Sicilian meat rolls

One of the typical Messina's recipes are meat rolls called "braciolettine".
There are many versions, with pea sauce,grilled or fish versions with swordfish instead of meat or other fishes.
They are always good, one leads to another.
Because they are small, crunchy and you eat in one bite!
Ingredients:
carpaccio (Veal rump thinly sliced raw meat, 20 slices)
1 or 2 khorasan wheat piadina (flat unleavened yeast-free bread)
4 tablespoons parmesan
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
100 g provolone cubed cheese
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
a pinch of salt

Original recipe would have bread crumbs...I replace it with khorasan wheat yeast-free piadina crumbs (I find it at supermarket).
I blend the raw piadina (you can blend it after toasting it, but I think it is better raw).
I add to these crumbs chopped parsley, a pinch of salt, grated parmesan and extra virgin olive oil, mixing well.
The crumbs mustn't be soaked.
I cube the provolone cheese.
I put the slices on a cutting board and on each of them a small heap/pile of crumbs and some cubes of cheese.
I fold both corners to cover the filling (if the slice is rectangle-shaped, you must fold the long sides)
and then I roll it from down to up.
After closing the roll, I cup it in my hand, pressing a little bit at sides.
This operation helps the roll to remain closed (avoiding the opening during the cooking).

I insert the rolls in the skewers and I bake for 20 minutes at 220° (high temperature).
If I barbecue them , I cover the rolls with the same crumbs of the filling.

Let's try and enjoy your meal!

Not so sweet cake

Ingredients for 9 cakes:

100 g corn flour

50 g buckwheat

50 g corn starch

50 g unsweetened cocoa powder

 50 ml sunflower oil

150 ml soy milk

grated lemon zest

1 miyagawa juice (it's like a clementine)

3 tablespoon of caffeine-free coffee (espresso)

1  very ripe banana

icing sugar fruit (I blend normal sugar fruit up becoming superfine)

Preparation:

I mash the banana with a fork.

Apart I beat with electric whisk the soy milk with oil.

Drizzle in miyagawa juice, coffee and mashed banana.

Little by little I add the dry ingredients, cocoa powder, corn and buckwheat flour.

I pour the dough in silicone moulds and I bake  at 180° (low temperature) for 30 minutes.

I put always some ice in the bottom of the oven to make the room wet/moist.

After that I take them out from the oven and I let them cool down.

Then I sprinkle with icing fructose.

It's a not so sweet cake.

I dunk it in a cup of tea...and it seems a snack that I used to eat when I was a child.

A good and familiar taste.

Grilled monk fish with allioli dressing

I love Spain...places, tastes and the smell of Spanish cooking...it's something without parallel , I think.
So as I can i come back in those places so beloved. One of them is Barcelona...it offers me always a unique and moving experience.
Last summer I went to a restaurant close to Sagrada Familia where you can buy directly fresh "pescado "(fish) and they cook it there, grilled or fried.
I knew it already but I never was there . Anyway, it was easy to find it.
It was our first night in Barcelona and we ate a so fresh, good grilled "asado" fish.
Especially monk fish that Spanish people call "rape".
They serve it in slices with a dressing named "allioli" with garlic that they are used to have it with everything, such as fish, meat, vegetables.
Garlic taste, I can assure you, isn't strong.
I tried to  create again that mood.
There weren't people chatting aloud around us, in so many languages and there wasn't the high spirit to be in one of the most beautiful places in the world, but what a wonderful daydreaming!

Ingredients:

4 quite thick monk fish slices 

salt

Allioli dressing:

50 ml soy milk

100 ml oil ( sunflower oil and extra virgin olive oil mixed together)

salt

lemon juice

clove of garlic without core

Preparation:

Let me start off by saying that traditional recipe envisages 2 eggs, 300 g extra virgin olive oil, 

salt, vinegar or lemon juice and garlic...purists use oil and garlic only, 

For this allioli dressing I want to try Mario Bianchi's egg-free mayonnaise.

I pour all ingredients into the hand blender beaker (it must be long and narrow) and I blend a lot. For 15 minutes no stop.

It isn't very firm (if you want to have it more, put less oil or add chopped garlic only after the dressing is whipped).

I pour on the salted only monk fish slices after 15 minutes of mid-cooking in the oven at strong temperature, some tablespoons of it.

I let it cook it with this dressing on , so to become the fish tastier for other 5 minutes.

I serve it with some catalogna chicory, first stewed and second pan-fried with garlic and  tomato paste.

But also with my baked sweet potatoes .

Choose your favourite matching , the dish will be amazing for sure!

Melting fennels pie

 

Even this is a family recipe.

When I buy fennels, I buy many more than I need, just to have the possibility, 

if I have enough to eat them raw, to make this recipe.

Ingredients for two vegetable pies:

3 fennels

1 tablespoon fennel seeds

1 teaspoon anise seeds

100 g provolone dolce cheese 

2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese

extra virgin olive oil

a pinch of salt

Preparation:

I wash and clean the fennels (cutting the double -end).

I slice them up and I put them in a pan with oil, salt, fennels and anise seeds.

I stew them for 10 minutes with a saucepan cover over a low flame then I add some water to let them cook.

Then when they are cooked I put them on a baking pan covered by greaseproof paper, I sprinkle the bottom with a tablespoon of corn flour and I pour a quarter of knead, then slices of provolone cheese and I finish with other quarter of fennels and a tablespoon of Parmesan cheese to cook au gratin. Same proceeding with the second pie.

I bake at 220 ° (high temperature) for ten minutes, then five minutes to cook au gratin only.

Very easy and melting fennels!

Millet-balls with peas and lentils

I hate food waste and I try to avoid it as much as possible in my kitchen.

I had bought a millet peas and lentils - soup pack but the instructions on it, as often occurs, weren't correct.
So I decided to use the left over soup to make millet-balls.
Yes, I know that there are several millet-balls on Internet...but I couldn't waste it.
It turned out pretty well and my husband liked it a lot.
Here you are, this is my millet-balls.
Ingredients:
150 g millet soup (millet, green peas, red hulled lentils)
5 tablespoons of Parmesan cheese
100 g emmental cheese
2 egg whites
2 tablespoon of corn flour for polenta
olive extra virgin oil

I put the left over soup and I add a tablespoon of olive extra virgin oil, both cheeses and the egg whites and I mix all together.
The dough is quite wet so I make using a tablespoon my balls and putting them on a pan covered by a greaseproof paper.
I put on the corn flour for polenta, so to make them more crunchy and I pour a drizzle of oil.
I bake for ten minutes at 200°.

I 'm really happy because I saved my soup and I won my husband 's resistance.  Yummy!

Braid-shaped bread with dry tomatoes and mozzarella

Just after discovering my food intolerances, I was worried to give leavened food up, like pizza and allied food.

Meanwhile I made more than thousand tries to make something good, without regretting what I had to give up.

This recipe is the result of the last try.

I hope this inspire you to try or to improve it as you wish.

Ingredients:

Dough:

300 g superfine corn flour (fumetto type in Italy)

50 g potato starch

50 g corn starch

50 ml extra virgin olive oil

300 g  unsweetened yogurt

a pinch of salt

Filling:

oregano

extra virgin olive oil

lactose-free mozzarella cheese

in oil homemade "datterino" dry tomatoes

Preparation:

I put all in the bread machine just to knead the dough for 20 minutes and let it stand for 30.

Then I try to make a braid and two kind of french loaf and finish brushing with extra virgin olive oil and sprinkling with oregano.

I bake for 25 minutes at 220° (high temperature).

Such melting mozzarella filling and savory dry tomatoes make it so  mouth-watering.

Crunchy puffed cookies

Breakfast is my distress.
I bore easily, so I need to change and never I skip breakfast.
I cannot start the morning without.
It's cold now and I need a good breakfast with a glass of hot and comforting milk and a yummy cookie.
But working all the week,I don't want to get up early to make cookies.
So during weekend I lay in cookies.
This time I prepare crunchy puffed cookies with whole puffed rice.

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons maple syrup
50 g sugar fruit
1 egg
70 ml sunflower oil
a pinch of powder of a vanilla bean
175 g corn flour (fumetto type in Italy)
30 g potato starch
30 g whole puffed rice
2 tablespoons of maple syrup for garnish
a pinch of salt

Preparation:

I put all in my faithful kneader (it's a bread machine that I use mainly to knead dough).
First flour and starch,then oil, egg, salt and sugar fruit.
I take out the dough and I put in a bowl, mixing it with maple syrup and puffed rice.
I mix shortly, because when I add puffed rice ,it's not easy to knead it.
Better if it keeps rough.
I shape by hands some little balls and I put in a baking pan covered by greaseproof paper, pressing lightly on each.
I pour maple syrup on the little balls.
I bake at 180° (low temperature) for 25 minutes.

I'm here enjoying this breakfast and thinking of next batch.

Seafood risotto with peppers

Ingredients:

250 g cut up monk fish 

25 g margarine

1/2 chopped onion

1 chopped red pepper without internal seeds

250 g tomato pulp

200 g shelled prawns

2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

160 g rice (arborio type in Italy)

300 ml fish stock (with fish scraps)

1 tablespoon  chopped parsley 

1 tablespoon chopped basil

Preparation:

I cut the monk fish up and I melt the margarine in a pan with chopped onion and I sweat them.

Then I add tomatoes pulp and pepper and I let them cook for five minutes over a low flame , mixing sometimes.

Last fish and prawns for other 3 minutes.

With a perforated spoon I take away the fish and the prawns from the sauce and I put them aside.

I pour the rice in the sauce and I mix it well, adding salt and a ladle of stock. 

I let it cook for 20 minutes, adding a ladle of stock at a time as long as the stock is absorbed and the rice is soft. 

I serve it with some chopped parsley and basil on.

It is an unusual very tasty and coloured seafood risotto. Impressive for sure! 

Green soup

Favoured by that 's is cold in this season and the need to have a break from this fanciful cooking, I decided to make a green depurative soup.
As usual I start making a low-fat soup but I finish with a very rich one.

Ingredients for two people:
2 tablespoons of chopped white onion
500 g broccoli
1 zucchini
3 medium potatoes
1 celery rib
some leaves of parsley
a little piece of  fresh ginger (2 cm more or less)
water
extra virgin olive oil
salt
4 tablespoons lemon juice
100 g grated Parmesan

Preparation:
I pour in a pan the extra virgin olive oil and chopped ginger and onion.
 I sweat all for two-three minutes then I add chopped broccoli, zucchini,parsley and celery.
i cover with water, I add salt and I let it cook for 20 minutes over a low flame.
I blend all and I add lemon juice , let it flavour on a stove for two or three minutes.
As it seems too low-fat...I make some leaves with grated Parmesan.
I serve  the soup very hot.

We like this soup, we go for seconds...but just to have a bigger depurative effect!

Pasta with potatoes soup

When you are sick at home...you want to pamper yourself cooking something good.
Pasta with potatoes soup, in my opinion, restores immediately wellness, like a very fashionable comfort food.
Ingredients for one person:
3 medium potatoes
1/2 onion
3 tablespoons tomato sauce
1 tablespoon tomato paste
60 g small pasta (" tubetti" type like little tube-shaped)
50 g cubed Parmesan cheese
a pinch of salt
extra virgin olive oil

Preparation:
I put the chopped onion in a saucepan to brown with extra virgin olive oil, then cubed potatoes, both tomato sauce and paste.
I brown still for five minutes over a low flame then I add a pinch of salt and water to cover it.
I wait 15 minutes cooking potatoes and then I add small pasta in the same soup (adding water if necessary, if pasta isn't cooked and the sauce thickens too much).
Two minutes before dousing (small pasta cooks normally in about 10 minutes, look at pack instructions) I add cubed Parmesan cheese(closest part to the crust, more hard).
Later, I mix it out of stove.

A spoon, a napkin and a beautiful ray of sunshine through the window...I 'm feeling much better.

Cauliflower balls

Where I come from ,Messina, the name of this recipe is " crispeddi i cavuluciuri", that is cauliflower balls.
Normally they are fried.
In Sicily many dishes are fried...are part of so-called street food.
When I was a little girl, I ate them a lot so I can barely stand it.
But now I bake them.
I like fried food but baked I think it is more healthy and I eat it with no worries.

Ingredients:
1 medium cauliflower (600 g)
3 tablespoons Parmesan cheese
1 egg
a sprig of parsley
rice flour
4 tablespoons potatoes starch
a pinch of salt

Preparation:

I put the cauliflower in a pan with boiling water for 20 minutes.
Later, I drain it and I put in a bowl, mashing with a fork.
Then I add salt, egg, Parmesan cheese, chopped parsley and potatoes starch.
If the dough is still wet, usually I continue adding a bit of Parmesan cheese or potatoes starch.
Finally I shape by hand some balls and I pass them in a dish with rice flour (to be more crunchy).
I put the cauliflower in a pan covered by a greaseproof paper oiled with extra virgin olive oil and I bake for 15 minutes at 200 ° (medium-high temperature).
Other 5 minutes  to cook them au gratin.

One leads to another until the dish is empty!

With this recipe I participate to contest "Polpettiamo" by Squisito

Chestnut quiche with apples

I know very well how can be hard cooking and eating when you have several food intolerance.

Among food intolerance, nickel intolerance is one of the worst.

The list of the admitted food is shorter than the forbidden one! Too many limits!

I feel so bad for these people, so I tried to make a sweetened quiche.

This recipe, if I don't get wrong, it should be nichel-gluten-lactose-egg free.

Ingredients:

Short crust pastry

100 g rise flour

100 g chestnut flour

50 g rice starch

100 g ripe apple cold juice

60 g extra virgin olive oil

a pinch of salt

2 tablespoons of sugar fruit

custard

500 ml lactose free milk

60 g rice flour

100 g sugar fruit

a piece of lemon zest

grated lemon zest

1 teaspoon saffron

2 apples (pippin variety)

lemon juice

3 tablespoons fruit sugar

Preparation:

The evening before I make the short crust pastry with rice flour and starch, chestnut flour, 

apple cold juice, e.v. olive oil, two tablespoons of sugar fruit.

I let the dough stand in the fridge all night.

The day after I roll it in a cake pan ,extra virgin oiled and rice flour sprinkled.

I bake the quiche for 15 minutes at 180 ° (low temperature).

Meanwhile I prepare the custard.

I pour the rice flour in a pan, out of stove.

Then the cold milk and I mix them well.

Later the piece of lemon zest, grated lemon zest , saffron and fruit sugar.

I cook the custard over a low flame, mixing all the time and waiting that it thickens.

I take the cake pans out and I pour the warm custard and the apple slices (previously soaked of lemon juice to avoid making them black).

Last a sprinkle of sugar fruit (it helps to cook au gratin).

I bake for 30 minutes at 180° (low temperature).

Last five minutes for gratin.

I prepare also other little cake pans with short crust pastry no-stop baked for 20 minutes.

Then I pour, out of the oven, the remaining custard and some slices of mandarine oranges brushed with sugar fruit syrup (water and sugar fruit).

It is good as a normal cake.

In fact it is really good thanks to chestnut flour and extra virgin olive oil.

I hope to save a slice also for tomorrow breakfast.



With this recipe I participate to contest "Abbasso le intolleranze" of La fattoria di Nonna Paperina

Big meat-balls in the Scottish way

I have found again a Scottish cooking book at the bottom of my cooking books drawer.
I would like to do all those recipes.
After shortbread now it is the turn of scotch eggs.
That is very big meat balls in the Scottish way.
This is my "without" version.
Ingredients:


250 g sausage  lactose-sugar free chopped meat without skin
1 little chopped onion
50 g corn flour (medium fine , bramata type in Italy)
1 egg and 1 egg white
1 tablespoon  chopped fennel seeds
a pinch of ground nutmeg
4 hard -boiled eggs
50 g potatoes starch
salt and pepper

Preparation:
I put in a bowl the chopped sausage meat without skin, onion, potatoes starch, chopped fennel seeds,
salt, pepper, nutmeg and I mix all well.
I divide the knead in four equal parts.
I dip my hands in a glass of water and I flatten a part on a palm.
I put the boiled-egg on the chopped sausage meat in my palm, and I cover the boiled-egg with the sausage meat, so to have a ball.
I make the same with other meat parts and eggs.
I roll the sausage meat-balls in the beaten egg white  and in the corn flour.
I bake instead of frying them at 200° (medium temperature) in a baking pan covered by e.v. oiled greaseproof paper.
10-15 minutes, turning around themselves to make them golden and crunchy.

This mega meat-ball far-away from me...is delicious.
Let it inspire!