Italian Food Recipes

This is a typical Italian dessert that it is prepared in the occasion of Carnival. Tortelli are little ball of sweet dough. You can prepare them without stuffing or with different types of stuffing like apple, strawberry, ricotta cheese, jam and many others. This is the recipe of tortelli without stuffing that is simple to realize!








INGREDIENTS (for 4 people):
150 g of Flour
3 Eggs
50 g of Sugar
1 / 2 Lemon
150 ml of Water
50 g of Butter
Salt
250 ml of Extra virgin olive oil to fry
Icing sugar

PREPARATION TIME: 2 hours

COOKING TIME: 20 minutes

WINE: Moscato D’Asti (White Wine)

PREPARATION
Place in a pan the water and the butter and let them boil until the butter melts.

Then add all the flour

and start immediately to stir until you obtain an homogeneous dough as shown in the picture below.

Now let the dough cool and stand for about 1 hours and 30 minutes. In the mean time beat one egg white till stiff.

When the dough is cool add one by one the yolk.


Add the sugar and mix.

At the end add the the egg white beaten

and mix in order to have a dough as this.

Heat extra virgin olive oil in a pan, when it is hot place small spoonfuls of the dough in it and let them brown.

When they are ready place them on a kitchen paper in order to remove the oil in excess. Then sprinkle them with some icing sugar. In this is way you have tortelli of Carnival!
This is the result:

BUON APPETITO!

This is a typical Italian recipe that comes from Mantua in the Northern part of Italy. This Italian dish is particular: indeed it is made of pumpkin that it has a sweet taste and with mostarda (pickled candied fruit in a spicy syrup) that it has a hot taste. For this reason this recipe has a bittersweet taste. This dish is also a typical Italian recipe of the Christmas period in particular it is prepared in the occasion of the Christmas Eve.








INGREDIENTS (for 6 – 8 people)
FOR THE DOUGH
500 g of Flour
4 Eggs
Some warm water

FOR THE FILLING
500 g of Pumpkin
150 g of Mostarda of pears from Mantua (pickled candied fruit in a spicy syrup)
100 g of Macaroons
Some nutmeg
1 / 2 Lemon peel grated
Some breadcrumbs

FOR THE DRESSING
30 – 40 g of Butter
10-12 Sage leafs

PREPARATION TIME: 2 hours

COOKING TIME: 10 – 12 minutes

WINE: Lambrusco Mantovano (Red Wine)

PREPARATION
Start with the preparation of the filling. Peel the pumpkin, cut it in pieces, place them in a pan with some water and let them cook for about 15 minutes or until they become soft.

Drain the pumpkin, place it in a bowl and reduce it in pulp.

Then chop the mostarda and the macaroons, add them to the pumpkin
together with the lemon peel grated, a pinch of nutmeg, salt pepper and some breadcrumbs.

The filling is ready non let it stand for about 1 hour and 30 minutes
In the meantime prepare the dough. Place on a floured worktop the flour as a fountain, add in the middle of it a pinch of salt, the eggs, and some warm water and begin to knead.


Knead until you obtain homogeneous and elastic dough. Cover it with a towel and let it stand for about 30 minutes.

Let salted water boil for tortelli. After 30 minutes roll up the dough with a rolling pin to a sheet of thin thick.

Cut the pastry in rectangles of 10 cm, put in the middle of them a teaspoon of the filling


and close them folding in half and sealing the edges with a fork.


When all the tortelli are ready cook them for about 10 – 12 minutes in the salted water. In the meantime place in a pan the butter, sage leafs and let the butter melt.

Drain them with the help of a skimmer in order to not break the tortelli. Place 5 – 6 tortelli in a dish and pour on them some butter and sage. Serve hot.
This is the result:

BUON APPETITO!