Tag: italian
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Anna’s NoRecipe Fennel And Lemon Salad
This is Anna’s fennel and lemon salad. It couldn’t be easier and if you like aniseed flavours this will be totally moreish.
Simply
Take a fennel bulb and cut the bottom and tops off.
Then cut the bulb into chunky slices. You want bits small enough to eat with a fork but large enough to steal from the bowl when no one is looking. 🙂
Generously sprinkle with salt and lots of lemon juice. You can even drizzle a little olive oil too.
Mix and then garnish with parsley.
Enjoy,
PK
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Buffalo Mozzarella Cheese
Once you try mozzarella di bufala you can’t go back. It is the most amazing example of stretched cheeses and the taste is sublime. The buffalo milk imparts a higher acidity to the cheese and gives it its signature tanginess.
It is exceptionally versatile and you can use it raw in salads, melted on pizzas, cooked in lasagna, pasta and the list goes on and on.
Milk
Buffalo
Origin
Italy
Aged
No
Aroma
Milky and fresh.
Taste
Slightly tangy and a touch sour. It has an amazing texture caused by the curds being stretched and plaited.
Texture
Soft and elastic to a point then it tears easily. It melts extremely well and when cooked it can go creamy, releasing its moisture.
Look
Pure white with an edible almost imperceptible rind.
Serving
Here are a couple of serving suggestions that I like to make.
Raw with a drizzle of olive oil, some cracked pepper and basil from the garden.
The world’s tastiest toastie(mozzarella, tomato, chives and cracked pepper).
Manufacturing and Salting Method
The high acidity of the resulting curds allows it to be heated and pulled into long strands and plaited. It is then cooled and pickled in salty whey.
Wine
I am not a wine paring expert but the team at cheese.com say to try this with:
- Beaujolais
- Sauvignon Blanc
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Tomato Passata
Tomato Passata makes the perfect tomato base for a lot of dishes. It is basically salted, uncooked tomatoes that have been pureed (after being strained of their skins and seeds).
It differs from tomato paste, tomato puree and tomato sauce in that these have been cooked and processed to varying degrees.
I use passata a lot because of its blank canvas versatility. I can build flavours into it to make rich pasta sauce. This sauce can then be reduces to make thicker tomato concoctions such as a sauce for Beef Parmigiana.
Dietary Info: Check the labels of a particular brand but home-made it is great for vegetarians and is gluten free.
This particular cooking ingredient is in PK’s Essential Pantry Cupboard Contents.
Enjoy,
PK
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PK’s Beef Parmigiana
This is simple home cooking at its best. The classic Beef Parmigiana (we Aussies call it a Parmi) is a great way to make a little go a long way. They are deceptively rich and filling!
Plus you get to take out any of the day’s frustrations out on the cutlets when you give them a good hitting with the mallet. 🙂
I am using beef cutlets, thin slices of either leg or rib meat, but you can adapt the recipe to use pork, chicken, lamb and even eggplant.
Steps
- Bashing the beef
- Crumbing the beef
- Making the sauce
- Shallow frying the beef
- Melting the cheese
- Serving
Ingredients
- 6 to 8 beef or veal cutlets (you might see them called beef scaloppine)
- 1/2 cup plain white flower
- 1 chicken egg, whisked
- Breadcrumbs, enough to cover the cutlets (panko works a treat)
- Olive oil (enough to shallow fry the cutlets)
- 1 small brown onion, finely diced
- 2 garlic cloves, finely diced
- 700g tomato passata
- A small handful of basil leaves
- 2 spring onion tops (ie the green bits only), chopped
- 1 cup grated cheese (I used a mild cheddar)
- Salt and cracked black pepper to taste
Equipment
- 1 meat mallet
- 3 sheets of baking paper
- 2 chopping boards
- 1 plate
- 1 bowl
- 1 fry pan
- 1 oven dish
- 1 heavy pan (suitable for shallow frying)
Bashing the beef
- Place the cutlets between two sheets of baking paper (or dust your mallet in flour).
- I like to flatten them a lot but be careful, we don’t want to make them so thin they break apart.
- Give them as much salt and cracked black pepper as you like.
Crumbing the beef
- Now for a little trick my dad showed me growing up. Pop the cutlets, the 1/2 cup plain white flour and some more salt and pepper into a dry plastic vegetable bag (I wash and reuse mine a few times).
- Close the top and gently massage and jiggle the flour mix into every nook and cranny of the cutlets.
- Throw the bag in the fridge if you are running ahead of time.
- Whisk the egg in a bowl.
- Lay out a bed of breadcrumbs on a dinner plate.
- Dip each cutlet into the egg mix, getting full coverage, then fully coat in breadcrumbs.
- Pop them onto a sheet of baking paper as you go (you can reuse a sheet from the tenderising step above).
Making the sauce
- Add a splash of olive oil to your fry pan and start softening up the single sliced onion and the 2 finely diced garlic cloves.
- Add 700g of passata and a small handful of fresh basil leaves to the pan.
- The idea is that we will slowly thicken the tomato sauce while we are shallow frying the crumbed beef.
- It should be nice and gluggy by the time the beef is ready to go into the oven (see below), so adjust the heat accordingly.
Shallow frying the beef
- Bring enough olive oil to shallow fry the cutlets (based on your choice of pan) to a gentle bubble.
- Brown each side, it won’t take long because the meat is so thin, and drain.
- Preheat your fan forced oven to 200C.
- Place them as a single layer in an oven dish.
- Again, we want to time this to be done as the tomato sauce is ready.
Melting the cheese
- Top each cutlet with a layer of our tomato sauce.
- Sprinkle with grated cheese and chopped spring onion tops.
- Pop the oven dish into your preheated oven (200C) and cook until the cheese has melted.
Serving
Serve with some green vegetables and a side of rice.
Enjoy,
PK
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Cheese: Pecorino Caciotta Saracino Cheese
Pecorino Saracino is a briefly aged Italian sheep’s milk cheese in the Caciotta tradition.
It is a enjoyable, light cheese that doesn’t try and steal the show but is tasty in its own right.
Milk
Sheep
Origin
Italy
Aged
4 – 6 weeks
Aroma
Very mild lactic aroma. This just means it has pleasant milky, slightly acidic smell.
Taste
Initially a mild tang, finishing with a very mild milky sweetness. It isn’t very salty and I find it sticks your mouth a little.
Texture
A semi-soft smooth cheese. There can sometimes be the slight presence of tiny cavities.
Look
A very pale yellow cheese with a thin yellow rind.
Serving
I like to include this on tasting/cheese plates and will happily munch on chunks of it right out of the fridge. I also like to add slices of it to green salads and it goes great in sandwiches and toasties.
Manufacturing and Salting Method
Handmade/traditional cheese making methods are used. I believe it is pressed into molds and brine salted prior to a brief aging.
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Philips Pasta Maker Attachments
I love my Philips Pasta and Noodle Maker. Not least because it comes with lots of options for making different pasta shapes. See my full review here.
Philips supplies you with discs for making Spaghetti, Penne, Fettuccine and Lasagne/Ravioli. You can also by the premium version that comes with Chinese and Japanese Noodle, Angel Hair and Dumpling discs.
Where can I get additional shaping discs for my Philips Pasta Maker?
What will blow your mind is that there are lots of third-party discs available. I love the ones from this quality aftermarket company in Italy – pastidea.com.
Some of their shaping discs (there are many more):
- Riccioli
- Bigoli
- Bucatini (I have this one)
- Gnocchi
- Tagliatelle
- Conchigliette
- Cannellone
- Curvetti (I have this one)
- Funny shapes such as love hearts and wagon wheels.
You buy an adapter for your unit that then takes the bronze shaping discs they make. I recently bought the Fusilli disc and my family could not be happier with it.
Here is the adapter and the Fusilli disc.
You simply put the bronze shaping disc into the adapter and tighten the screw. You then place it on your Philips Pasta and Noodle Maker like the standard discs.
Pasta perfection 🙂
Enjoy,
PK
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Philips Pasta And Noodle Maker
I love making pasta the old fashioned way as much as the next guy but the Philips Pasta and Noodle Maker is one of those must have kitchen appliances. Every time I use it I am surprised how amazing it is.
It really is engineering perfection. You just pour in a cup or two of flour and some water and the machine automatically kneads and extrudes perfect pasta. You just have to cut it to your desired length with the supplied cutting tool.
I am so impressed that I wanted to show you me unboxing the unit and using it for the first time. I had already borrowed a friend’s unit so I knew it was quality.
The unboxing rewarded me with a lot of ‘retail therapy’. It was cheap too at under $300 AUD from JB Hi-Fi. You know I am big on reducing my plastic consumption so this was worth the investment for me.
Note: this is not a paid post.
The controls are clear and simple. Note the extrusion only function, sometimes you have some dough left in the machine and you don’t need to mix it again.
The build quality of the unit and the shaping discs is high. Note the grey cover on some discs. This is for cleaning the smaller holes. I will discuss that more below.
When not in use, the discs and cutting tool store away in a hidden draw.
The mixing area has a smoked see through lid so you can see what is going on. It is fun to watch and my kids love it.
Now, you won’t believe how easy clean up is. I am so lazy that I would not lie to you about this. The hardest bit is cleaning the shaping discs and Philips has a really cool solution to this. Chill out, literally! 😉
Put them in the freezer overnight and then use the special grey coloured tools to punch out the hardened dough. Then a quick clean in soapy water and you are done.
The mixing paddle is strong, non-stick and cleans easily with soapy water and paper towel.
Breaking the unit down could not be easier.
The manual is well set out and clear in its instructions. There is also a handy little cookbook with more handy hints and some amazing recipes.
Product Reviewed:
- Philips Pasta and Noodle Maker HR2357/06
Pros:
- You can make a meal for four people using only flour and water in 10 minutes.
- The instructions were well laid out, clear and give lots of handy hints.
- There is a 2 year international warranty.
- All parts are easy to clean and they store away in a built in drawer.
- You can add egg and/or dyes like spinach juice or squid ink to jazz your pasta up.
- The unit comes with 4 shaping discs for Spaghetti, Penne, Fettuccine and Lasagne.
- You can buy more shaping discs from Philips or from this quality aftermarket company in Italy – pastidea.com – see my review of them here.
- Philips makes and supplies spare parts for your machine.
- You save money and get better pasta to boot.
- Your kitchen counter is not covered in flour (if you are like me the whole kitchen gets covered in it). 🙂
Cons:
- After many uses, there are literally none I can think of (I am in awe everytime I use it).
The Verdict:
Great product at a reasonable price. It makes better pasta than I can by hand in a fraction of the time. It is a lot of fun to use and I get my kids involved pouring in the flour and cutting the pasta. No two cuts with them are the same but that just adds to the meal if you ask me.
I have one final bit of advice, make multiple batches at a time and freeze them. Just sprinkle the pasta with a bit of flour and throw them in a zip lock bag.
I hope this helps and feel free to send me any comments or tips and tricks.
PK
P.S. Take fresh/frozen pasta to your friends and family when you visit them, they will love you for it.
Some of the different shapes I have made:
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Cheese: Provolone Piccante
I am carrying on my affair with aged Italian cheese and am spending some time with Provolone Piccante.
It is made from cow’s milk and aged for several months. I have read that it is the type of rennet used that makes for the bitey piquant flavours.
I also learnt a new term. A cheese with an ‘open texture’ is one that has internal cavities formed during the aging process. Provolone is one such cheese.
I think this cheese should be in your top 10 essential cheeses to have tried. 🙂
Taste, Texture and Aroma
As this is a rinded aged cheese, there is a slightly discernible smell that rinded cheeses have. You either love or hate this smell but I wouldn’t call this cheese particularly pungent.
It has an initial sharp/bitey taste that is notably salty. If only aged for a few months I find it has a smooth texture.
Look and Feel
This is a firm, open cheese that is a lovely pale . I suggest you grate it finely when cooking with it.
Uses
I prefer to cook with it but it is also a good table cheese. Try it next time you make pasta or pizza and you won’t regret it. I also recommend shaving it on fresh bread and grated over bruschetta.
Enjoy,
PK
Related Links:
- Recipes using cheese
- More cheese varieties
- All GICICI ingredients
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Pecorino Cheese And Mayonnaise Dip
I love this quick and easy cheese dip. It goes great on fresh crusty bread, the creaminess and peppery bite contrasting the bread’s crunch.
Regular readers know I am on a bit of an Italian sheep’s milk aged cheese addiction at the moment. So I make no apologies when I recommend you try a Pecorino With Black Peppercorns.. 🙂
Simply
Mix the mayonnaise and cheese (I used a 2 part egg mayonnaise to cheese ratio) in a blender.
For a cheekier taste, add a little bit of mustard (I used hot english) and mix again.
Perfect 🙂
Pop it on the table and let your guests go for it.
Enjoy,
PK
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PK Makes Spaghetti Cacio E Pepe (Cheese And Pepper)
Oh my goodness. This dish is well.. amazing. My head is spinning, I used to have a favourite pasta but now I can’t choose. 🙂
I posted about Spaghetti Aglio e Olio recently and said that upon tasting it ‘I had died and gone to heaven’. So my friend and fellow blogger, Gus, set me a new challenge in this dish.
I looked into many recipes online but you know I am a lazy cook, so I used a cheese that already had peppercorns in it. Meet Calcagno Pecorino With Black Peppercorns. The result is a moreish pasta in an emulsified sauce to die for with the peppercorns and cheese being the headline act.
You will be:
- Preparing the sauce and cheese
- Cooking the pasta
- Coating the pasta
- Serving
You will need:
- Ingredients (feeds 1 hungry adult but scales well):
- ~200g freshly made spaghetti
- 2/3 cup Calcagno Pecorino – You can any aged cheese that has whole black peppercorns added prior to the aging process.
- 1 Tbsp unsalted butter
- A good slug of olive oil
- Freshly cracked black peppercorns to taste
- Equipment:
- Cheese grater/planer
- Chopping board
- Sauce pan
- Fry pan
- Wooden spoon
- Tongs
Preparing the sauce and cheese
- Gently warm the butter and oil until the butter has melted.
- Turn off the hob, letting the remaining heat keep the butter melted but not hot.
- Add some oil to the pasta water and cook the pasta al dente,
Coating the pasta
- Drain the pasta but keep some of the water in the sauce pan.
- Move the spaghetti into the now almost cool fry pan (containing the oil/butter sauce) using the tongs in small batches.
- Add cheese, stir some and repeat.
Serving
This dish needs nothing but a plate and a fork. 🙂
Enjoy,
PK
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