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Christmas recipes: 20 main courses – Italian Cuisine

Christmas recipes: 20 main courses


Here is our collection of meat or fish based second courses, traditional or creative, for the holiday menu. So good to satisfy all palates

At the table they like them so much appetizers, then expects the first with appetite, to then get to the according to less hungry. This may happen on Sundays, but during the Christmas or Boxing Day lunch it's impossible! There are many, many tasty ideas which can be brought to the festive table when everything is allowed. You can amaze your guests even in lightness, fish could be the ideal choice. For those who prefer tradition, a good roast is the perfect option. Discover the seconds of Christmas that we have designed to make you look great with your loved ones and delight the palates of even the most demanding guests.

Fish-based main courses for Christmas

Make sure your guests appreciate fish as much as you do and get to work with our delicious and elegant dishes, with the finest meats such aslobster baked in foil to alternative ideas like it fish stew, L'sea ​​bream in clay crust, the cacciucco in the modern version, or a simple one sea ​​bass, mushrooms and chervil, the turbot on pumpkin cream and herbs, the crispy mullet and for connoisseurs theeel, cream of potatoes and red pesto.

Meat-based main courses for Christmas

If you have already cooked and eaten fish on Christmas Eve, focus on a tasty second course of meat that fits the whole family together, to choose from: gbeef cheek with hazelnut and potato mayonnaise, veal in crust, black truffle sauce, pork loin with onions, stuffed capon breast, toasted corn crusted fillet, old-fashioned roast but with dates, braised rabbit and salsify with white wine cream, stew with aromatic sandwich crust, shoulder of lamb with lemon and mint, braised in Barolo with mashed potatoes, roast veal with apricots and dried figs and to finish the guinea fowl with coconut.

Here are our tasty Christmas second courses:

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Bagna cauda day 2021: a rich calendar to taste the main dish of Piedmont – Italian Cuisine

Bagna cauda day 2021: a rich calendar to taste the main dish of Piedmont


Several local adherents and 6 dates to be set: this year the "Bagna cauda day”Multiplies the appointments for lovers of the main dish of the Piedmontese tradition. Strong stomachs and gourmets indeed are preparing to participate in the ninth edition of the most anticipated event by all bagnacaudisti, which this year will receive the fabric bib with the motto "Fourth dose!", Signed by Sergio Ponchione. A nice cadeau to say that, after vaccination, a good "dose" of bagna cauda contributes to the well-being of the body, given the known antiseptic qualities of garlic. So much so that in 1855 in the Crimea the Piedmontese and allied troops to whom General Lamarmora had the famous dish prepared called it "suitable for strong and brave men for its shooting-like flavors".

A centuries-old preparation

For centuries now in the Langhe and Monferrato the end of harvests have been celebrated by preparing the traditional bagna cauda: a tasty sauce made with garlic, thistles and other vegetables, anchovies and extra virgin olive oil. The bagna cauda is then served in the characteristic earthenware container (called “dianèt) and placed in the center of the table with a spirit warmer underneath in order to always keep it hot and bring out all the scent. Daughter of peasant civilization, bagna cauda is mainly known in its classic version, which includes a list of cheap ingredients: garlic heads, extra virgin olive oil and, where possible, a glass of walnut oil and red anchovies from Spain. However, over time other variants have spread, such as the bagna cauda of the archpriest, which involves cooking garlic in milk, in order to dampen its strong taste and smell, and adding butter and beef fillet.

Bagna cauda day: the news of 2021

And we conclude this historical tour on the bagna cauda by telling the main news of the 2021 edition. First of all, since the places are limited, you have to book your place by calling the restaurant participating in the event. To find out which clubs join, just go to the website www.bagnacaudaday.it and scroll through the lists, divided by geographical areas (Alto Piemonte, Turin, Asti, Monferrato, Langhe, Valle d'Aosta and other regions). This year, moreover, the event focuses on protecting the environment. In fact, the proceeds will be used for finance the birth of the Bosco degli Astigiani, a land of over 5 hectares made available by the Banca d'Asti.

Finally, while the price remains unchanged (25 euros) in all the places, the tasting proposal changes: the bagna cauda will in fact be offered in 3 versions signaled by a traffic light: As God commands, Heretics (with diluted garlic), Atea (without garlic).

New Year. Three main courses in the oven: the recipes – Italian Cuisine

New Year. Three main courses in the oven: the recipes


Preparing the New Year's Eve dinner is always laborious. One way to optimize times is to make the oven the protagonist in the preparation of main courses. Here are three perfect recipes for the occasion

When the time comes to get in the kitchen to baste the New Year's Eve dinner, time risks turning into a guillotine. But there is a way to optimize times, without neglecting tradition: to make the oven protagonist of the preparation of New Year's seconds. Thus, while the cotechino, lo shin or the sardines they cook, your hands are free to make, for example, cold appetizers or a first course with one of the many lucky foods.

In crust, the alternative version of cotechino

A great classic that cannot be missing from the New Year's menu is the cotechino with lentils. A alternative version of the traditional recipe, which can be prepared in the oven, is the one in a puff pastry crust. The ingredients for four people are a cotechino of about 500 grams, a roll of puff pastry, 450 grams of spinach already cleaned, two eggs, 20 grams of grated Parmesan cheese, a clove of garlic, extra virgin olive oil, salt, pepper , nutmeg and sesame seeds.

First of all cook the cotechino in plenty of water, according to the times indicated on the package or by your butcher. Drain it and remove the casing. Meanwhile, in another pot of boiling salted water, boil the spinach. When they become tender, drain them, squeeze them and sauté them in a pan with a drizzle of oil and a clove of garlic. Allow them to cool, then transfer them to the mixer and blend them with the parmesan, egg, a pinch of salt, pepper and nutmeg. At this point, unroll the puff pastry and spread over the Spinach Cream, leaving an inch of border on all sides. Lay the cotechino on one end and roll up, tightening the sheet well. Close the side edges, brush the surface with egg yolk, sprinkle with sesame seeds and bake at 200 ° for about 25 minutes.

New Year's courses in the oven, the inevitable shank

Another dish that is always very popular on New Year's Eve is it pork knuckle. Quick to prepare, it needs instead of more than an hour of cooking in the oven. Four small shins are needed for four people, 80 grams of butter, an onion, two cloves of garlic, a sprig of rosemary, a glass of dry white wine, a liter of broth, extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper.

Quickly rinse the shanks under running water and place them in a pan covered with parchment paper with the butter, rosemary, onion cut in half, oil and peeled cloves of garlic. Bake at 200 degrees and as soon as they have taken a little color, pour in the white wine. When this has faded, repeat the operation with the broth from time to time, so that the meat never stays dry. At the end of cooking it should, in fact, be tender and moist. To accompany the shanks, the tasty baked potatoes are excellent.

Sarde a beccafico, for those who do not want to give up fish

The Sarde A Beccafico they are perfect for those who want to opt for a fish-based second New Year's Eve. Four people need 500 grams of fresh sardines, an orange, two teaspoons of honey and a few bay leaves. For the filling 100 grams of breadcrumbs, 40 grams of sultanas, 40 grams of pine nuts, two anchovies, a teaspoon of sugar, a sprig of parsley, a clove of garlic, extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper.

First of all turn on the oven at 200 ° and put soaking the raisins. Then proceed with the cleaning of sardines and once ready open them like a book. In a pan with a drizzle of oil, toast the breadcrumbs, then transfer it to a bowl and add the oil, anchovies, chopped parsley and garlic, pine nuts, pepper, salt and sugar. Mix everything until you get a homogeneous compound. Put a teaspoon of filling on each sardine and roll it up on itself. Then grease a baking dish with a drizzle of oil, arrange the stuffed sardines, separating them from each other with bay leaves, sprinkle with orange juice, a little more oil and honey. Bake in the oven at 180 degrees for about twenty minutes.

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