Risotto with Zucchini and Speck

This Italian recipe of risotto combines the sweet taste of zucchini with the spicy taste of speck. The preparation of this risotto is very easy as you already learned from the recipes of the other Italian risotto that I already published. The secret in the preparation of risotto is to have a good vegetables broth and to stir continuously while you are adding the broth to not let the rice attach to the casserole and to better check the cooking of rice.

INGREDIENTS (for 4 people):
320g or 11,3 oz of Rice (type Arborio)
3 / 4 Onion
3 Tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
2 Zucchini
100g of Speck cut in small cubes
Half Glass of White wine
Vegetable broth (1 carrot, 1 onion, 1 potato, celery, coarse salt)

PREPARARATION TIME: 30 minutes (15 minutes with the pressure cooker)

COOKING TIME: 20 minutes

WINE: Alto Adige Pinot Bianco (WhiteWine)

PREPARATION
Start preparing the vegetable broth, clean and peel the carrot, the potato, the onion, and the celery, cut them in big pieces and place them in a potful, add half a liter of water and a bit of coarse salt and let it boil for about 30-40 minutes. If you don't have a lot of time the best thing to do in order to have the same result is to use the pressure cooker, with which you will need only 10-15 minutes.



When the broth is almost ready you can start with the preparation of risotto, preheat the extra virgin olive oil in a casserole, mince the onion and cut the zucchini in small cubes, add the onion to the hot oil and let it brown.



Add the small cubes of speck, let them cook for a few minutes,



add the zucchini and let them cook for few minutes.



At this point add the rice and let it roast.



Add half glass of white wine, let it evaporate and start adding the broth,



little by little stirring continuously.



Let the rice cook for about 15-18 minutes, pay attention not to over cook it. Serve risotto warm.



BUON APPETITO!

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!

Pie of Zucchini

This is a very simple and fast Italian recipes that you can prepare when you come back later from your job and you haven’t any delicious recipes to eat. You need only some zucchini, a flaky pastry that you can easily found at the supermarket, cheese, in this case I used ricotta cheese from cow but if you don’t have this Italian cheese you can also use what you have at home better a soft Italian cheese like Stracchino or Asiago cheese, and salame that gives a salted taste to the pie of zucchini. If you like you can even add an egg. Just cook a little bit the zucchini, add all the other ingredient to them, and fill the pastry and bake. Easy, fast and a delicious Italian recipe is ready!


INGREDIENTS (for 6 people)
1 Round flaky pastry
1 / 2 Onion
6 Zucchini
250g or 2 cups of Ricotta cheese
8 Slices of Salame
40g or ½ cup of Parmesan
3-4 Tablespoons of Extra virgin olive oil
Salt
Pepper

PREPARATION TIME: 25 minutes

COOKING TIME: 30-40 minutes

WINE: Golfo del Tigullio Vermentino (White Wine)

PREPARATION
Clean and cut in thin slices the zucchini. Preheat the extra virgin olive oil in a large pan, cut the onion in thin slices then add them to the extra virgin olive oil and let them brown. Cook the zucchini on a low flame for about 15-20 minutes.



When the zucchini are ready put them in a bowl, add the ricotta cheese, the slices of salame, Parmesan, a bit of salt and pepper and mix all together. Better if the ricotta cheese is from cow.



Place a sheet of baking paper on the bottom of a baking-pan, place over it the pastry and makes some little holes on its surface with a fork.



Fill the pastry with the mixture of zucchini and ricotta cheese.



Bake at 180-200 degree for about 40 minutes until the surface becomes golden. Serve warm.



BUON APPETITO!

Patty-cake of Zucchini

This patty-cake of zucchini is prepared according to the Tuscan cooking: the main ingredients used are eggs, zucchini, Parmesan and the Tuscan Pecorino that is a delicious cheese of medium seasoning with a spicy taste, for these characteristics the Tuscan Pecorino is ideal together with the sweet taste of zucchini. For a good preparation of this Italian recipes it is important the cooking of zucchini: the zucchini should be result a bit dry in order to obtain a more homogenous mixture when you add the eggs, the Italian cheese and the breadcrumbs. This Italian recipe can be served as a vegetarian second course or also in small pieces as a spicy appetizer.

INGREDIENTS (for 6 – 8 people):
1 Kg of Zucchini
3 Tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
Some basil
Some parsley
1 Clove of garlic
4 Eggs
40 g of Tuscan Pecorino
40 g of Parmesan
4 Tablespoons of breadcrumbs
20 g of Butter
Salt
Black pepper

PREPARATION TIME: 15 minutes

COOKING TIME: 30 – 40 minutes

WINE: Colli di Conegliano Bianco Doc (White Wine)

PREPARATION
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Preheat the extra virgin olive oil in a pan, clean the zucchini, cut them in slices and add them to the pan together with the chopped parsley, the clove of garlic and the chopped basil;



cook for about 5 minutes then sprinkle with salt and black pepper and continue to cook on a low flame covered for other 5 – 10 minutes.



When the zucchini are ready place them in a bowl and let them cold in the mean time place a sheet of baking paper on the bottom of a baking pan of 20 – 24 cm of diameter. When the zucchini are cold add the Parmesan, the Tuscan Pecorino,



the eggs and the breadcrumbs,



mix all together and pour the mixture in the pan.



Sprinkle with some other breadcrumbs and small pieces of butter.






Bake until the surface becomes golden.
This is the result:



BUON APPETITO!

Farfalle with Zucchini and Shrimps

Zucchini and shrimps are summer ingredients that combine together are tasty and spicy. This is a simple and good Italian recipe that can become a fresh dish in the hot Italian summer.

INGREDIENTS (for 4 people):
300 g of Farfalle (Type of Pasta)
5 Medium Zucchini
150 g of Shrimps without shell
1 Clove of garlic chopped
1 Shallot chopped
3 Tablespoons of Rum
Salt
Pepper
5 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

PREPARATION TIME: 15 minutes

COOKING TIME: 15 minutes

WINE: Langhe Favorita Doc (White Wine)

PREPARATION
Let salted water boil for pasta. Boil the shrimps for 10 minutes.

In the mean time prepare the zucchini, clean and cut them as matches. Place in a pan the extra virgin olive oil with the chopped garlic and the chopped shallot, let them sauté

and then add the zucchini. Season with salt and pepper, add the rum and let it evaporated.

Continue to cook the zucchini for about 10-15 minutes cover with a lid. When the shrimps are ready drain them and add them to the zucchini.

Mix all together and cook again for about 5 minutes. When water boils add the pasta, cook it for the time indicated on the packaging. Then drain the pasta and add it to the mixture of zucchini and lobsters, mix all together and serve hot.

This is the result:

BUON APPETITO!

Round Zucchini in Batter

The zucchini are vegetable a lot used in the Italian cooking. They are typical of April and May, but you can find it during all the year. There are different types of zucchini in Italy like the "Striata d'Italia" (Striped of Italy), long and striped; the "Verde di Milano" (Green of Milan), long, with hard pulp and uniform colour; the "Faentina", with club shape and light colour; exist then also regional type such as the "Rigata pugliese" (Ruled Apulian), the "Veneziana" (Venetian) and the “Bianca Sarda" (White Sardinian). In this recipe I used the round zucchini that is Typical of Tuscany, they are fried in batter, prepared in this way the zucchini remain crunchy and spicy. Try it!!!



INGREDIENTS (for 6 people):
3 Round zucchini
150 g of Flour
1 Glass of Milk
2 Egg whites
Extra Virgin olive oil for frying
Salt

PREPARATION TIME: 20 minutes

COOKING TIME: 20 minutes

WINE: Colli di Luni Vermentino Doc (White Wine)

PREPARATION
Clean the zucchini

and cut it in slices of 2 – 3 mm thick.

Now prepare the batter for frying. In a bowl put the flour, the salt and the milk and mix in order to obtain a creamy mixture.


Beat the egg whites until stiff and work it in the mixture.



When the batter is ready dip the slices of zucchini in the batter paying attention that the slices are completely covered.

Preheat the oil in a pan and fry in it the zucchini until they become golden surface.

When they are cooked place them over a sheet of kitchen paper in order to remove the excess of oil. This is the result:

BUON APPETITO!

Pasta with Zucchini Speck and Cream

This is a recipe for a first course made of pasta, zucchini, speck and cream.

INGREDIENTS (for 4 people)

3 Zucchini
350 g of Pasta (Type Tortiglioni)
125 ml of Cream
2 Slices of speck
Some Parmesan (Italian cheese)
5 Tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
Salt
Pepper

PREPARATION TIME: 15 minutes

COOKING TIME: 25-30 minutes

DIFFICULTY: easy

WINE: Muller Thurgau (White Wine)

PREPARATION
Boil some water with salt for pasta.
Wash, dry and cut the zucchini into small pieces as matches.
Heat 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil in a pan and add in the cutted zucchini. Cook them until they wilt and become slightly golden.

Cut speck into small cubes. Heat 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil in another pan, add the cubes of speck and let them brown, then add the cream and stir it with the speck.

Continue the cooking for about 5 minutes.
When zucchini are ready add to them the mixture of speck and cream and mix all together.

Preheat oven to 180 ° C.
When pasta is cooked, pour the sauce on it, mix all and put all in a deep baking pan of 20 cm diamater, sprinkle with Parmesan and put in the oven for 5-10 minutes until the Paremesan is melted and the pasta is golden.

This the result:

BUON APPETITO!