 Euro. Sometimes you can even buy small zucchine with the flowers still attached. I’ve only seen fiori di zucca for sale once in North America, several years ago at a farmer’s market in Seattle. I won’t even mention how much they cost! So, if you want to eat fiori di zucca you really need to grow your own-or find a friend who grows them and doesn’t know how good they taste!

Fiori di zucca have a beautiful, delicate taste. I like to cook them a few different ways, but my favourite is in a simple ‘pastella’. I whisk cold fizzy mineral water (acqua frizzante) with flour or semolino (durum wheat semolina) a drop of olive oil and pepper until it is not too thick or thin-like the consistency of pancake batter. If it is too thin, it won’t stick, but if it’s too thick, the fiori can be damaged. Gently clean fiori and remove the sepals-those green leaves at the base near the stem. Some people remove the stamens inside, but I usually leave them. Dip them in pastella (batter) and fry in hot oil. I usually use grapeseed oil. When they are done, place on a plate with‘carta assorbente’ (paper towel) and add salt. The bubbles in the mineral water make this pastella light and crispy. The batter doesn’t overpower delicate taste of the fiori like a heavy egg and flour batter would.

Fiori can also be stuffed with ricotta before frying (remember the ricotta fatta in casa post) or ‘farciti con mozzarella e prosciutto’-stuffed with mozzarella and prosciutto. Gnam, gnam, gnam (English translation…yum, yum, yum).

Lately I have also been making my fiori di zucca into frittelle (little fritters). This is a good way to stretch out your fiori and use broken and torn ones or include some larger pumpkin flowers. Measurements are not too important here. I mix some 00 flour and baking powder, then mix in 1 peeled, grated zucchina until it is coated with flour. Add some fresh torn basil leaves if you have them and some freshly grated parmigiano or asiago and 1 large or 2 small eggs. Once this is all mixed, add enough water to give it the consistency of pancake batter. You will need more water than you think!

Gently dip the intact fiori in batter and fry in hot oil. When they are finished, chop up the broken ones and add to the rest of the batter. Drop about 1 tablespoon of batter at a time into the oil to make ‘frittelle. Place on paper towel and add salt. They are delicious hot or cold. For those of you who absolutely, positively can’t manage without measurements….here is a link to a recipe that is fairly similar.

My friend Peppe Zullo in Orsara di Puglia, il ‘cuoco contadino’ www.peppezullo.it picks hundreds of fiori a day in his orto (vegetable garden) when they are in season. His ristorante serves ‘fiori di zucca al forno, ripiene con caciocavallo’ (baked and stuffed with caciocavallo). Gnam, gnam, gnam!!!

Looking forward to summer when I can enjoy fiori di zucca again! A l’anno prossimo!

Passata di Pomodoro

01 Monday Sep 2014

Posted by Un po' di pepe in Italian life, Mangiamo!

≈ 24 Comments

Tags

Italian food, Passata di pomodoro, Tomato sauce, Traditional recipes

Every year my family gets together to make ‘la salsa’, or passata di pomodoro. Everyone participates, even the nipotini. It is a 2 day event and we are all tired today, as we made about 180 litres of salsa/passata! Some of the tomatoes came from our gardens, but most of them were purchased.

Pomodori ready to be washed

Pomodori from the garden

La pentola per i pomodori-a really big pot to cook the tomatoes!

The ripe pomodori are washed, then cooked in a really big pot until soft. Then they are drained in baskets lined with cloth. If they aren’t drained well, then the passata will be too watery. To make ‘pomodori pelati’ (peeled tomatoes) instead of passata, the skin is removed by hand and the whole pomodori are put in jars.

Cooked pomodori drained in baskets lined with cloth

Passata refers to ‘passed’ through a sieve, a passapomodoro, or an electric machine to extract the juice and pulp and remove the skin and seeds. Our machine is called a ‘spremipomodori‘(tomato squeezer!). We thought it bit the dust last year, and bought a new one which didn’t work. So we had to dig out the old one and give it a try. This thing just keeps on ticking!

Our ‘spremipomodoro’ hard at work. The salsa/passata comes out the front and the skins and seeds come out the side.

Passata di pomodoro

Salt is added to the passata/salsa as a preservative and it is ladled into jars with fresh basilico (basil). We use canning jars and juice bottles. My relatives in Italia used to ladle their salsa into big amber beer bottles!
Sterilized lids are screwed on tightly, and the jars are place back in the large pot, which is lined with cloth so they don’t clang together. The pot is brought to a soft boil for about half an hour.