Tag: spring

5 recipes for spring – Italian Cuisine

With cheeses, with other vegetables, with cured meats: the pies with asparagus are perfect to consume this extraordinary vegetable

The savory pies with the asparagus they are a perfect match between one of the highlights of Italian cuisine and one of the best and healthiest spring vegetables. The recipes that can be done are really many: we offer 5 of the tastiest e easy to prepare, for all tastes and for all occasions.

The properties of asparagus

Before the recipes, however, a dutiful tribute to the asparagus, one of the most complete elements in nature. Its beneficial properties for the organism have long been known: asparagus is rich in vitamins, fibers and mineral salts, help lto purification of the body, I'm antiinflammatory and antioxidants and help digestion and intestinal functions. A real panacea, therefore, for health and a vegetable tasty and perfect to be combined with many other ingredients.

How to clean and cook asparagus

Browse the gallery

Asparagus and ricotta savory pie

A true classic with a simple taste!

Ingredients
1 roll of puff pastry or puff pastry
250 g of fresh ricotta (even buffalo if you want an even more decisive taste)
250 g of fresh or frozen asparagus
2 eggs
150 g of grated cheese
salt and pepper

Preparation
First choose whether to prepare the brisée or puff pastry or buy it already made. In the first case you can follow our recipe, in the second case you can start preparing asparagus. Cut the stems to the same height and blanch the asparagus in salted water for a few minutes. Drain them not yet cooked (they will then go into the oven) and pass them under cold water to stop cooking. In a large bowl, prepare a mixture with ricotta, eggs and grated cheese, add the asparagus and season with salt and pepper. Roll out the pasta you have chosen and prick it with a fork for better cooking. Pour the mixture into a baking dish with the dough spread and cover with grated cheese (if you want you can also add bread crumbs). Put the savory pie in the oven at 170 ° for 25 minutes and remove it when it is well browned on the surface. You can eat it hot or cold, it will still be delicious.

Savory pie with asparagus and speck

For a tastier cake, combine asparagus with speck or raw ham or capocollo.

Ingredients
1 roll of puff pastry or puff pastry
250 g gorgonzola cheese or brie (or at least a cheese that you have in the fridge and you have to consume)
250 g of fresh or frozen asparagus
150 g of sliced speck
2 eggs
150 g of grated cheese
salt and pepper

Preparation
The procedure is the same as the salty pie with ricotta but you have two variants available for what concerns the combination of speck and asparagus. You can put them separately in the rustic cake or use the asparagus as breadsticks and roll the speck around each one before putting them in the dough. Bake at 170 degrees for 25 minutes and enjoy it just out of the oven.

Savory pie with asparagus, peppers and eggplant

This vegetarian recipe fast and tasty, it is ideal for embellishing seasonal vegetables in a simple dish to prepare. In the mouth there will be an explosion of perfectly mixed flavors.

Ingredients
1 roll of puff pastry or puff pastry
250 g of smoked provola
250 g of fresh or frozen asparagus
1 pepper
1 eggplant
2 eggs
150 g of grated cheese
salt and pepper

Preparation
The preparation of this savory pie – after having chosen, as always, to make home-made pasta or puff pastry or whether to buy it already made – starts with cooking vegetables. Wash the pepper and cut it into small pieces, do the same thing with the aubergine, then clean the asparagus and divide them into 3/4 parts. Cook the peppers and aubergines with olive oil for a few minutes, when they have softened a little, add the asparagus and continue cooking for 4/5 minutes over a low heat. Cut the provola into small pieces and, in a container, pour all the ingredients, mixing them with the eggs and the grated cheese. Roll out the dough and fill it with the mixture – do not forget before piercing it – and cover it with the grated cheese. Bake in pre-heated oven for 20 minutes at 170/180 °. Let it cool a little and bring it to the table.

Puff pastry pies with asparagus, brie, honey

It's a finger food simple and quick to make, ideal for an appetizer or a buffet. Three main ingredients will suffice: asparagus, puff pastry and brie cheese (and a bit of honey) for a perfect contrast of flavors and fragrances!

Ingredients
1 roll of rectangular puff pastry (cut into pieces)
250 g of fresh or frozen asparagus
250 gr of brie cheese
2 eggs
150 g of grated cheese
salt and pepper
honey

Preparation
Start by cleaning the asparagus, cut them to make them more or less 8/10 cm long. Brown them in a pan with olive oil for a few minutes and set aside. Divide the puff pastry into 6 equal pieces and, in each of them, insert a slice of brie cheese. Put 3/4 asparagus on each slice of cheese and season with a drizzle of oil, pepper, salt and grated cheese. Close each rectangle of puff pastry on itself, making sure to close them well at the joint so as not to open them during cooking. Brush with egg yolk and place your patties in the oven at 180 ° for about 25 minutes. Before serving (if you want an even more delicate taste) you can add a little honey.

Savory pie with white asparagus, tomatoes, shallots and stracchino

This is a very special recipe. White asparagus, even more delicate, will give this savory cake the right contrast with the other ingredients, all with a very strong taste.

Ingredients
1 roll of brisee pasta
250 g of fresh or frozen asparagus
100 gr of sliced shallots
100 g of cherry tomatoes
2 eggs
150 g of grated cheese and breadcrumbs
150 g of stracchino
1 pack of cream per kitchen
salt and pepper

Preparation
Boil the asparagus in salted water for a few minutes and set aside. In a pan with a little oil, brown the shallot and then add the asparagus. Cook over high heat for a few minutes. In a bowl add the eggs, cream, stracchino and grated cheese and mix until a uniform mixture is formed. Spread the pasta brisèe on a baking sheet and fill it with the mixture you have prepared. Add the sliced tomatoes (not before draining them well), cover with cheese and a little breadcrumbs and bake for about 20/25 minutes. Let it cool and enjoy!

Tips for a spring detox diet – Italian Cuisine

Spring is the last moment to get back in shape before the summer, if you haven't been attentive to the line so far. Here are our tips for a detox diet

Spring is time for gym membership and miracle diets to arrive in perfect shape in the summer. Needless to say, it would be better to follow a balanced diet and do physical activity all the year, but if you want lose weight and detoxify start now because there is still time. Better late than never!

Detox: diet, don't worry!

DIY diets are of no use and are only a health hazard, as are prolonged fasts. Do not skip meals and do not completely eliminate certain foods from your daily life.
If you want to lose weight go to a nutritionist doctor or a nutritionist biologist and don't rely on diets told by other people or food tables found in magazines. We would like to point out that this article also does not want it to be one list of tips to feel fit for the summer season and not a diet to be taken literally.

Aqua, centrifuged and herbal teas

Drink a lot. Start in the morning, fasting, with a glass of warm water and a little lemon juice to get your metabolism going.
Continue with a centrifuged fruit and vegetables at breakfast or mid-morning snack: be careful though! Centrifugates can become a concentrate of calories and sugars; to avoid exaggerating in the centrifuge always match a fruit and a vegetable and do not abound with the quantities. In fact, in a centrifuge glass there must be the amount of fruit you could eat in a snack, no more!
Drink at least a liter of water during the day and some draining herbal tea made with finicchio, ginger and cherry, preferably not sweetened.
And then don't deprive yourself of one or two cups of green tea a day which is a powerful detoxifier.
Avoid alcoholic and sugary drinks in general.

Password, detox

To start a diet the first thing to do is detoxify. During the winter, thanks to the cold and heavy sweaters, you have not kept an eye on the scale. Have you exaggerated a bit with fatty and over-seasoned foods? It's time to run for cover reducing quantities and changing cooking methods. Remember that theExtra virgin olive oil should never be missing from your diet, but two tablespoons a day in condiments are more than enough. Instead, enrich your dishes with of spices or with lemon and orange juice to have more flavor, but less fat. consume more white meat and fish and avoid red meat and dairy products. And if you are lovers of pasta, don't give up a nice portion for lunch, but choose it whole. As for cooking, they are banished fries if not on rare occasions, and are instead super favorite steamed and grilled.

Go ahead for sprouts and vegetables

Feel free to eat vegetables when you want. A nice portion of mixed salad before meals it helps reduce hunger. Did you know? Enrich it with i sprouts, rich in properties and sources of vitamins and minerals. Soy, alpha alpha and many others are now on the market in many supermarkets. An alternative to salads are the grilled or steamed vegetables, but always remember not to add too many seasonings and sauces. And if during the day you want to munch on something, take it with you fennel, cucumber, radish and carotand already cleaned that are less caloric than any other snack and quickly fill the stomach.

One fruit salad a day

In all diets the fruit it is almost always weighed and distributed throughout the day in a balanced way. This is because it is true that fruit does well and contains few calories, but it is equally true that it is rich in sugars. Our advice is to prepare a beauty every day mixed fruit salad and to consume it little by little at the end of meals. Obviously you don't have to add sugar or enrich it with alcoholic beverages or sugary syrups. One is enough sprinkle of lemon juice and some fresh mint leaves or basil to add an extra touch to your fruit salad. And if you want, add one too banana, the fruit forbidden during diets. Some washer never hurt anyone.

It takes movement

Know that no diet will work if you don't spend a few hours a week physical activity. You don't necessarily have to register at the gym, that's enough walk or run for 40 minutes a day. Choose your step and go to the park or even on the road to take long walks. It is a simple activity that stimulates the metabolism and is good for the heart. It costs nothing, so why not start right away?

Spring on the table: bitter herbs – Italian Cuisine

At the beginning of spring the bitter herbs arrive. Once much loved in the kitchen, today they are a bit snubbed. And it's a shame because they are rich in healthy properties. They stimulate the work of the liver, have a strong potential for detoxification and improve bowel function. Good both cooked and raw

In the culinary traditions of spring bitter herbs occupy an important role. Taken to the table on the occasion of the Jewish holiday of Pesach, which celebrates the liberation of slavery and the escape from Egypt, they accompanied the unleavened bread, prepared quickly, without leavening, and they were the symbol of bitterness and difficulty. Harvested in the meadows during the spring, they are rich in healthy properties, but according to some research their consumption is decreasing, surpassed by the exuberant presence of sweet taste, which today we use in excessive quantities. This is why rediscovering the taste of bitter herbs constitutes a benefit for well-being and the palate.

Discovering bitter herbs

Towards the end of winter, when the snow melts and the first new shoots are born in the meadows, bitter herbs appear. To be consumed cooked or raw, are valuable for the purification of the organism. Know the recipe of Neapolitan escarole? Thanks to the addition of olives, raisins, walnuts and anchovies, they whet the appetite with an unmistakable scent and can also be used for the preparation of the famous stuffed pizza. The herbs, together with the seasonal vegetables or the cheese, constitute the ingredient always used for rustic, savory and stuffed pies for tortelloni or ravioli. In fact, throughout Italy, the stuffed egg pasta represents an ancient tradition: it seems that the ravioli with herbs, to be prepared with ricotta, were already known in the Middle Ages, later becoming the lean dish prepared for Good Friday.

Benefits of herbs

They stimulate the work of the liver and the process of detoxication, improve bowel function and help burn fat. Eating herbs such as chicory and chicory, black cabbage, endive, chicory and Catalonia regularly prevents seasonal ailments and strengthens the immune system. Excellent in soup, blanched or sautéed in a pan with a drizzle of raw oil, they become a simple and nutritious side dish. Avoid keeping the herbs too long because the leaves tend to perish quickly: alternatively, you can boil them in salted water and freeze some portions ready for use when you're in a hurry.

Recipes with bitter herbs

A famous dish of Roman cuisine is the salad of puntarelle, which is prepared with the catalonia herringbone, garlic, oil, vinegar and anchovies. Even the dandelion can be eaten raw: all you have to do is choose the softest leaves and season with a drizzle of oil, lemon and a sprinkling of pepper, to taste. Bring energy to the table and a touch of liveliness: plants like nettle and chicory are delicious as a condiment for pasta and velvety, but also in omelette. Research shows that we are addicted to the sweet taste, predominant in our usual diet, while bitterness tends to disappear, a declining food habit, from which imbalances can arise, as well as difficulties in the liver and gall bladder. An excellent opportunity to give the welcome to spring rediscovering the pleasure of a natural diet, rich in nutrients and fresh simplicity.