Glass cookies ( Biscotti di vetro).

from lascimmiacruda.info

Hi everyone!

I'm still here, hanging around my blogs: little time to post but I don't want to give up, really!

The pregnancy is going on very well but I still feel sickness even if I passed the first three months: it's a little trouble compared to the happyness of the event but it still could be a big trouble if you manage a kitchen blog. ;)

This recipe is easy as one two three, you just need shortcrust pastry to make cookies, cookie cutters and hard candies, the colours and the flavours you prefer.

Now spread pastry about 1/4 inch and cut the shapes you like.

Inside the shape cut another hole, the same shape but little or rounded, it depends only on your creativity.

Crush hard candies on a chopping board and with candy's crumbles fill the hole in the centre of the cookie.

Cook in preheated oven for about 15 minutes at 345 F°, the crumbles will melt and create a nice "glass" panel inside your cookie.

They're so beautiful you can use them to decorate your Christmas' tree...

They would be nice in heart shaped and red for Valentine's day!

Thanksgivings' little roasts (Arrostini del Ringraziamento).

As I told to a blog reader in a comment in Italy Thanksgiving is not a holiday: we just celebrate Christmas.

This doesn't mean we don't know about this very important U.S.A. holiday and today on tv I saw a Thanksgivings' recipe really easy and fast that could be loved abroad.

Turkey is surely the main dish served during this day, turkeys are really big and I heard U.S. ovens are so big just to cook things like turkeys.

Is it true? :D

Our standard ovens are probably too little to cook a whole turkey, so this is my version of a classic recipe!

You need:

turkey's thin slices, 2 per person

some bacon in a single slice, how much depends on how many you are

1-2 red onions peeled and sliced

half a spoon of sweetcorn per person

a little dried prune without kernel per person

extra-virgin olive oil

salt

rosemary

white dry wine

all pourpose flour

string to tie meat on

Chop bacon in tiny pieces, put them in a pan with onions and stirfry for a while, then add sweetcorn and prunes and cook untill tastes are well amalgamated: this is the roasts' filling.

Spread a turkey slice and put a spoon of filling in it, close the slice with string, do it with every slice.

Pass the little roasts into the flour, then in the same pan where you stirfried the filling, add extra-virgin olive oil, heat it and put roasts in.

Let it cook with a glass of white dry wine and rosemary, add salt if needed.

Cook softly for about 25 minutes, then serve with mashed or creamed potadoes.

Happy Thanksgiving everybody!!

Mozzarella shots ( Bicchierini di mozzarella)

Need a quick appetizer?


Do you want a nice "Italian style" entree?


This is what you need!


Take as many liquor glass (so, small and short) as the guests are, then you need:





mozzarella cheese (fresh, good, the one that if you cut you can see the milk dripping, not the plastic balls you find sometimes at supermarket)





a red and ripe tomato (more or less it depends on how many people you have to serve)





fresh basil leaves





extra-virgin olive oil





salt

PLEASE NOTE: this recipe is a lot better with "burrata" that is a special kind of mozzarella filled with milk cream and stripes of mozzarella itself.

It's a great cheese but I suppose it's not so easy to find abroad so I used mozzarella for this recipe.

If you find it anyway don't esitate: use burrata!

Crush the basil leaves with oil and a little salt untill you have a rough pesto alla genovese, put a coffee sppon of this pesto in each glass.


Now chop the mozzarella cheese in very tiny pieces, put them into the glasses, the same quantity in each, fill almost 'till the top.


Cut the tomato in very tiny cubes, season them with salt and oil, add a little spoon of them on top of mozzarella cheese.


Pay attention to put same quantity of the three ingredients in glasses, just to give all of them the same look.


Now you have a nice Italian flag appetizer, enjoy!

Yes, I' m alive.

Yes, I'm alive, even if I don't write often.
To tell you the truth it's not my fault...
It's because I'm pregnant!
It's a big happy news, me and my husband (and the whole families and friends) are very very joyful and we feel so blessed!
Anyway pregnancy has got it's own side-effects...
I can't even think about food and recipes, even in abstract, because I suddenly feel so sick so I can't really face to update a food related blog :P.
I'm also quite tired and listless, I suppose it will gettin' better soon, I hope you don't stop checking this page!
With love,
Claudia

Onion soup ( Zuppa di cipolle)

Maybe it's because the cold is slowly coming, maybe it's because I feel in need of comfort food but I'm here with a soup recipe again. :D

It' warm, creamy, tasty, cheap: anything better?

Don't worry about your breath, cooked onions don't make it smell!

For 4 serves you need:

2 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

15 small blonde onions

salt and pepper

4-5 cups meat (better) or canned broth

1 cup fontina cheese chopped in dices

1 1/2 cups grated Parmesan

8 big slices of rustic Italian bread, thick and stale

Heat in a big pan oil and butter, add finely sliced onions and let them stirfry mixing often.

Keep them on fire untill they're soft and golden.

Add salt and pepper.

In individual soup bowls put a dipper of meath broth, then a piece of stale bread, then cover with onions and add some fontina cubes.

Cover with another layer of bread and onions, add another little dipper of broth, spread a generous part of grated cheese.

Cover with an allumionion foil and put in preheated oven (around 375F°) and cook for about half an hour.

Check if the soup needs a little more broth, keep off the alluminium foil and cook 10 minutes more untill the grated cheese is brown, remove from the oven, let it rest for few minutes and serve hot or at least warm.

P.S.: You can use Pecorino cheese instead of Parmesan and another stringy cheese instead of Fontina if you can't find it.

Porcini mushrooms soup ( Zuppa di funghi porcini)

Nice recipe to use one of the most delightful gift that come with the fall season.

I love mushrooms, any kind of mushrooms, porcini of course are favourite but not the only ones.

For 4 serves you need:

1 blonde onion

1 lb. cleaned porcini mushrooms

1 garlic clove

2 1/2 cups meat broth or canned broth

1 cup fresh milk cream

2 tablespoons butter

salt and pepper

fresh chopped parsley

rustic Italian style bread in slices

Mince onion and garlic, put them in a pan with butter and fry lightly.

Add porcini sliced in tiny slices, add them in the pan, let stew for a while.

Add broth and let it cook for about 10 minutes, add salt and pepper and parsley.

Remove 3 spoons of mushrooms from the pan, put what left in a mixer, add cream and mix.

Heat the soup you've obtained, puor in dishes, add the mushrooms you previously removed and serve with toasted bread slices seasoned with a little garlic and extravirgin olive oil.

Homemade chocolate and hazelnuts cream ( Nutella fatta in casa).

Today I'm going to post the recipe of a famous Italian chocolate and nuts called "Nutella".

Of course this receipe will give you the chance of making it at home, tasty and healthy, sweetened as you want and witha great hazelnuts flavour.

The recipe is easy and quite quick, the only thing you must pay attention to is nuts whisking: you must obtain a smooth cream and it takes quite long, even half an hour with electric mixer.

You need:

5 oz. whole toasted hazelnuts

3 1/2 oz. milk chocolate

7 oz. dark chocolate

3 1/2 oz. sugar

1/2 cup whole milk

1/3 cup peanuts oil

vanilla seeds from a fresh vanilla bean

Put hazelnuts and sugar into the electric mixer and start whisking: whisk untill you have a greasy cream (it's nuts' oil) then add the two kind of chocolate in tiny pieces and whisk again.

Add milk and peanuts oil then vanilla seeds then mix well once again.

Put on fire, cook in a bain-marie for about 15 minutes, untill you have a thick cream, well amalgamated.

Let it get cold then pour in glass jam jar.

Store in the fridge, use within about 2 months.

It's great in the morning on fresh bread, every child in Italy eats it, I think you can compare Nutella to the American peanuts butter.

P.S. : this is the real Nutella in its packaging:

http://www.buttalapasta.it/wp-galleryo/pandoro-alla-nutella/la-nutella.jpg

Treviso's radicchio lasagna (Lasagne al radicchio di Treviso)

Of course abroad the most famous kind of lasagna is made with white sauce and meat sauce but it's not the only kind of lasagna you can make.

You can serve vegetarian lasagna made with white sauce and vegetable ragu' just for istance; today I'll give you an idea for a very refined dinner or lunch, a kind of lasagna that you maybe can't find usually in Italian restaurant worldwide (or maybe yes, I don't know, but making it at home is better ;) ).

For 4 serves you need:

1 lb. treviso radicchio (or a red radicchio-chichory)

10 oz. fresh pasta for lasagna

3 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1 oz. butter

1 oz. bacon

1 small white onion

2 garlic cloves

salt and pepper

freshly grated Parmesan

For the white sauce:

1/2 cup whole milk

5 tablespoon butter

2 1/2 oz. flour

salt

nutmeg

Take the radicchio and cut it in thin stripes, then wash and dry it well.

In a big pan heat oil and butter with onion and garlic cloves, add bacon in stripes and let it fry for few minutes then add radicchio, salt and pepper, cover and let it cook untill it's stewed.

To make white sauce melt in a pan the butter, add flour little by little, mixing: when you have a sort of thick cream add milk, salt and nutmeg, cook on low heat for 3 minutes after it comes to boiling point.

Boil pasta sheets in hot salty water, spread some butter in a oven-proof dish then pour white sauce, stewed radicchio, pasta and grated Parmesan in layers, finish with a generous spread of radicchio, Parmesan and white sauce: put in the oven for 40 minutes, if it becomes too brown cover with a sheet of alluminium.

You can prepare it a day in advance then put in the oven just in time for the guests arrival or even prepare it then freeze: it last for 2 month.

It's a great thing to avoid the pressure of cooking everything last minute!

Grilled squid with potadoes and lemon aromatic sauce ( Seppia con patate e salsa al limone aromatica)

Easy recipe I did just last evening, it's tasty and light and squids are a kind of seafood that don't cost that much.

The photo you see is mine, I'm trying to getting better with food photographs but it's not easy at all.

For 2 serves you need:

2 squids, cleaned and without tentacles

1 lemon

salt and pepper

2 big potadoes (or more, up to you)

extra-virgin olive oil

chopped parsley

Stew potadoes untill they're soft, pell them off and slice.

Open the squids and cut them in 3 pieces each.

Make diagonal cuts on the pieces with a knife, being careful not to cut too deep: they are just a way to avoid squid curling during the cooking; make the cuts the way to obtain a nice grid.

In a little bowl squeeze the lemon, pay attention to seed of ourse.

Add extra-virgin olive oil, chopped parsley, salt and pepper and mix energetically, let it rest for about half an hour.

Grill the squid slices on a hot griddle 3 minutes on each side, put the sliced potadoes on the serving dish, add squids and pour the sauce after another energetically mix.

Enjoy your seafood!

White veal stew (Spezzatino di vitello in bianco)

 Back with a recipe today.
You could say it's good because for too long I missed my duty. ^^
This recipe is good to warm the first chilly autumn days, I love it so much!
Be sure to have bread enough to mop up the sauce from the plate!

For 4-6 serves:

3-4 pieces of veal for each serve

4 carrots

4 potadoes

1 glass white wine

flour

2-3 sage leaves

meath broth (canned one is ok)

2 oz. butter

salt and pepper as you like

Peel and chop carrots and potadoes in pieces big enough to avoid melting douring the cooking.
Pass the veal pieces in the flour, in a big pan melt the butter, add sage then meat.
Brown the pieces, add the wine glass, let it evaporate then add carrots and potadoes too.
Pour two dipper of meat broth, cook untill it's absorbed then add two more.
Continue untill the meat is ready and the vegetables are soft.
Pay attention: don't let the sauce too liquid, it must be thick; if needed let it condense on fire at the end of the cooking, taking off the meat and vegetables.
Serve hot with a plain salad or, even if it's not an Italian tradition at all, with steamed rice.
I prefer salad and bread of course! ;)

20.000 VISITS!

A little bit late but...
Thanks to everyone, this blog reached the goal of 20.000 visits and I'm so proud and happy.
The sweet and yummy banner here is a gift from my lovely friend Aramisdream: she's my official grafic designer :D

BACK HOME!

Yes, I'm back.

Quite tired because of the long flight, because of the jet lag, because coming back from a holiday is always tiring.

I had a lot of fun making SITCA courses on Samui Island ( http://www.sitca.net/), it's a very very nice school, with every facility you can desire, even personal stove.

It's clean, the teacher speak a great english, she's also so fun and it's beautiful to share classes with people from worldwide.

I loved fruit carving so much!

It's not something you do perfect the first time but it's not as difficult as it can seems.

The proof is in the photo: this is my carved watermelon...My first carved watermelon.

It's not all that bad don't you think?

HO-HO-HOLIDAYS

I'm still alive and healthy but summer holidays are near and I've got so many things to do.

Clothes to wash, places to go, a friends' wedding, luggages to pack, things to buy and home to clean up.

This mean so little time to think about recipes to post, think about translation and photos and everything.

This year Thailand once again, I think we'll have a really good time, enjoy the place and relaxing and I'm going to attend a Thai cooking course.

I'm looking forward!!

Don't know if I'll write again before departing, anyway I wish to all the readers a beautiful and regenerating August!

See you around September!!

Pasta salad with mozzarella cheese and tomatoes ( Pasta alla crudaiola con mozzarella e pomodori)

This is probably the easier recipe of cold/warm pasta you can find.

Often here in Italy pasta salads are filled with so many ingredients that they become real calories bombs and, according to my experience, abroad is the same if not worse.

The same with rice salads and I don't really like that mix of different tastes, so many that you can't almost understand what there's inside (and sometimes, when you use canned pasta salad mixture, is probably better...).

This dish instead is plain, simple, with few but good ingredients and you don't need a lot of time to prepare it.

For 4 serves you need:

1 pound short pasta: penne, rigatoni, tortiglioni, farfalle ( 1 pound for 4 is quite a large dish, you can use less pasta)

1 big mozzarella cheese (if you can find mozzarella made from buffalo's milk is even better)

extra-virgin olive oil

3 medium red and ripe tomatoes

5-6 fresh basil leaves, washed

salt and pepper how much you like

Cook pasta at least 2 hours before serving if you want it cold, half an hour before if you want it just warm.

In a big bowl put tomatoes and mozzarella cheese chopped in tiny cubes, add basil leaves, salt and pepper and a generous pour of oil.

Mix well, add cold or warm pasta, mix again.

Store in fridge if needed, mix again before serving.

You can add a garlic clove to preparation to give a stronger flavour.

Yoghurt pudding with fruits of the forest ( Budino allo yogurt con frutti di bosco)

 Today is my sister's birthday and the recipe I'm going to post is her favourite dessert.
The photo shows my pudding, made last sunday to celebrate her birthday with the family.
You can serve it with forest fruits or chocolate or caramel or even plain: it's so beautiful so white and shiny!
In this photo I added blackberries, the mould used was a silicone mould.
For this pudding you need:

1 pound white sweet yoghurt

6 oz. milk cream

4 tablespoon sugar

1 oz. gelatine

forest fruits

Soften gelatine in a cup with a little water, drain it and melt on low fire adding yoghurt and sugar.
In a separate bowl whip cream untill it's well whipped then add slowly the yoghurt mixture.
Pour in the mould, beat lightly the mould on the table to avoid air bubbles and empty parts then store in fridge for at least 3-4 hours.
Serve with fresh forest fruits or any other topping you like: a nice idea is adding honey and nuts, as is often served greek yoghurt.

Sauteed clams ( Sautè di vongole)

And once again I post something that fits the summer season.

Here the weather is terrible: really hot but it's raining at least twice a day.

Of course it increases air humidity and the temperature seems even higher.

Me and my husband really love fish in general and in summer we try to eat it often douring the week.

Tomorrow is our wedding anniversary (two years, we're still at the beginning of a long trip :D) and almost surely we'll indulge on a romantic dinner in a nice (and a little expensive but hey...the recurrence justifies it!) fish restaurant not far from home.

Probably we'll eat something particular and classy but as starter I almost always ask for sauteed clams: it's a cheap dish but it's so tasty!

For 4 serves you need:

2 pounds and 1/4 fresh clams

1 garlic clove

white dry wine

extra-virgin olive oil

fresh washed and chopped parsley

4 bread slices, grilled as you do with bruschetta bread

Clams must rest in a big bowl filled with cold water and stored in a dark place for few hours to purge the sand: if there's a lot of sand change water once or twice.

After this time put them in a large pan under high fire: it will make them open, dump the ones that remain close, it means they were already dead and then not fresh ( it happens, even if you have the most fresh clams you can reach you always have to throw away some).

In another large pan stirfry garlic with a generous pour of oil, add a little wine, let it evaporate then add 2 spoons of chopped parsley and the juice that came out of the clams filtered with a fine strain (this juice is quite salty, so don't add too much if you have a lot and don't add salt).

Add the clams too and let it sautee for 3-4 minutes.

Put in a soup plate a grilled bread slice then cover with clams and their juice.

Serve hot or warm.

Delicious!!

P.S. : You can serve this dish as a starter or as a main dish, even as complete meal, it depends on quantity.

Baked pineapple (Ananas al forno)

The " quick and easy recipes saga" continues: with this hot weather who wants to spend hours cooking between hot ovens, boiling pots and all the rest?

Baked pineapple is the perfect conclusion for a summer dinner, tasty but light, it's even tastyer (but less light :P) if you serve it with an ice-cream scoops or two.

For 4 serves you need:

1 pineapple

rhum

raw sugar

Clean the pineapple keeping off the skin, the two ends and the centre, slice it in 1/4 inches tall slices and put them on a baking tin.

Pour on each slice a spoon of rhum then sprinkle raw sugar on.

Put in the oven with the grill function for few minutes untill the sugar is getting caramelized.

Put in dishes with the ice-cream scoops and serve.

Ps. You can prepare pineapple the same way but on skrews, the presentation will be even more beautiful.

Fried fish mix ( Fritto misto di pesce)

This recipe is a must of holiday dinners, expecially in my zone ( Rimini- Adriatic Riviera).

It's so tasty, surely not dietetic but you know, when you're on holiday calories don't count...

You can see whole families at restaurants sharing generous portions of this fried mix: the most common mix is made of shrimps and squid rings but you can add anchovies (fresh, not salted), little fish of any kind, even some vegetables like courgettes' sticks.

For 4 serves you need:

7 oz. squid rings

7 oz. cleaned shrimps (just leave tails)

5 oz. anchovies

5 oz. courgettes chopped in sticks

flour

2 lemons

salt

frying oil

If the fish is wet dry it with kitchen paper, pass it in the flour and shake a little to keep exceeding flour off.

Do the same with courgettes' sticks.

Fry fish and vegetable in a large pan filled with hot frying oil, not too much fish altogether, rember that courgettes need few minutes more than fish to get ready.

Drain the oil putting the fried fish on kitchen paper, add salt and serve immediately with lemon segments.

In Italy there are many different fried mix, this is the most famous but sooner or later I'll post even others ^^.

Tomato salad with greek yogurt ( Insalata di pomodori con yogurt greco)

I keep on going with summer and easy recipes, this one is so tasty according to me.

It remember me of my summers at university where I share an apartment not far from the sea with some Greek and English students: we had so much fun together, parties, tea times, plain dinners that became a fancy mix of food from our countries.

Now I start to become over-sentimental so let's go with the salad!

You can decide measures quite roughly, don't need weights :)

You need:

red and ripe tomatoes, I usually prefer San Marzano (the ones long and thin with less seeds that you can see in the picture)

fresh basil leaves

salt

pepper if you like

extra-virgin olive oil

a garlic clove if you like

greek yogurt, how much it depends on how many you are but I use roughly a big spoon of yogurt for each serve

Cut tomatoes in tiny cubes, put them in a bowl with their sauce, add salt, pepper, oil, garlic and the basil leaves well washed.

Mix well, add the greek yogurt, mix again and let rest in fridge for about a couple of hours mixing now and then.

Greek yogurt is really thick but mixed with oil and tomato sauce it will get dilute and your tomatoes will be covered with a tasty creamy sauce, quick and really healthy!

It's perfect with grilled meat or fish, with hamburgers or other dishes.

Salami nests (cestini di salame)

Today I'm going to post a salami-based recipe.

This is because I've seen my recipe of chocolate salami posted on a site that celebrate the day of salami ( http://www.salamiday.com/ ).

I'm proud when I get quoted and I decided to add another sami-related idea.

This is too easy to be called recipe but it's a great informal party idea.

You just need large diameter salami slices, thin, as many as you need and a muffin mould.

Reverse the mould on a baking pan (this is to avoid salami's grease spreading on the bottom of you oven) then put a slice of salami on each mould's dome and press a little to give the shape of a little basket/nest.

Put in the oven for 10 minutes at 325 F°, the salami must be thick and crispy when you take it out of the oven.

Gently take the slices off the mould and now you can fill them with...

Whatever you want I can say.

Chips, olives, cheese cubes, mushrooms salad, russian salad...

Of course the nests must be prepared not too early and keep them fresh stored!

Potado cutlets ( Patacotolette)

I'm back!

Tired and sick of this hot wheather (hot douring the week then raining on the week ends I plan to spend to the seaside...Lucky me) but relaxed enough to translate and post a new recipe.

This is quite unusual but funny, nice for children and quite healthy if you use a good frying oil and don't let it burn.

For 4 serves you need:

4 chicken breast's slices

1 potado, grated raw

2 eggs

7 oz. breadcrumb

2 tablespoons grated Parmesan

salt

frying oil

Prepare the crumble mixing grated potado, breadcrumb, cheese and salt.

Beat the 2 eggs apart then dip the slices in.

Once they're egg-covered pass them in the crumble, then once again in the beaten eggs then a last time in the crumble pressing a little with hands to stick the crumble at best.

Fry in a lot hot frying oil, serve with a green salad and a lemon slice.

So easy and quick!

You can of course change the kind of meat: turkey, veal or pork are suitable; you can also use grated Pecorino cheese instead of Parmesan.

Back from Milan!

Oh what a nice week end Ihad in Milan!

Took the chance to see the Monet exhibition at Palazzo Reale, then I've just spent my time with friends, I had the luck to gather some of the best friends I have there and now I'm just a little bit in the doldrums because I have very few occasion to see them douring the year.

As soon as possible I'll start again with recipe posting, meanwhile I wish you a good week!

Very busy!

In this period I haven't so much time to update my blogs: sometimes I write on the Italian one ( http://www.pavellina.splinder.com/) because of course writting in italian is easier and quicker.

To tell you the truth, work speaking, it's a very "empty" moment but just because of it I took so many different commitments from everyday swimming-pool course to some medical visits, from a friends-dedicated week end in Milan to cookie cooking for a hen party of a friend of my sister-in-law.

So...

Less work but a lot more to do.

It seems impossible but I swear it's true!

Now I'm preparing a nice recipe, one of the first I ever posted in this blog: http://italiankitchensecrets.blogspot.com/2008/04/vegetable-pastries-fagottini-con.html .

I hope my DH will be pleased, he loves them!

See you soon!

Salted mullet roe spaghetti ( Spaghetti alla bottarga)

Salted mullet roe ( called "bottarga" in Italian) is a food speciality that comes from Sardinia island.

It's also called Mediterranean caviar because it's just fish eggs ( mullet ones are very esteemed because of their gentle taste but you can find bottarga made with tuna eggs and others) salted, pressed and matured.

Once bottarga was the lunch of fishermen when they were all day long on their boats: eggs and fish entrails were a property of "tonnarotti" ( fishermen who fish tuna), nowadays it' s a common pasta season: it must be grated the same way you do with Parmesan and it's the best way to serve and taste it.

For 4 serves you need:

1 garlic clove

extra-virgin olive oil in plenty

a piece of bottarga (about 2 1/2 oz.)

1 pound spaghetti

fresh parsley if you like, washed and chopped

Cook spaghetti in boiling water with salt (less than usual because bottarga is already salad).

Meanwhile grate bottarga, take a large bowl (large enough to serve pasta), pell the garlic clove and rub it on the whole inside of the bowl, then leave it on the bottom.

Add oil in the bowl, a lot of oil, grease the sides of the bowl too then sprinkle sides and bottom with a part of grated bottarga.

Drain spaghetti "al dente" with a big fork and put them in the bowl (don't use the classic colander because it could dry pasta too much).

Add the rest of bottarga, some more oil if needed, parsley.

Mix well and serve.

P.S. : you can find bottarga already grated or fresh, vacuum packed: prefer the second one, the aroma is better preserved than the first one!

Veal rolls with Parma ham and dates (Involtini di vitello con prosciutto e datteri)

Im back with an unusual recipe, it's so tasty and could be served as warm starter or a second dish (well, I prefer it as starter).

For 4 serves you need:

4 thin veal slices

4 whole slices of Parma ham

8 dates (more or less, it depends on how big they are)

salt

black pepper

sage

mustard sauce

Beat the meat if necessary to make it regoular and thin.
Spread on each slice some mustar sauce, cover with a slice of parma ham, add a date (without stone) and roll the meat.
Close with a toothpick or even better with those silicone laces that close so well and can be removed without break the roll.
Add salt and pepper, heat a pan with some extra-virgin olive oil and sage, cook rolls and serve warm.
If rolls are too big for an appetizer cut them in half with a well sharped knife.

Icing cookies ( Biscotti glassati) second try.

This is not a recipe post but a "show off" about what I made this week end, taking inspiration from Pam ( http://cookiecrazie.blogspot.com/ ).
I've piped them, unluckly I have only one sac a poche so I can manage just one color at time...It's not so comfortable, next time I'll try to have more material to work with.
It's quite easy once you take confidence with icing but it's a long work!

Spelt salad with tomatoes, arugula, grated Parmesan and balsamic vinegar (Insalata di farro con pomodori, rucola, Grana e balsamico)

 Today an easy and tasty recipe that fits the need of something fresh and light we have with the first really hot days of the year.

Spelt is a cereal, quite common in Italy, very used in some regions like Tuscany and Umbria.

It grows even in poor grounds, it's the less calorific cereal and contains about the 15 % in proteins.

For 2-3 persons you need:

7 oz. spelt

salt

extra-virgin olive oil

some red and ripe tomatoes (great the cherry ones)

a bunch of fresh arugula

3 spoons of freshly grated parmesan

3 spoons of good balsamic vinegar

Let the spelt soaking all night long, then cook it in salty water the time written on the packaging.

Drain it and let it get cold, meanwhile cut tomatoes in little cubes, if you have cherry tomatoes split them in 4 parts.

Put them in a bowl and add cold spelt, olive oil as much as needed, Parmesan and balsamic vinegar.

Mix very well then put on the serving dish.

You can spread it or put it into a big round-shaped cookie cutter to give it a most elegant presentation.

Put on top of spelt fresh arugula well washed then add another drizzle of oil and vinegar.

Isn't it tasty and nice?

Enjoy it!

Mother's day (Festa della mamma).

I hadn't so much time to go in search of presents and to tell you the truth we're not so involved in this kind of celebrations (quite more an occasion to spend than to celebrate...).
But today we had to go to my grandma's house for lunch so I decided (yesterday at 11 p.m., I should have decided some hours earlier...But I'm a sort of night bird) to make a cake.

Something easy & peasy, just a shell of pastry with egg custard inside but because some pastry remained and I was so excited about my new purchases of food colours and sac a poche pipes I decided to make some heart cookies and two big flower cookies.

I decorated them with pink icing and these on the photos are the results.

Do you like them?

Fillo pastry rolls with cheese and honey (Caramelle di pasta fillo con formaggio e miele)

I'm back with a really easy recipe great as appetizer or part of a buffet table.

For about 10-12 serves you need:

1 roll of fillo pastry

1 pack stringy cheese

honey

extravirgin olive oil

Cut the fillo pastry in little squares, sized them to fit the mouth in one bite.

Brush the fillo's sheets with olive oil, then put a cube of cheese and close the roll (the shape you prefer).

Bake in oven 120 F° for about 10 minutes then brush them with some honey while they're still hot then serve.

Nice blogger

This is my first blog prize: given by Mariagrazia ( http://sempreincucinaconallegria.blogspot.com/ ) make me so proud!
The prize rules are easy: just write a joke or a funny anectode on your blog then spread the prize to other 5 bloggers.
I prefer personal stories to jokes and this is mine:

I was at the very first of the relationship with the man who's now my dear husband.
We were far from each other fot the first time and we were on the phone chatting like only two newly lovers can do.
He said: "oh I miss your eyes, coloured like sea".
I (quite angry because my eyes are of a greenish brown) : "what are you saying? My eyes aren't bloe!! Who are you speaking about??"
My love, quite astonished: "but my dear...I live in Rimini, here the sea has got exactly that greenish-brown colour..."
I laughed for a week...
He was totally right!

Now the five blogs that, according to me, deserve this prize:

http://cookiecrazie.blogspot.com/ Pam from Cookie Crazie who helps me so much with my experiments in icing cookies

http://newlywedcooking.blogspot.com/ Sharon from Culinary adventures of a new wife

http://bellociccolato.blogspot.com/ Cynthia from Bello ciccolato

http://hanaaskitchen.blogspot.com/ Hanaa from Hanaa's kitchen

I hope the nice blogger I nominated will enjoy this prize!

P.S. : in Italian simpatico = nice ^^

http://tonispastries.blogspot.com/ Antonella from Toni's pastries

No-knead bread (Pane senza impastare)

I didn't do it still, I discovered this recipe just yesterday evening but it seems great.

The recipe isn't Italian but from the photos I've seen this bread is ok to make great bruschette or croutons so why don't share this recipe with you?

It's long because of raising but it's also so easy!

You need:

3 cups all-purpose or bread flour, more for dusting

¼ teaspoon instant yeast

1¼ teaspoons salt

cornmeal or wheat bran as needed

In a large bowl combine flour, yeast and salt. Add 1 5/8 cups water, and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky.

Cover bowl with plastic wrap.

Let dough rest at least 12 hours, preferably about 18, at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees.

Dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles.

Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it; sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice.

Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest about 15 minutes.

Using just enough flour to keep dough from sticking to work surface or to your fingers, gently and quickly shape dough into a ball.

Generously coat a cotton towel (not terry cloth) with flour, wheat bran or cornmeal; put dough seam side down on towel and dust with more flour, bran or cornmeal.

Cover with another cotton towel and let rise for about 2 hours.

When it is ready, dough will be more than double in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger.

At least a half-hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450 degrees.

Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in oven as it heats. When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven.

Slide your hand under towel and turn dough over into pot, seam side up; it may look like a mess, but that is O.K.

Shake pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes.

Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned.

Cool on a rack.

P.S. The recipe is the original from New York Times, here it's the link to how-to-do video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13Ah9ES2yTU

Chiken baked into the salt (Pollo al sale)

First of all I have to say this is, more than a recipe, a way of cooking.

It's very tasty and very healthy because it doesn't need any kind of fat.

You can cook this way also fish like salmon or trouts, turkey or other kind of white meat in quite big pieces.

You need:

a whole chicken, cleaned inside

cooking salt about 8 pounds (it depends on how big is the chicken)

1 lemon well washed, preferably organic

rosemary

pepper

garlic

Put the lemon into the chicken, cover it and fill it with some rosemary and ground some pepper on the meat.

Put into a capacious pan a layer of cooking salt, put in the chicken then cover it with the rest of salt untill the meat is well sealed.

Put in the oven at high temperature, about 500°F for 1 hour and 15', then let it rest 30 minutes out of the oven.

Crush the salt crust with a knife handle or something hard then keep off the salt and serve chicken.

It will be tender and juicy because nothing was evaporated douring the cooking.

Of course the cooking time depends on the weight of the piece you're going to cook: pay attention!^^

Cuttle fish and potadoes in red (Seppia con patate in rosso)

Great fish dish, not too expensive and good for children or elders because it's quite soft (if cuttle fish are cooked well).

You can use also squids, they're bigger, maybe a little less tasty but (here at least) even less expensive.

For 3-4 serves:

18 oz. little cuttle fishes

18 oz. podadoes

7 oz. peeled tomatoes

1 garlic clove

extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 glass of white wine

cooking salt

pepper (if you like)

black olives chopped (if you like)

chopped fresh parsley or thyme

Wash and clean cuttle fishes, cut it in tiny stripes.

Peel potadoes and chop them in pieces (not too big).

In a saucepan pour oil and add garlic, stirfry it for few minutes then add peeled tomatoes and their sauce.

Cook for about 5 minutes, add potadoes, cooking salt ( be carefull, not too much!) and let it cook for about other 10 minutes then add wine and let evaporate.

Now add cuttle fishes and thyme or parsely and cook again for about 20 minutes: it should be enough but it depends on how big are cuttle fishes so check them if they're still hard.

Four cheeses pasta ( Pasta ai quattro formaggi)

Here we are, still sad but strong and hopefully.

Today a quick recipe, in poor words a tasty way to season pasta.

Gorgonzola cheese is quite savoury, if you don't like you can omitt it and use double parmesan or another cheese you like.

For 4 serves:

1 pound pasta (dried one: fusilli, maccheroni, penne or any kind of short shape)

1/3 cup grated parmesan

1 1/2 cup heavy cream

2 tablespoons butter

3 oz. gorgonzola cheese in crumbles

4 oz. fontina cheese in crumbles

3 oz. mascarpone cheese

black pepper if you like

Cook pasta the usual way untill it's al dente.

Meanwhile in a large saucepan heat butter and heavy cream on low heat.

Add cheeses and stir untill they're completely melted, then add pepper.

Drain pasta, pour it into the saucepan, stir and cook on medium heat for about 2 minutes, put in dishes and serve hot.

This sauce is great to season potado gnocchi too.

SILENCE

I usually write only about food and cooking on this blog but sometimes there are things that can't be ignorated or untold.
In the middle of the past night a devastating hearquake hit a part of Central Italy, the Region of Abruzzo, the city of L'Aquila and its surroundings.
Too many people died, too many are still under rubbles: alive or not is hard to say.
In this scene of disaster solidarity from all the country comes to help: in the morning was asked for blood donating, in the afternoon the minister appeal to stop because was donated more blood than the hospitals in the whole region can stock.
At 6 o.c. in the morning the local rugby team was rescuing elders from a retirement home carrying them on their backs out of the house.
Everyone who can is helping now, I think of my friends there, they're ok but have so many relatives and friends without a home.
It's so painful.
No recipes today, you can understand.

Rice crispies and Mars cake ( Torta al riso soffiato e Mars)

I suppose you well know what a Mars snack is.

To tell you the truth I can't find it tasty even if I'm fond of mou cream.

This cake is something that, according to me, only children can love...

But for their parties it's so useful because it's quick and can be stored for a long time, it doesn't need spoons, plates or forks and it's totally junk :P

You need:

6 mars snacks

8 1/2 oz. rice crispies (white or chocolate ones)

3 1/2 butter

Divide mars in little pieces, put in a pan with butter and let it melt "bagnomaria".

When butter and melted mars will be well amalgamated add rice crispies and mix, keeping on low heat always "bagnomaria".

Take a baking tin (better if it's one with border that can be opened), pour the mix and press well with a spoon or even hands.

Let it get cold at room temperature, before serving take it out of the tin and cut with a long knife in slices or squares or brills.

If you want to decor the cake put on the bottom of the cake tin coloured chocolate coriandoli then pour the mixture: they will remain sticked to the cake.

P.S. : I rember this recipe from my childhood, especially in birthday parties but I never did it personally.

On the web the measures vary a lot so try this one than seems to me a good proportion then adjust the recipe following your taste (more mars, less butter or whatever).

Giant homemade Oreos ( Biscotti al cioccolato accoppiati)

Oreos are sold in Italy too but not very loved.

I know that abroad, instead, they're really really appreciated, especially in the English-speaking world ( U.K., U.S.A. ...).

This is a funny and easy recipe to have really big kind of Oreo cookies, perfect for children and teen-ager parties but even for unformal meetings with friends maybe for a tv- movie night.

For 4 serves you need:

3 1/2 oz. dark chocolate

6 oz. all purpose flour

1 egg

2 oz. bitter cocoa powder

1 1/2 oz. butter

2 oz. sugar

1 oz. icing sugar

vanilla flavour

a sprinkle of salt

1 cup milk cream

Chop chocolate and let it melt "bagnomaria".

Mix butter with sugar very well then add vanilla flavour, egg and the melted chocolate.

Add then cocoa, flour and a sprinkle of salt; mix again untill you have a smooth dough.

Stretch it with a roll-pin in a layer of about 1/4 inch, if it's stitcky don't add flour but icing sugar.

With a cookie cutter round shaped or a glass cut biscuits in even number.

Put them on a buttered baking tin and cook for about 8 minutes in pre-heated oven at 345°F.

Let them get cold, then whip milk cream with icing sugar, spread whipped cream on a cookie then cover with another.

Put in fridge for at least 2 hours then serve cold.

P.S. If you want to give a spicy touch you can add at the cookie dough a generous sprinkle of red chili pepper powder.

It fits great!

For adults only ;)

Vegetable burgers ( Hamburger di verdure)

This is a great recipe for vegetarian and for children who don't love vegetable.

It's easy, quite quick and tasty, you can prepare mixture in advance.

For 4-6 serves you need:

about 2 lb mixed vegetables ( carrots, leeks, spinach, courgettes, green beans...)

7 oz. potadoes

2 eggs

1 egg white

4 tablespoons grated cheese

breadcrumb

basil

salt and pepper

frying oil

Boil potadoes in salted water.

Clean vegetables, chops them in pieces and boil "al dente".

Drain them then mince and let the remaining water drain.

Pass potadoes in the potadomasher.

Mix vegetables with potadoes, add eggs , cheese and minced basil plus salt and pepper.

Create little burgers, pass them into the egg white then in breadcrumb.

Heat oil in a pan then cook burgers untill they're gold on both sides.

Serve hot with a plain salad or into a sandwich like a meat hamburger.

Beans, tuna and red onion salad ( Insalata tonno fagioli e cipolla)

Nothing easier, nothing faster this recipe is a informal appetizer or a quick single course.

It's common along all the Peninsula but you will not easily find it in restaurants because it's considered a little bit coarse...

But the taste is great and almost everyone, at home, prepare it now and then.

Of course you can omit onion if you don't like it or use the white one if you can't find the red.

For 4-6 serves:

4 cups cooked beans (Cannellini or Borlotti, in this preparation I prefer Borlotti but it depends on you; the canned ones work great)

2 medium cans oil packed tuna

1 small red onion sliced thin as much as possible

salt and pepper

extra-virgin olive oil

Drain beans from their water and tuna from its oil, put the beans in a big bowl and crush tuna to avoid too big pieces and add it to beans.

Add the sliced onion and season with salt, pepper and extra-virgin olive oil.

Mix well and serve.

If you want you can add a sprinkle of chopped parsley.

Potato masher's cake with ricotta cheese ( Torta dello schiacciapatate con ricotta).

This recipe is easy peasy, quick and a sure success for any kind of meal, with family, friends, colleagues...

The cake in the photo misses of the last icing sugar sprinkle but I wanted to take the picture immediately :P

The potato masher I'm speaking about is like this (with big holes) :

You need for the shortcrust pastry:

10 1/2 oz. all purpose flour

5 1/5 oz. sugar

3 1/2 oz. butter

2 eggs

1 bag baking powder for cakes

For the stuffing:

25 oz. ricotta cheese

3 1/2 oz. sugar

Decoration:

dark chocolate chopped in irregular pieces

icing sugar

Mix all the ingredients to make the pastry and divide the loaf in two parts of the same wheight.

Put one part in the potato masher, take a baking tin of about 10 inches diameter and press untill strands of pastry fall down.

Spread them quite evenly but don't worry if you see holes between the strands: the dough, rising, will close them.

Mix ricotta cheese with sugar then pour on the base of pastry's strands, put the other half of the loaf in the potato masher and cover ricotta with the same process, once again don't worry about holes :)

Heat the oven at about 345° F, before putting in the oven sprinkle icing sugar on top of the cake and add chocolate chops.

Bake for 45 minutes.

The result will be the one in the photo...Enjoy! :D

Extra-Virgin olive oil cake ( Torta all'olio d'oliva extravergine)

Problems with cholesterol?

Do you wan to to avoid animal fats or just to try something unusual?

This is a plain cake, perfect for breakfast, afternoon break or just to treat yourself and your family.

Please consider only extra-virgin olive oil for this cake: other oils aren't healthy enough to gain benefit from their use, expecially when they have to be cooked.

This recipe has a lemon flavor but you can choose to put some cocoa powder to half of the mixture then pour in the baking pan first the white mixture then the cocoa one and passing a pick to give the cake a marbled effect or add 3 apples chopped in tiny pieces.

You need:

3 eggs

2 1/2 cups of sugar

1 1/2 cups of milk

a sprinkle of salt

1 1/2 cups extra virgin olive oil

3 3/4 cups all purpose flour

1 bag of baking powder

zest from one lemon (only the yellow part)

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

icing sugar to serve

In a large bowl, mix together the eggs and the sugar.

When well blended add the oil, milk, lemon juice and zest and mix well.

In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder and salt.

Add the first mix to this mixture, and stir just until blended.

Pour into a baking pan.

Bake for about 40 minutes at 350° F or until a pick comes out clean.

Cool and remove from the pan.

Dust with powdered sugar.

You can serve with fresh fruit, egg custard, whipped cream or melted chocolate or eat it plain.

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!

Happy St. Patrick' s day to everyone!

It's not a holiday in Italy but due to globalization and the fact people here travel often to English speaking countries to learn English we know how much is important for Irish people in Ireland and abroad.

A little curiosity that comes from Wikipedia: St. Patrick used the shamrock, a three-leaved plant, to explain the Holy Trinity to the pre-Christian Irish. The wearing of and display of shamrocks and shamrock-inspired designs have become a ubiquitous feature of the saint's holiday.

To tell the truth the colour that was long associated to the Saint was blue but because of shamrocks and because green is the predominant colour of Ireland from about 1750 D.C. there was a change.

Salty buckwheat pancakes with cabbage and speck ham ( Crepes di grano saraceno con verza e speck)

This is a great recipe I took from my mother.

It's quite particular, made with ingredients typical from North of Italy (speck ham, buckwheat, cabbage).

The result is great and quite refined even if the basic ingredients come from farmer's cooking.

For 6 serves you need:

for pancakes:

1 1/2 cups milk

2 1/2 oz. buckwheat flour

2 1/2 oz. all purpose flour

salt

1 egg

1 oz. butter

oil to cook pancakes

For the stuffing:

10 oz. cabbage washed and cutted in little pieces

3 1/2 oz. speck ham

1 1/2 oz. grated pecorino cheese

for the bechamel/ white sauce:

1 oz. butter

1 1/2 oz. all purpose flour

1 1/4 cups milk

grated nutmeg

1 oz. grated pecorino cheese

Melt butter and mix to it all the ingredients to make pancakes.

Beat well to avoid lumps.

Cook very thin pancakes (crepes) in a pan of about 10 inches diameter.

With this quantity you should obtain 6 pancakes.

In a pan sautee chopped cabbage with a little salt, pepper and butter plus 2 water's spoons untill they're soft.

Make white sauce putting in a pan butter and flour, mixing and cooking utill you have a golden mixture then add milk little by little then nutmeg and pecorino cheese.

Cook and mix untill bechamel becomes dense (about 10 minutes).

Put in each pancakes some sauteed cabbage, some speck ham chopped in pieces, some white sauce and a little grated pecorino cheese.

Close the crepes the way you prefer and put them in a oven-proof dish.

Cover with the rest of cabbage, bechamel and grated pecorino cheese.

Put in the oven at medium heat untill you have a golden crust on top.

Serve hot!.

THANKS EVERYBODY!!

No recipes today but a big thanks to everybody.
Why?
Because this little blog has a lot of readers: I see it through the counter that grows everyday of about 100 visits.
And the counter's introduction is quite recent.
I also see that visitors come worldwide and it's a great proud for me.
The only regret I have is that I see very few comments: I really would like to know if someone try my recipes and how they turn out...
I hope to continue this blog's updating through the time giving you all the best of Italian recipes, from great classics to unexpected dishes: I love doing this and my English say thanks because I keep on practising it : )

Green sauce ( Salsa verde)

This sauce is perfect for boiled meat, grilled chicken, grilled or boiled seafood.

I love this sauce so much I use to put it on bread slices all alone too. ^^

It's perfect on bruschetta according to me but it depends on tastes!

This recipes comes from Piemonte, a region in the North- West of Italy famous for truffles, asparagus and hazelnuts with whom they produce a great chocolate called " Gianduia".

You need:

red wine vinegar

1 slice tuscan /italian bread

1 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 garlic clove

1 hard boiled egg

1 big bunch fresh parsley

salt and pepper

Soak the bread in enogh vinegar untill it's soft.

In a food processor mix parsley and garlic untill they're chopped extremely fine.

Add the hard boiled egg (someone uses only yolk, someone uses the whole egg, it depends on taste), the oil and the drained bread, mix again a little, untill you have a smooth cream.

Add salt and pepper to taste, store in refrigerator untill use.

The sauce is even tastier if you prepare it 1-2 days in advance.

Pork loin in milk sauce ( Arista di maiale al latte)

This is a good "sunday recipe".
Easy to make, delicious, tender.
My mum was used to prepare it when I was little and even now, even if less often cause me and my sister are old enough to eat also different things ^^.
This roast is made in a pot, on stove and not in the oven: here in Italy is often the privileged cooking solution for roasts.


For 4 serves you need:


1 1/2 pounds boneless pork loin tied with string

3 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil or butter

2 garlic cloves

salt and pepper

4 cups fresh whole milk

1 sprig fresh rosemary

a little carrot, chopped tiny


In a heavy pot heat the olive oil with garlic and carrot pieces and brown the roast well on all sides.
Add salt and pepper.
Add the milk and bring to boil, then turn the heat to low and let the meat cook for about une hour and half, turn the roast now and then and mix the sauce to prevent burning.
When the meat is ready the sauce should be thick, of a golden brown colour, with some kind of grumes, really tasty.
Wait untill the roast is cold before slice it, it's even better if you prepare it one day in advance then cut sometime before serving, heat again meat and sauce and serve slices with souce on top.
It's perfect with sauteed spinach or mashed potadoes.

Granny cake ( Torta della nonna)

I've seen that "granny cake" in english means a pineapple cake: this is something else but I wanted to translate the Italian name literally.

This cake is one of my favourite, it's so easy, plain but rich in flavour and so "country" to see.

You need:

For the shortcrust pastry:

12 oz. all purpose flour

1 bag baking pownder

4 oz. butter

6 oz. sugar

1 egg

1 yolk

a sprinkle of salt

For the cream:

3 1/2 cups milk

peel of half a lemon

7 oz. sugar

8 yolks

1 1/2 oz. all purpose flour

1 vanilla pod (or vanilla aroma)

For the decoration:

pine kernel

icing sugar

Put milk, vanilla and lemon peel in a pan, put on medium heat.

In a bowl beat the yolks with sugar untill you have a foaming cream, then add flour and mix well.

Add hot milk to the yolk cream little by little, mixing then put the liquid again in the cooking pan and put on light heat mixing untill the cream become dense: at this point cook other 5 minutes then turn off fire.

Keep off vanilla pod and lemon peel.

Let it get cold.

Now knead shortcrust pastry: mix flour with baking powder, add soften butter and knead.

Add also egg, yolk, a salt sprinkle and sugar, knead again untill you have a a smooth dough loaf, close it in a clin film and let rest in fridge for at least one hour.

Stretch the shortcrust pastry on the bottom and sides (let some dough more out of the tin) of a round baking tin, prick the bottom with a fork, pour the cream, spread it well, cover with pine kernel, refold the plus of dough on the cake.

Put in hot oven at 345 F° for about 40 minutes, let it cold and cover with icing sugar.

Bolognese cutlet ( Cotoletta alla bolognese)

This recipe is really ancient and so important in our typical cooking that is deposed at Bologna's chamber of commerce by Italian Cooking Accademy (Accademia della Cucina Italiana) a national cultural istitution.

If you know Milanese cutlets or the Wiener Schnitzel you'll probably find in the Bolognese version a richer and luxury variation.

For 4 serves you need:

veal rump, about 8-9 oz. divided in 4 slices

2 oz. butter

3 1/2 oz. Parmesan in slivers

2 oz. Parma ham in slices

1 egg

breadcrumbs

a glass of meat broth

salt and pepper

frying oil

Thump meat slices to softner them, add salt and pepper (not too much salt, ham and cheese are salty enough).

Pass them in the breadcrumbs, then into beaten egg, then in breadcrumbs once again.

Fry on both side for few minutes then put the slices in a oven pan, on each one put a slice of ham, enough Parmesan slivers, pour the broth glass and butter in small chunks.

Heat for about 7-8 minutes at 345 F° then serve with a light salad and or mashed potadoes.

This recipe with little variation of some black truffle slivers on top (put at the end of cooking) is called Cotoletta alla Petroniana ( Petroniana cutlet).

This name comes from Petronio (Petronius) who is the patron saint of Bologna city.

My special pizza toppings (Condimenti speciali per pizza)

As told in the post before it's time for my special pizza toppings.

The first two com from my husband's family (grandma and mum), they're great for buffets and parties because the pizza must be room temperature so you can prepare it when you want and just add topping minutes before serving.

Consider just a piece for each person because these topping are really really "heavy" and you can't really have a full meal only with these so prepare something else or more different pizza's type. :P

The third is great hot from the oven but is really easy to prepare and so tasty!

First topping:

for a rectangular baking tin

2 tin canned tuna

1 red onion

mayonaise ( enough to mix ingredients and have a creamy mixture)

a little ketchup

Ina a bowl put the tuna (drain exceeding oil), break it into small pieces, cut the onion in thin slices, add it to tuna then add mayonaise enough to make a creamy mixture.

Along with mayonaise add ketchup enough to make cream pink coloured.

Spread this mixture on a pizza base at room temperature baked with only tomato sauce (no mozzarella cheese).

Cut small squares and serve.

Second topping:

for a rectangular baking tin

a bounch of fresh arugola washed and dried

mayonaise

ketchup

Cut arugola to reduce leaves in pieces, mix mayonaise with ketchup (some more ketchup than in the recipe before).

Put arugola on a red basic pizza at room temperature then pour the "cocktail sauce" on .

Cut in small squares and serve.

Third topping:

for a rectangular baking tin

1 potado

1 pack robiola cheese (if you can't find it you can use any kind of creamy cheese like philadelphia)

4-5 slices smoked cooked ham

Before baking the pizza put on top, instead of tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese, thin slices of potado (use raw potado, at least pass the slices some minutes into microwave) then add creamy cheese (it's not important if you can't spread it, when it will be hot will be soft enough to be spread easily).

Bake like a normal pizza, once it's out of the oven spread cheese and add smoked ham.

Serve hot!