Tag: dishes

How to cook leek and make delicious dishes – Italian Cuisine

More delicate than onion and less tasty than garlic. Let's talk about leeks: here's how to cook them with our recipes and our advice

Leek and onion are not exactly the same thing, even if they are often confused.
In fact they have more or less the same versatility in the kitchen. They are similar in taste even if the onion has a more intense flavor, and both can be used to flavor many dishes. Leek is a long, tubular vegetable with a white bulb at the end and hard green leaves.

The leek contains 90% of water and for this reason it is hypocaloric and particularly indicated in slimming diets. 100 g contain just 61 calories. Rich in vitamins A, B and C, leek also contains many minerals such as iron, magnesium that is good for the heart, silica that is good for the skin and calcium to strengthen the bones.
Thanks to its tonic, diuretic, laxative and antiseptic properties it is used for the treatment of certain diseases such as dyspepsias, anemia, arthritis and gout and for problems such as hemorrhoids, constipation and urinary infections.

How to clean leeks?

The easiest way to clean them is to cut the green leaves and place the whole white part inside a strainer dipped in cold water to remove the dirt. For added hygiene you can also add a pinch of baking soda. It is stored in a cool place or cut into pieces and frozen.

How is leek cooked?

Of the leek you eat only the white part, more fresh and fragrant, while the leaves are discarded, although increasingly often lately they are also used by the great chefs to give crunchy soups and velvety.
Leek can be cooked in many ways. It can flavor all kinds of dishes just like onions, but it is also very good on its own, baked in the oven or stewed.

10 recipes with leeks

Ten side dishes for Christmas lunch – Italian Cuisine

Forget the faded salads and devote yourself to a perfectly prepared side dish that does not disfigure the main course.

All the attention spent to decide which first and second to bring to the table for Christmas lunch, and then run out of ideas for the side dish. And at the end the choice falls on the usual salad, a bit 'sad and uninviting. If it is true that the first and second courses are the masters on this occasion, why not think also of the contours for Christmas lunch a bit 'more elaborate? Below are our suggestions for an impeccable menu from start to finish.

Camembert potato cups

For this dish you can use any flowery crust cheese. Cook the potatoes cut into thin slices in the oven at 180 degrees for 20 minutes. Separately put the cream, chopped garlic, a pinch of nutmeg and the cheese cut into small pieces in a bowl. Put a layer of potatoes in an oven dish, add a layer of cream and cheese and then more potatoes. Finish with a slice of Camembert, bake in a bain-marie and cook for 40 minutes. Turn out and serve hot.

Fried pumpkin slices with fresh mint

To prepare this side dish cut a Mantovana pumpkin into thin slices, fry them in plenty of extra virgin olive oil and dry them well with absorbent paper. Remove the frying oil and cook for a few minutes in the same pot of white wine vinegar with a tablespoon of sugar, a tablespoon of oil, a small bunch of fresh mint, a clove of minced garlic and a pinch of salt. Season the pumpkin slices with this sauce and serve.

Caponata of artichokes

A winter version of the iconic dish of Sicily. Clean and boil the sliced artichokes for 5 minutes. In a saucepan, brown a clove of garlic with the diced artichokes and celery for a few minutes. In another pan, cook the tomatoes with garlic and extra virgin olive oil. When cooked, add the artichokes, the green olives cut into small pieces, the pine nuts, the celery and the raisins previously soaked in vinegar and sugar. Cook for a few minutes until it is well blended.

Baskets of potatoes and chestnuts

A rich and tasty side dish. Brown the slices of peeled pumpkin in a pot with a little oil. Meanwhile, boil the potatoes and broccoli that reduce to purée once cooked. In another pan fry the shallots, add the crumbled chestnuts and after a few minutes add some toma, a spoon of Parmigiano Reggiano, salt and pepper. Crush the potatoes and season with salt and pepper oil. Grease with the butter of the single-dose molds, cover them with pumpkin slices, make layers with the crushed potatoes, the pureed broccoli and the browned chestnuts. Bake at 180 degrees for 20 minutes and serve hot.

Leeks with cheese

A delicious and quick to prepare dish. Boil the leeks in salted water, drain and dry well. Arrange two crosswise and put in the center a piece of soft cheese such as taleggio. Fold up the leek sheaths by closing the cheese to a bundle, flour the chunks, pass them in the beaten egg and then in the bread crumbs. Fry the bundles of leek in plenty of olive oil, dry them with absorbent paper and serve hot.

Bundles of cabbage and cauliflower

To prepare this side dish, boil the cauliflower florets in boiling salted water and then, when cooked, blend them. Meanwhile cook the leaves of a cabbage steamed, then spread them on a towel and dry them. Cut off the central rib of the leaves, overlap and fill them with cauliflower cream. Rewind them and cook them for ten minutes along with shallots. At the end of cooking, shake the shallots, add some cream on the stove. Cut the slices of cabbage and toss with the cream of cream and shallot. Sprinkle with some black pepper and serve.

Skewers of Jerusalem artichokes and pumpkin with lettuce sauce

The sweet taste of this skewer will be diluted with a lettuce sauce. Boil the diced Jerusalem artichokes and the pumpkin slices. Then brown them in a pan with a knob of butter. Let cool and then make the skewers alternating a piece of pumpkin and one of Jerusalem artichokes. Separately steam lettuce leaves and when they are cooked, whisk them with a little oil, a sprinkling of paprika and salt. Serve the hot skewers seasoned with the lettuce sauce.

Caramelized endive wedges

Ideal to serve with a roast or stuffed turkey. Boil the endive cut into wedges in acidulated water and a pinch of salt. Let it simmer for about 40 minutes then drain it, dry it and put it to caramelise in a pot with some butter and some brown sugar. When it is golden add the juice of an orange juice, reduce and serve with a sprinkling of cinnamon.

Courgette dadini seasoned with onions in sour.

Brown the zucchini cut into small pieces and when they are cooked but still crisp, roll them out in a well oiled baking pan. In a bowl, soften the sultana raisin. Meanwhile, combined with the zucchini of garlic and thinly sliced red onions, some marjoram leaves, squeezed raisins and toasted pine nuts. Separately, cook for three minutes three tablespoons of white wine vinegar and a tablespoon of sugar. When it has thickened, pour it over the zucchini, add a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and cook in the oven for 5 minutes. Serve warm.

Escarole rolls

A quick to prepare and very tasty side dish. Boil a bunch of salad and when it is cooked, drain and dry. Spread the escarole leaves and fill them with chopped black olives, capers, pine nuts, raisins and anchovies in oil. Close the leaves, place them in a pan with a clove of garlic, cook for a few minutes and serve.

How to choose the oil suitable for different dishes and different preparations? – Italian Cuisine

Not all oils are suitable to be used in cooking, but some are indigestible from raw: here is a vademecum for clarity

It's easy to say oil. On the market there are different types, deriving from different raw materials and with different nutritional properties and use. Not everyone is good to use raw, for example to dress the salad, and not all are suitable for frying.

Which ones to use to do what? Below, a practical and fast vade mecum not to make mistakes and not to spoil a dish, but especially to get hurt in the kitchen.

Olive oil

Olive oil is one of the symbolic products of the Mediterranean diet, which can not be missed on an Italian table. Versatile, in the kitchen is suitable for cooking in the pan or in the oven, also for the frying, given the presence of monounsaturated fats, which make it stable to heat. THE'extra virgin olive oil, composed of triglycerides and free fatty acids, is excellent raw: in addition to being very digestible, a teaspoon to season salad or cooked vegetables is a panacea also for health. It in fact strengthens the immune system and controls the level of cholesterol in the blood.

How to choose the evo oil

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Peanut oil

Made from peanut seeds, it has a low content of polyunsaturated fatty acids and a high content of oleic acid. Compared to other oils, it has a more stable structure and is resistant to high temperatures, therefore it is suitable for fried.

Corn oil

Obtained from corn seeds, it contains polyunsaturated fats, which, when subjected to high temperatures, produce substances harmful to the body. No then use in the pan or frying, yes to the raw one: it is rich, in fact, of omega 3 and omega 6, fatty acids friends of the heart.

Palm oil

Made from the fruits of the palm, it is an intense yellow color and in the kitchen it is very resistant to high temperatures, due to the high content of saturated fatty acids. However, use it in moderation: it is not excluded that during frying the food absorbs an amount of oil equal to the two daily tablespoons of fat recommended by dieticians.

Sunflower oil

Obtained from sunflower seeds, it is resistant to heat (so it could be used in baked dishes), but it is better to use it as a condiment raw, also in order not to disperse with its heat its nutrients, like omega 3 and 6, ideal for protecting the heart.

Soybean oil

Made from soybeans, it is rich in polyunsaturated fats, which oxidize at high temperatures, becoming harmful to health. Use it then raw, a precious source of vitamins and linoleic acid, perfect for toning the heart and keeping cholesterol at bay.