Recipes from an empty Italian fridge - Part 1

Too cold outside, too lazy to do grocery shopping but too hungry... 
What to cook when your fridge is completely empty: "L'arte di cucinare con niente... o quasi."  Tonight the first recipe, taught by my suocera (mother-in-law). 

Ingredients
garlic
parsley
peperoncino flakes
pasta
walnuts (also pecan, pistachio or pine nuts will do the trick)

Boil the spaghetti in salted water. In the meantime slice the garlic in thick slices, chop the flat leaved parsley and walnuts. In a large pan heat a good layer of olive oil over medium fire and saute the garlic, peperoncino and nuts. Add the drained pasta (al dente!). Stir fry the ingredients over high heat and add the chopped parsley. Stir well and dinner is ready. 

I dedicate this post to Walter my dear Roman friend. Grazie x la tua lezione! Spero di vederti presto.

Notte everybody

Minimal ingredients, maximum taste!

The fridge was empty but fortunately
our piccola cantina was full  tonight ; )

Just looooooove these...

When Francesco suggested me to order ravioli during my first stay in Capri I was like "Are you kidding me, I'm not going to eat boring tasteless ravioli!" Obviously not knowing what I was missing out on...  Was I glad that he insisted because they were absolutely AMAZING!!! Tender, fluffy clouds of delight. Definitely one of my favorite dishes in the world. 

Ravioli Capresi

Simple recipe, big mess. My kitchen (and I) looked kind of like the last scene of Scarface... 

A tip from the cook; make a lot and freeze them for later. I made 120 ravioli with 1 kg of all-purpose flour (and some more for dusting), 1 liter of  boiling water, 5 table spoons of olive oil extra vergine. For the filling you need 5 eggs, 700 grams of  Caciotta di Sorrento cheese (ricotta), 400 grams of grated Parmesan, fresh marjoram leaves, salt and pepper.

La pasta (the dough)

On a clean surface combine the flour, water and olive oil and stir the ingredients with a fork to combine into a big ball. 

Il ripieno (the filling)

Beat the eggs. Combine the Caciotta, Parmesan and the eggs. Stir well.  Add the finely chopped marjoram, a pinch of salt and pepper. Stir again.

Dust the work surface and a rolling pin. Take one third of the dough and roll it into a thin (3 mm) rectangle. Place rounded teaspoons of cheese filling on one half of the rolled dough. Make sure that they're 1,5 cm apart. Gently fold the other part of the dough over the cheese filling. Use a small round cutter mold to cut out the ravioli. If you don't have a ravioli cutter mold use a knife to make small rounds (note; ravioli capresi are NOT SQUARE!). In this case you have to seal them by pressing the edges down with your fingertips.  If you have an original italian stampo (mold) for ravioli capresi it's not necessary. Keep on cutting until there's no dough/filling left. 

I guess portions of  8 to 10 ravioli a person are perfect.  Just boil them in a large pot of salted water and take them out when they're floating. Serve them with a sauce of fresh pomodorini, olive oil, garlic, fresh basil leaves, oregano and peperoncino.

You'll love them!

P.S. If you're interested in a genuine capresi ravioli cutter send a mail to culinary@postcardsfromcapri.com

Delicious cheese filling...

1,2,3,4...

55,56,57... 58...

Jack my little kitchen aid to the rescue...

118, 119... 120 ravioli! We did it!

A proud cook.

The Russian revolution a piece of cake

Rumour has it that the story behind the well-known mouth-watering "Torta Caprese" has actually everything to do with Maxim Gorky, the Russian writer and revolutionary... at least this is what my mother-in-law told me. During his stay on the isle of Capri (1906-1913) he took on a local cook. Gorky ordered him to make a cake with butter, eggs, almonds and chocolate. Except for the name not a typical mediterranean torta. In fact a lemon cake would have been more appropriate. But that doesn't matter, that is history... the famous Torta Caprese was born. The same goes for the Russian revolution, they say. According to tradition it was in Capri where the revolution was planned... during a game of chess between Gorky and Lenin... Or maybe over a cappuccino and a piece of Torta Caprese? Food can be very inspiring...

Torta Caprese


Ingredients
400 gr chopped almonds
270 gr butter
350 gr sugar
7 eggs
200 gr dark chocolate


Preparation
Mix the butter and the sugar until creamy. Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites. Add the egg yolks to the butter mixture (one at a time) and stir well. Melt the chocolate au bain-marie. Add the almonds and and the melted chocolate to the egg and butter mixture. Whip the egg whites and gently fold the mixtures together. Pour it  into a greased and floured cake tin and bake in the oven for 45 minutes at 160 °C. Cover with powdered sugar.

Buonissima with a scoop 
of vanilla ice cream... heaven!!!

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. 

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)