Italian Food Recipes

Here another delicious Italian recipes with artichokes, vegetables typical of this period and traditional of Liguria. I like much artichokes and some I try to prepare them in many different way: in this second course recipes artichokes are simply prepared with the addition of some breadcrumbs and Parmesan in flakes in order to give them a crunch consistency. Artichokes cooked in this way can be served as a delicious side dish but also as a complete second course.

INGREDIENTS (for 4 people):
4 Artichokes
40 g of Parsley chopped
40 g of Parmesan in flakes
20 g of Breadcrumbs
1 Clove of garlic
1 Lemon
4 Tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
Salt
Black Pepper

PREPARATION TIME: 10 minutes

COOKING TIME: 20 – 30 minutes

WINE: Garda Chardonnay (White Wine)

PREPARATION
Start cleaning the artichokes, remove the spines and the hard external leafs, remove from the stalks the hard part and cut the stalks and the artichokes in slices and place them in a bowl with water and lemon in order to not blacken them. When all the artichokes are ready, preheat the extra virgin olive oil in a pan, add the garlic and let it brown then remove it and add the artichokes.

Sprinkle with salt and black pepper, let them cook for about 5 minutes and add the chopped parsley.

Continue to cook for about 15 – 20 minutes and some minutes before the end of the cooking sprinkle over them some breadcrumbs and the Parmesan in flakes,

let them melt and serve hot.
This is the result:

BUON APPETITO!

Artichokes are vegetables typical of the spring period and it seems that they traditionally comes from Liguria as this delicious Italian first course. Artichokes can be used for any type of Italian recipes like “Torta Pasqualina” that is a sort of pie or as a side dish here I use them to prepare the stuffing of these delicious ravioli. In this recipe artichokes are mix with ricotta cheese, Parmesan, parsley and marjoram. The seasoning of this first course is simply made with butter and sage, but if you prefer you can also prepare a sort of cream with walnuts.

INGREDIENTS (for 8 people):
FOR THE DOUGH:
600 g of Flour
2 Tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
2 Eggs
Salt
8 Tablespoons of warm water
FOR THE STUFFING:
9 Artichokes
250 g of Ricotta Cheese
1 / 2 Onion
1 Lemon
1 Egg
40 g of Parmesan
3 Tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
40 g of butter
Some leaf of sage
Parsley
Marjoram
Salt
Black Pepper

PREPARATION TIME: 1 hour

COOKING TIME: 20 minutes

WINE: Vermentino dei Colli di Luni Lambruschi (White Wine)

PREPARATION
Start with the preparation of the dough: place in a bowl the flour, the eggs, the water, the extra virgin olive oil and some salt,

mix all the ingredients until you obtain an homogeneous dough. Cover the dough with a sheet of film


an let it stand for about 20 minutes. In the meantime prepare the stuffing: clean the artichokes, remove the hard external leafs and peel the stems in order to use the tender internal part; cut in thin slice the artichokes and the stems and place them in a bowl with water and the lemon to not blacken them.

When the artichokes are ready, preheat the extra virgin olive oil in a pan with thin slices of the onion, then add the artichokes and cook them for about 10 – 15 minutes.


When the artichokes are ready, cut them in small pieces and place them in a bowl, add the ricotta cheese, the egg, the Parmesan, come parsley, some marjoram, salt and black pepper and mix all together.

Let salted water boil for pasta. With the help of a rolling pin roll out the dough to obtain a thin long pastry like this shown in the picture below. Place with a teaspoon some stuffing on the centre of the pastry,


then close the pastry over the stuffing and with a wheel for cutting the pasta cut the ravioli.




When water boils place in it the ravioli and cook them for about 7 – 8 minutes in the meantime melt the butter in a pan with the sage,


drain ravioli with a skimmer, place them in a dish and pour on them the butter, sprinkle with some parmesan and serve hot.
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!

Artichokes are vegetables typical of Mediterranean in particular they are typical of Sicily and Sardinia. They are different types of Artichokes; the most famous are the Spiny of Sardinia “Spinoso sardo”, The Catanese, The Green of Palermo, and The Mammola Green. With artichokes you can prepare many delicious dishes. Here I show the way to prepare excellent pickle artichokes that you can serve with cheese but also with meat.
For the preparation of pickle artichokes you need small, spiny and soft artichokes that are typical of the spring period, in particular in may, because they are the first fruits that the plant produces. Then you need good extra virgin olive oil, vinegar of white wine, lemon, some bay leafs, salt and black peppercorn.
In addition are necessary pots with hermetic clamp ideal for a better preservation of the pickle artichokes.
BUON APPETTITO!


INGREDIENTS:
5 Kg of small artichokes
2,5 L of Extra virgin olive oil
400 ml of Vinegar of white wine
3 L of Water
Salt
Black pepper
3 Bay leafs
5 Pots

PREPARTION TIME: 1 hour

COOKIN TIME: 30 minutes

WINE: Zagarolo Doc (White Wine)

PREPARATION



Peel the artichokes cutting the sticks and external leafs. Then place the heart of artichokes in a bowl with water and lemon in order to not become them dark.


When all the artichokes are ready put them in a large casserole with water, vinegar, salt, the bay leafs and black pepper. Let them boil for about 15 minutes or until they are cooked, check the cooking with a fork.

Drain the artichokes and place them over a tea towel and let them cool.


In the meantime boil the pots in order to sterilize them.


Put in layer the artichokes in the pots then turn over them in order to eventually remove water.


Cover them completely with the extra virgin olive oil pouring it slowly in order to not make air bubble. Close the pots and let them flavour for 15 days. Then they are ready to eat.
This is the result:

BUON APPETITO!

This is the delicious recipe of risotto made with artichokes and Robiola. Robiola is an Italian cheese of the Stracchino family that comes from Lombardy; it has the consistency of cream and a tangy taste. With these two ingredients, Robiola and sweet artichokes, you can prepare a risotto with delicate taste!








INGREDIENTS (for 4 people):
320 g of Rice
2 Artichokes
100 g of Robiola (Italian cheese)
30 g of Parmesan
15 g of Butter
3 Tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
1 / 2 Chopped onion
30 ml of White wine
1 Lemon
Water foe broth
1 Stock-cube vegetable

PREPARATION TIME: 15 minutes

COOKING TIME: 15 – 20 minutes

WINE: Alto Adige Sauvignon Doc (White Wine)

PREPARATION
Prepare the broth boiling water and 1 stock-cube vegetable in a pot.
Clean the artichokes, remove the outer leafs leaving only the hearts of artichokes and cut it in thin slice. Place the slice of artichokes in a bowl with water and the juice of lemon.

Put in a pan the extra virgin olive oil, the butter and the chopped onion and let them brown.

Add the rice, make it roast,

then add the white wine and the artichokes and cook for about 5 in order to let the rice flavour.

Now 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.

5 minutes before the cooking end add the robiola and the Parmesan and mix all together.



Serve hot.
This is the result:

BUON APPETITO!

This is a typical Italian dish in particular of the central part of Italy. The recipe presented below is made of ham or salami, egg, Parmesan, loaf and milk in order to prepare the filling. There are many differents Italian ingredients that you can use to prepare the filling like Pecorino Romano (Italian Cheese) or anchovies used in the Neapolitan cooking. If you want cook a vegetarian dish dont'use the salmi or ham but only the cheese.

INGREDIENTS (for 4 people):
8 Artichokes
150 g of Ham or salami cutted into cubes
1 Egg
1 Loaf
100 ml of Milk
50 g of Parmesan
1 Lemon
30 g of Parsley
1 Clove of Garlic
Salt
Pepper


PREPARATION TIME: 15 minutes

COOKING TIME: 30 minutes

WINE: Bardolino Doc (Red Wine)

PREPARATION


Prepare a bowl with water and the juice of the lemon. Wash the artichokes, cut the stem (that you can use in the filling), the tips of the remaining leaves that are prickly and remove the tough outer leaves at the base. Then force the center leaves slightly open in the middle and place them in the bowl with water and lemon as shown in the picture below.


Place the loaf in a bowl with the milk in order to soften it.

Cut in small pieces the stems of artichokes. Prepare a chopped garlic and parsley, put it in a bowl, and add in it the loaf crumbled, the egg, the pieces of stems, the ham or salami, the parmesan, salt and pepper.

Mix all together and with this mixture fill the artichokes.

Place the stuffed artichokes in a pan with a drizzle of oil and some water and cook on a low flame for about 30 minutes.

This is the result:

BUON APPETITO!