Caprese: to die for. Place your order now!

This is a classic Neapolitan dessert which my mother learnt to do perfectly well after she got lessons from an Italian chef who came to train us for the opening of Bocconci restaurant in Valletta (which me & my family used to run around 2 years ago).  It was many’s favorite and customers enjoyed it even more when we used to tell them that our mother baked it. Some asked us for her hand in marriage, others wanted her to bake cakes for them regularly… yes we got quite delicious yummy yummy comments. To be sure about its bonta’, as Italians would call it; you can ask my friends as well who usually have the pleasure to taste this mouthwatering cake on my birthday or on some other occasion, when I feel like pampering the appetites of my sweet-toothed friends and colleagues.

The Caprese di mandorle e cioccolato is made up of, as the name suggests, pure crushed almonds and dark chocolate. You might pay a higher price than any other cake but I am sure the connoisseurs can realise its genuineness and can appreciate the finely chosen ingredients it is made up from… definitely no trace of almond substitute or flour – only pure almonds and dark chocolate with a high percentage of cocoa!  I believe, there is no need to say more… just try it out!

Caprese di mandorle e cioccolato @ EUR 20.99 – serves 8 – 10.

You can place your orders by email on olivia.vassallo@gmail.com or call +35699446469. Kindly allow 1 – 2 days for delivery.

Arrivederci!

Well, the time has come and we’re off to the trip I had mentioned in the post of the 21st October – me & my better half will be flying off to Rome and then to Trentinara – this tiny cute village in the Cilento area. You will be hearing all about the food we ate, wine we drank and places we visited in the company of  the gentle & kind Cristina & Alfonso! Just to give you an idea of the delicious food prepared in their restaurant here are some photos… till then ARRIVEDERCI and look forward to our next post!

Cristina's Dessert Pies

Fresh Delicacies

More desserts...

Tartufi

To eat or not to eat: Flowers?!

You may find it strange or repulsive but in Italy this is a delicate ingredient cooked in various ways! I am referring to the Fiori di zucchine (the flowers of the zucchini or marrows).

Fiori di zucchine

It is not as easy as in Italy to find these flowers in Malta since they are not really appreciated and used in our cooking. Yet, they are available – attached to the so popular marrows we find all year round at our fruit & vegetable vendors. So if you are interested in procuring some and follow this recipe find someone who grows marrows and ask them to keep the flowers for you. Make sure they are fresh since they have a very short life span – only 1 or 2 days.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

- 16 flowers

- 250gr ricotta

- 2 eggs

- 1tblsp parmesan

- 1 tblsp breadcrumbs

- salt & pepper

Clean the flowers very carefully and remove the pistils. Wash them briefly and pat them with paper towels. Prepare the mixture of ricotta, eggs, parmesan, salt & pepper. Fill the flowers with the mixture; place them in an oven dish, scatter breadcrumbs on top, add some salt and olive oil and cook in a pre-heated oven of 180 degrees Celsius for 7 minutes.

Fiori di zucchine ripieni

 

Fishy weekend!

It’s Sunday evening and the smell of fish still rules the kitchen! Since Friday my pans and dishes were the bed for all types of fish… on Friday Mum bought these fresh squid which I decided to stuff and oven bake. The stuffing consisted of onions, garlic, aubergines, marrows, red pepper, and the squid’s tentacles – after cooking these together in a pan with some olive oil and parsley the mixture is blended to a paste. The squid is then stuffed and baked in the oven for 30 minutes. Exquisitely wonderful with some roasted potatoes, olives and capers.

Stuffed Squid

On Saturday it was my turn to do the fishy shopping… the display was eye-catching & mouth-watering… all types of fish available from the traditional lampuki to the John Dory and the Pesce San Pietro. Yet, my shopping list consisted of ingredients for a typical Sicilian dish from Trapani… couscous di pesce! Well friends were coming over to dinner so it was time to impress! I bought a mix of fish ideal to prepare the stock, dentici fillets, prawns, and clams to add to the couscous… as well as some fresh mussels for the gratin, as an antipasto. This couscous di pesce was more complicated to prepare than I thought… next time I will post its recipe but for today here’s a crumbly starter… mussels au gratin.

Serves 6

• 2 kg fresh mussels, scrubbed and cleaned
• 100gr breadcrumbs
• 50gr parmesan, grated
• salt & pepper
• handful of chopped parsley
• olive oil

Put the mussels in a large pan on high heat until they are all open. Discard any which remain closed. Open the shells in two and put the half shells which contain the mussel in an oven proof dish. Scatter over the mixture of breadcrumbs, parmesan, parsley and salt & pepper and put in a pre-heated oven of 180 degress Celsius for 10 minutes. Pour some olive oil and serve with fresh crusty bread.

Mussels au gratin

Butta la Pasta

Pasta… I can never get enough of eating pasta! So many shapes, flavors, and varieties; fresh or dry; long or short;  with eggs or without; filled pasta or plain pasta… the list is endless. Pasta is loved all over the world from people of all ages yet no one prepares it better than Italians – al dente – pasta cooked to perfection,  dressed with any sauce you can imagine, accompanied by any ingredient you deem fit, creativity can produce a million recipe! Try this:

Serves 4

• olive oil
• 2 aubergines, diced
• 2 red onions, thinly sliced
• 4 fresh tomatoes, peeled and deseeded
• 75g pine nuts
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed
• 5 tblsp tomato paste
• 150ml vegetable stock
• 400g long pasta (pappardelle or lasagnette)
• 100g pitted black olives
• olive oil
• salt & pepper
• chopped parsley

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Heat the oil in a large frying pan and add the aubergines and onions for 10 minutes until golden. Stir in chopped tomatoes, pine nuts and crushed garlic. Add the tomato paste and stock and cook for 5 minutes. In the meantime, cook the pasta in salted boiling water according to packet instructions until al dente. Drain the pasta and put in the frying pan with the sauce, add olives, salt and pepper and toss until combine for 1 minute. Serve with parsley and if you like, some grated parmesan.

 

Halloween Recipe

As years go by more importance is being given to Halloween in Malta. I managed to get a glimpse of one or two houses decorated with hanging spiders, fluorescent skeletons, and lighted pumpkins. Some are organizing costume parties, children are going more outdoors knocking at doors playing ‘trick or treat, others bake cakes for the occasion, and some, like me, prepare a heart-warming dish with pumpkin. Here’s an easy one for you readers!

Serves 4

• 500g pumpkin cleaned and peeled
• 50g parmesan grated
• 50g breadcrumbs
• oregano
• 2 eggs beaten and salted
• salt & pepper

Slice the clean pumpkin into rectangular pieces of about 0.5cm high. Preheat an oven to 180 degrees, place pumpkin in a greased dish and cook the pumpkin for 15 minutes.  In the meantime mix the breadcrumbs, parmesan, oregano, salt and pepper and place in a plate. When the pumpkin is ready take each piece and pass them one by one first through the beaten egg and then through the breadcrumbs mix until well coated.  Place the coated pieces in the same dish and return back in the oven for another 15 – 20 minutes until these are cooked and browned. When ready dress with a lemon vinaigrette (2 parts olive oil, 1 part lemon juice) and serve with rocket salad and lemon wedges.

Rabbit with Tomato and Rosemary Sauce

Rabbit with Tomato and Rosemary Sauce

Serves 4

• 1 rabbit cut into small pieces
• 4 plump fresh tomatoes
• a bunch of fresh rosemary
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 onion
• 1 celery stick
• 2 bay leaves
• olive oil
• 100ml white wine vinegar
• sugar
• salt & pepper

Prepare the tomato sauce by peeling the tomatoes and removing their seeds. With a pestle and mortar pest the rosemary leaves with 2 cloves of garlic and some olive oil. Blend the tomatoes and the rosemary paste in a hand blender until it becomes a smooth sauce. Add salt & pepper. Keep aside.

Following put some olive oil in a pan add chopped onion, chopped celery and bay leaves until the onion is transparent. Add the rabbit pieces and brown on both sides. Season with salt and pepper and cook for 20 minutes on low heat. Dissolve 1/2 tblsp sugar in the white wine vinegar and add to the pan leaving it to evaporate. Cover the pan with lid and cook for another 30 minutes. Add some warm water so that it does not dry out. When the rabbit is cooked serve with the tomato sauce (which can be used warm or cold). This dish can be accompanied by some mange tout cooked in butter and sage or roast potatoes.

Mushroom and Cauliflower Bake

Mushroom & Cauliflower Bake

Serves 4

• 250gr cauliflower
• 200gr broccoli
• 4 eggs
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 onion
• 200gr mushrooms
• 120gr cherry tomatoes
• 50gr pitted black olives
• 80gr asiago cheese (or mozzarella or parmesan)
• 100ml fresh cream
• 2 anchovy fillets
• parsley
• marjoram
• olive oil
• salt & pepper

Cut the cauliflower and broccoli into small florets and place in boiling salter water for 5 minutes and remove from water.  Fry the chopped onion, crushed garlic and anchovies in a little olive oil.  Add the quartered mushrooms and fry on high heat for about 5 minutes then put in the cherry tomatoes halved and the pitted olives and cook for another 2 minutes.

Break the eggs in a bowl and add the cream, chopped marjoram and parsley, cubed asiago or mozzarella or parmesan and a pinch of salt. Add the egg mixture to the broccoli and cauliflowers and pour into an oiled baking dish of a diameter of 18cm.  Cover with baking paper and cook in a 180 degrees oven for 45 minutes. 5 minutes before the time elapses remove the baking paper.

Banana & Date Cake

Banana cake

Nothing beats this cake especially with a cup of tea or coffee!

Ingredients:
400g flour
200g butter
200g sugar
200g dates
3/4 ripe bananas
pinch of salt
pinch of cinnamon
1 tsp baking powder or bicarbonate of soda

Sift the flour into a mixing bowl. Add the butter cut into cubes,  the sugar, salt, baking powder and cinnamon. Blend well together with the kitchen mixer.  Meanwhile mash the bananas with a drop of milk. Chop the dates. When the mixture is well-blended add the dates and bananas. Give it another shot with the kitchen mixer and pour it into a loaf tin previously lined with baking paper. Place in a pre-heated oven of 180 degrees Celsius and cook for 45-60 minutes.

Vegetable Terrine

Vegetable Terrine

Serves 8 (as a starter)

3 leeks
150g mange tout
150g green beans
2 yellow peppers
2 red peppers
4 artichoke hearts divided into quarters
3 eggs
2 buffalo mozzarella
rosemary, thyme, oregano

Cut the top green part of the leeks and throw it away. Also remove and throw the first 2 leaves from the leeks. Then continue to take away the rest of the leaves leaving only the core of the leek and keep these aside. Bring a large pan of water to boil. Put the leek leaves in the boiling water for 5 minutes and then leave to drain in a colander. Pat them dry with a cloth.

Now wash the peppers, leave them whole and put them under the grill until they are blackened from all sides. When ready put them in a plastic bag and leave them to stand for about 10 minutes. In the meantime chop the remaining leek cores, wash the green beans and mangetout and cut their ends.  Cut the artichoke hearts in 4 parts. (You can use frozen artichoke hearts or the ones in jars). Now take the peppers out from the plastic bag and peel their skin, clean the seeds and cut them into wide strips. Also chop the mozzarella into cubes and leave it in a colander to drain its own water.

Subsequently, wet and squeeze a piece of baking paper the size of your dish and line the dish with it. You can use a rectangular loaf tin for this recipe. Prepare the eggs by beating them. Take a large pan put some olive oil and start cooking the vegetables. Put the chopped leeks first, then add the green beans and mangetout, and finally the artichoke hearts. Leave for 10 – 15 minutes to cook adding some warm water if veg are too dry. Put in the chopped herbs and season with salt and pepper. Leave to cook on low heat for another 5 minutes.

Take the dish and start putting the leaves of the leeks on all sides – leave them hanging out from the border of the dish so that you can wrap the terrine up in the leek leaves. When the tray is lined start putting the first layer of coloured peppers then brush them with the beaten egg. Continue layering the other vegetables, add a layer of mozzarella and brush it up with the eggs. Repeat the layers of veg, mozzarella and beaten egg until finished. Wrap up with leek leaves, cover with foil and put in a pre-heated oven of 180 degrees Celsius and cook for 20 minutes. Then remove the foil and cook for another 15 minutes uncovered. When ready leave to cool, slice into thick pieces and serve warm dressed with some good quality olive oil.