Bread with Speck

An Italian bread particulary tasty and appetizing is bread with cubes of speck. Speck is an italian specility of Bolzano, in Alto Adige. It is a kind of italian ham obtained from pork smoked and seasoned. This morning I opened my fridge and I saw speck so I decide to prepare bread with speck and this is the recipe that I follow.

INGREDIENTS (for 1 Kg of Bread)

1Kg of Flour

1 Teaspooon of Sugar

3 Teaspoons of Salt

3-4 Spoons of Extra virgin olive oil

400 ml of Water

40 g of Yeast

100 g of Speck

PREPARATION TIME: 4 hours

COOKING TIME: 30-40 minutes

PREPARATION

Cut the speck into cubes.

In a bowl combine the flour, the sugar, the salt and the extra virgin olive oil.

Then add the water and the yeast and knead vigorously until you obtain a solid dough.

Open the dough and whip in the speck.

When the dough is ready, make a cross over the surface, and prove it for about 3-4 hours.

Preheat the oven to 180°C. When the leaving is finished put the dough in the oven and cook fo about 30-40 minutes. This is the result:

BUON APPETITO!

Asparagus

Two days ago was the birthday of my Grandmother and she prepared for my family a delicious lunch using seasonal vegetables like the asparagus and green beans.  She prepared a wonderful first course of pappardelle with pesto, asparagus and prawn and a delicious second course of tender veal meat with spinach and green beans. This wonderful lunch remember me that asparagus are the vegetables of this season: spring!!!! Asparagus are vegetables typical of spring time, from March to May. They are one of my favorite vegetables that I like to use to prepare delicious Italian recipes.

The easiest recipe to prepare with asparagus is Milanese asparagus

that is an Italian second course delicious and very fast to prepare, you will need only 20 minutes, some asparagus and eggs, and the result will be great. Asparagus are also tasty to eat simply boiled with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and Parmesan flakes on the top.

But asparagus are ideal ingredients also for the preparation of first course like lasagna with asparagus,

risotto with white asparagus or Fusilliwith asparagus and squaquerone cheese

and delicious appetizer like asparagus covered with speck or bacon.Asparagus grow in open field or in greenhouse especially in Lombardia, Piedmont, Liguria, Veneto, Emilia-Romagna, Toscana, Lazio and Campania. There are different types of asparagus, like the white asparagus of Bassano del Grappa in Veneto; the green asparagus of Altedo and the violet asparagus of Alberga. Asparagus are easy breakable vegetables, but I think they are easy to prepare. Usually they are sold in brunch and when you are buying them the most important thing to consider is to check the buds and the stalks: the buds should be hard, entire and straight, and the stalks should be soft and less woody. Asparagus need very short time of cooking: they should be cooked in brunch in a high pot; you should place the brunch of asparagus in vertical position in the high pot and add water without covering the buds of the asparagus that will cook with steam.

Otherwise if you use them in pieces you don’t need to boil them but you will cook them directly in the sauce you are going to prepare.   

Piattoni Beans with Tomatoes Puree

Piattoni beans are particular type of green beans with a flat shape. Piattoni beans are typically prepared with fresh tomatoes or tomatoes puree and onion. Here I show you an easy and fast delicious recipe to prepare piattoni beans as a side dish or as an appetizer. You can use this recipe also for the preparation of a first course with pasta.

INGREDIENTS (for 4 people):

500 g of Piattoni beans (Flat green beans)

1 Onion

100g of Tomatoes puree

4 Tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

Salt

PREPARATION TIME: 15 minutes

COOKING TIME: 20-30 minutes

WINE: Pinot Grigio (White Wine)

PREPARATION

Wash and clean the piattoni beans,

cut them in pieces. Preheat the extra virgin olive oil in a large pan, cut the onion in slices and add them to the pan. 

Let the onion sauté for few minutes.  Add the piattoni beans and the tomatoes puree, sprinkle with salt and let them cook for few minutes. 

Add 2 glass of water and let the piattoni beans cook for about 20 -30 minutes. 

Serve hot.

BUON APPETITO!