Hasselback Potatoes

In Sweden these potatoes are called Hasselbackspotatis, name derived from the restaurant where they were created and served first in 1940: the 3 centuries old Hasselbacken Restaurant in Stockholm.

The recipe is simple.
Its gorgeous taste depends from the special way potatoes are cut, a shape that requires some care.
So prepared, potatoes become crispy outside and very soft inside.

Ingredients for 6 persons: 12 medium potatoes, 40g of melted butter, 2 tablespoons of olive oil,salt and bread crumbs.

Sauce of Mushrooms

Ingredients: 50g Mushroom , approximately 30 grams of any kind of mixed mushrooms (optional), 1 Shallot , a small piece of Butter, ½ glass of Port, 1 cup of beef broth concentrate, little Parsley, Salt and Pepper.

Finely chop the shallots.
Clean  mushrooms and cut them into slices.
If you have them available, cut in pieces also the other mushrooms (Pleurotus and even frozen mushrooms).

Patatoes "à l'échirlète"

Ingredients: 3/4 ]b. (about 16) 1 1/2 inch new potatoes, 1 cup water or chicken or beef stock, 3 cloves of garlic, 2 tablespoons goose fat, salt. 

Wash patatoes.
If you do not have the new one, you can choose yellow potatoes and cut them into small pieces  giving them a rounded shape typical of this recipe. Put them in a saucepan just covered with water or stock, with garlic cloves and salt.
Cover and cook 15 minutes or until potatoes are tender. If all liquid is not absorbed, take patatoes out of the saucepan and let them to dry on a dish.
Take a large skillet, add goose fat and when it will be warm add patatoes.
Cook slowly until they are lightly browned.
Serve with roast of pork, beef, veal or lamb.

Broccoli with raisins and pine nuts

This to me is a recipe from memory. It remembers me a gentle woman who worked for my family as cook: a dalicate and tiny woman and very kind as well and also a very good cook.
She was Friulian but cause she had worked in many in many cities in Italy, from North to South, and brought in her kitchen the memory of the places where she lived and worked.

Ingredients: broccoli tops, a clove of garlic, pine nuts, dried raisins, olive oil, salt.

Crépes with Agretti

What are Agretti? They look like grass, and are a succulent plant that grows in Italian bog land.

Agretti are a tasty vegetable that grows in Italy and in France.
They can be eaten raw but they are better blanched in salted water or steamed and tossed with olive oil and lemon.
They look like grass thin as spaghetti and this could suggest recipes more imaginative and creative. As nutritional value and taste are similar to spinach, but they have a much more delicate flavor .

The cleaning needs attention: snap off the red roots, and rinse the dirt off of them.

Stuffed artichokes "in teglia"

Artichokes are delicious both raw or cooked in different ways.
A simpler version of this recipe is on my book Cucina mediterranea. La Storia nel piatto

Ingredients: Artichokes (Roman or Sardinian), Lemon, a bunch of Parsley, a small Shallot, a bread crumps, few tablespoons of grated Parmesan, Olive Oil, white Wine and water, Salt and Pepper.

Pan Fried Chicory

This easy and healthy way to prepare chicory, is typical Roman cuisine.
In Ciociaria this preparation is called "crazy chicory" probably due to the presence of hot chilli, usually abundant.
However, in Rome it is often prepared also without chilli, because the goodness of this recipe depends on the type of chicory, usually tender and sweet.

This is a great recipe to cook the green longue leaves that surround the heads of chicory buds used to prepare the salad of Puntarelle.

Ingredients: 1kg of chicory, 1 hot Chilli, 2 cloves garlic, 4 Tsp of olive oil, salt.

Clean and wash very carefully chicory to remove all traces of dirt.
Boil it in plenty of lightly salted water until it will become soft (it may take even longer than 30 minutes).
When cooked, drain and squeeze it immediately.
Now in a pan, sauté garlic and chilli with olive oil. Then add chicory and continue cooking for about 10 minutes, stirring constantly.
Add salt just before serving.

Frittedda

A wonderful Sicilian dish where is crucial the freshness of the ingredients, that should be all first produce, is crucial It's a recipe for the spring, to cook in the month of March and, in the north, until the month of April.
All ingredients should be fresh and just as soon sprung up from the ground.

Ingredients: 2 fresh onions or the corresponding weight of onions weds, 6 new and tender artichokes, 800gr fresh medium peas, 800gr of fava beans, ½ cup of olive oil, salt and pepper. Wild fennel or mint, minced.

Shell the peas and fava beans and if you want to do a good job, remove from favas even their outer skin. This may takes some time but also creates an occasion to get help from friends in the kitchen .

In ancient times, the particular envelope that surrounds fava bean has fueled legends related to myths of death and rebirth. Pythagoras himself, because of a myth telling that inside fava beans there were souls of the dead, decided to abstain from eating.

Clean artichokes removing the woody parts and any outer leaves that are tough, slice them into rather small wedges, remove the central hay (that should not be there if the artichokes are just young and fresh), and put them on hold in water acidulated with lemon juice.

Thinly slice onions and let them dry in a pan with the oil. Add to the pan artichokes, well dried, and brown for 10 minutes. Then add fava beans and finally, after few minutes peas. Cook very slowly, shaking the pan occasionally until vegetables are cooked and only finally season with salt and pepper.
Finish with chopped Ffennel or Mint as I prefer.
The Frittedda might be over here and that's how I prefer it.
But as I mentioned in the recipe described in my book La Storia nel Piatto, somebody completes it fading with ½ cup of not too strong vinegar and evaporates it quickly over high heat.

Note
However, never add water and possibly limit the risk of drying too much vegetable, keeping the pan partially covered.

Kolhrabi and Topinambur Gratin

Ingredients for 4 people: 2 kohlrabi, the same weight of Jerusalem artichokes, 1 cup fresh cream, 1/2 cup dry white wine, 1 tsp  mustard of Dijon, diced bacon, salt and pepper.

Peel the vegetables and cut into slices.
In a large pan, mix wine and fresh cream. Cook for 5 minutes and season with salt, pepper and Dijon mustard. Then add kohlrabi and Jerusalem artichoke sliced.
Cook again for 5 minutes. Add a part of bacon.
Transfer everything in a well-greased casserole and bake in a moderate oven for about 20 minutes, until hot and golden.
Before serving, if you like, garnish with diced grilled bacon.

Puntarelle "a la Romana"

In Italy, in the country near Rome are called Puntarelle the chicory sprouts when they are cut and treated in a particular way. This roman chicory is not the quality rather tough and bitter widespread in northern regions, but a more tender and sweet quality.  However today, it's not difficult to find it in almost every fruit and vegetable markets .

Ingredients for the salad : Garlic, 4 or 5 salted fillets of anchov, 2 tablespoons of good wine vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, salt, pepper.

The secret for this salad is the way to cut the chicory sprouts

Artichokes "a la Matticella"

This recipe is a specialty of region of Velletri and Viterbo, in northern Lazio First,

Why this strange name, matticella?

Matticella is a bundle of vine shoots, those which are cut off the plant during maintenance of the vines carried out in early spring.
These branches are pruned quite thin and long it would weaken the plant. Branches are gnarled and are generally very irregular, and they seem a bit ' crazy .
Artichokes a la matticella are cooked on a fire of bundles of matticelle .

Some argue that this recipe was already in use by the Etruscans, but they are first documented in the early 1800s or late 1700s and come from some of the writings of the Jesuits. In fact they settled in the territory of Lazio precisely on those dates.

There is also a legend of a girl, named Assuntina who, while flirting with a boy, forgot artichokes that she had collected, right near the embers of matticelle and then, to repair the damage and not be scolded by her father, had the idea to remedy stuffing them with olive oil and garlic. This idea, fortunately, was lucked and pleased to her father who decided that these artichokes were very good if eated drinking the new wine ...

The recipe is not complicated but need absolutely not only matticelle but also patience, and this is a quality not easy to find: the matticelle, in fact, should be left to consume slowly until they are brace.

I recommend it especially for those who are working in the country or in the garden and who are friends of some farmer who has a vineyard.
It is a good way to organize an outdoor barbecue ... tasting the new wine .

Ingredients: artichokes, bacon, pork, olive oil, garlic (as always optional and at your discretion ), salt, pepper, mint leaves.

Spinach Flan

When well done this Spinachs Flan is a real delight.
A delicate and refined dish.

In my home, it has been for a long time the undisputed specialty of Rita, our maid and excellent cook who worked many years for my family and in now also a good friend.

According to my concept, a Flan has a special feature: the first part of the cooking needs to be conducted in the oven in a bain marie and only at the last 20 minutes is finishes directly in the oven . However, there are some dishes that despite being called Flan do not respect this rule.

Ingredients: 1/2kg of fresh spinach
,
 2 eggs, grated Parmesan cheese to taste
. For the bechamel sauce : 25g butter, 50g flour
,
 quarter of a liter of milk, salt, pepper and nutmeg.

Boil spinachs and squeeze them very well and then chop them finely.
To cook spinach I 'm used to wash them well and to put them in a large pot, without water sprinkled with a little salt and then to cover the pot with a lid. The cooking will be fast and spinachs will lose most of their volume.

SWEET & SOUR PAMPKIN called “Söche trombe”

This recipe for pumpkin was a "must" on the Christmas Table in my family, both among starters but also as side dish in the main course.
I'm not sure that it was a popular dish in my country, or only a traditional recipe of my family .
Certainly it is a typical recipe of Italian Jewish cuisine in the part of the recipes collection of the Giuliana Ascoli book "The cuisine in the Jewish tradition".
In my house it was always prepared with the kind of pumpkin called "trumpet " for its shape of elongated neck flask, a quality of pumpkin not powdery nor too sweet which is particularly suited to be cooked this way.

Prepared in advance and put in tightly sealed jars, it will keep for a long time .

le zucche con il sale per eliminare la loro acqua.

Ingredients: ½ kg pumpkin, olive oil is for frying and for the carp, 1 cup vinegar, 2 cloves of garlic, some dried fig.

Cut pumpkin into thin slices. Fry in deep oil and put them in a jar, alternating with some dried fig.

Mashed sweet potatoes

Ingredients for 4 people: 800g sweet potatoes, 1 cup cream (20 cl), Olive oil, Salt, Pepper

Cook in a large quantity of water sweet patatoes, peeled and cut into pieces. Cook them in boiling water for 10 minutes.

When cooked, after draining, mash them and mix with cream and olive oil. Salt and peppe.

Note:

This mash goes perfectly all your meat, expecially pork or duck meat, and spicy fish but but also beef and poltry stews and gravy.

Dolmades by JeanPierre Coffe

In one of the 2009 editions of  Michel Drucker program on French Antenne2 TV-network, Jean- Pierre Coffe, the famous French gourmet (and also chef, actor and writer),  prepared a dish to make a tribute to Charles Aznavour after an idea of Drucker himself.
After an enthusiastic talk about winemaking traditions of the South Caucasus territories and in particular of Armenia, the original country of Aznavour, and about the simplicity and the friendliness of its people and its food, he offered to the company a dish of cabbage dolmades.  
(Coffe says among other things that even the wooden barrel was conceived in Armenia , an assertion which may not coincide with reality) 

Dolmas is the term used in Turkey for stuffed vegetables and their particular preparation.  In Greece, the same word indicates only stuffed grape leaves and all other kind of stuffed vegetables are generically called Yemista.     

The recipe whose origins span across all Near South-East could be created in Armenia and South Caucasus, although in Greece it is said that the idea of wrapping food in vine leaves dates back to the time of Demosthenes, during the first defeat of Chaeronea, 338 BC, at the time of the siege of Thebes by Philip of Macedon, father of Alexander the Great. 
Such an argument that dates back to 400 BC, does centainly silence everybody!   
However, considering that territories around Mount Ararat, Armenian territories now partly independent republic and partly annexed to Turkey, in ancient times were called Lands of Wine and also that History, Bible and legends reference this country for excellent wine production, I guess I can say that these rolls could be born over there.    

The stuffing in the best-known version includes aways rice and minced meat or rice and herbs in a common home edition. In Armenia, however, it can also consists of burghul, the dried & chopped sprouted grain prevalent in Middle Eastern cuisine and certainly more ancient than rice.    

This is the simplest recipe. If you want to make it much richer, follow what Coffe says in the video for his cabbage leaves version. 
One note: Coffe does not bend very well cabbage leaves so rolls could be damaged during cooking.   

Read below how to do. 

Ingredients for 6 servings: about 40 grape leaves fresh or frozen, 250g of rice , 2 or 3 scallions or onions , 2 tablespoons pine nuts , olive oil , chopped parsley  end herbs(chives , fennel or dill, mint) and coriander ground and heated in a dry pan to release its aroma, the juice of 2 lemons , salt and black pepper     

Pine nuts are almost never lacking and even chopped herbs such as mint, parsley and fresh coriander.  This simple stuffing can be enriched with other tasting ingredients like ground beef or lamb, raisins of Corinth that in many Mediterranean recipes replaces minced meat.   

Viennese Cabbage

Ingredients: 1 large savory cabbage, salt, caraway seeds and pepper, 30g lard or bacon, 30g flour, 1 finely chopped onion,  1 clove of garlic (optional), 4 potatoes.

in this recepe, lard or bacon is used as cooking fat. Be free to substitude it with oil or butter, as I do for a more delicate teste

Cut  the cabbage, removing all stalks and coarse ribs. Put it into a boiling salted water together with popatoes cut into big  pieces and the caraway seeds. Cook until tender. Gently fry onions, garlic with a little four to thicken. Add some water or stock and then drained cabbage and potatoes. Cook for a short time.

Cabbage cook in this way has a soft and very pleassant taste and is tipillay Viennese.

It is a great side dish for roast or boiled beef and for hot sausages, but it is very good  also with a plate of mixed cheeses.

Cauliflower Gratin

Cauliflower au gratin is a delicious dish

This recipe should certainly be a main dish because it is rich of eggs, cheese and bacon.

Not least: it is a quick recipe cause it takes about 15 minutes plus the cooking time.

Ingredients for 4 people : 1 small cauliflower, 50g. toma mountain, 50g bacon, 150gr milk, 150gr cream, 4 eggs, 20gr of butter, 40gr of white flour, salt and pepper.

Wash the cauliflower and divide it into florets. Brown them quickly in boiling salted water. 

In a bowl, beat together flour with eggs, salt and pepper and warm milk. 

Add to this mixture the cream, the cheese cut into small cubes and the bacon into thin strips. Grease a terracotta bowl or a gratin dish.

Spread on the bottom the cauliflower florets and cover with the egg mixture.Put in the oven at 220°C for about 20 minutes. In cooking, make attention not to burn the gratin surface that has to be colorful and crisp, but not dark brown . Let stand at least 5 minutes before serving, otherwise it could be too hot in your mouth.

It's Halloween, let's make a Pumpkin Pie!

Ingredients:

for the pie crust: 200gr flour, 100gr butter, 1 egg yolk, 1 teaspoon of granulated sugar, salt.
for the filling: 700gr pumpkin, 4 eggs, 80gr of sugar, 20gr of starch, 2 teaspoons honey, 2dl of cream, 20gr of sliced ​​almonds, 20gr of raw cane sugar for garnish.

Prepare the crust by working quickly together flour, salt, sugar, egg yolk, softened butter and 1dl ofwater. Stop kneading as soon as the flour is all absorbed. Make a ball and let rest in a cool place for 2 hours, wrapped in a sheet of kitchen cellophane. Prepare a pastry sheet to cover bottom and sides of a well greased cake pan, 22 cm large. Cook it in the oven at 200°C for about 10 minutes without any stuffing, just covered with parchment paper and filled with beans or those of porcelain beads just made to keep dough flat while baking in the oven.

Meanwhile, prepare the filling Whip together eggs, sugar, starch and cream to obtain a homogeneous mixture without lumps. Peel the pumpkin, cut first into slices about 3 cm thick and after in pieces of 3 mm. In a saucepan heat honey and then add the pumpkin slices and cook them until golden. Remove the pie crust from the oven and take off the parchment paper that covers it and beats.

Pour inside the cooked pumpkin and cover it with the mixture of cream and eggs.
Garnish over all with almonds, brown sugar and place back in the oven again for 10 or 15 minutes. Let cool before serving.

Vermicelli with zucchini

I've learned this recipes in Naples. In the original dish zucchini are sliced ​​thin but instead I suggest a julienne cut, a solution that will undoubtedly improves the flavor of the dish. Remember, however, to cook zucchini quickly so they still remain firm and almost crunchy.

Ingredients for 4 people: 350gr of vermicelli (must be bigger than the normal spaghetti), 2 or 3 medium zucchini, some garlic clove or shallot, 2 whole eggs, Parmesan cheese, extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper, a few mint leaves for garnish.

While boiling water for the pasta, clean zucchini taking off the internel part (keep it aside for another recipe) and cut them into julienne making threads long enough to be similar to spaghetti.

Break eggs in a bowl and beat them with a little salt and plenty of grated Parmesan cheese. Finely chop garlic or shallots and brown it in a saucepan with a fair amount of oil. When the pasta water boils, add salt and put to cook the noodles.

Meanwhile, combine zucchini with garlic or shallots, browning them very quickly. When pasta is cooked, drain and add to the zucchini inside the saltapasta (a pan similar toa chnese wok), tossing it on high heat.

Finally, pour in the egg mixture and Parmesan cheese. Stir briefly with energy so that the eggs remain as much as possible with soft and adhering to the pasta but without solidify.
Switch off and serve immediately, garnish sprinkling of black pepper and few leaves of mint. Questa è una ricetta che ho imparato a Napoli.
 

Kolòkitho keftédes

Polpettine greche di zucchine e Feta  (Κολοκυθοκεφτέδες με φέτα)

Queste polpette sono uno dei miei piatti preferiti. Spesso sono anche servite tra i mezédes

Image from nostimada.gr

Ingredients for 4 people: 700gr small and temder zucchini, 2 medium and white onions, bunch of parsley, a bunch of mint, 3 o 4 bread slices, 1 garlic ( il you like it), 300gr of Feta cheese, 2 eggs, grated lemon peel, some spoon of white flour, a pinch of instant baking powder, salt and pepper,olive oil for frying.

Grate the zucchini on a coarse grater and leave in colander after the brining to strain. Finely chop the onions, mint and parsley. Finely chop Feta cheese that you can substitute with another kind of cheese you have at home.
Put in a bowl zucchini and chopped herbs. Mix the flour with the baking powder and add to the mixture with also eggs and mix everything together. Stirring constantly, add a pinch of baking powder, salt an pepper.
Please note that usually the feta cheese is already a little salty If you want to give to your croquettes a fine round shape, it's better to add also the bread, soaked first in water and then crushed. Otherwise don't use it but in this case, shape them with the help of 2 spoons just when you throw them in the frying pan.

Fry in a pan with not too hot olive oil is and turn them when they are cooked on one side. Garnish with a few slices of lemon. They are delicious served with the Lebneh or other Greek salad like Tzatzik, aside.