Typical Italian Food - Sarde a Beccafico

by: Amanda

If you like fresh sardines you will love this recipe. It is super simple and very delicious a true Sicilian dish.

What you will need:

1 lb fresh sardines or anchovies

1/2 cup bread crumbs

4 anchovy fillets (optional for a less salty version)

zest and juice of one lemon

1 tsp sugar

chopped parsley

3 tbs raisins (soak them in warm water for 10-15 minutes)

3 tbs pine nuts

bay leaves cut in half to use in-between each sardine

salt and pepper to taste

EVOO

Preheat oven to 375°F 

Clean the sardines removing the head, bones, and guts. Place on a plate until ready to stuff.

In a frying pan add a tbs of EVOO warm up then add anchovies, the bread crumbs and cook until fragrant. Turn off the heat, then add lemon juice, zest, sugar, parsley, raisins, pine nuts and salt and pepper. Stir around a bit, if the stuffing is too dry you can add a touch of water or white wine until it is moist and the ingredients stick together. Think of a meatless meatball consistency. 

Take an oven dish pan and coat the bottom with EVOO. 

Once the filling is ready, take your sardine add one tablespoon of filling to the center and roll like a cannelloni. Add you're filled sardine to the pan and place a half of bayleaf on its side to separate from the next sardine. Do this until the pan is full and you have finished your sardines. 

Then pop them in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes and serve. You can drizzle some EVOO on top for an extra finish. 

Buon Appetito!

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Amanda's Bolognese, trust me its the BEST!

by: Amanda

After my first time making this Bolognese for my Italian husband Gianni, it is now my duty to always make the Bolognese for the Italians. This could be the biggest compliment ever!!

My one little secrete is to make sure you have the whole day, no rushing on this recipe, you want the flavors to slowly come together. And, trust me everyone will appreciate it. A little PRO tip, I always make way more than I need for that dish so I can freeze the rest and use later.

Ingredients:

3 tbs. EVOO (extra-virgin olive oil)

6-8 garlic cloves

3/4 cup pancetta coarsely chopped

1 cup soffritto (EVOO, onion, carrot, celery)

1/4 cup double or triple concentrated tomato paste

1 1/2 pounds ground beef (make sure it has got some fat)

1/2 pound ground pork

salt | pepper | nutmeg to taste

half a bottle white wine or white vermouth or whatever you think is best

3 cups stock veg or chicken is perfect

1 cup milk whole milk

First step | Soffritto

If you have one at home the Le Creuset pans are perfect for slow cooking your soffritto in.

A good dose of EVOO a little less than one cup to coat the bottom of the pan. Then add to the oil while cold 1 2 cup finely chopped white onion, 1 cup finely chopped carrots, 1 cup finely chopped celery. Turn on the heat to medium and cook stirring often for about 3 hours. Until the soffritto is a deep brown color and the vegetables are almost melted.

Life after Soffritto

Once you have finished your soffritto place in a bowl and set to the side for later use. With the Creuset already seasoned from the soffritto, take and add the pancetta and chopped garlic to the pan. Cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes, stirring constantly so you don’t burn the garlic. Then take the soffritto and add it to the pan. Cook for about 1 more minute. Move the vegetables to one side of the pan and on the cleaned part add the tomato paste. Stirr around the paste for about 1 minute so all of it can caramel slightly. Then add your meats, season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg and stir around a bit. Cook the meats for about 10 minutes until the juices evaporate a bit. Then add the wine, increase the heat and cook for about 10 minutes, until almost dry. After add the stock, bring to a simmer, reduce the heat and let cook slowly for another 2 hours. Give it a stir every once in a while (good excuse to taste). When you feel ready after the 2 hours it is time to add some milk. I like to put in one cup, but I go by the color of the sauce. Continuing to cook for another 30 minutes on low heat stirring quite frequently.

From there your Bolognese is ready. You can enjoy it on your favorite pasta or even Tajarin, or you can make pasta al forno (lasagna).

recipe adapted from Mozza cookbook

Typical Italian food: Ricotta Gnocchi with Nettles

Nettles and Ricotta Gnocchi

If you cannot find Nettles you can use spinach

500 grams / 17.6 ounces Nettles

50 grams / 1.7 ounces Ricotta

1 cup of flour

1 onion

¼ cup butter

1 egg

parmesan 

sage

salt/pepper

nutmeg

From the Nettles take just the leaves, wash and make sure to use gloves because they do pinch.

Then blanch for a few minutes in boiling water, then remove from the water and squeeze the remaining liquid from the Nettles.  Finely chop the nettles. 

Place the butter in a pan with one chopped onion.  Sauté the onions for one minute then add the nettles to the pan.  After a couple of minutes place in a bowl and add the flour, ricotta, and parmesan cheese with the egg, salt, and nutmeg.  Let this mixture rest for a half and hour and then you are ready to make the gnocchi by hand.

Once you have shaped your gnocchi place in a pan of boiling water and cook until they float to the top of the pan.

For the Sauce

1/3 cup unsalted mountain butter

10 fresh sage leaves

Place butter in a large sauté pan and melt, then add the sage and cook for 1 minute just enough to get the scent of the sage in the butter.

Once the gnocchi has been cooked then add to the butter sage sauce and sauté for a few minutes adding some of the pasta water to the butter sage sauce. 

Serve immediately and season with parmesan.