Friday’s quick ideas for the week end

My week ends are far to be calm and relaxing, mainly on Saturdays morning. In fact is a tired marathon of things to do. First, I make a quick stop for vegetables and ground provisions. Big families’ also means many birthdays over the month. It means presents to buy. Is the day that I usually drop at the stylist and made some girly stuffs. Saturdays are the days that I bought flowers, because I love the color and joy that it add to my home Last week end I bought this lovely reds peeper for decorate my kitchen, that I arrange in vase And a small red gerbera for a solitaire vase Sometimes I make use Saturdays for small home improvements’ ,as well. So, as you see, the most of the Saturdays I had no time and no condition to prepare elaborated dishes for lunch or dinner This week end I want to prepare some Prosciutto Bruschettas, .This , above, is the basic recipe that you topped with almost anything. I used Prosciutto, cream chesse, Parmesan flakes, roasted pecan coarsely chopped and a tread of olive oil

Basic Bruschetta recipe

8 slices Italian bread, 2–3 Garlic cloves cut in half 50 ml Extra-virgin olive oil Salt and pepper to taste Toast the bread on a grill or under a broiler until golden brown. 2. While the bread is still hot, rub one side of each slice with a cut clove of garlic. 3. Brush or drizzle olive oil generously over each slice. The toast should be partly soaked with the oil. 4. Add salt and pepper to taste. 5. Serve warm And this is my contribution to Festa Italiana lovely hosting by Maryanne and Marie of Proud Italian Cook

Cold days warm meals

Yesterday was a national holyday here. The day dawned sunny but cold, and you know, colds days’ calls warm food. I pretend make soup. But I didn’t make pasta for a long. As you know, my husband had Italian blood running in his veins and he love, love pasta. So I change the menu.

A few days ago I had bought in my local market this Italian dried pasta with porcini mushroom. Porcini, with its earthy and somewhat nutty flavor is unequaled among mushroom is perfect for veggie sauces. So, I decide make it with a smooth vegetable sauce

If you like mushrooms, you’ll love this pasta dish!

Porcini Mushroom Linguine in cream veggie sauce Ingredients:

250 g Porcini Mushroom dried Pasta 50g. of wild mushrooms (trumpet, porcini, morel, or fresh mushrooms like champignons, portabella, etc)

½ zucchini (cut in small pieces)

20g sundried tomatoes

3 tablespoons sunflower oil

2 shallots chopped

1. Can hearts of artichokes in water 2 teaspoons salt ½ teaspoon ground black pepper 1 teaspoon dried thyme 1 cup white wine (I used chardonnay)

½ cup whipped cream

Method

. Wash mushrooms, trim ends, coarsely chop.

Moisturize sundried tomatoes in hot water. Cut in pieces.

. Cook pasta in boiling salted water until al dente (about 8-10 minutes). . In hot skillet add oil; add shallots, mushrooms and sauté until barely tender. Add artichokes, zucchini, sundried tomatoes, seasonings and wine. Cook for about two minutes and add cream. Cook to slightly reduce liquid. Add pasta and gently toss to coat the noodles. Serve with freshly grated Parmesan.

From Sicily with love : Sicilian Caponata

I usually bought Capomata in markets or delicatessen when I lived in Sao Paulo; but Here I didn’t found as easily as there, so I resolved start to do my own caponata. After searching recipes in internet and books I finally choose this recipe I adapted from the book Culinaria Italy.(Könemann) My idea, to adapted worked perfectly well. It was pretty good!!!!

Serve caponata spooned over slices of toasted baguette, garlic bread, crackers or alongside grilled meat.

Remember adjust the vinegar as necessary, depending on the acidity of your tomatoes and what you are serving with this relish. Caponata is best made in advance and can be refrigerated for up to 1 week in an airtight container. If you decide to freeze this, it will stay for 2 months.

Ingredients

• 2 large Eggplant, peeled, cut in cubes
• 1 large onion, chopped
• ½ green pepper, seeded, chopped
• ½ yellow peppers, seeded, chopped
• ½ red pepper, seeded, chopped
• 5 ripe tomatoes, chopped
• ½ cup white or dark raisin (no seed)
• 3 minced garlic cloves
• 1/3cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/3 cup red wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 2 Tablespoons sugar

• 1 ½ teaspoons dried oregano 1 ½ teaspoons dried basil 1 Tablespoon capers, chopped

Combine all ingredients(less, onion and garlic) in a large bowl. In enameled or stainless steel pot, put a tread of olive oil and sweat garlic and onion, put the others ingredients and mix well. Turn the heat down and leave it to simmer, stirring occasionally. You can cook this over low heat uncovered for about an hour, or cover it and cook over very low heat for few more hours. The slow stewing method blends the flavors very nicely, and the caponata is great reheated.

Tip:

Before peeled eggplant I roasted or grilled the peel in high fire, in this way you can add an smoky taste

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Festive Aubergines

I was quite focused in updated two times a week my blog But things happens..... And I must been absent for days

Anyway I love fresh herbs and basil is one of my favorites, and I am a big eggplant fan too (also knowing as aubergine). Aubergine is really quite meaty! Not just one for veggies, meat lovers (like my husband) will enjoy it too! The recipe here is from the Silver Spoon Cookbook, a recent acquisition of mine. The entire cookbook, the cookbook for Italian housewives, (over 2,000 recipes) is very practical, and I would especially recommend it for those who like straightforward recipes without a lot of fussing and ingredient lists until 20 items. This cookbook is a real Italian cookbook

Vero !!!

Festive Aubergines

• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 2 eggplants , Finley sliced and peeled
• 4 tomatoes
• 1 x 150g ball mozzarella , drained
• Basil ,handful leaves
• 2 garlic cloves minced
• Parsley
• Parmesan cheese (chopped to sprinkle on top)
• Salt

Heat oven to 180C/. Drizzle the oil over the aubergine and salted

Cut mozzarella and tomatoes in slices

In a food processor put basil, garlic, parsley and a tread of olive oil and salt. Process for 6 seconds-

Arrange aubergine tomatoes and mozzarella in a baked pan. Sprinkle with previous mix and Parmesan cheese

Bake in the oven for 25 min until softened and the cheese melted.

Mushroom risotto

The last day that I had my kitchen working, was last Sunday. In this morning I woke up thinking in cook something good and I has craving for risotto. Unfortunately my husband woke up sick (we went to dine out in a Japanese restaurant with friends and he ate a lot, so…. He gains a stomach ache) but it makes no difference to me and I don’t give up in my craving. I served to him chicken broth. So I made risotto for one

Making a good risotto is rather like riding a bicycle: It takes a little bit of practice to begin with, and a certain amount of concentration thereafter. Risotto are also very sensitive to timing, and this is why what is served in a restaurant (no matter how good it is) will rarely display that rich texture and just-right doneness that a good home-made risotto will.

When buying rice to make a risotto, choose either round or semi-round rice; for me the best rice for making risotto is Arborio, but you may use vialone nano or Carnaroli as well. Long grained rice such as Patna won't do, because the grains will stay separate, and has a little starch. Almost all risotto is made following the same basic procedure, with minor variations:

Begin by mincing a small volume of onion and whatever other herbs the recipe calls for. Sauté the mixture in abundant olive oil, then stir in the rice and sauté it too for a few minutes, stirring vigorously to keep it from sticking. When the rice turns translucent stir in a ladle of simmering broth; stir in the next before all the liquid is absorbed, because if the grains get too dry they will flake.

Continue cooking, stirring and adding broth as the rice absorbs it, until the rice barely reaches the al dente stage (if you want your risotto firm, time your additions of broth so that the rice will finish absorbing the broth when it reaches this stage; if you want it softer, time the additions so there will still be some liquid left).

At this point stir in a tablespoon of butter and the grated cheese (if the recipe calls for it), cover the risotto, and turn off the flame. Let it sit, covered, for two to three minutes, and serve. Sprinkle with ground black pepper

Mushrooms Risotto

· 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

· 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided

· 5 cups chicken (or mushroom) broth

· 1 medium-sized onion, chopped

· 1 clove garlic, minced

· 2 cups short-grain Italian rice, such as Arborio or Carnaroli

· ½ cup dry white wine

· 350g about (12 ounces) white mushrooms, cleaned and sliced

· 1/3 cup Grana Padano, grated

· salt and freshly ground pepper

Heat the olive oil and 1 tablespoon of the butter in a heavy-bottomed pot over medium to light heat. Meanwhile in a saucepan, bring the broth to a simmer. Add the onion to the butter/oil mixture, and sauté until just translucent. Add the garlic and sauté for 2 to 3 more minutes. Pour in the rice, stirring for about 2 minutes. Add the wine, and stir until it is absorbed. Then add 1/2 cup of the warmed broth and the mushrooms, and stir until the broth is absorbed by the rice. Add another 1/2 to 3/4 cup broth, stirring until it is absorbed. Continue in this manner until the rice is al dente (you may not need all of the broth.)When the rice is cooked, add the remaining butter, and cheese. Stir to incorporate and season with salt and pepper

Taste of sea, ravioli al nero di seppia

This Sunday it was commemorated, here, in Argentina, the mother’s day. I was habituated to commemorate it in the second Sunday of May. I think that in most of the countries that I know it commemorates in May. I don’t know why here it is in this date. But if you are in Rome do as the Romans.-So, I calls my mother-in-law and I invited her to took the lunch here with us. As you know my mother is far, living in Brazil -My mother in law is a wonderful person and I really like her .So, she didn't deserve cook in such special day for her. I love to cook and hostess, make something good and that she like is no a big deal for I pick up the phone and ask her what she think about come to lunch here this year.She loves the idea I quickly started to plan the menu for the day.

Thislast week was little regretful. With the summer coming soon, I have been missing the sea. The city that I live was a few kilometers of the sea and I always spent the most of my vacations in São Sebastião, north cost of Sao Paulo and many times in the hot days after the university class I went to Guarujá. We (my friends and I) take a sea bath, buy ice creams and we returned at home at the same afternoon. Guarujá is only 80 kilometers of São Paulo. Nostalgic that made me made for the mother’s day these raviolis that approached me of the salted smell of the sea.

Raviolis al Nero di séppia filled with smoked salmon

For the dough

200G of wheat flour

2 eggs Yolks

Tread olive oil

Pinch of salt

4 G squid ink

Method

Mix well and knead all ingredients. Wrap toward inside a paper film and rest approximately during 20 minutes with the purpose get elasticity

For the fill

100G smoked salmon

Two Shallots

3 tablespoon cream cheese

A pinch of salt and pepper

Everything to be processed together until get a paste and be filled

For the sauce

1 Teaspoon butter

2 shallots cute in smal cubes

400 G crème or crème fraicher (I used 0 % fat)

2 Egg yolks

4 sticks kani

Parsley

A pinch of salt and pepper

Put the butter in a sauce pan and melt, put the puncture shallots and

sauté until be transparent, add the cream and to hold to boil. Retire of the heat and add the yolks. Put the Kani sticks and to be taken minute to low fire. Retire of the heat, add salt and pepper, leave and put parsley.

Cream sage fetuccini

Cream sage Fetuccini

After making the pasta with sweet pepper I wondering what kind of sauce could combine with it. I think almost all, but, like I wanted to feel the flavor of the pasta I chose this smooth velvet sauce. Easy to make and that it always makes a hit

250Ml fresh butter cream or in can with low fat

2 tablespoons white wine

25 G chopped leaves sage

Pepper milled into the moment

Salt

Take to boil the fresh butter milk, if it is not fresh hardly to heat and it doesn't allow boiling, because it would cut it, add the wine and the chopped sage. Wait that it takes body and sprinkles with milled pepper and correct the salt at once .

Serve at the same moment

Sweet pepper Fettuccine

I find out the easy thing that is make fresh pasta. Few are the times in that I go to the Pasta factory to buy them. Thinking in pasta with ink squids, I thought that serious amusing and it would leave the usual thing if I put in them some flavors. And I solved to start making them with sweet red pepper, but also can be made with sweet yellow or green pepper. The result is a pasta with a beautiful color and very tasty

500G flour

A sweet red pepper more or less 150g

2 small Eggs

A pinch of salt

Retire the skin of the pepper. I retire the skin baking them or burning the skin in one of the burners of the kitchen, clean the seeds and process it with a thread of olive oil. Put in blender’s bowl, the flour in crown .In the center put the eggs the processed pepper and the salt. I use the accessory hook, and I beat until it forms a homogeneous dough. I allow resting some minutes. Stretch and cut in tapes, I separate them, so that they don't stick, and I sprinkle some flour on, them wait dry off a little before cooking them. .