Tag: Perfect

Preserved in jar: 10 rules to make them perfect – Italian Cuisine

The homemade tomato puree is its queen, sovereign of a boundless kingdom whose subjects range from the delicious chutneys to the traditional fruit jams (the jams, however, are not all the same …). Preparing the preserves is a source of immediate and prolonged satisfactions. Of course, you have to keep an eye on the Botox risk, otherwise the door to the Conserve kingdom is open. Where is the entrance? From fruit or vegetables fresh and of quality, with few tools jars and some important foresight.

1) Choose the ingredient-base always in season and preferably bio (or better yet, biodynamic); if you use fruit, prefer it well ripe, when it is more juicy and sweet (in this month, plums, grapes, figs, but also peaches, apples and pears); discard the first fruits, less tasty and more expensive. Fruit and vegetables should always be washed, even if they are peeled.

2) The equipment necessary is limited and you probably have it: a wide and deep steel saucepan, a wooden spoon, a kitchen scale, a small ladle, a graduated carafe. You could also use a colander and a funnel.

3) I glass jars they must be new or in excellent condition, with a wide mouth and an airtight screw cap: they are cheap, easy to find and in various sizes. Better to use the medium ones (250 g) so that, once opened, they can be finished in a short time.

4) Jars e covers they must be very clean and dry: wash them yourself in the dishwasher at maximum temperature. If the filling is done with cold products, this is sufficient. Otherwise, better proceed to 'sterilization', or more correctly 'Sanitizing', of jars & lids: dip them in a pot of cold water and boil them for about 10 minutes. In order not to make the sanitation vain, after the treatment the containers must be left
immersed in the water until they are filled.

5) Cooking times jams and chutneys can vary by a few minutes compared to the recipe you have chosen, because ripe fruit is often more watery. In this case, to get the right consistency, you can add a peeled and diced apple: the apples, in fact, contain pectin, substance with the thickening effect.

6) Fill the jars leaving 1 cm of free space from the edge (used to form a vacuum during cooling). It is important not to leave residues on the edges, especially on the outside. If smudges remain, clean well with dampened kitchen paper and dry before screwing the capsule.

7) If the preserve that you are cooking is hot (as in the case of jams, compotes and chutneys), at this point turn the jars upside down and wait for them to cool completely. Then, turn them and controlled that the vacuum has formed: the capsule must be perfectly flat or curved inwards.

8) For jams with little sugar and some preserves, one is mandatory home pasteurization. After filling and closing the jars well, place them in a saucepan lined with a clean cloth, wrap them with other cloths to prevent them from breaking and cover them with warm water whose level must overcome them of a few centimeters. Calculate the time from boiling: iThe time required depends on the type of preserves, the type of container and its size (about 20 minutes for 250 g jars, however follow the times indicated by the recipe) and let them cool in the water. After 12-24 hours, inspect again that the lid is lowered to the center, pressing it lightly (you should hear a click-clak for the metal caps): it is the sign that it is formed the vacuum pack.

9) At this point the preserve is ready: all that remains is to attack youlabel to write the name of your creation, but above all useful to remember the preparation date and then check the deadline (usually 10-12 months). Store the jars in a dry and cool place. away from light and heat sources.

10) Check once in a while if it has formed on the surface mold or if the lid has swollen: in this case, do not hesitate to throw everything away. Once the jar is open, keep it in the refrigerator and consume it within a few days.

Paola Mancuso
September 2016
updated in September 2019
by Carola Traverso Saibante

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Recipe Risotto with yellow pumpkin, the perfect recipe – Italian Cuisine

The yellow pumpkin risotto is all we need to bring the best seasonal ingredients to the table: find out how to prepare it

Ingredients

250 g rice (carnaroli type)
250 g yellow pumpkin
80 g onion
butter
olive oil
Grana Padano
vegetable broth
salt

Duration: 15 min

Level: Easy

Dose: 4 people

The yellow pumpkin risotto is all we need to bring the best seasonal ingredients to the table: find out how to prepare it
For the recipe for risotto with yellow pumpkin, cut the pumpkin into pieces, depriving it of its peel and seeds. Pass it for 5 ′ in the microwave (at maximum power, covered) to soften it. Peel the onion, chop it, then let it dry in a saucepan with 2 tablespoons of oil and a knob of butter. Add the already softened pumpkin and let it cook for 2 minutes.

Add the rice and toast it for half a minute. Add about 600 g of boiling broth to ladles, stirring clockwise. Cook the risotto as usual. Cream it with a large knob of butter and three tablespoons of grated parmesan and, if necessary, season with salt. Serve the hot pumpkin risotto immediately.

The perfect pizzoccheri recipe (it's star-shaped) – Italian Cuisine

The Fiorida is the first, and the only, starred farmhouse in Italy and the pizzoccheri their main course. No mignon portions or gourmet recipes, here in Valtellina tradition reigns supreme and prices are popular. Here is their secret and the recipe: step by step

The perfect pizzochero is that of a chef. But stop everyone: it costs only € 14 per dish. The Agriturismo La Fiorida in Valtellina is the only starred agriturismo in Italy and a destination for fanatics of the typical Valtellinese dish. The secret? The raw material and craftsmanship are the same as those that have always been made in this mountain valley. In the dish there is the authentic taste of the territory, the taste and a concrete contribution to the local agro-food chain.

The secret flour

A good dish always starts from an excellent raw material, which is then transformed with passion by skilled hands. For this reason, what is not produced directly by La Fiorida comes from small, carefully chosen suppliers in the vicinity. Saracen flour, a distinctive ingredient of pizzoccheri is produced by Andrea Pelacchi, a young Valtellina farmer who has committed himself to keeping the cultivation of buckwheat to better and Piateda alive.

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The fresh pasta

Kneading and pulling the dough by hand, means infusing humor and humanity in the preparation, as well as a respect for the ingredient. In the kitchen, the cooks of the farm scarrellano the pizzoccheri every day, to always have a fresh pasta.

Butter and cheese

The 200 Bruna Alpina breed cows that live in the stable guarantee for a Valtellina Casera DOP and a fresh centrifugal butter, processed by skilled cheesemakers.

Vegetables

They come from the garden, vary depending on the season and the harvest. Ribs or cabbage, green beans and potatoes.

Prices

A plate of Pizzoccheri Valtellinesi from stone-ground flour, scoured by hand and scented with herbs with Valtellina Casera DOP Reserve seasoning over 300 days, from Pura Bruna milk they cost € 14. In a traditional menu with home-made cold cuts and cheeses, pork spare ribs with Legnone beer with stone-ground polenta, wild blueberry nectar with natural yoghurt ice cream, water and coffee you spend € 45 (vegetarian menu and vegan menu at 40 €).

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The recipe for pizzocheri de La Fiorida

Ingredients 4/5 people

300 g of buckwheat flour
200 g of 00 flour
200 g of "La Fiorida" butter
250 g of Valtellina Casera cheese after "La Fiorida"
150 g of Grana Padano cheese
200 g of cabbage
250 g of potatoes
1 clove of garlic
pepper

Method

Mix the flours in a bowl, add the water and start working by hand. Transfer everything to a pastry board and work the dough vigorously to obtain an elastic and silky consistency, not too soft. Begin to roll out the dough with a rolling pin about 2-3 mm thick, trim the edges and cut strips of about 7 cm in width. Overlap 3 strips one above the other, sprinkle with a bit of buckwheat flour cut into strips about 0.5-1 cm thick.

For the seasoning
Clean the cabbage, flicking it, cutting it in half and then slicing, removing the toughest part. Peel and slice the potatoes into large pieces.

For the cooking
It is very important that the vegetables cook in the water in which the pizzoccheri will be cooked. In already salted and boiling water, start with the potatoes to cook for about 2 minutes, add the cabbage. After about 5 minutes you can pour the pizzoccheri.

To finish the dish
Cut the garlic cloves into slices, pour the butter into a pan and let it melt together with a few leaves of sage, you will have to let it go over medium-low heat until you get a hazelnut color.
Drain the pizzoccheri together with the potatoes and the cabbage, create a first layer on the bottom of the pan. Without stirring, spread a layer of grated casera cheese and continue with another layer of pizzoccheri, repeat the passage of the cheese and add the grated Parmesan. Add the hot butter, remove the sage leaves and stir the pizzoccheri gently.