Tag: Italian

Baked Panzerotti recipe with fava bean cream, pecorino cheese and salami – Italian Cuisine

Baked Panzerotti recipe with fava bean cream, pecorino cheese and salami


  • 500 g flour 0
  • 200 g shelled beans
  • 150 g pecorino cheese
  • 70 g salami
  • 70 g extra virgin olive oil
  • 10 g fresh brewer's yeast
  • salt

FOR PASTA
Knead the flour with 300 g of water and the crumbled yeast, until you obtain a smooth and homogeneous mixture. Then add 20 g of oil and 10 g of salt, then collect it in a ball, put it in a bowl, cover it with a damp cloth and let it rise in the oven off with a bowl of hot water next to it, until its volume has doubled.

FOR THE STUFFING
Blanch the beans in salted water for a couple of minutes, drain them in cold water, remove the skin and blend them.
Grate roughly the pecorino; cut the salami into cubes and mix them with the blended broad beans.

FOR PANZEROTTI
flour the work surface and roll out the dough, making a sheet of 4-5 mm thick. Cut out 15-16 discs (ø 9 cm). Spread a spoonful of filling in the center of each; wet the edges of the disc and close it half-moon, giving the shape of the panzerotto.
distributed the panzerotti on a baking tray lined with parchment paper, brush them with a brine obtained by mixing 50 g of water and 50 g of oil. Let them rise again for 15 minutes, always in the oven turned off with the bowl of hot water.
Bake the panzerotti in the fan oven at 220 ° C for about 15 minutes.

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Summer solstice, rites and beliefs – Italian Cuisine

Summer solstice, rites and beliefs


On the longest day of the year the Finnish sun drops below the horizon at midnight, but only to reappear immediately. And the start of the season of long arctic white nights is celebrated with bonfires, saunas, barbecues and boat trips

What is the most anticipated season of the year for many has officially begun. This year the summer solstice falls today, 2nd June, and as always comes with its load of magic and suggestions that have accompanied it since ancient times. If in the world it is the longest day of the year, in the lands surrounding the North Pole is the one in which the sun never sets and what gives way to long arctic nights.

Juhannus, when the sun never sets in Finland

In Finland, tradition has it that this special day is greeted with a national holiday. Juhannus: so is called the celebration of the moment when light triumphs over darkness, a moment interpreted for millennia as a hymn to life, as a message of rebirth and revenge, more valid than ever in this 2020 characterized by the dark phase of the emergency Coronavirus. On this day (which will be June 21 in Finland) every corner of the country becomes the theater of events and parties. Bonfires and saunas, barbecues, fishing excursions and boat trips: so the Finns celebrate the transition between two worlds, that of the night and that of the day, the beginning of summer and holidays.

Rites and beliefs of the Finnish summer solstice

Although crowds will be avoided this time, Juhannus usually includes precise rites. According to tradition, having fun making noise and drinking a lot it is a way to attract the good luck. A power exercised over fate also thanks to the bonfire ("Kokko" in Finnish) which in the past were turned on to drive away the bad spirits and as a wish for a good harvest at the end of the summer season. In ancient times, in fact, a great magical power was attributed to the summer solstice, through various beliefs related to fertility and to search for one's soul mate. According to mythology, if a young girl puts seven freshly picked flowers under her pillow before falling asleep on the day of the summer solstice, she will be able to dream of her future boyfriend. Not surprisingly many weddings they are still organized in this period to propitiate the union.

The midnight sun that blends sunrise and sunset together

On the day of the summer solstice the Finns stay wake up late waiting for that night that will never come. Juhannus starts a unique season, in which the protagonist is one of the most iconographic phenomena of Finland: the midnight Sun which contrasts in the summer months with the dark arctic winter, profoundly influencing the lifestyle of the Finns and pushing them to enjoy every minute of the short hot period. All sad thoughts go into hibernation: there is time to find them once it is dark again. Although the midnight sun is visible only north of the Arctic circle, the nights are also illuminated in the southern regions of the nation. Indeed, shortly after midnight the sun drops below the horizon, but only to immediately return to the top, merging sunset and sunrise in an unforgettable moment. In the northern regions of Finnish Lapland, the sun remains above the horizon for more than 70 consecutive days. Under the polar circle, on the other hand, it sets briefly at night. But it cannot be said that it is really dark sleepless nights they are in fact a peculiarity of the whole nation; Helsinki, located on the southern coast, is also illuminated 24/7 in the summer.

Summer at the cottage to experience Finland like the Finns

The password to fully enjoy the white nights is "Cottage". Finns love the quiet, and also for the tourist there is no better way to experience it than to leave behind the hustle and bustle of everyday life and find refuge in a picturesque wooden cottage surrounded by nature. A nest from which to live intensely days extended to infinity, taking long walks and canoeing excursions, fishing, spending the small hours playing golf or conquering the top of a mountain (for info for a holiday in the country, www.visitfinland.com).

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The most gluttonous sciatt of Valtellina – Italian Cuisine


The crispy pancakes from Valtellina made from buckwheat, gluten-free. Usually salty, they can also be declined in the sweet version, with chocolate

Teglio, in the province of Sondrio, boasts the practice of growing buckwheat (fagopyrum esculentum, Monch) for more than four centuries and is universally recognized as a place of origin for Valtellina pizzoccheri.

Over time, the cultivation of buckwheat has assumed the identity and identification role of a heritage of cultural knowledge of the territory: the land around the town is colored by the soft flowers of the plant all year round.

Buckwheat is naturally gluten-free since it does not belong to grasses, but is a species of flowering plant in the Polygonaceae family. If in the rest of Italy the cultivation of this plant has almost disappeared, in Valtellina, despite the drastic reduction in local production, it is the basic ingredient of many typical dishes, now famous even outside the Valtellina borders: pizzoccheri, sciàt, polenta taragna and chisciöi.

Among the many local recipes, we asked the super local Mrs. Nadia to prepare us the sciatt (literally sciatt in Valtellinese dialect means toad) that is, crispy pancakes of round shape with melted cheese heart, usually served on a bed of chicory.

The most gluttonous sciatt of Valtellina

Recipe

Ingredients for 4 people

500 g of Molino Tudori buckwheat flour
half a teaspoon of salt
sparkling mineral water
a spoonful of grappa
300 g soft casera cheese or 200 g chopped dark chocolate (for the sweet version)
sunflower oil for frying

Method

Mix the flour, salt and grappa very well with a whisk, adding the water to obtain a soft, but not too much dough: the consistency of the pasta must be stringy. Leave the pasta to rest for about an hour at room temperature and then add the casera cheese cut into cubes of about 2 cm.
When the oil in the pan is boiling, collect a cube of cheese with a spoon, taking care to cover it with the pasta and let it fall into the pan.
Leave the sciatt to brown until afloat and serve hot on a bed of raw chopped chicory.

For the chocolate variant, the recipe is identical to that of traditional sciatt by dipping pieces of dark chocolate in the batter and frying as in the traditional recipe. If desired, they can be sprinkled with a little icing sugar.
They are like cherries … one pulls the other!

Picture of Antonella Catalano.

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