Pie with Pepper, Zucchini, Aubergine and Carrots

Here another easy Italian recipe for pie that you can serve as an appetizer. This pie is mainly made with vegetables, in particular pepper, zucchini, aubergine and carrots, with the addition of Speck and Asiago cheese. The vegetables that I used for this Italian food are the vegetables that more often I have in my fridge so was very easy to decide how to use them. If you are vegetarian you can easy prepare this Italian recipe also for you not using the speck. If you don’t’ like the speck, you can change it with another Italian cold meat like, raw ham or cooked ham. The preparation is easy: you have just to clean, and cut the vegetables in long stripes, let them quickly cook in a large pan with some extra virgin olive oil and then put them on the surface of a flaky pastry with speck (if you like it) on the bottom and Asiago cheese on the top. This pie can be also a solution for children who don’t like vegetables so much.


INGREDIENTS (for 8-10 people):
Flaky pastry
1 Pepper
2 Zucchini
2 Carrots
1 Aubergine
Salt and Black pepper
3 Tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
200 g or 7,1 oz of Asiago cheese
5-6 thin slices of Speck

PREPARATION TIME: 30 minutes

COOKING TIME: 20 minutes

WINE: Pinot Grigio (White Wine)

PREPARATION
Start with the preparation of the filling of the pie: clean the pepper, zucchini, carrots and aubergine. Cut them in long stripes. Preheat in a large pan the extra virgin olive oil, when it is hot add the vegetables, sprinkle with salt and black pepper and let them cook for about 10 -15 minutes.





The vegetables shouldn’t be completely cooked because you will finish to cook them in the oven. Preheat the oven at 200 degree (or 390 fahrenheit). In the meantime place a sheet of baking paper in the bottom of a round baking pan and put on it the flaky pastry. Make some hole with a fork on the surface of the flaky pastry



and bake for 3 – 5 minutes. Cut in squared pieces the Asiago cheese. After 3 – 5 minutes remover the flaky pastry from the oven and place on its bottom the slice of speck.



Add the vegetables



and the Asiago cheese on the surface.



Bake for 20 minutes. Serve warm or cold according to your taste.



BUONA APPETITO!

Carrots with Cream

The main ingredients used to prepare this delicious Italian appetizer are carrots, cream and speck that are ingredients with opposite taste: the sweet taste of carrots and the spicy taste of speck join by the cream. The best way to cook carrots with cream is on a low flame so the different flavours mix each other, this Italian appetizer can be accompanied with a dry white wine like Grechetto dell’Umbria that is ideal with the sweet taste of this appetizer.

INGREDIENTS (for 4 people):
500 g of Carrots
125 ml of Cream
40 g of Speck in cubes
40 g of Butter
Salt
Black pepper

PREPARATION TIME: 10 minutes

COOKING TIME: 25 – 30 minutes

WINE: Grechetto dell’ Umbria (White Wine)

PREPARATION
Clean, peel and cut the carrots in slices. Let the butter melt in a pan, add the carrots and let them brown on a low flame for about 10 minutes



then add the speck, sprinkle with salt and black pepper,



add the cream



and continue to cook for other 10 – 15 minutes until the carrots become tender.



Serve hot. This is the result:



BUON APPETITO!