Italian Food Recipes

In this delicious Italian dish I combine the bitter taste of Radicchio of Chioggia with the sweet taste of pear. This Italian recipe is ideal if you want to prepare a tasty and light first course in few times and in a simple way. If you want to obtain a good result you should prepare broth with fresh vegetables in particular carrot, celery, onion and potato. Then use fresh Radicchio of Chioggia and pear type Abate that is particularly juicy and sweet, and it produces a sort of caramel when you sauté it with some butter. In the end to finish the preparation of the dish sprinkle with some good Parmesan that join the taste of pear and Radicchio.

INGREDIENTS (for 4 people):
320 g of Rice
250 g of Radicchio
1 Pear
3 Tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
40 g of Butter
20 g of Parmesan
1 / 4 of Onion chopped
1 / 2 Glass of White wine
500 ml of water
1 / 2 of Onion cut in big pieces for broth
1 Carrot cut in big pieces for broth
1 Celery cut in big pieces for broth
1 Potato cut in big pieces for broth
Salt

PREPARATION TIME: 30 minutes

COOKING TIME: 30 minutes

WINE: Nebbiolo d’Alba (Red Wine)

PREPARATION
Start with preparing the broth: place in a pan the water, big pieces of onion, celery, carrot, potato and salt and let the water boil until the vegetable are cooked.

Then begin to prepare the risotto. Clean radicchio

and cut it in thin stripes. Place in a pan the extra virgin olive oil, the butter and the chopped onion and let it golden

then add radicchio and let it cook for about 5 minutes until it wilts.

Now add the rice and make it roast for some minute, add the wine and let it evaporate.

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

In the meantime prepare the pear, peel and cut it in cubes, place the cubes of pear in a pan with 20 g of butter and let it golden for about 3 – 5 minutes.

When the rice is ready add the pear and the Parmesan and mix all together.

At the end of the cooking the rice must be slightly firm to the teeth. Serve hot. This is the result:

BUON APPETITO!

The apple quince is a fruit that ripens in the period from October to November, it is an apple with a strange shape: it looks like a pear and apple, and it is lumpy. Its consistency is too much hard and its taste is too much sharp to eat it raw. Despite these characteristics this type of apple is a good ingredient to realize delicious Italian dessert. Here I describe the Italian recipe of apple quince jam, this recipe is easy to prepare, it takes only 1 hour and you need only sugar and apples. You can use this jam spread on a slice of bread for Italian breakfast or to prepare a delicious tart. The apples quinces are ideal to prepare this type of jam that is also called “cotognata” (from cotogna that is the same of quince) or also for the preparation of mustard that is typical of Cremona.

INGREDIENTS:
1 Kg of Apple quince
750 g of Sugar

TOOLS:
Mash potato or grinder
3 Jars with hermetic closing

PREPARATION TIME: 20 minutes

COOKING TIME: 50 minutes

PREPARATION

Clean and peel the apples, cut them in sections, place them in a pan with water and let them boil for about 40 minutes.

In the meantime let the jars boil in order to sterilize them. After 40 minutes drain apples and with the help of a grinder or a potato masher, mash apples in order to obtain a sort of pulp of apples.


Place the pulp in the pan where you cooked the apples and add the sugar.

Mix all together and let it cook for about 10 minutes. The jam is ready when it has a thick consistency.

When the jam is still hot pour it in the jars and close them.
This is the result:


BUON APPETITO!

In a little bit it is Christmas and it is necessary to think about the Christmas Eve menu and the Christmas menu. In my family the Christmas Eve menu is traditionally a fish based menu and the Italian recipe presented below should be a delicious appetizer served on the Christmas Eve table. It is a simple recipe to realize, you need only fresh big lobsters and some tomato cherry and moreover it is also a fast dish to prepare ineede you need only 20 minutes: 10 minutes to prepare the skewers, 5 minutes to cook the lobsters and 5 minutes to cook the tomato cherries.

INGREDIENTS (for 4 people):
8 Big Norway lobsters
10 Tomato Cherries
5 Tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
1 / 2 Juice lemon
Salt
Black pepper

PREPARATION TIME: 10 minutes

COOKING TIME: 10 minutes

WINE: Verdicchio di Matelica Doc (White Wine)

PREPARATION
Clean and shell the lobsters,


conserve the claws to flavour the skewers of lobsters. Now spears 4 lobsters in 2 big toothpicks like in the picture presented below. Now place the skewer with the claws in a non-stick pan and let it cook for about 5 minutes or until it becomes brown on both surface.

In the meantime prepare a sauce with extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, salt and black pepper.


Then clean and cut in half the tomato cherries. When the lobsters are cooked remove them from the pan and add the tomato cherry for about 2 – 3 minutes.

Serve hot. This is the result:


BUON APPETITO!

Cuttlefish is an ideal ingredient to prepare delicious Italian recipe such as the second course described below or other Italian dishes like seafood salad that you can serve as appetizer, or Risotto with Ink black and cuttlefishes that you can serve as first course. To prepare stuffed cuttlefish, presented below, you need a big cuttlefish with tender pulp (for this reason cuttlefish should be fresh) of 500 g or 2 - 3 small cuttlefishes for each people, instead for the stuffing you need only some breadcrumbs or 1 – 2 stale bread roll to grate, parsley, garlic and extra virgin olive oil. This is an easy recipe to realize that need about 1 hour and 30 minutes to cook in order to obtain a delicious Italian second course.

INGREDIENTS (for 4 people):
1 Cuttlefish of 500 g already clean
150 g of Breadcrumbs
4 Tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil for the stuffing
3 Tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil for the pan
30 g Parsley chopped
1 Clove of garlic chopped
Salt
Black pepper

PREPARATION TIME: 20 minutes

COOKING TIME: 1 hour and 30 minutes

WINE: Vermentino di Gallura (White Wine)

PREPARATION
Clean the cuttlefish, cut from it a part of the tentacles that you will use for the stuffing.

Start preparing the stuffing: cut the tentacles in small pieces, place them in a bowl with breadcrumbs, parsley, garlic, salt, black pepper and extra virgin olive oil,

and mix all together in order to obtain an homogeneous mixture.

Now use the stuffing to fill the cuttlefish, if necessary close the cuttlefish with a thread and when it is filled preheat the extra virgin olive oil in a pan and let the cuttlefish brown for about 5 minutes.

Sprinkle over it some parsley and then add water and cook with a lid.

Pay attention that water doesn’t reduce and add other water from time to time when necessary. Continue to cook for about 1 hour.
Serve hot accompanied with some cherry tomatoes or with some zucchini, as you prefer.
This is the result:


BUON APPETITO!

Cassoeula is a traditional Italian recipe prepared in the winter period in Lombardia. It is traditionally prepared in the first day of November and in particular at my home this recipe is cooked in occasion of the Saint’s day. It is a laborious and high-calorie dish whose recipe changes from town to town. The main Italian ingredients used to prepare it are: Savoy cabbage that might be traditionally used after the first frost, the poor parts of pork such as stare ribs, sausages, rind, feet, ears and head and onion, carrots and celery browned in oil. As I said each town of Lombardia has its own recipe: in Como’s province the feet aren’t used but it is used the head of pork, in Pavia’s province only the stare ribs are used, instead in Novara’s province is used also the meat of goose. In the traditional recipe all ingredients are browned in butter but to make the recipe lighter the butter can be changed with the extra virgin olive oil as I describe in the recipe below in which I use carrots, celery, onion, stare ribs, sausages and rind of pork, with the addition of a tablespoon of tomato sauce. Traditionally Cassoeula is link with the feast of Saint Anthony abbot that is the 17th of January, the last day of the butchering of pork after which the poorer part of the pork are used to savour the Savoy cabbage that is the typical Italian winter ingredient. Cassoeula should be served hot and it is more delicious if accompanied with hot polenta.

INGREDIENTS (for 8 people):
3 Carrots chopped
2 Celery chopped
1 / 2 Onion chopped
4 Tablespoons of Extra virgin olive oil
8 Stare ribs
8 Sausages
8 Pieces of Pork rind
1 Kg of Savoy cabbage
1 or 2 Tablespoons of Tomato sauce

PREPARATION TIME: 20 minutes

COOKING TIME: 2 hours

WINE: Barbera del Monferrato (Red Wine)

PREPARATION
Place the extra virgin olive oil, the carrots, the celery and the onion in a large pan and let them brown for about 5 minutes.

Add the stare ribs and let them brown,

then add the pork rind

and after 5 minutes the sausages,

cook for about 10 minutes and then add the Savoy cabbage.

When the Savoy cabbage wilt add the tomato sauce,

mix all together, sprinkle with some salt and continue to cook for about 1 hour and 30 minutes. The savoy cabbege usually piddle but if neccesary add 1 glass of water.

Serve Casseoeula hot and accompanied it with soma hot Polenta.
This is the result:

BUON APPETITO!

This is a fish – based Italian first course made with shrimps and cream. It is an easy and fast recipe to prepare: you need only pasta, small or bigger shrimps and cream. In this dish I use Fusilli as ideal Italian type of pasta for this recipe but if you prefer you can also use spaghetti or tortiglioni pasta. To cook this delicious dish you have only to cook fusilli and to sauté in a pan shrimps and cream, read this recipe and you’ll understand that it is really easy to prepare.

INGREDIENTS (for 4 people):
320 g of Fusilli (type of Italian pasta)
200 ml of Cream
200 g of Shrimps
1 / 4 of Onion chopped
3 Tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
Salt
Black Pepper

PREPARATION TIME: 15 minutes

COOKIING TIME: 10 minutes

WINE: Lugana (White Wine)

PREPARATION
Let salted water boil for Fusilli. Boil the shrimps for about 5 minutes then drain them.

Preheat extra virgin olive oil in a pan, add the onion and let it golden then add the shrimps and cook them for about 3 minutes.

Now add the cream, some salt and black pepper and let it reduce for about 5 minutes. Pay attention to not reduce it too much.

When fusilli are ready

drain them and pour on in it the shrimps sauce.

Serve hot.
This is the result:

BUON APPETITO!

In this delicious recipe I use two traditional Italian foods as main ingredients, in particular: Radicchio of Chioggia that comes from Veneto and Taleggio cheese that comes from Veneto and Lombardy. Radicchio is a popular Italian vegetable, known as Italian Chicory, that has red leafs with a bitter taste ideal grilled, roasted or for preparation of salad dish and also risotto or crespelle. Instead Taleggio is a soft Italian cheese with a sweet taste ideal for preparation of bruschetta, risotto. Radicchio and Taleggio are traditionally used together for preparation of risotto or crespelle as described in the following recipe. These two Italian ingredients are good when used together because the bitter taste of radicchio is joined with the sweet taste of Taleggio allowing to obtain a spicy first course.

INGREDIENTS (for 4 – 6 people):
2Eggs
100 g of Flour
200 ml of Milk
20 g of Butter
800 g of Radicchio
400 g of Taleggio
30 g of Parmesan
3 Tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
1 / 2 Onion
Salt
FOR BECHAMEL
30 g of Butter
4 Tablespoons of flour
1 L of Milk
Salt
Nutmeg

PREPARATION TIME: 30 minutes

COOKING TIME: 40 minutes

WINE: Nebbiolo d’Alba DOC (Red Wine)

PREPARATION
Start with preparation of the stuffing of crespelle: wash the radicchio,

cut its leafs in stripes and cut the onion in slices. Preheat the extra virgin olive oil in pan, place in it the onion and let them golden

then add the radicchio,

sprinkle with salt and let it wilt for about 5 – 8 minutes.

In this step if you cook the radicchio in a pan with cover is better so it cooks faster and steamed. In the meantime prepare the mixture for crespelle: beat the eggs with the flour, paying attention to not make lumps,


then stirring add the milk in order to obtain a liquid mixture.


Butter a round pan of 16 cm of diameter and heat it.

Then pour in it a ladle of the mixture,

tilting the pan to evenly coat the pan. When the bottom becomes, turn the crespella and cook the second side about 30 seconds. In this way cook also the others crespelle.

Let them cool before to stuff it. Preheat the oven to 200° C. Now prepare the béchamel: melt the butter in a pan,


stirring sprinkle the flour in it in order to obtain a cream without lumps.


Then continuing to stir, add slowly the milk and some nutmeg



and let it cook for about 10 minutes until the béchamel becomes firm.


Finally stuff the crespella: put crespella on a dish, place some radicchio e some pieces of taleggio on it as shown in the picture below

and close the crespella
Now place on the bottom of a baking pan some béchamel and place on it the crespelle.


Cover the crespelle with other béchamel and sprinkle with Parmesan,


bake for about 30 – 40 minutes until the surface becomes golden. Serve hot.
This is the result:

BUON APPETITO!

Pumpkin is a fruit suitable for any type of Italian recipes as you have seen in the recipes that I presented in the previous days. Here I prepare fried pumpkin that is an ideal side dish or can be also a delicious appetizer; I use the Mantua pumpkin cut in thin slices and I accompanied the sweet taste of pumpkin with the spicy taste of rosemary in order to obtain an appetizing recipe. The slices of pumpkin fried should be crunchy, to obtain this result you might pay attention to the quantity of extra virgin olive oil in which the pumpkin is fried: don’t cover completely the slices of pumpkin otherwise they’ll become too soft.

INGREDIENTS (for 4 – 6 people):
500 g of Pumpkin
Extra virgin olive oil to fry
2 Cloves of Garlic
Rosemary
Salt
Black pepper

PREPARATION TIME: 15 minutes

COOKING TIME: 20 minutes

WINE: Alto Adige Traminer aromatico Doc (White Wine)

PREPARATION
Clean, peel and cut in thin slices the pumpkin.


Preheat the extra virgin olive oil in a pan, place in it the garlic and let them golden,

then remove it and place in the oil the slices of pumpkin with the rosemary. Sprinkle the pumpkin with salt and pepper and let them fry, this takes few minutes because the pumpkin has a tender pulp.

When the pumpkin is ready place the slices over a sheet of kitchen paper in order to remove the excess of oil. You can serve them hot or cold.
This is the result:


BUON APPETITO!

Here another good Italian recipes made with pumpkin: risotto with pumpkin. This dish is another traditional recipe of Lombardia easy and fast to prepare, you need only rice and a good pumpkin: the better type to use is the type of Mantua with pulp and rind orange and a sweet taste. In this recipe it isn’t necessary to cook pumpkin separately because its pulp is so tender that the cooking time of risotto is enough. If you like a mellow flavor you can prepare this risotto simply with pumpkin but if you like a spicy taste you can season the dish with the addition of rosemary and some Parmesan sprinkled on.

INGREDIENTS (for 4 people):
320 g of Rice
500 g of Pumpkin
3 Tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
20 g of Butter
1 / 4 of Onion chopped
1 / 2 Glass of White wine
FOR BROTH:
500 ml of water
1 / 2 of Onion cut in big pieces
1 Carrot cut in big pieces
1 Celery cut in big pieces
1 Potato cut in big pieces
Salt

PREPARATION TIME: 30 minutes

COOKING TIME: 30 minutes

WINE: Colli Morenici Mantovani del Garda bianco Doc (White Wine)

PREPARATION
Start with preparing the broth: place in pan the water, the big pieces of onion, celery, carrot, potato and salt and let the water boil.

When the water boil begin to prepare the risotto. Clean, peel and cut the pumpkin in small cubes.

Place in a pan the extra virgin olive oil, the butter and the chopped onion and let it golden

then add the pieces of pumpkin and cook for about 5 – 8 minutes.

Now add the rice and make it roast for some minute, add the wine and let it evaporate.

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

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

BUON APPETITO!

This Italian recipe is a traditional dish of the autumnal period in Lombardy; it is made with veal meat in an only piece and red wine. The better piece of veal to use for this recipe is called “Cappello del Prete”, this piece is obtain from the shoulder of the veal, it has a long shape and it is a lean meat ideal for roast, boiled and brasato; therefore the better Italian wine is a red wine of good acidity like the Barbera d’Oltrepò or Dolcetto d’Ovada. It is an easy recipe to prepare but it needs two day of preparation in particular one night during which the veal meat is soaked in the red wine and the following morning for the cooking. The cooking should be slow and on a low flame so the meat absorb slowly the red wine and its taste. This dish can be served alone or better if it is accompanied with Polena and the better one is the Polenta of Bergamo.

INGREDIENTS (for 6 – 8 people):
1 kg of Veal meat (a only piece) the better piece is called “ Cappello del prete”
1 Carrot chopped
1 Celery chopped
1 / 2 Onion chopped
Oregano
4 – 5 Leafs of sage
3 – 4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
300 – 350 ml of Red Wine
Salt

PREPARATION TIME: 24 hour of soaking

COOKING TIME: 2 hours

WINE: Barbera d'Oltrepo' (Red Wine)

PREPARATION
Place the meat "Cappello del prete" in a large pan with the chopped carrot, celery, onion, oregano and sage, pour on them the red wine and let them soak over night.


The following morning remove all the ingredients from the pan and place them in a bowl, in the same pan preheat the extra virgin olive oil place in it the veal meat and let it brown.


Then add the wine with the chopped vegetables, sprinkle with salt and let cook for about 2 hours slowly and on a low flame.

During the cooking control that the wine doesn’t reduce too much and if necessary add some water in order to obtain at the end of the cooking a sauce. When the meat is ready cut it in slices, then place the sauce with the vegetables in a mixer and mix them in order to obtain a sort of cream.


Now prepare the dish, place on it two or three slices of meat and pour on them the cream and some leafs of sage. The brasato can be served alone


or with some polenta, with it the dish becomes complete and delicious.
This is the result:


BUON APPETITO!