Lasagne

This hands down is one of my favourite things to make, although I rarely do.  Although it is simple to make, it is a tedious process which results in a sense of occasion.  I normally set aside at least half a day to make it, especially when making my own lasange sheets.  I always make more than required as it is always nice to have left-overs, especially when it has taken so much effort!

As discussed in my "ragu alla bolognese' recipe, there are many different ingredients that can be added- no two recipes are the same.  I have tasted different varieties of lasagne where various cheeses have been used, such as ricotta and mozzarella (not the soapy variety we buy in Australian supermarkets). A friend's Sicilian grandmother used to add a thin layer of whisked eggs resulting in a creamy, rich texture.  I like to keep mine simple, I have learnt in this instance "less is more"- a wise Italian woman taught me this!

The main four key fundamentals needed are: meat sauce, bechamel sauce, pasta sheets, parmesan cheese.

Invite your best friends over to share in the fruits of your labour!

What you will need (this will make two large lasagne trays):
1: Bolongese sauce (refer to recipe)
2: Bechamel sauce (refer to recipe)
3: Make fresh pasta sheets (refer to recipe), or buy fresh pasta sheets (about 700g)
4: 250g finely grated FRESH parmesan cheese (you can ask your local deli to grate for you)

How to make:

1: Make the meat sauce first, set aside

2: Make the bechamel sauce, set aside (if it becomes too thick add a little milk)

3: Cook the pasta sheets in salted boiling water, remove and place on tea-towel

4: Spread a thin layer of meat sauce in large tray, cover with pasta sheets and cut to size, spread pasta sheet with bechemel sauce, sprinkle generously with grated Parmesan cheese

5: Repeat this process until you have used all of the ingredients.  There should be 4-5 layers of pasta.  Top the final layer of pasta with a generous amount of bechamel sauce and grated parmesan cheese.

5: Cover with tin foil and place in the fridge (leave overnight to enhance flavour)

6:  Cook in a pre-heated 180 degrees oven for 1/2 hour, remove foil and cook a further 10 minuets until golden.

Buon apetito!

Ragù alla bolognese (bolognese sauce)

I can see Italian's now throwing their hands in the air "ai ai ai that's not how you make it"!!  
Yes, there are many ways to make bolongese sauce, and admittedly I change the way in which I make it from time to time.  Today, I simply decided to share with you the way in which I made it today, trust me there were no complaints!  This recipe has the fundamentals of how I usually make my sauce, and is perfect for winter!

The first known reference to "ragu alla bolognese" dates back to the late 18th century originating from Bologna.  It is traditionally served with tagliatelle pasta. There is so much love, care and attention needed when making ragu. My theory is that if I go to the effort needed to make the sauce, then I always make my own fresh tagliatelle pasta. 
Last year I gave my Italian friend a `care pack`, which included a container of my ragu, pasta and some other items. On Sunday he invited his Mother over for lunch, and unbeknownst to me served my sauce and pasta. His Mother took a mouthful, there was silence,  then her eyes welled with tears as she said that this pasta takes her back to her childhood, when her Nonna used to cook the same tasting sauce. Filled with aromatic spices. I still get a little chocked up thinking about that special moment. That food can play such an important part of our memories, emotions and encounters.  

On a visit to Bologna it confirmed that using a variety of meats is the key to making a more complex sauce, and traditionally it was made using predominantly veal.

I have tried and loved many sauces, from the North to the South of Italy (the sauce becomes lighter and more tomato based further south).  Each sauce is different, and each household holds a secret! 

This is a robust sauce, that I feel respects the origins and authenticity!  Serve with fresh homemade pasta, top with freshly grated parmigiano cheese and enjoy with red wine. Bliss! 

What you need:
500g mince beef
250g mince veal
250g mince pork
four juicy Italian pork sausages 
two x 400g tomato pulp tins (made in Italy)
1/2 cup olive oil
one onion
two carrots
two celery stalks
5-6 gloves garlic
handful fresh parsley
handful fresh sage
handful fresh oregano
large sprig of rosemary 
1-2 tablespoon fresh grated nutmeg
three bay leaves
500mls red wine
three cups beef stock (homemade)
two tablespoon tomato paste/concentrate
salt and black pepper to taste

How to make:

1: First you need to make the 'sofritto' (the Italian term for combining evenly chopped pieces of carrot, onion, celery, garlic and parsley to a pan).  Cooked the vegetables in the olive oil until soft.  TIP: add a little salt which will help slow down the cooking process and result in perfectly soft, translucent onions.

2: Add the mixed meats to the large saucepan and lightly brown.  Continue to stir and make sure meat is evenly cooked through.

3: Add the herbs, nutmeg, salt and pepper- stir through.

3:  Add the wine and cook for a further five minuets.

4: Add the remaining ingredients.  Cover and simmer, occasionally stirring for two hours.  Make a day ahead to allow the flavours to deepen!

rooftop view over Bologna

pasta making with Stephanie

Besciamella (bechamel sauce)

Bechamel sauce is creamy white sauce that with a little practice is so easy to make.  Although the recipe originates from France and is evident in many French dishes, it is also used for many Italian dishes- notably lasagne!

There is a tale that the famous white sauce was introduced to France by the great chefs of Italian born, Queen Catherine de Medici.  In Italian lore, all of the good foods that France has is due to her.  

The secret to a creamy and lump free sauce is to slowly add warm milk to the roux (equal parts butter and flour). Also the nutmeg enhances the delicate flavour. 

What you need:
100g butter
100g flour
one litre warm milk
fresh grated nutmeg
salt and fresh black cracked pepper

How to make:

1: Start by making a roux.  Melt butter on a low heat.  Once the butter has melted, take the saucepan of the heat and add the flour, combine thoroughly.  

2: Return to low heat and cook for a further one minute.  This is to cook the raw flour taste out. Make sure the mixture remains a light colour- it should not turn brown.

3: Add roughly 100 ml of warm milk to roux and quickly whisk (making sure there are no lumps).  Once you have a smooth creamy consistency continue adding small amounts of warm milk and whisk.   

4: Add the remaining milk, nutmeg, salt and pepper to taste. Whisk and simmer the sauce on a low heat while.  Stir the sauce continually, with a wooden spoon.  The sauce will take about 5 minuets to thicken.  Once ready remove from heat!

Good Friday

What did you eat today, Good Friday?   Although Good Friday in Italy is not a day of celebration as such, it is a day where Catholics do not consume meat (some fast altogether).  An alternative is fish, and I normally take the opportunity to make "spaghetti alle cozze" (spaghetti with mussels).  This has become my own little tasty tradition, and enjoyed with my family and friends (sometimes randoms too). I thought I would share this with you, recipe to follow!

Buona Pasqua (Happy Easter)

Gemma cutting the Easter bread "Colomba".

Buona Pasqua- Happy Easter.  I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of my followers for your support and enthusiasm.  It is great to hear from you and to know that the information I am putting out is being well received.  I love to hear of your cooking stories.  It has been great to receive messages about what recipes you will be using for this Easter weekend. It has also been exciting to know that various work places are talking about my blog and using it productively. One thing I do ask is that you continue spreading the word about my blog and asking your friends and family to join- it only takes a minute.  Ideally I would like to find a sponsor, so the more supporters the better.

I wish you and your families a happy and yummy Easter!

Ciao e un bacino (bye and a little kiss),

Kara

Making colourful Easter decorations for the table

Cannoli Siciliani (Sicilian Cannoli)

I don't even know how to describe my love for these little treasures.  For me when I eat them they remind of many fond childhood memories.  To this day, not only do I eat them with fondness and  nostalgia, I truly enjoy the flavour.  The crisp outer pastry filled with creamy ricotta mixed with tangy fruit peel, nuts and chocolate is truly a wondrous combination. There is nothing more Sicilian than "cannoli" however each household varies the ingredients slightly (some omit the nuts and fruit peel).  Today I am sharing with you a recipe that I hold close to my heart, and a recipe I helped make on many occasions with my boyfriends Nonna!  I had barley more than a few euros in my pocket on my first trip to Sicily many years ago, however I made sure I bought myself a 'cannoli'.  It did not disappoint! The streets in Sicily are lined with pastry shops selling mountains of 'cannoli' decorated in various ways, all as equally beautiful and colourful.  To me eating a 'cannolo' is a symbol of family, celebration and love and needs to be shared with others. Although lengthy to prepare they are actually quite simple to make and so rewarding.    Enjoy with a nice strong coffee or a glass of sweet desert wine (although sometimes we would have grappa)!

What you need:

To make the cannoli:

250g white flour tipo 00

30g white wine vinegar

30g marsala wine

30g icing sugar

1 tablespoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon salt

5g cocoa powder

one egg

50g lard

For the filling:

750g ricotta cheese

300g icing sugar

1/4 cup candied mixed orange peel

1/4 cup pistachio nuts chopped

75g 70% cocoa dark chocolate finely chopped

Peanut oil for frying

How to make:

1:  Sift flour, icing sugar, cinnamon, salt, and cocoa into a large bowl, make a well in the centre.

2: Add lard  to the centre of flour combination and mix in with finger tips.  Pour in the marsala and white wine vinegar, use finger tips to combine, then transfer to bench top and lightly knead together.  Once kneaded to a ball, wrap in cling wrap and place n fridge for 1/2 hour.

3: To prepare the ricotta mix place the ricotta in sieve and push through with a metal spoon.  This will help give the ricotta a creamier texture.  Sift and stir through icing sugar.

4: Add the chopped fruit peel, chopped nuts and chocolate to ricotta mix.  Place in fridge until ready to use.

5: Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface.  Roll the dough as thin as possible.  Use a large round cutter to cut roughly 16 circles.

6: Take one circle and wrap around a metal "cannoli" tube.  Use a little milk wash to join overlapping dough.  Continue process until all circles have been wrapped (or take in turns depending on how many "cannoli" tubes you own).

7: Place 4 'cannoli" tubes into pre-heated peanut oil for approximately 1-2 minutes.  Remove dough from metal tubes and allow to cool on absorbent paper.  Be careful of your hands, the tubes will be extremely hot

8: Once all of the "cannoli" have been cooked and cooled use a piping bag to fill the "cannoli" with the ricotta mix.

9: Finally to decorate place one glazed cherry at one end and a thinly sliced orange peel at the other.  Alternatively, you can  dip in finely chopped chocolate or pistachio nuts.
10: Dust lightly with icing sugar

Buon Apetito!

Treccia Pasquale (Easter bread)

"Buona Pasqua a tutti" (Happy Easter to all)!  There is nothing more festive than the smell of baking this bread.  The poignant colour from the symbolic red eggs the rich yellow dough derived from using saffron.  The most common bread made and sold everywhere around Italy at Easter time is the "Colomba", a sweet bread shaped as a dove.  Similar to the famous bread sold all over Italy at Christmas time, the "Panettone".   There are various stories to the actual origins for both of these breads, but there is a solid case to Milan being the birthplace.  I choose to make this "Pane di Pasqua" over the more popular "Colomba", only because I like the overall festive effect.  Due to strong Catholic virtues, the red colour of the eggs is to symbolise the blood of Christ.  The bread is quite dense and the aroma and taste of saffron is pure decadence.  A handy tip is to wear gloves before dying eggs, speaking from experience!!

What you need:
1kg tipo 000 flour
50g fresh yeast (purchase from bakery)
6 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
one 1/4 cup of warm milk
one teaspoon of sugar
salt 
four eggs
pinch of ground saffron 
fennel or anise seeds to taste

                                                  

How to make:

1: Sift flour in a large bowl and create well in centre

2: Warm milk, add fresh yeast and sugar and whisk.  Set aside for a minute so that the mixture starts to froth (this is the yeast activating).  Crush the saffron treads as fine as possible and add to mixture

3: Pour the mixture into the centre of the sifted flour.  With a fork start to fold the flour in from the outside and start mixing together.  Once combined with a fork, use your hands to combine and knead on a floured bench for 5-10 minuets.  Add a little more warm milk, oil, or flour to desired texture.  The dough should be shiny and elastic and should spring back when pushed with finger

4: Set dough aside for 1 1/2, covered with a tea towel in a warm, dark place

5: Use oiled hands to re-knead the dough for 2-3 minuets. Cover again and set aside in a warm, dark place for another hour

6: Put dough on bench, use oiled hands to quickly knead, cut into three equal parts and roll each part into a long sausage like shape.  Also hold the dough up and let it naturally fall and stretch.

7: Place three separate pieces of dough on oven tray lined with baking paper.  Plait the dough to desired shape.  Brush dough with milk/oil wash.  Sprinkle with fennel seeds

8: Place pre dyed eggs in desired position

9: Bake in pre-heated 220 degrees oven for 30-40 minutes

10: Allow to cool on rack and enjoy warm

Use food colouring to dye eggs.  Although traditionally eggs were dyed using various vegetables.

Buona Pasqua