Italian Food Recipes

This is a delicious Italian recipe that describes one of the best way to cook fillet of tuna: fillet of tuna needs few time to cook and it is better if it is lightly raw inside in order to maintain the fillet tender; indeed it is sufficient to cook tuna on a pan still hot and to cook each side only for 5 minutes. Here the fillet of tuna fish is completely covered with sesame that gives to the fish a crunchy consistency. Try it!

INGREDIENTS (for 4 people):
4 Fillets of tuna
100 g of Sesam
Salt
Pepper
5 – 6 Tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

PREPARATION TIME: 10 minutes

COOKING TIME: 10 minutes

WINE: Collio Pinot Grigio Doc (White Wine)

PREPARATION
Place some sesame on a platter, put over it the fillet of tuna


and cover each fillet completely as shown in the picture below.

Preheat the extra virgin olive oil in a pan, when it is hot place in the pan the fillet of tuna, cook it for 5 minutes on a side and sprinkle it with salt and pepper

then turn it on the other side and cook for other 5 minute.

This is the result:

BUON APPETITO!

Friciò is a typical Italian recipe that comes from Piemonte. Friciò are fritters traditionally prepared in Piemonte in occasion of Carnival; they are simply prepared with flour, milk, eggs, yeast and sugar with the addition of the sweet raisins. In order to obtain a good result cook the Friciò always in a big quantity of hot but not boiled extra virgin olive oil and place in it, with the help of a teaspoon, a small quantity of the batter for each fritters.

INGREDIENTS (for 6 – 8 people)
250 ml of Milk
350 g of Flour
3 Eggs
50 g of Raisins
50 g of Sugar
A pinch of salt
10 g of Yeast for sweet
1 Grated lemon peel
Icing sugar
Extra virgin olive oil to fry

PREPARATION TIME: 15 minutes

COOKING TIME: 15 minutes

WINE: Malvasia

PREPARATION
Place the raisins in a bowl with water for about 10 minutes,


after this time drain them. In the meantime place the flour, the sugar and the yeast in a bowl and mix all together, then add the milk little by little and stir in order to obtain a batter thick and without lumps.

Add 1 grated lemon peel

and the eggs one by one by stirring;

at the end add the raisins.

Preheat in a pan about 200 ml of extra virgin olive oil, when oil is hot with the help of a teaspoon place in it some batter,

Friciò will blow up and rise to the surface of oil. It is important to cook not many friciò in the same time and always in a big quantity of hot oil. Cook Friciò until they become slightly golden,

then remove them from the oil and place them over a sheet of kitchen paper in order to remove the oil in excess. Then place them in a platter sprinkle with some icing sugar and serve them.
This is the result:


BUON APPETITO!

This is an Italian appetizer prepared with ingredients that have opposite taste: the main ingredient is radicchio of Treviso that is of bitter-tasting, then I add some raisins that to the contrary are sweet such as the almonds and the pine nuts, and then to give to the salad also a spicy taste I add some pistachio. The preparation of this Italian appetizer is simple and fast, only one step is very important: you should place the browned nuts over the radicchio when they are still hot, in this way the different taste blend well. You can serve this salad as an appetizer or also as a side dish of cheese second course.

INGREDIENTS (for 4 – 6 people):
300 g of Radicchio of Treviso known also as Trevisana
25g of Salty pistachio without peel
25 g of Pine nuts
50 g of Raisins
20 g of Almonds without peel
3 Tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

PREPARATION TIME: 15 minutes

COOKING TIME: 5 minutes

WINE: Cabernet Franc delle Venezie (Red Wine)

PREPARATION
Place the raisins in a bowl with some water for about 10 minutes. In the mean time clean radicchio and cut it in thin stripes, preheat the extra virgin olive oil in a pan and place in it the pine nuts, the almonds, the pistachio

and let them slightly brown for about 5 minutes. Drain the raisins, put some radicchio in a bowl,

place over it the nuts still hot,

the raisins and the remainder of radicchio mix all together and serve.

This is the result:


BUON APPETITO!

The main ingredient of this Italian recipe is artichoke; they are fruits typical of the winter period that are light and with a good taste, ideal for the preparation of any type of recipes. Here I show you the simple recipe of an appetizers made with artichokes, capers and black olive. The best type of artichokes to use for the preparation of this recipe are that with spines because they are more tender and they need less time to cook, before use them you should carefully remove the spines and the inner spiny part; in addition to not turn black the artichokes place them in a bowl with water and lemon juice. The preparation of this recipe is simple and fast, takes only 30 minutes to obtain a delicious appetizer but you can serve this recipe also as a good side dish. The others important ingredients use for this recipes are capers, parsley, black olive and breadcrumbs: capers, parsley and black olive give a spicy taste to the artichokes whereas the presence of breadcrumbs allow you to obtain crunchy artichokes.


INGREDINETS (for 4- 6 people):
4 Artichokes
4 Tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
20 g of Capers
20 Black Olive
30 g of Breadcrumbs
40 g of Parsley
1 Clove of garlic
1 Lemon
Salt

PREPARATION TIME: 15 minutes

COOKING TIME: 30 minutes

WINE: Bardolino Doc (Red Wine)

PREPARATION
Clean the artichokes, cut the stems and peel them in order to obtain only the inner and more tender part, remove the hardest external leafs and cut the artichokes in four sections. Place the artichokes in a bowl with water and the lemon juice; this step is necessary to not turn black the artichokes during the preparation.

Preheat the extra virgin olive oil in a pan, place in it the clove of garlic and let it golden, then drain the artichokes and add them to the pan.

Let the artichokes brown for about five minutes then add a glass of water, cover with a lid and continue to cook for about 10 – 15 minutes. In the meantime prepare a chopped of parsley and capers.


After this time add the chopped to the artichokes, sprinkle with some salt and black pepper and let the artichokes flavour for 5 minutes,

then add the black olive and mix all together.

When the artichokes are ready before end the cooking sprinkle them with the breadcrumbs,

cook for about 3 – 4 minutes and then they are ready.
Serve them hot.
This is the result:


BUON APPETITO!

Bollito or veal meat boiled is an Italian recipe easy to prepare but that needs some devices to be delicious. Important is the choice of the meat: it is better if the meat is of veal and in particular the shoulder or the chest of veal; in this recipe I use the piece of veal that in Italy is called “Cappello del Prete” that correspond to the shoulder. Another important thing to do is to place the meat in the water with vegetables when it already boils: in this way the meat doesn’t become dry and maintains its entire good characteristics. From this Italian recipe you obtain a delicious second course but also a good broth that you can use to prepare spicy risotto and ravioli. Bollito is typically served with green sauce but ideal is also the mustard.

INGREDIENTS (for 4 – 6 people):
800g of Cappello del Prete that is meat of veal
1 Carrot
1 Celery
2 Potatoes
1 Onion
Salt

PREPARATION TIME: 10 minutes

COOKING TIME: 2 hours

WINE: Dolcetto d’Alba (Red Wine)

PREPARATION
Clean and peel the carrot, the celery, the potatoes and the onion, place them in a pan with water in which you put also the piece of meat of veal “Cappello del Prete” when the water boils.


Let the meat cook for about 2 hours. While meat cooks pay attention that the potatoes don’t become too soft if it is necessary remove them. When the meat is cooked remove it from the pan,


cut it in slices and serve them hot with the carrot and potatoes or with a delicious green sauce.
This is the result:

BUON APPETITO!

Cappelletti with broth is a typical Italian recipe that comes from Emilia Romagna, they are small squares or circle of pasta stuffed with meat filling. The elements that make this Italian dish so delicious are the preparation of a good stuffing, of good broth and of good dough. The simplest thing to prepare is the dough: you should simply knead together one egg for each 100g of flour; the preparation of dough is easy but a bit difficult if you use a rolling pin instead it results more easy if you have a pasta machine. Simple is also the preparation of the meat stuffing: it is important to use different type of meat, in particular meat of veal, pork, chicken, ham and mortadella that together with eggs and Parmesan allow you to obtain a so good stuffing for yours cappelletti. In the end another important element to have delicious cappelletti is the broth: prepare it with water, carrot, potato, onion, celery and a piece of veal meat called “Cappello del Prete” that is the piece of shoulder of the veal that is lean and with a long shape ideal roasted or boiled. It is better if you prepare the broth the day before so that during the night the fat part can deposit and solidify in the bottom of the pan, so the following day you can remove this part and obtain a more light broth. This Italian recipe is typically prepared the Christmas day in Emilia Romagna but I like to prepare and eat it also during all the year.

INGREDIENTS FOR THE DOUGH (for 12-14 people):
700 g of Flour
7 Eggs
INGREDIENTS FOR THE STUFFING:
250 g of Meat of veal
100 g of Meat of chicken breast
150 g of Meat of pork
1 Sausage
50g of Mortadella
100g of Ham
80 g Parmesan
2 Yolks
1 Egg
Salt
Nutmeg
Extra virgin olive oil
INGREDIENTS FOR BROTH:
1, 5 Kg of Piece of meat of veal called “Cappello del prete”
1 Onion
1 Carrot
1 Celery
1 Potato

PREPARATION TIME: 1 hour and 30 minutes

COOKING TIME: 2 hour for the broth, 15 minutes for the stuffing, 10 minutes for cappelletti

WINE: Bosco Eliceo Fortana Doc (Red Wine)

PREPARATION
Start with the preparation of the broth: clean and peel the onion, the potato, the carrot and the celery, place them in a large pan with 2 liter of water, some salt and the “Cappello del prete” (piece of meat of veal), let them cook for about 1 hour and 30 minutes or 2 hour. Continue with the preparation of the stuffing: cut all type of meat (veal, chicken, pork and sausage) in small pieces

and place them in a pan with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, some salt and pepper, cook them for about 10 – 15 minutes.

In the meantime mince the ham and mortadella. When the meat is ready minced it with the mincer or with a chopping knife, let it cool and then add the minced ham and mortadella

together with the yolks, the egg, the Parmesan and some nutmeg.

Mix all together in order to obtain a homogeneous mixture like this

Now prepare the dough: knead the flour with the eggs


until you obtain homogeneous dough that you let stand for about 20 minutes.


After this time roll out the dough in order to obtain a thin pastry then cut it in small squares of 3,5 cm of side.


Place the stuffing in the middle of the squares, close the squares in half, close the pastry and join the points, give them the characteristic shape of cappelletti as shown in the picture below.



Let water boils for cappelletti then place them in it and cook for about 5 – 8 minutes.

Drain cappelletti and serve them with hot broth, place in a dish about 20 cappelletti for people and if you like sprinkle with some Parmesan.
This is the result:

BUON APPETITO!

This is a traditional Italian recipe of Piemonte that is used in all Italian region because it is so simple to prepare and delicious to eat. This Italian sauce is typically used to accompany any type of boiled meat in particular meal of veal that is typically used to prepared broth for meat ravioli. There are different ways to prepare this recipe according to the different Italian region: for example in some regions don’t use the sugar but add some tomato sauce, in others regions instead of black pepper use hot pepper and more garlic. The green sauce can be more or less liquid according to the quantity of extra virgin olive oil that you use and according to your preferences. Usually it is better if you let the sauce marinade for 24 hours before use it. This sauce can be also preserved in pot with hermetic closing cover edwith extra virgin olive oil.

INGREDIENTS (for 10 people):
200g of Parsley
3 Anchovies
3 Tablespoons of vinegar
2 Cloves of garlic
1 Tablespoon of Capers
150g of Extra virgin olive oil
50g of the soft part of bread
Salt
Black pepper
2 Hard yolks
A pinch of sugar

PREPARATION TIME: 20 minutes

COOKING TIME: 10 minutes for the hard-boiled eggs

WINE: Barbera d'Alba Doc (Red Wine)

PREPARATION
Start preparing two hard-boiled eggs. Place two eggs in a pan cover with water, let the water boil and after 7 minutes from the begging of the boil drain the eggs and shell them. In the mean time begin to cook the green sauce: for the preparation of this sauce use fresh parsley, clean it cutting the stems and using only the better leafs. Wash leafs then dry them and with the help of a chopping knife chop them finely.



Chop also the anchovies (wash them before use if they are salted), the garlic and the capers (wash them before use if they are salted)


and add them to the chopped parsley.

Now dip the bread with the vinegar, chopped it

and add to the parsley.

Mix all the ingredients and mix them well with the extra virgin olive oil, add some salt, black pepper and a pinch of sugar. When the hard-boiled eggs are ready you can add the yolk to the mixture and mix them with it.

If necessary add some other extra virgin olive oil in order to make the sauce more liquid and if you like you can also blend the mixture in a mixer in order to let it more liquid and tender. The white eggs can be cut in half and stuffed with the green sauce as presentationa.
This is the result:

BUON APPETITO!

There is nothing better than this sweet recipe of stuffed biscuits as first recipe of the new year: it is an ideal recipe for the period of Christmas feast but these biscuit are ideal also for all the days of the year. The recipe of these biscuits comes from Trentino Alto Adige and it is a simple and fast Italian recipe; the biscuits are made of two parts: a lower part and an upper part with holes and in the middle the sweet jam of strawberry of other fruit as you prefer. The upper part of these biscuits can be with or without holes but the presence of holes the exit on the surface of the jam that let them more colour.

INGREDIENTS (for 6 people):
250 g of Flour
125 g of Butter
8 g of Yeast for sweet
A pinch of salt
1 or 2 Eggs
90 g of Sugar
10g of Vanillina
150g of Jam of strawberry
Some icing sugar

PREPARATION TIME: 1 hour and 30 minutes

COOKING TIME: 20 minutes

WINE: Malvasia di Casorzo d'Asti Doc (Red Wine)

PREPARATION
Place in a bowl the flour, the butter, the yeast, the salt, the eggs, the sugar and the vanillina, mix all together until you obtain an homogeneous dough

then roll up the dough in a sheet of film and place it in fridge for 30 minutes.


After this time preheat the oven to 180°C, with the help of a rolling pin roll out the dough in order to obtain a pastry of 3 – 4 cm of thickness.


Now with shapes of different form cut the pastry in an even number of pieces :this because each biscuit is made of two parts, a lower part and an upper part with holes. Cover the bottom of a baking pan with a sheet of a baking paper, place on it the biscuits and bake them for about 10 – 15 minutes until the surface of the biscuits becomes slightly golden.


Then let them cool and place some jam of strawberry over the biscuits without holes, now cover it with the other biscuit of the same form but with holes.


When all the biscuits are ready place them on a platter and sprinkle with some icing sugar before serve.
This is the result:


BUON APPETITO!