Spaghetti al Nero di Seppia - Spaghetti with Cuttlefish

Hello all, I know I have not blogged any recipes lately but I was quite busy working towards a career change! Oh yes...quite happy and excited about the new job starting in January but until then I have two weeks off and hopefully I will post some delicious recipes that we have prepared lately. One recipe that we made and loved is the classic Italian recipe Spaghetti al Nero di Seppia which basically is spaghetti in a black sauce!! Yes a black sauce which is the result of the addition of the cuttlefish's ink to the cuttlefish sauce. Try it out, if you have not got a fishmonger close-by, you can buy sachets of cuttlefish ink online...I do! They are very cheap as well. This pasta sauce is very fast and easy to prepare...just make sure that cuttlefish you are using is fresh. So for 2-3 people you will need...

• 200g spaghetti
• 600g cleaned cuttlefish (including tentacles), cut into small pieces
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 100ml (½ cup) white wine
• 2 sachets cuttlefish ink or 1 fresh cuttlefish ink sac
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley (or 1 tablespoon dried parsley)
• Extra virgin olive oil

How to...

1. Heat about 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil together with the garlic in a small pan. Cook until the garlic is aromatic and golden.
2. Now add the cuttlefish and parsley and stir well. Cook on medium heat for about 15 minutes. Increase the heat on high and add the wine and cook until the wine has evaporated (at this point you can cook the pasta and drain it). Reduce the heat to medium again and add the cuttlefish ink sachets. Stir well. If using the fresh cuttlefish ink sac, add the whole and break it carefully with a wooden spoon. Heat thoroughly.
3. Add the sauce to the pasta and serve with extra chopped parsley and extra virgin olive oil.

Enjoy!!

R&A

Lasagne Nostrane - Our Lasagna

Lasagne are one of the best baked pasta dishes ever created, it is the proper Italian comfort food. Warm, saucy, cheesy mmmmmm!! Amanda & myself certainly love the most common version, the ones with a rich tomato based meat sauce and a silky smooth home-made white sauce. You can , obviously, use the stuff from jars that have been produced wherever, whenever and most importantly using a lot of preservatives to keep them in the jar for ages, but nothing beats a delicious freshly made meat sauce and/or white sauce. I have been meaning to put our take on the classic lasagne for ages so here it is and as I said it is quite rich so we nearly always have leftovers which Amanda and myself have for lunch the following day. You can also leave the lasagne to cool down and divide it into portions and freeze them to whenever you need them. Our take on lasagne is heavily influenced by Amanda's mother, I can remember that whenever she used to prepare it for us, I always (without fail) asked for seconds. Please try and do your own meat and béchamel sauces as they are so tasty and surely more genuine. Give it a go, you will need...

For the meat sauce

• 500g lean beef mince
• 500ml tomato passata
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste dissolved in 200ml boiling water
• Worcestershire sauce
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 Knorr beef stock pot or Oxo cube
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Vegetable oil

For the white sauce

• 50g butter
• 50g plain flour
• 700ml whole milk, at room temperature
• Ground black pepper, to taste
• 200g ham, chopped
• 200g Edam or Cheddar cheese grated
• Small bunch of parsley, finely chopped (optional)

• 12-15 sheets uncooked lasagne

1. Start preparing the meat sauce by heating some oil in a saucepan along with the garlic. As soon as the garlic turns golden add the mince, Worcestershire sauce and some freshly ground black pepper and cook the mince until brown, drain excess fat in a bowl or leave all fat to evaporate and mince is dry, about 10-15 minutes. Now add the passata, tomato paste in boiling water, sugar and stock pot or cube and give it a good stir. Simmer covered on medium heat for about 20 minutes. Take off the heat and set aside.
2. Now it's time for the white sauce, melt the butter and add the flour on low heat. Stir constantly until you get a golden but not brown roux. Now, start adding the milk to the roux gradually, make sure you keep stirring all the time so as not to get any lumps. Keep stirring until you use all the milk and until you get a thick silky sauce. Season with some black pepper. Now add most of the grated cheese (leaving some aside), chopped ham and parsley (if using) and stir well always on low heat until the cheese is melted. Take off the heat and set aside.
3. Preheat the oven at 180°C.
4. To assemble the lasagne, get an oven dish (preferably rectangular) and spread some meat sauce, lay 3 lasagne sheets and then cover with white sauce, sprinkle some grated cheese, repeat the process until you use all the sauces, cheese and lasagne sheets. Bake in the preheated oven for about 30-40 minutes or until the top is golden. Serve hot!

Enjoy!!

R&A

Penne alla Carbonara

This is how a proper Carbonara should be. This is a rustic pasta dish that comes from Rome although its origin is questionable as some Italians say it came from the Umbria region, some say it comes from the Lazio region and some say that it was invented by an inventor from Naples from the Campana region. Anyway, whatever the provenance it is a very tasty dish and a very quick and easy way to flavour your pasta. We used penne but spaghetti go very well with this type of sauce as well. If you do not have pecorino Romano you may use Grana padano or Parmegiano Reggiano. Make sure you use free range eggs so you get a lovely yellowy colour. The original recipe uses guanciale which similar to pancetta only that guanciale comes from the cheek of the pig (guancia means cheek in italian hence the name) and pancetta comes from the belly of the animal (pancia means belly in italian hence the name). Give it a go! For 4 people you will need...

• 300g penne
• 4 egg yolks + 1 whole egg
• 100g grated pecorino Romano
• 150g Guanciale or pancetta, diced

How to...

1. Start by cooking the pasta al dente. 
2. Cook the guanciale or pancetta in a hot pan (no oil is required as guanciale and/or lardons have enough fat on them) until crispy.
3. When the pasta is cooked, drain it but leave a little cooking liquid with the pasta to avoid having a dry pasta dish. Cover and set aside.
4. Start making the sauce by whisking the egg yolks and one whole egg in a bowl. Whisk until they are combined well. Add the cheese and combine well with the eggs. Now add the guanciale or pancetta. Mix again and add everything to the cooked pasta.
5. Mix slowly until all the pasta is covered with the sauce and serve.

Enjoy!!

R&A

Pork & Fennel Sausages

These sausages are inspired by the great Antonio Carluccio. When we tried them, they were so delicious. Try to find the best minced pork you can get your hands on and also use a good red wine. We used a good red Chianti. Italian sausages...Italian wine :) The secret in getting good sausages is to mix the meaty mixture for a long time by hand!!! This makes sure that all the ingredients are infused into the meat. As with all sausages you can grill them, BBQ them, fry them...whatever you desire. When they were done I dipped them in some pre-made Caponata but if you cannot find it a good red bell pepper sauce like Ajvar will do just fine or ketchup or whatever you fancy!! To prepare about 12 sausages you will need...

• 1kg minced pork
• 1 red chilli, de-seeded & chopped
• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
• 1 tsp fennel seeds, crushed
• 120ml red wine (We used Chianti)
• 4 tbsp Extra virgin olive oil
• Salt & freshly ground black pepper, to taste

How to...

1. Mix all the ingredients in a bowl and mix them well by hand. 
2. Shape them up into 12 equally sized sausages.
3. Heat a pan with some olive oil and fry them until done from both sized, about 10 minutes or until cooked through. You can also grill them.
4. Serve them with any sauce you like.

Enjoy!!

R&A

Pizza Caponata

This is one of my favourite pizza toppings. I missed the tinned caponata from Malta so I got my parents to send me some. As soon as it arrived I put Pizza Caponata on the menu :) As for all pizza toppings use as much or little ingredients as you want. I was introduced to this pizza topping when I used to work at Ir-Rokna Restaurant & Pizzeria which in my honest opinion does the best pizzas on the island using the traditional wood burning stone oven. Well, this is my Pizza Caponata. If you are doing your own dough just click here and follow the making the pizza dough steps...any problems feel free to let us know :)) So this is what I put on my Pizza Caponata...

• Tomato sauce (not too much)
• Grated mozzarella
• Tuna chunks
• Hard boiled eggs
• Caponata
• Anchovies
• Green or black olives
• Dried oregano

How to...

1. Just spread a little tomato sauce, then the caponata followed by the anchovies, tuna, olives and eggs.
2. Sprinkle the grated mozzarella cheese and oregano.
3. Bake in a hot oven for about 15-20 minutes or until cheese is golden.

Enjoy!!

R&A

Parmigiana di Melanzane - Italian Aubergine & Parmesan Bake

This recipe originates from Sicily (although some say it comes from Naples and some even say it comes from Parma). It is a sort of lasagne but using slices of gorgeous grilled aubergine instead of pasta. Parmigiana is one of our favourite dishes and it ignites your Mediterranean taste buds with every bite you munch on!! So here goes our take on this delicious recipe...you will need...

• 4 large aubergines, sliced lengthwise in 1cm slices
• 4 large vine tomatoes, sliced and deseeded
• 2 cans chopped tomatoes [polpa]
• 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• Fresh basil leaves
• 2 [x125g] mozzarella balls, sliced
• 100g parmesan, grated
• Ground black pepper
• Olive oil
• Vegetable oil, for frying
• Coarse sea salt

How to...

1. Put the sliced aubergines in a colander across each other and sprinkle with salt between the layers. Put the colander in a bowl or sink and leave covered with a plate for about 90 minutes to remove the bitter juices from the aubergines.
2. In the meantime prepare the sauce by gently frying the onion and garlic until soft and transparent. Add the chopped tomatoes, about 6 large hand torn basil leaves, the ground black pepper to taste and a glug of olive oil and simmer for about 30 minutes. Set the sauce aside.
3. Wash the aubergine slices from the salt and make sure you pat them dry well by using kitchen paper or a clean tea towel.
4. Pre-heat the oven at 175°C.
5. Start frying the aubergine slices until tender, drain on kitchen paper to remove excess oil.
6. When all the slices are done, start layering the Parmigiana. Start with a layer of tomato sauce, then a layer of aubergines, loads of grated parmesan, about 6 basil leaves, about 6 tomato slices and some sliced mozzarella.
7. Keep repeating this procedure until all ingredients are used, make sure to cross the pattern of the aubergines, for example, if you put the first layer down horizontally, put the next vertically and so on.
8. Finish the top by more parmesan, sliced tomatoes and torn basil leaves.
9. Put into the pre-heated oven and bake for about 35 minutes or until you a nice bubbly golden surface.
10. Leave to stand for about 10-15 minutes and serve.

Enjoy!!

R & A

Pizza Margherita con Prosciutto Crudo (Parma Ham)

Another request...the proper Pizza Margherita from the Italian region of Campania where it was born. Famous pizzaiolo Peppino Brandi created this recipe in honour of Queen Margherita of Italy in June 1889, hence the 'il tricolore' [the 3 colours of the Italian flag. Green [Basil], White [Mozzarella] and Red [Tomatoes]. In the original recipe the Neapolitans use San Marzano tomatoes but unfortunately is very difficult to find here in the UK, so we used good quality canned chopped tomatoes. As for the mozzarella the original recipes uses Mozzarella di Bufala [Buffalo Mozzarella] but feel free to use good quality cow's milk mozzarella. When baking the pizza make sure that you only bake the dough with the tomatoes and cheese only. After cooked, then add the Prosciutto Crudo, basil leaves and extra-virgin olive oil. Here is the recipe for the dough, it is very easy and fast to do and is well worth it. The ingredients that follow are for 4 pizzas...Square, round or whatever shape you want to give it...obviously the original shape is round.

NOTE:  '00' flour is a very fine flour used in making pizza dough which is very fine and needs no sifting..available from Asda, Tesco and others. Click on the blue link for further info.

For the pizza dough:

• 1 pkt of dried active yeast [7g]
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp sugar
• 300ml lukewarm water
• 500g '00' flour, or normal plain flour
• 100g semolina, plus extra to dust

For the topping:

• 2 cans good quality chopped tomatoes
• 3 Buffalo mozzarella [about 375g], torn into small pieces
• Fresh basil leaves
• 150g Prosciutto Crudo [Parma Ham]
• Extra olive oil

How to...

1. To make the pizza dough, blend the yeast in a measuring jug with 300ml lukewarm water, sugar and the 2 tbsp olive oil. Leave it to stand for 10 minutes. 
2. To make the dough you can easily make it using a food processor, just throw everything in and process until the dough turns into a ball. Otherwise, mix the flour and semolina and pile the mixture into a volcano shaped heap on the working surface. Make a well in the centre and slowly pour in the liquid, start kneading with your hand and adding the yeast mixture until all the liquid has been incorporated. Knead to a smooth dough. Cover and leave in a warm place for an hour to rise.
3. Heat the oven to 220°C/Gas Mark 7. Knock the pizza dough back and divide into four or two, depending on the size of your pizza. If you are making it round, shape each piece into a ball and stretch it until you get a 12" round base. 
4. Now, spread the chopped tomatoes on the bases, sprinkle the mozzarella and put into the hot oven for about 10 minutes or until done to your liking. When cooked get it out of the oven put 2 slices of prosciutto on each, tear the basil leaves on it and drizzle with good extra-virgin olive oil. 

Enjoy this simple but truly irresistible pizza. :)

R & A