Italian Food Recipes

This Italian first course is prepared with asparagus and squaquerone, two traditional Italian ingredients that I use here in order to prepare delicious pasta based first course. The preparation of this Italian recipe is easy: the asparagus are simply cooked with some onion, water and sprinkle with salt and black pepper, I divide them in two parts and I reduce one of them in cream, I put the two parts together and I add to them the squaquerone, that is a traditional Italian cheese that comes from Emilia Romagna where it is usually use as the main Italian ingredient of Piadina.


INGREDIENTS (for 4 people):
320 g of Fusilli
200 g of Asparagus
100 g of Ham steak cut in squared pieces
300 g Squaquerone (an Italian fresh cheese)
1 / 2 Onion
4 Tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
Salt
Black pepper

PREPARATION TIME: 10 minutes

COOKING TIME: 20 minutes

WINE: Torgiano Chardonnay Doc (White Wine)

PREPARATION
Let salted water boil for fusilli. Clean the asparagus removing the woody part of the stem and cut them in pieces. Preheat the extra virgin olive oil in a pan, chop the onion and place it in the pan, let it brown

and then add the pieces of asparagus. Let the asparagus sauté for some minutes,


sprinkle with salt and black pepper then add some water and cook the asparagus for about 10 -15 minutes.

When the asparagus are cooked remove from the pan a half of them and mix them with the help of a mixer in order to obtain a sort of cream. Add to the asparagus in the pan the ham steak,


then add the cream of the asparagus and mix all together.


Add the squaquerone cheese and mix.


When the pasta is cooked pour on it the sauce of asparagus and serve hot.
This is the result:

BUON APPETITO!

This Italian recipe is prepared with typical vegetables of the summer period: the asparagus. With them and crescenza, that is a kind of soft cheese typical of Lombardo, you can prepare delicious summer lasagna. The preparation of this Italian recipe is quite simple: you should to prepare a mixture of crumbled bread and walnuts, a mixture of milk, crescenza, Parmesan and béchamel, lasagna and the asparagus cut in thin slices lengthwise. When all these things are ready you should to make layers of them in a baking pan, bake for about 30 minutes and the lasagna is ready. In this recipe the soft consistency of the mixture of crescenza and béchamel is well accompanied with the crunchy consistency of the mixture of bread and walnuts. BUON APPETITO!


INGREDIENTS (for 4 - 6 people):
400 g of Asparagus
1 Roll
30 g of Walnuts
50 ml of Milk
400 g of Crescenza (kind of soft cheese typical of Lombardo)
40 g of Parmesan
350 g of Lasagne
500 ml of Béchamel

PREPARATION TIME: 20 minutes

COOKING TIME: 30 minutes

WINE: Friuli Annia Pinot bianco (White Wine)

PREPARATION
Let salted water, with a drizzle of oil, boil for lasagne; the presence of oil in the water is necessary so the lasagne don’t stick between them.


When water boils add in it 10 lasagne at a time and cook them for 3 – 4 minutes, drain them with the help of a skimmer paying attention to not break them, and place them on a table in order to let them cool.


Then clean the asparagus and remove the hardest part of the stem, place them in high pan with water and after water boils cooked them for about 10 minutes. It is important that the asparagus remain in vertical position in the pan so that their head is out of water and cook with vapour.


When the asparagus are cooked drain them paying attention to not break their head, let them cool and cut them in thin slice lengthwise. In the meantime prepare the bread and the walnuts, crumble them and put them together in a bowl.


In another bowl mix together the milk, the crescenza and the Parmesan.

Now prepare the béchamel looking the instructions presented here, when the béchamel is ready, mix them with mixture of crescenza, and now begin to prepare the lasagna.

Pre heat the oven to 200°C. Cover with a sheet of baking paper a squared baking pan, place on it some mixture of béchamel and crescenza, a first layer of pasta, a layer of asparagus

and a little of the mixture of bread and walnuts, continue in this way until the pan is full.


Bake the pan for about 30 minutes and cook lasagna until the surface become golden. Serve hot.
This is the result:

BUON APPETITO!

Asparagus are vegetable typical of the spring and summer period in particular from April to June, they are vegetables ideal for the preparation of any kind of Italian recipes. Typically they are used to prepare risotto but very good are also first courses with pasta like the Italian recipes presented below or also second courses and appetizers. Here I prepare a first course made with fresh orecchiette, that is a typical type of pasta from Puglia, seasoned with a sauce of asparagus, cream and walnuts. The preparation of this recipe is simple and fast because the asparagus are an Italian food that need a short time of cooking, indeed only 10 minutes are sufficient in order to make a puree of asparagus, then to obtain the delicious sauce of this recipe it’s sufficient to add some cream and walnuts and so the seasoning is ready. The presence of walnuts give to the sauce a crunch consistency that is well matches with the soft consistency of the puree of asparagus.


INGREDIENTS (for 4 people):
400 of Orecchiette
400 g of Asparagus
30 g of Walnuts crumbled
250 ml of Cream
1 Clove of garlic
Salt
Black Pepper
Marjoram
4 Tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

PREPARATION TIME: 20 minutes

COOKING TIME: 15 minutes

WINE: Friuli Annia Pinot bianco (White Wine)

PREPARATION
Let salted water boil for orecchiette. Wash the asparagus and remove the hardest and woody part of the asparagus’s stem. Now preheat the extra virgin olive oil in a pan with the clove of garlic and let it brown, in the meantime cut the stems of the asparagus in small discs maintaining the tender head entire

and add them to the pan, add 1 glass of water and let them cook for about 10 minutes.


When the asparagus are cooked, remove from them the best head, that you'll use for the decoration of the dish and place the others in a mixer in order to obtain a sort of puree of asparagus. Re-place the mousse of asparagus in the same pan, add the walnuts, the cream

and sprinkle with salt, black pepper and marjoram,

mix all together and the sauce is ready. When water boils add the orecchiette and cooked them for the time indicated on the packaging, when they are cooked, drain them and add them to the sauce, mix, garnish each dish with the the entire head of the asparagus and serve hot.
This is the result:

BUON APPETITO!

Another way to cook asparagus, vegetable typical of this period, is au gratin with Parmesan and breadcrumbs, like the recipe presented below. But if you want eat something more tasty and spicy you can add ham according to a typical recipe of Emilia Romagna, a region in the central part of Italy.



INGREDIENTS (for 4 people):
800g of Asparagus
40 g of Butter
50 g of Parmesan
30 g of Breadcrumbs

PREPARATION TIME: 15 minutes

COOKING TIME: 50 minutes

WINE: Torgiano Chardonnay Doc (White Wine)

PRPEPARATION
Clean the asparagus and cut the woody ends of the stalks if necessary. Put them vertically in a pan with salted water and let them boil and cook for about 30 minutes.


Drain the asparagus paying attention to not break them. Then butter a baking pan and place the asparagus in it. Add some pieces of butter over the asparagus


and sprinkle them with the Parmesan and the breadcrumbs.


Bake at 180° C for about 10 -15 minutes until they become slightly golden. Serve hot.
This is the result:

BUON APPETITO!

This is a seasonal recipe made of rice and asparagus. This is a light and delicate first course. There are many variation of this dish like the risotto with asparagus and shrimps or the risotto with asparagus and strawberry that is typical of Verona.
It is delicious!








INGREDIENTS (for 4 people)
320 g of Rice
2 Vegetable stocks-cube
1/2 of Onion
10 g of Butter
500 g of Asparagus
1 Glass of White wine
3-4 Tablesppons of Extra virgin olive oil
Parmesan

PREPARATION TIME: 10 minutes

COOKING TIME: 30 minutes

WINE: Pomino bianco Doc (White Wine)
PREPARATION
Prepare broth with water and 2 stocks-cube vegetable in a pot.

Clean the asparagus and cut the woody ends of the stalks if necessary then cut them in pieces.


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.

Add the pieces of asparagus and cook for about 10 minutes.

Add the rice and make it roast.Then add the wine and let it evaporated.

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 together and if you desire you can sprinkle with some parmesan.
This is the result:

BUON APPETITO!

Asparagus are the sprouts of an herbaceous plant. They are different type of asparagus, the most famous are the green asparagus and the white asparagus, and then there is also the pink asparagus. They are typical in March, May and July in particular in the Mediterranean regions. You can prepare many recipes with asparagus such as Rice with asparagus, baked asparagus with butter, asparagus pie and many others.
Now I describe the simple and fast recipe of asparagus with egg. It’s delicious!

INGREDIENTS (for 4 people):
1Kg of Asparagus
4 Eggs
4 Tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
Salt
PREPARATION TIME: 10 minutes

COOKING TIME: 40 minutes

WINE: Alcamo Doc (White Wine)

PREPARATION
Clean the asparagus and cut the woody ends of the stalks if necessary.

Put them vertically in a pan with salted water and let them boil and cook for about 30 minutes.


In the meantime prepare the eggs. This way to cook eggs, it is said "uovo all'occhio di bue in Italy". Preheat the extra virgin olive oil in a large pan and break the eggs. Let them cook for about 5 minutes or until the egg white becomes white, like in the picture presented below. Sprinkle with salt.


When they are ready drain them and place over a platter. Place over them the egg and serve hot. This is the result:

BUON APPETITO!