Boozing up Christmas

Getting closer to Christmas everybody! And no other event has the ability to transform the way we drink. What would Christmas be without cocktails, punch and champagne?! My first natale in Capri I celebrated with my first Sgroppino...so deliciously creamy and boozy! Maybe a nice idea for Christmas dinner... the perfect palate cleanser between courses.

Salute!

Sgroppino

Ingredients for 4

2 glasses chilled Prosecco

1 glass chilled (lemon) vodka

400 gr lemon sorbet

4 champagne flutes

Preperation

Blend the lemon sorbet until creamy, ad the Prosecco and vodka and blend well. You can also use a shaker. Serve in chilled champagne flutes.

PS: Try the version with a splash of limoncello... also very tasty!

Enjoying my third 

Sgroppino (that night)

at Bar Tiberio

Panettone vs Kerststol

It's almost Christmas everyone!  I'm already getting excited... getting all cosy with my family, enjoying great food and good (bubbly) wines. Being married to an Italian, our Christmas is a mix of Dutch and Italian traditions. The first part of the holidays will be celebrated in Holland so the first little treat that comes my way will be a big slice of our famous kerststol. I love the Dutch Christmas loaf bread served for Christmas breakfast. After that we'll be moving on to Capri where we'll enjoy a real traditional (south) Italian Christmas and New Years Eve. A wonderful Christmas tradition having the best of both worlds... I've tried to introduce the kerststol in Capri (I once stuffed a big one in my suitcase) but a real Italian Christmas isn't complete without a big soft and fluffy panettone. Even though the birthplace of this traditional Christmas bread is Milano... Panettoni are quite hard to find in Holland, but I saw some at the Xenos (a Dutch store) yesterday. Obviously not even half as tasty (and fresh) as the ones in Italy, so breaking with Dutch tradition wouldn't make sense. Anyway, for those who are curious to have a taste of Italian tradition without betraying theirs and for our Italian friends that like to try something new with this sweet bread, here's a tasty and very Christmasy suggestion from a real Milanese. Buon Natale Emanuela! 

Hope you're all having a great one too!

Tiramisù di Panettone 


Ingredients for 4

4 slices panettone
250 grams mascarpone
50 grams powdered sugar
1 tablespoon pistachio's
80 grams dark chocolate
100 ml milk


Preparation 

Mix the mascarpone with the powdered sugar until creamy. Melt the chocolate au bain-marie, add the tepid milk and stir well. Divide every slice of Panettone in four even pieces and put one piece on every plate. Put one layer of the mascarpone mix on every piece and built the layers finishing with a layer of mascarpone. Sprinkle the chopped pistachio's on the mascarpone layers and cover with chocolate sauce. Serve immediately. 

"When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie...that's amore"

There is one thing I really love about Naples; the FOOD... If you love to eat (a lot) like me, Napoli is certainly the place to be. Personally, if I lived there,I would eat all day long. The food is always great, even a simple panino at the train station is tasty. You just can’t turn down all the delicious food the city has to offer. And if you find yourself in Naples the one thing you MUST try there is pizza. I never had a soft spot for pizza’s but after a visit to pizza paradise it became one of my weaknesses...   
The Neapolitans "discovered" la pizza. In 2009 the pizza margherita celebrated its 120th birthday. This famous pizza was born in 1889 at Pizzeria Brandi(this is what I've heard). Because of king Umberto and queen Margherita's official visit to Naples, Brandi's pizzaiolo (pizza baker) made a pizza with the colors of the italian flag. Basil green, mozzarella white and tomato red. The royal family appreciated the pizza so much that they named it after the queen.
One slice of a true margherita will change your life (good bye Domino's and Pizzahut)... The secret lies in the freshness and quality of the ingredients and the genuine recipe of the dough, which is really hard to copy. In fact, in order to maintain and preserve the high  quality of one of Italy’s most important export products, “l’Academia della Vera Pizza Napolitana”(the Academy of the real Neapolitan Pizza)judges if a pizza is a real pizza. It wouldn’t be a good idea to let them judge the pizza’s in Holland – I guess I know what their verdict will be after they tasted our "genuine" pizza hawai or pizza shoarma... 

PS: Good pizzerie in Naples: Brandi, Da Michele and 

Donna Margherita 
PPS: Try the margherita with mozzarella di bufala(buffalo mozzarella)...absolutely delicious!

Behind my dad a painting of Napoli's lovable mascot Pulcinella 

as pizzaiolo at Brandi. 
Like Pulcinella we also need very little to be happy; A slice of pizza and a jug of wine!

A genuine margherita:thick soft borders and a tender middle

Lazy sunday leftovers

My sweet friend Emanuela, a very talented food stylist from Milano, has shared some of her great leftover tips with me. Here's a good one from a true Italian kitchen diva... Grazie Manu, sei una super cuoca!

Risottini al Salto

Have a cup or so of risotto left over from last night's meal that you don't know what to do with?...Think twice before throwing it away and recycle!


Ingredients for 8 risottini

200 grams of leftover risotto

60 grams of grated cheese (parmesan)

butter

pepper, to taste

Preperation

Mix the risotto and the cheese together. Heat a small pan over medium heat and add a teaspoon of butter and let it melt. Put a big tablespoon of the risotto cheese mixture in the pan and  squeeze it with a wooden spatula until the rice is compact and the bottom is set. Now gently flip the round risottino over (in one piece) and cook until golden brown. Take the risottino out and drain it on a piece of kitchen paper and cook the next one. Sprinkle your risottini with some pepper... As simple as that!  

Yummy...

Thanks for the picture Manu!

(For more "food porn" as I like to call it, 

check out Emanuela's website)