Episode #305 - Melanzane Alla Parmigiana
here’s a new recipe that deserves and demands your full attention...
This one “has to be scheduled”; so, crack out your device, punch in your grocery list, and come back to this page next weekend...when you got some time...and cook!!!
Note: You also have to cook a pot of Red Sauce, here we wrote the recipe again, but in case you feel compelled...you can check out our Pilot Episode, now you have the video for the Sauce as well!
Enjoy!
We ate: Eggplant Parmesan
We drank: Montesodi Riserva 2004 from Ferscobaldi’s Castello di Nipozzano.
Serves: 4
Prep Time: 2.5 - 3 Hr
Cooking Time: 25-30 Min
Ingredients:
2 Lb Pelati Tomatoes in the can
1 Lb Fresh Mozzarella
½ Lb Parmesan, freshly grated
2 big Eggplants
8 oz Fresh Basil
1 Red Onion
5 Cloves of Garlic
Olive Oil, salt and Pepper
½ Lb of Flour and Canola Oil for Frying
Goes well with…
More eggplant parmesan…and a salad if you got any
room left!!!
Tips…
Double the ingredients and Make extra to freeze!!!
How To:
A few hours in advance (about 2 or 3), rinse the
Eggplants well and slice them thin.
Episode #302 - Spaghetti all' Amatriciana
Even if it is not a traditional Tuscan dish, this is a very popular sauce...at the end, Romans are close neighbors of us, and when it comes to food and wine we’re all big brothers...when it comes to soccer though, well, that’s another story. The most popular version of this dish is prepared with Bucatini, a commond kind of pasta in Italy...but nowhere to be found in our neighborhood! So we cooked spaghetti.
Also, we are happy to
introduce you to a magnificent wine, oh life is
beautiful when you come across this kind of
surprises. Our bottle of Ornellaia made our night a
memorable one...sorry, too many adjectives?
Welcome back to the Tuscan Gun, please join us for a
Midnight Spaghetti Date!
Spaghetti all’
Amatriciana
Serves: 4
Prep Time: 10
Cook Time: 30-40 for the sauce,...for the pasta check
the box!
Ingredients (serves 4): 1Lb of bucatini if you are
lucky enough to find them, otherwise spaghetti is
perfect.
1/2 Lb of streaky Bacon (or regular bacon)
2 spoonfuls of Olive Oil
Episode #210 - Sausage and Radicchio Orecchiette with Roasted Peppers and Cheese appetizer
The kitchen filled up with wonderful smell of peppers, and both Debi and I have been transported somewhere else...
She felt like she was getting ready for a block party in Brooklyn. Gabriele imagined the singing of Cicadas in the Olive Fields...
Just a few quick notes
about today's menu:
- always try to find pork sausage that are not
seasoned (same applies in case you decide to go
turkey)
- you can use your sauce to make Bruschetta instead
of Pasta. Toast some bread, spread some Italian soft
cheese (Mozzarella, Stracchino, Burrata), then
sprinkle the sausage sauce. Bake at 400 for about 10
min...you can broil it at the end for a final crisp.
- when preparing the Peppers, always leave yourself
open to new uses for them. Yes you can do the
skewers, but there are many different ways you can
serve them, as a Bruschetta, as a side dish...you can
even chop the roasted peppers and use them to prepare
a cold pasta salad. Just Get Creative!!!
Roasted Peppers and
Cheese Skewers.
Serves 4
Prep Time 10
Cooking Time 30
Ingredients
4 peppers, medium-big size, different colors
5 cloves of garlic
10 oz of cheese cut into small cubes: Mozzarella,
Machego...anything you'd like to try
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt, Pepper
Tooth picks
Episode #207 - Artichokes and Butternut Squash Risotto
It can be intimidating from the very beginning, when it's time to select your rice at your local grocery store...
Bu at the end, once you get it going into the pan, well...truly,
it's only about stirring, adding the ingredients and stirring again, until it's ready.
Indeed the final 5
cooking minutes are crucial for any risotto; if you
have too much broth in it, the risk is to serve rice
soup for dinner, if the rice still requires some
cooking, make sure you add very little broth at the
end. Achieving the balance between the cooking rice
and the broth that needs to go in it, is the only
real challenge.
We have gotten a bunch of feedbacks about our Risotto
with Sausage and Asparagus, and everybody agrees that
risotto, after all, was a very easy dish to
cook...enjoy!!!
Artichoke and
Butternut Squash Risotto
Serves: 4-6
Prep Time: 15-20 minutes
Cooking Time: 40-50 minutes
Ingredients.
3 Tablespoons of butter (olive oil works as well)
1 ½ Cups of Butternut Squash, chopped
2 Artichokes
6 Cups of Vegetable Stock
2 Cups of Risotto Rice
1 Handful of freshly chopped Parsley
Salt and Pepper
Freshly grated Parmesan Cheese, to serve.
Break off the Artichoke
stems and discard the outer coarse leaves of the
chokes, then cut into thin wedges.
Bring your Vegetable Stock to a boil.
Episode #205 - Gnocchi with Spinach and Ricotta (Strozzapreti / The Priest Chockers)
This succulent and kids friendly dish comes again from my grandmother's kitchen; it is not a traditional Tuscan recipe, like many we already shared...
Lola is from Venice, and this "Strozzapreti" version has been served on our table since I can remember.
There are several legends
to explain the name "Strozzapreti" (The
Priest Chockers)...
One is that gluttonous priests were so enthralled by
the savory pasta that they ate
too quickly and choked themselves, sometimes to
death.
As always, there are several variations and
preparations...some even involving different
ingredients, but still intended to choke Priests, I
assume.
The recipe we are posting calls for Ricotta Cheese,
and needs to be cooked in the oven.
The main variation on this dish replaces the Ricotta
with boiled Potatoes (1Lb)...
when the balls are ready, instead of cooking them
into the oven, they need to be cooked in salted
boiling water,
as if they were regular pasta. Cooking time is
extremely short, as soon as the gnocchi will come to
the surface
they are ready to be collected, drained and served.
Also a different dressing can be used...red sauce and
basil instead of the butter and sage we are using
today.
Be ready to get your
hands dirty,
let's get cookin'!
Gnocchi di Ricotta e Spinaci
Serves: 6
Prep Time: 20
Cooking Time: 15-20
Ingredients
2 ½ Lb of Spinach
1 ½ Lb of Ricotta Cheese
6 Tbsp Parmesan, freshly Grated
2 Egg Yolks, lightly beaten
All purpose Flour, for dusting
¼ Cup of Butter, melted
Salt and Pepper
Episode #203 - Pasta e Fagioli
Debi and I are finally back in Los Angeles, between the stove and the camera...very happy feeling.
Today we are unveiling you the secret of another very ancient and traditional dish: Pasta e Fagioli (Pasta in a thick Bean Soup).
Again, as we never will
get tired telling you, this is another family recipe,
everybody in Tuscany cooks it in their house, and
there are a lot of variations.
The one I learned to cook comes straight out of my
grandmother's kitchen: "Please don't tell your father
I suggested you use pork!", she said...
Don't worry Nonna, dad does not look at my recipes on
the web, our secret is well kept.....for the moment
at least.
Come in,
let's get cookin'!!!
Serves:
6
Prep time: 10 minutes (plus the time
to soak the beans)
Cook time: 40 minutes
Ingredients:
1 Lb Dark Kidney Beans
1 Lb Pork Ribs
¾ Lb of pasta (better if large, like rigatoni)
8 Cups of water
3 Cloves of Garlic
2 handfuls of Rosemary
8 Oz. Pelati
Salt, Pepper, Extra Virgin Olive oil
Preparation:
Rinse well the beans and Soak them
overnight.
Bring your 8 cups of water to a boil, add the beans,
stir well, and cook for about 40 minutes.
Broil the pork ribs in the oven. Season them with
some salt and pepper, cut them apart and lay them on
a large tray and put them in the oven…you should
settle for nothing less than a nice golden brown
crispy skin.
Episode #201 - Pappa al Pomodoro (Tuscan Bread Soup) with Rosanna and Matteo
Today, to fulfill the requests of many of you that read the article on People Magazine, we are cooking for you the famous Pappa al Pomodoro!
A brief note about what
you will see, as there are two small differences in
the way Rosanna and I prepare the Pappa.
She sautes the whole cloves of garlic to flavor the
oil, and then she takes them out.
I chop the garlic and I leave it in...I love garlic!
She adds the bread to the tomatoes and then she adds
the broth,
I add the broth to the tomatoes and when it boils I
add the bread.
Either way, as long as you have the right proportion
of ingredients you will be fine.
Tip: you can save some
bread and some broth, in case you need to add one of
them to achieve the preferred consistency.
Let's get cooking!
Pappa al Pomodoro (Tomatoes and Stale
Bread Soup)
Serves
6 (plus leftovers)
Finding the right kind of bread to make Pappa is
harder then actually preparing the dish. Bread should
be unflavored, unsalted, not too doughy, with a crust
that is actually a crust. Because you need to use
stale bread, you have to give yourself some time to
dry it. The best way, once you've found the
right loaf, is to slice it, and lay the slices on a
tray for a couple of days. In front of a sunny window
would be just perfect.
Episode #105 - Beef Stew served over Polenta, with a side of String Beans cooked on a bed of Cherry Tomatoes
This is the first episode in which Deb and I will cook a full meal, all at the same time.
Please remember: Getting ready is half of the Job!
If you do a smart grocery, if you know the ingredients you are going to use (which are pretty basic and already have been covered several times on these pages), you should not have problems at all. Make sure you have enough time to buzz around the kitchen to stir the stew, do not overcook the string beans, and wait until last minute to prepare the polenta.
Also, it is a brilliant
idea to take advantage of the time it will take you
to cook: CLEAN UP!!!
If you are like me...well, you probably will start
sipping the wine as soon as the bottle is open...
you can use the excuse that you like to "feel the
taste changing"...
By the end of dinner, after the wine and a couple of
generous servings...you still have the plates on your
table...but if you do not have the pots and pans to
wash...trust me you'll be happy!
Least but not last:
A shout out to Epicurious.com!
One of their crew visited us last week, and in a few
days this very same recipe will be featured on their
web pages, in a different and shorter edit.
Enjoy your cooking session, come back soon and,
Buon Appetito
Debi and Gabriele
BEEF STEW
Serves
4
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cooking Time 2 hours
Ingredients
2Lb Beef for stew, cut in 1 inch cubes
3 ripe tomatoes
3 carrots
3 celery stems
3/4 red onion
2 handfuls of Thyme
Olive Oil, Salt, Pepper
Two glasses of wine
Getting Ready
Peal and chop the onion medium fine.
Rinse well the celery and chop it in 1/2 inch pieces.
Peal the carrots, cut them length wise if they are
big enough, and then chop in 1/2 inch pieces.
Rinse the Thyme well.
Episode #104 - Spaghetti with Pesto and some appetizers to celebrate the arrival of Fall...
we are overwhelmed by the response we are getting on our little website!
Many emails are coming in, please do not take it personal if we are not able to respond right away...
we did not expect this project to blow up so fast, and we already have to improve our server capabilities and probably the website itself will undergo some upgrades.
For the time being! Deb and I would like to THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!
Alright then,
time to get going with our fourth episode!
Today you will learn to make the best and freshest
pesto ever. Just one thing before we start: even if
this dish does not require cooking, preparation time
is longer then other (sometimes more complicated)
dishes.That's because you need to wash the basil,
pluck the leaves, grate the cheese etc...BUT, the
result is stunning, and at the end, it's a very easy
recipe.
Also make sure you keep an eye on the salt factor
(Pecorino cheese is very salty) and how much oil you
end up using...Even if Olive oil is one ofthe most
important ingredients in Tuscan cooking, that does
not mean you have to drawn your pasta in it!!!
Get you apron, your dish
rag and put some cool music on, choose your bottle of
wine...
May I suggest a Bruzzico, from
Fattoria Malenchini in Bagno
a Ripoli, Florence.
Let's go!
Serves 4
Preparation time 20 min
Cooking Time as the pasta requires
Ingredients:
- 4 cups of Fresh Basil Leaves (about
4 oz)
- 1/2 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Episode #103 - Risotto with Sausage and Asparagus
Today we had lunch with a delicious Risotto with Sausage and Asparagus to celebrate the arrival of Fall, and we popped open two bottles of wine!
Risotto is a very nice, comforting and filling dish; you might like a light appetizer before you get to it, or a fresh salad right after...either or, it will be a great meal.
We drank: Yellow Tail - Pinot Grigio Reserve 2003 and
Chianti Ruffino - Il Ducale Reserve 2003.
Ingredients:
1 cup
of risotto (Arborio)
rice
3 Pork or Turkey
Sausages; 2
Mild &
1
Hot
1 Lb asparagus
1 cup
of dry white wine
1 cup
of broth or asparagus
water
1/4
onion
1
handful of
parsley
Episode #102 - Turkey Sausages with Spicy Kidney Beans in Fresh Tomato Sauce
In Italy, when we talk about sausages we usually refer to pork meat, it is very rare to come across anything different, at least not in Tuscany...oh, well, yes...boar sausage...still pork is!
This dish is a powerful
one: it's a filler, it's hot, it loves wine and
toasted garlic bread...and it makes a great left
over.
In all this, we completely forgot to give more info
about the wine...We drank a Villa Antinori from 2002,
and we will post more informations about it asap.
Ingredients:
8 Sausages (pork or turkey).
1 Lb of cherry tomatoes.