Tag: garlic

Greek Garlic – Italian cuisine reinvented by Gordon Ramsay

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Anyone who has spent a holiday in Greece and tasted the typical dishes, will certainly have tasted the famous garlic Greek. Less famous than the tzatziki (the sauce made with Greek yogurt and cucumbers that is now easily found in Italy too), also the “skordalia” – this is what agliata is called in its homeland – is a sauce. Or rather, to put it in Greek again, it is a halfor one of those dishes that in Greece are served as appetizers but can then accompany all the courses. The main ingredient, as the name suggests, is thegarlic: if you love this flavor you are really in the right place!

The Greek garlic sauce, with a very strong and unmistakable flavour and similar consistency to a mashed potatois usually served to accompany various dishes, in particular the fish. There are two variations (one with potatoes and one with walnuts) but today we will suggest how to prepare the first version, which is definitely more versatile. In addition to fish, agliata often accompanies meat and vegetable dishes (in addition to the delicious Greek bread, pita).

The other main ingredient of Greek agliata – besides garlic – is made up of potatoes. The doses we recommend are for a portion for 4-6 people, but by increasing them proportionally you can obtain a greater quantity of sauce. To prepare Greek agliata you do not need to be a great chef or even a fan of Greek cuisine: the passages I am few And simple and the taste is guaranteed!

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Wild garlic: what it is and where to find the treasure of the woods – Italian cuisine reinvented by Gordon Ramsay

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Wild version of common garlic, wild garlic has always been present in our woods but only recently has its great value in the kitchen been disappearing. Also because until a few years ago only the natives knew how to distinguish it from other similar (and poisonous) varieties, they kept it in family recipes and followed its seasonality. The great chefs have cleared it, breaking down the old taboos of bon ton that fear its smell.

Wild garlic: the 100% edible “wild” version

Wild garlic is the wild cousin of common garlic, a spontaneous and perennial medicinal plant. It belongs to the same family as the tulip and grows almost everywhere without major demands: in the woods, along ditches and near rivers. It seems to have taken its name from the enjoyable habit of bears to stock up on them to recover the energy lost when waking up from hibernation (or so the popular legend says). It has antibiotic and antifungal properties and is rich in vitamins and minerals. This tenacious plant is totally edible, so much so that it can be considered a “vegetable” version of pork, nothing of which is thrown away. Most importantly, from the bulb to the stem and up to the leaves it has a strong taste, but less persistent than classic garlic.

Dangerous similarities

We are all passionate about foraging, or perhaps we would like to, but we must remember that the pitfalls, as with mushrooms, are just around the corner when it comes to collecting wild herbs. In fact, wild garlic is very similar to other species that are highly poisonous if ingested, i.e. thrush and colchicum. Our senses can help us recognize it even when it is not in flower but it is better to contact a local person and an expert botanist or agronomist who can check the spoils. So let’s not get carried away by enthusiasm and leave the wild plants where they are, admiring and smelling them: there is a much safer way to enjoy all the properties of wild garlic. Let’s grow it on the balcony.

The wild garlic flower.

On the terrace it is a guarantee

We can grow wild garlic in our homes starting from seeds, seedlings and bulbs. In the first case we can find the seeds in specialized shops, but in this case we will have to wait at least two years to have something to bite into. It is therefore better to opt for bulbs to be buried in autumn in groups of three as is done for garlic and onion, or the seedling that can be transplanted directly into a pot in spring. The leaves can be picked and used all year round, watering them to avoid stagnation. Wild garlic is perfect for “black thumbs” (who would be better off just buying plastic flowers) and for shaded balconies, the nightmare of lovers of metropolitan gardening.

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Extremely creamy spaghetti with garlic, oil and chilli – Italian cuisine reinvented by Gordon Ramsay

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Garlic is stripped of its soul and left to sizzle together with the chili pepper; the parsley is finely chopped to give color and freshness to the entire dish. The spaghetti with garlic, oil and hot peppers they are the most famous and traditional dish of Italian cuisine; a first course as simple as it is elaborate to prepare. Yes, because the secret for one good garlic and oil lies in cooking the garlic, which must release its aroma without ever burning.

Depending on your taste, the chili pepper can be more or less pronounced, reduced to powder or cut into larger, more spectacular rounds.

The cream, then, is a whole programme: not simple oil to season the pasta, but a thicker sauce with an enveloping flavour.

Spaghetti with garlic, oil and chilli pepper is a very quick first course, the classic Italian dinner saver that is impossible not to love.

The secret to a tasty thick cream lies in the cooking of the pasta: risotto in the pan, with the seasoning, will allow the thickening process thanks to the release of the starch from the pasta.

Cook the spaghetti in boiling, salted water.

Pour plenty of oil into a pan and add the cored garlic cloves and the chilli pepper cut into thin slices.

Add a little cooking water (be careful, the oil must not be hot) and risotto the spaghetti for a few minutes.

Stir in the finely chopped parsley and extra virgin olive oil off the heat.

Serve the spaghetti with the emulsion created during cooking.

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