Fake fish ( finto pesce).

This is an old recipe often made on Christmas holidays, it comes from Genoa and it's a classic lowly dish but it's so easy and tasty!

Don't mind if you don't have a fish mould, I don't too but I used a simple plum-cake pan.

You can serve it with green salad and have a perfect lunch/dinner.

You can use less mayonnaise or a light version or even no mayo at all, just some milk.

36 oz potatoes

10 tablesp.  mayonnaise

2 cans of tuna in oil (drained)

1 tablesp. capers

6 anchovies

1 bunch of parsley

lemon zest to taste

salt and pepper

2 boiled eggs

Boil potatoes untill tender, peel them and mash with a potato masher.

In a mixer blend anchovies, tuna, capers, lemon zest, parsley and eggs, when potatoes are cold add the mixture and the mayo, then salt and pepper to taste.

If it's not creamy enough just add more mayo or some milk, pour in a mold or a pan covered with a baking sheet and then cover with cling.

Let it rest in fridge for at least 6 hours (but not more than 24 as it's easy to spoil because of mayo).

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.

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!

Canned tuna tomato sauce (Sugo al tonno)

Surfing the web I saw we are all on the same boat: financial crisis is a global matter and families with low incomes and on a budget are a lot here in Italy and abroad.

So today I want to post a cheap sauce for pasta, so cheap and easy that here is quite famous as "student dish": ingredients don't need to be refrigerated and everyone can afford them.

Ingredients:

half a bottle or a can of tomato sauce

salt

basil (even dried one)

garlic (even dried one)

1 can of tuna (with oil if you like or just steamed if you want a light dish)

chili pepper if you like

extra virgin olive oil

Put in a pan two spoons of oil, add garlic and let it fry for a while.

Add tuna, well crushed, mix then add tomato sauce.

Let it boil gently for half an hour then add salt basil and chili as much as you like.

Here you are your sauce, it's perfect with spaghetti, penne, rigatoni, farfalle.