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Canned legumes: how to choose and use them – Italian Cuisine

Canned legumes are the ideal food to always keep at home for healthy and quick preparations and for when we don't have time to shop

Have at home canned foods it's always a great idea, both to always have the ingredients available quick to cook both to be able to consume foods that not available in all months of the year.

Among the most common ingredients that can be found in the box there are certainly i legumes: chickpeas, peas, beans, lentils, fava beans can easily be found in shops and supermarkets and they preserve almost all the nutritional values than fresh ones.

The difference between canned and fresh legumes

Ready-made legumes, as mentioned, almost completely preserve the nutritional values of fresh prepared foods. The big difference from the others is that they are already cooked and that contain salt as this ingredient is added to aid conservation in the government liquid. For this reason it is good practice rinse the products well before consuming them.

In addition to water and salt, some products may contain sugar and monosodium glutamate to correct the flavor.

What is the best container for storing legumes?

The best material for canned legumes is definitely the glass: less subject to deterioration, it also allows you to check the content. For all canned legumes, of course, the rule of checking that package that houses them is intact, there are no traces of rust, deformations, dents and breakages. Finally, it is ideal that the packaging date it is not older than 24 months before consumption.

canned legumes italian cuisine recipes how to store them pea ideas

The recipes to make with canned legumes

All the canned ingredients they can be used for common recipes, with the foresight to pass them under water to eliminate most of the storage liquid (rich in sodium) and use less salt during preparation.

Peas, for example, can be used to make the pasta, some tasty soups, some soups, the savory pies, omelettes is flans.

Canned beans are excellent for seasoning pasta, even with the mussels for the Neapolitan recipe, with the eggs, in a soup, with the Tripe and also with a delicate fish like fisherwoman.

Lentils can be used to make tasty burger, for a soup, one cream, to prepare the pancakes and even for a sweet.

Canned beans are perfect for preparing hummus, in a guacamole with prawns, in a first course, a risotto or one omelette.

The leeks, how to choose and cook them – Italian Cuisine

More delicate than onions, leeks are perfect for a thousand preparations, from salads, to starters, side dishes and even as a main dish.

The leeks they are a vegetable that belongs to the same family of garlic and onion although it does not form a real bulb. It has a more delicate part, formed by many white leaves called sheaths, which overlap forming a cylindrical structure. The same leaves thicken then and become a light green color: this part is not normally used even if for some recipes it is used as a container.

Summer and winter leeks

There are two main varieties of leeks, a summer and winter. Both have a delicate flavor, but they have small peculiarities that differentiate them. The best and tastiest are the winter leeks, which however have the hardest sheaths. Summer leeks, on the other hand, have a more delicate taste and are more tender, so that with long cooking they blend almost completely.

How to choose them

To be very fresh, the leek must not show any lesions or part blackened or yellowed. It must be well firm and compact, with the cheeks attached to each other. It is prepared by cutting off the ends with the roots and separating the white part from the green one, which does not necessarily have to be thrown away. In the case of winter leeks, it is very often necessary remove the first sheath, too hard and leathery to be cooked. To clean them from the earth they sometimes contain, the sheaths must be cut with a sharp knife, from top to bottom, and then slightly opened, rinsing them under a jet of fresh water.

How to cook them

The leeks have a delicate and less intense taste of onion. For this reason you can also eat raw, cut into slices and added to various salads or sliced for the long and combined with peppers, carrots and celery for a fresh and low-calorie dip. Its delicate flavor makes it perfect for a sauté to be used for an omelette or for a saffron risotto. Stuffed with cheese, the leeks are baked, for a tasty and nutritious side dish. Boiled together with some potatoes, it is ideal for preparing a velvety, to be served smooth or with toasted croutons.

Aromatic and delicate shallot, why choose it and how to use it – Italian Cuisine

Of the onions we know everything: we know when to use that white, red and golden, which anyway will make us cry (and how to avoid it!) and we know that, along with thegarlic, are allies of health, as well as of fashion among chefs. Speaking of the latter, we know even the most gory secrets, first of all how to neutralize it so that our sweet breath does not have to suffer evil effects. And it is shallot? Do we know it?

His homeland of origin is Ascalon, a city in the Southern District of Israel. Nowadays it is grown in many countries and varieties. In Italy it is found everywhere, even that of Romagna that boasts the PGIsweet, fragrant and tasty that according to the disciplinary must be cultivated without additives chemicals. Not for nothing is used to prepare the tagliatelle with ragu!

Si say that shallot is one middle ground between the garlic and the onion: well, in fact this can be said. It belongs to the same family of both and, although it looks more like onion, it has half-way features that make it particularly appreciated in the kitchen. IS more aromatic but also more delicate, has flavor slightly sweet at the same time slightly spicy.

The piquant is especially appreciated from raw: it is indeed a precious ingredient for salads, instead of onion or of the spring onion. From cooked what is appreciated, in addition to taste, is the fact that it is much more digestible of the onion and moreover leaves no bad breath. Fantastic caramelized, marries without risk of divorce with i cheeses, especially well structured as the gorgonzola or pecorino (but even the cold cuts don't disdain it!). TOaccompanies well the plates of meat: in particular the white pig (see shin with walnuts, shallot and marsala) and then divinely the red (a gourmet recipe for all: roast beef with almonds, shallots and mint). We must know, however, that it renders great with seafood recipes too: try quests for exampleto exquisite sea bream with fennel and shallots or the braised sea bass with shallots and butter.

Pto prepare sauces and sauces it's a jolly in the kitchen. NNot only is it the perfect base for fried and browning, but can become a protagonist ingredient also in first dishes, see for example the sauce of shallots and wine with which to season pasta. Do not neglect it in Side Dishes, also with unusual combinations, like the one with chestnuts and raisins. And again: with shallots, omelette a gogo! Finally, let it be known, shallots can also be used in col truffle…

Like its relatives, shallots have many beneficial qualities for health: it is a disinfectant for theintestine, which helps it work well. It is detoxifying and has function antibiotic; it is perfect for those who suffer from osteoporosis and when raw it has a great contribution of C vitamin. It is also anti-radical, reduces fat absorption and is bracing. And there would be more to say … what do we want more?

A note regarding conservation: fridge? No. Afresh environment is dry (or at the limit freezer).

Carola Traverso Saibante
November 2019

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