Polpettone by aunt Lidia – another family classic! (-13 weeks)

Recipe 31: Sunday i wanted to cook some comfort food as you say here. I wanted something that could smell “sunday with my family” and to change i decided for some meet and potatoes, that i don’t cook often really. So finally i choose to make my aunt’s famous Polpettone and i loved it!

Ingredients for 4-5 people: 500gr mince meat, 3eggs, some Parmesan, some cooked ham slices, one little bread loaf, some milk, salt, pepper, nutmeg and 2 vegetable stocks.

In a big bowl mix an egg with the Parmesan, salt , pepper and nutmeg. In another container place some milk and the bread in little pieces. Let them absorb the milk and when soft, drain them from the milk in excess and place it in the big bawl with the mince meat to. Mix it all well until homogeneous.

Then stretch the meat and make it in a rectangular thin surface. Now add the slices of ham and the other 2 boiled egg as in the picture, roll the meat and close it well. At this point prepare a plate with some breadcrumbs and pass the meat in the plate trying to cover it all with it.

Now pass the meat on a pan or in a sauce pan with some oil for some minute. The fire don’t have to be high and you will need to turn the meat often until it take a very nice color. Waiting for the meat to cook a bit, prepare some broth, putting the stock and some hot water in another little pan.

At this point the meat will be ready for the oven. It will need around 1 hour and half to cook at 180 degree and you will need to check it and turn it sometimes adding some broth stock every time… but the result worth the long time spend near the oven.

My aunt suggest then to let it cool down and put it then in the fridge in aluminum paper and cut it and serve it the day after! Maybe is one of these recipe that need time to get better, Put the sauce created with the broth in another container and conserve it in the fridge for the time you will eat the meat.

Then just cut it, hot it up and serve with the sauce pre-hotted for a bit. Buon appetito!

PS.Mamma il polpettone della domenica e’ proprio un classico e me lo sono gustato un sacco. E’ venuta anche a cena una mia amica australiana che ha molto apprezzato! Certo un po’ lunghetto ma piu’ facile di cio’ che pensassi! E meno male che ho la ricetta di Zia Lidia!

Starter: Tartine all’italiana (Product tasting)

Recipe 63: When i went to Identita’ in London, a festival of italian food already very famous in Milan, i had the pleasure to receive lots of products especially from Sicily and last weekend they came really handy. As i told you we organized a very quick dinner at the last moment for some friends and instead to buy the classic crisps as an aperitif, i thought to offer some “Tartina”, feta cheese and greek peppers! yummy!

Ingredients: Tartine are really easy to prepare because is just some bread cut in square and toasted where you can put whatever you want, from cream cheese and salmon, to pate’ or cheese and ham. This time i instead used this really nice Sicilian Sauces from Gli Aromi. One was made with cappers, one with black olives and finocchietto, but the best one was absolutely Finocchietto ragusano (plant from the fennel family).

I have also tried the same sauce with pasta and it’s even better. My guests loved the tartine, but the pasta was even more particular considering the very rare ingredients and taste.

Just put some water to boil and add the spaghetti when ready. In the meantime put some of the sauce in a bowl with some hot water from the pasta and when this is cooked just mix it all. Because the finocchietto has a very sweet taste, maybe with some pancetta or bacon as well i think it could be amazing.

PS. Mamy ci siamo fatti una mangiata lo scorso fine settimana. Io ero da poco tornata da un festival con vari prodotti tra cui queste salsine siciliane e non m’e’ parso vero di provarle con i miei amici. Percio’ un po’ e’ stato messo sul pane e servito come aperitivo e poi qualche giorno dopo le ho anche provate con la pasta e stanno benissimo. La migliore e’ una salsa fatta di finocchietto ragusano! Particolarissima!

Tartine vegetariane – vegetarian starters

Recipe 108: if tonight you have guests and you still don’t know what to do as an easy starter, try this recipe, quick, tasty and vegetarian so good for everyone!

Ingredients: bread (i used 4 slices of brown bread) – 1 courgette – 1 little onion – 70/100 gr Camembert cheese – 70/100 gr gorgonzola – 100/150gr.mushrooms – fresh rosemary – olive oil – salt – a piece of garlic and a bit of chilli.

Let’s start from the courgette: cut it in very thin slices and then again in half. Place them in a pan with some Olive oil and an onion cut in little pieces and let everything cook.

Add then some salt and chilli and when the courgette start to get mild and colored, add the cheese in pieces until it melts all.

In the same time wash and cut some mushrooms and put in a pan some oil and pieces of garlic. Let this cook a bit and then take it off from the oil.

Add then the mushroom, salt and some fresh Rosemery and let cook. When the mushroom are cooked you can add some Gorgonzola cheese and let it melt.

Now just toast some bread, cut it in little squared pieces and put some butter and the 2 different vegetarian mixes on top.

As you can see it’s very easy and quick, but i think the right selection of cheeses and vegetables just creates a very good starter.

PS: Mamy l’altro giorno non sapevo che inventarmi per offrire un aperitivo cosi’, guardando in frigo il cibo a disposizione, ho creato questi due accoppiamenti di verdura e formaggio che penso stiano proprio bene. Niente di speciale a vedersi ma molto meglio delle solite patatine fritte!

From the Halloween menu’: antipasti (-64 weeks)

Recipe 127: This post is about the starters we served for Halloween but the recipes are easy and good for every occasion. We were in 8 and these are the ingredients I used.

For the Black Coffins Cases you will need: 100/120gr gorgonzola – 12 slices of toasted bread – 25/30 black pitted olives – 2 little spoons of grappa or another liquor you have at home – 60gr butter – mayonnaise.

For the Monsters Eyes you will need: 3/4 carrots – a can of olives already pitted (depends by the quantity of carrots you will use) and 150gr mozzarella.

I will start from the black cream for the coffins. Take the pitted olives and cut them in pieces, add the butter and the gorgonzola. Mix it all with the 2 little spoons of liquor and with some olives water if you need. I suggest you to use a mixer, it will be quicker and the cream will be easier to spread on the bread. Try the cream and if you prefer a more stronger flavor, add more olives or gorgonzola depending buy your taste. Put the cream in the fridge for a bit.

In the meantime you can clean the carrots from the skin and cut them in slice (not too thin). Place them 2 by 2 on the plates and add a little piece of mozzarella on top. Finish them with half of an olive and serve.

Then put the bread in the toaster and when it’s ready, cut each slice in half and design the coffins in each part. Spread the black cream on each coffin and design a little cross with the mayo. In normal occasion you can just cut the bread in triangles and add a bit of mayo in the middle.

Enjoy!

PS. Mamy hai visto che carine le tombette fatte con le tue salsine? Considera che Nat se le sarebbe finite…va pazza per il gorgonzola. Invece mi ha aiutato con gli occhi dei mostri: si e’ lavata e pulita tutte le carote e si e ‘messa li ha tagliare tutti gli ingredienti! E per finire ha pure intagliato i peperoni con le faccette… troppo carini! Brava no?