Italian Food Recipes

This is a delicious Italian recipe: cacao biscuits made of macaroons and cacao. This recipe is very simple and easy to realize in order to obtain biscuits ideal for a good Italian breakfast, in particular they are perfect dipped in a cup of milk. Italian breakfast is completely different from breakfast of the other country; indeed typical ingredients of Italian breakfast are milk with coffee, biscuits, assorted jams, bread rolls, brioches and cornetti with or without filling of cream or jam.








INGREDIENTS (for 6 people)
250 g of Flour
120 g of Sugar
80 g of Butter
40 g of Cacao
1 Egg
30 ml of Milk
8 g of Baking powder
5-6 Crumbled macaroons

PREPARATION TIME: 15 minutes

COOKING TIME: 10 – 15 minutes

PREPARATION
Preheat the oven to 150°C. In a bowl place the sugar and the butter, mix them until you obtain a kind of cream.

Now add the egg, the crumbled macaroons, the cacao and the milk and mix all together.


At the end add the flour and the backing powder and mix in order to obtain soft dough.


On a floured board with the help of a rolling pin roll out the dough 1 cm thick and cut biscuits as shown in the figure below.

Place the biscuits on a baking pan and bake for 10 – 12 minutes.


This the result:


BUON APPETITO!

The apples are fruits diffuse in Italy that you can use to cook many Italian recipes. There are different kinds of apple: rennet, fuji, royal gala, annurca, stark, granny smith and golden. Each kind of apple has particular characteristics. For example the apples that I use in this recipe are the apples stark. These apples have a red peel, a floury and sweet pulp and they are ideal to prepare this delicious tart!








INGREDIENTS (for 8 people)

250 of Flour
120 g of Sugar
1 or 2 Eggs
80 g of Butter at room temperature
2 or 3 Apples
5-6 Macaroons
1 Lemon

PREPARATION TIME: 15 minutes

COOKING TIME: 30 minutes

WINE: Albana di Romagna Passito (White Wine)

PREPARATION
Preheat the oven to 180° C. Place the flour as a fountain on a table, add the sugar and mix them.

Then in the centre of the mixture add the egg and the pieces of butter


and knead until you obtain solid dough. Let the dough stand for 10 minutes;


in the meantime peel the apples


and cut them into thin slices, place them in a dish with the juice of lemon and 1 tablespoon of sugar and let them soak for 10 minutes.

Dampen a sheet of baking paper and put it on the table; place on it the dough and with the help of a rolling pin roll out it 1cm thick.


Now move it on the bottom of a cake tin of 24-cm diameter and 4-cm thick. Sprinkle on the surface of the dough the macaroons crumbled

and arrange the slices of apple over it as shown in the picture below.

Cover all the dough with the apples and bake for 30 minutes until the surface of the apples becomes golden.
This is the result:

BUON APPETITO!

Eggplants are vegetables typical of Sicily that you can use to prepare different Italian recipes, Eggplant Parmesan is one of these that you can cook in many way. The following recipe is made with sauce, Parmesan and mozzarella. The use of mozzarella to cook Eggplant Parmesan is typical of Campania, a region in the southern part of Italy; instead in Emilia Romagna Eggplant Parmesan is prepared only with sauce and Parmesan. Furthermore in this recipe the slices of eggplant are fried but if you prefer you can also roasted them and then continue like it is explained here. This is a simple and good second course, believe me!








INGREDIENTS (for 6 people)
5 Eggplants
600 g of Tomato puree
5 Leafs of basil
1 / 2 of Onion
200 g of Flour
3 Eggs
200 g of Parmesan
Salt
Pepper
3 Tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil for the sauce
Extra virgin olive oil to fry
300 g of Mozzarella cut into slices

PREPARATION TIME: 1 hours

COOKING TIME: 40 – 50 minutes

WINE: Alcamo DOC (White Wine)

PREPARATION
Wash and dry the eggplants, peel them and cut into slices 1 cm thick lengthwise. Sprinkle the slices of eggplants with salt and place them in a dish to drain for about 30 minutes.

In the meantime you can start to prepare the sauce: in a pan heat 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, add the chopped onion and let it brown. Then add the tomato puree, the leafs of basil, some salt and pepper and let simmer for about 30 – 35 minutes.

Squeeze the slices of eggplants and flour them.

In a dish prepare the beaten eggs with the Parmesan, the salt and the pepper and dip each side of the slices of eggplants in it.

Heat extra virgin olive oil in a pan and fry the eggplants until they golden brown on the both sides, then drain on a kitchen paper.

In a baking pan spread some sauce in the bottom, then make a layer with the fried eggplants, another with the slices of mozzarella, sprinkle with the Parmesan and cover with the sauce. Continue in this way until the baking pan is full. When the baking pan is full sprinkle with Parmesan.

Preheat the oven to 180 – 200 °C and bake for about 30 – 40 minutes or until the surface of the eggplants become golden.
This is the result:

BUON APPETITO!

INGREDIENTS (for 1 Kg of Loafs)
1 Kg of Flour
1 Teaspooon of Sugar
3 Teaspoons of Salt
3 Tablespoons of Extra virgin olive oil
3 Tablespoons of lard (Strutto)
400 ml of Warm water
50 g of Yeast

PREPARATION TIME: 4 hours

COOKING TIME: 30 - 40 minutes

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


Then melt the yeast in the warm water and add it in the mixture.


Knead vigorously until you obtain solid dough for about 10 minutes.
When the dough is ready prove it for about 2 hours or until the dough doubles covering it with a damp cloth.

Then re-knead the dough and divide it in 3 – 4 pieces as you want. Give to each piece the form of a loaf and prove them for about 1 – 2 hours or until loafs double.


Preheat the oven to 180°C. When the leaving is finished put the loafs in the oven togheter with a bowl full of water in order to mantain humidity and cook for about 30-40 minutes.


This is the result:

BUON APPETITO!

This risotto is a typical Italian recipe of the winter period. It is made of Taleggio and Radicchio. Taleggio is an Italian kind of soft fatty cheese typical of Lombardia in particular of Bergamo, Brescia, Como, Cremona, Lodi, Milan, Pavia, Treviso and Novara. Radicchio is a red intense kind of salad typical of the geographic area between Treviso and Venezia. With this recipe I'll show you how to prepare a simple and delicious main course with this two ingredients!


INGREDIENTS (for 4 people)
320 g of Rice
2 Vegetable stocks-cube
1/2 of Onion
150 g of Taleggio
200 g of Radicchio
1 Glass of Red wine
3-4 Tablespoons of Extra virgin olive oil
10 g of Butter

PREPARATION TIME: 10 minutes

COOKING TIME: 20 minutes

WINE: Oltrepò Pavese Pinot Nero (Red Wine)

PREPARATION
Prepare broth with water and 2 stocks-cube vegetable in a pot.
Take the skin of 1/2 onion off and chop it. Heat the extra virgin olive oil with the butter in a pan, then put in it the onion and let it brown.

In the meantime clean, wash and dry the radicchio and cut it into pieces. Then add the radicchio in the pan and wait until it wilts.

Now add the rice and make it roast. Then add the wine and let it evaporate.

Start to add 1 ladle of hot broth and stir until it is absorbed, continue in this way, adding ladles of hot broth, for about 15-18 minutes.

When the rice is ready add the pieces of taleggio and stir in order to melt them.

At the end of the cooking the rice must be slightly firm to the teeth.
Serve hot and if you desire you can sprinkle with some parmesan.
This is the result:

BUON APPETITO!

Cotoletta alla Milanese is a famous Italian recipe from Milan and it is perfect if you serve it after Risotto alla Milanese first course. It is made of a veal coutlet covered with breadcrumbs that you can serve with vegetables like broccoli, green beans, fried potatoes or spinach. According to the tradition veal cutlet is fried in butter or in a mixture of butter and oil, but if you want a lighter main course you can fry veal coutlet in extra virgin olive oil.



INGREDIENTS: (for 4 peolpe)
4 Veal Cutlets
2 Eggs
200 g of Breadcrumbs
Salt
Pepper
Extra virgin olive oil

PREPARATION TIME: 10 minutes

COOKING TIME: 20 minutes

WINE: Dolcetto d’Alba (Red Wine)

PREPARATION
In a dish prepare beaten eggs with some salt and pepper. Then pound the veal cutlets with a meat mallet or a rolling pin.

Dip each side of the cutlets in the beaten eggs

then breadcrumbs to coat completely.

Prehaet extra virgin olive oil in a pan and fry the cutlets until they golden brown on the both sides.

Drain on kitchen paper.
Serve hot with some broccoli. In addition you can add some drops of lemon to obtain a fresher taste.
This is the result:

BUON APPETITO!

This is a typical Italian recipe that is prepared in autumn. This recipe explain the preparation of fritters made of chestnuts flour, but you can also use fresh chestnuts. In this case you must boil and sieve the chestnuts to obtain a puree. You can make variations adding to this simple Italian recipe some raisins, some chopped almonds or some chopped walnuts. You can serve them simply with icing sugar for a delicious dessert or as a snack, or with thin slices of lard for an unusual appetizer.









INGREDIENTS (for 4 - 6 people)
250 g of Flour of Chestnuts
1 Tablespoon of Sugar
1 Egg
100 ml of Milk
Extra virgin olive oil
Icing sugar
A pinch of salt

PREPARATION TIME: 10 minutes

COOKING TIME: 15 minutes

WINE: Dolcetto D'alba (Red wine)

PREPARATION
In a bowl put the flour of chestnuts, the sugar, the salt and the egg

and start to mix. Then add the milk

and continue to stir until until you obtain an homogeneous soft dough.

Preheat abundant extra virgin olive oil in a large pan. When the oil is hot make spoonfuls of the dough and put them into the oil

and cook until the surface of the fritters become golden. Then dry them with a napkin, let them cool and place them on a platter. Sprinkle with icing sugar as you like. This is the result:

BUON APPETITO!

Orecchiette are typical Italian pasta, ideal for many Italian recipes. They are the symbol of Puglia, where they are strictly kneaded by hand. Orecchiette are round and concave, and this shape is perfect to pick up the sauce. The typical Apulian recipe is orecchiette with turnip tops, but you can prepare many other delicious Italian recipes such as orecchiette with tomatoes or orecchiette with potatoes and rocket. The following recipe shows how to prepare this kind of pasta with your hands: trust me it's simple!









INGREDIENTS (for 4 people)
400 g of Flour of durum wheat
100 ml of Warm water
Salt
500 g of Turnip tops
2-3 Cloves of garlic
1 / 2 Glass of Extra virgin olive oil

PREPARATION TIME: 3 hours

COOKING TIME: 20 minutes

WINE: Rosato di Puglia

PREPARATION
On a surface place the flour as a fountain, sprinkle with salt and add the water in the middle.

Knead for about 10 minutes until you obtain a solid dough and stand it for about 30 minutes.

Then make pieces of the dough and knead them until you obtain loafs thin and longs.

Cut the loafs into small squared pieces. Now take the squared pieces one by one and with the thumb crush them making a sort of diskette; then invert the little shape by turning it inside out. This gives the right shape to the dough. Stand them for 1-2 hours.

Clean the turnip tops and cut off the sticks.


In a large pan heat the extra virgin olive oil, put the clove of garlic and let it brown. Let salted water boil for Orecchiette. When water boil, add the turnip tops,

after 5 minutes add the orecchiette and let them cook until they rise to the surface: this will take from 5 to 10 minutes so taste one of them to make certain that pasta is ready.

Drain the orecchiette and the turnip tops. Now place the orecchiette and the turnip tops in the pan with extra virgin olive oil and garlic and sautè them for 2-3 minutes.

Serve hot.
This is the result:

BUON APPETTITO!

This is an Italian recipe for a typical kind of biscuits, called "Pane dei Morti", traditional from Lombardia . It is prepared for the 2nd of November in every region of Italy so you can find different recipes for the same kind of sweet. The following recipe is made with dried biscuits, macaroons, dried figs, raisins, almonds and cocoa. If you want you can use only dried biscuits without macarrons and you can also add candied fruit, like orange or lemon, and honey. They stay sweet and good also 2 or 3 days after their preparation.









INGREDIENTS
300 g of Dried Biscuits
200 g of Macaroons
300 g of Sugar
250 g of Flour
75 g of Cocoa
100g of Raisin
100g of Dried Figs
100 g of Almonds
4 Egg Whites
15 g of Yeast for sweets
1 / 2 Teaspoons of Cinnamon
4-5 Tablespoons of White Wine
Icing Sugar

PREPARATION TIME: 40 minutes

COOKING TIME: 30 minutes

WINE: Chardonnay (White Wine)

PREPARATION
Let raisins soften for about 15 minutes. Chop the almonds, crumble the biscuits and the macaroons and mix them in a bowl together with the flour.

Then mince the dried figs and the raisins, add them to biscuits togheter with the sugar and blend all.

Now add the cocoa, the yeast, the cinnamon and mix.

Add the egg whites and the wine,

and knead vigorously for about ten minutes until you obtain a soft dough.
If the dough is too hard add some white wine.

Preheat the oven to 180° C. Divide the dough in pieces with the shape of long and flat biscuits. Cover a pan with a sheet of baking paper and place the biscuits on it.

Put them in the oven and cook for about 30 minutes. If you want you can cook the biscuits for another 10 minutes to make them drier.
This is the result:

BUON APPETTITO!

The monkfish is a strange fish that lives in the Mediterean sea. It has an ugly aspect and it looks like a frog or toad. Not only the aspect of the monkfish is strange, but also its meat. In fact it has a taste and a consistency similar to lobsters and crayfishes. One important characteristic of monkfish is the absence of bones. For this reason is appreciated also by people that don’t love fish and it is perfect for children. In Italy there are different recipes to cook monkfish and the following is one of the simplest.




INGREDIENTS (for 4 people)
1 Potato
400 g of Monkfish
100 g of Flour
3-4 Tablespoons of Extra virgin olive oil
1 Glass of water
1 / 2 of Onion
1 / 2 Glass of White Wine
Parsley
Salt
Pepper

PREPARATION TIME: 15 minutes

COOKING TIME: 30 minutes

WINE: Favorita delle Langhe (White Wine)

PREPARATION
Clean the monkfish, remove the skin and the big bone from the center. Then flour it on the both sides.

Clean the onion, chop and place it in a large pan with the extra virgin olive oil and brown it.

Add the monkfish and let it brown on the both side for 5-10 minutes.

Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Then clean, peel, cut the potato into slices, and add them to the monkfish. Sprinkle again with some salt, pepper and parsley.

Add the white wine and let it evaporate, then add the water and cook for about 20 minutes with cover until the potato is ready. Serve hot.
This is the result:

BUON APPETITO!