Tag: summer

Sicilian caponata: the original Palermo recipe – Italian cuisine reinvented by Gordon Ramsay

Tasty, comforting, it embodies the whole Mediterranean. There caponata Siciliana, side summer par excellence, was born in Sicily and today it is widespread and appreciated throughout Italy thanks to that unmistakable sweet and sour flavour. Cold, warm and room temperature, it really is irresistible and if it is served on a slice of toasted bread it can even represent an appetizer or a main course. Loved by vegetarians and omnivoresinitially it was also prepared with fish, while today the best known variant it is the one based on suns vegetable ingredients.

Sicilian caponata: the numerous versions

From caponata Siciliana they exist numerous versions but what is certain is that the eggplant they cannot be missed and that all the ingredients they must be individually prepared to be united only at the end. In the alone Sicily at least they can be counted four variations of caponata: a Catania among the ingredients there are also: peppers red and yellow, e.g Agrigento in addition to peppers there are the olives black but not the green ones, a Messina woe betide using concentrate for the benefit of tomatoes fresh it’s at Palermo there recipe that is performed is yet another.

Sicilian caponata: the Palermo recipe

A mix of fried vegetables (otherwise it’s not caponata!) and then pan-fried with a sauce based on sugar and vinegar: this is the secret to obtaining the original Palermo Sicilian caponata from the typical one sweet and sour taste.

Ingredients for 6 people

1 kg of long aubergines
250 g of tomato sauce
80 g of pitted green olives
60 g of desalted capers
60 ml of white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons of brown sugar
1 golden onion
1 stalk of celery
extra virgin olive oil
fresh basil
salt

Method

Start preparing the Sicilian caponata by draining the aubergines. Wash them well with running water, cut off the end with the stalk, cut them into slices a couple of centimeters thick and collect them in a bowl. Sprinkle with coarse salt and place a weight on top. After about an hour, rinse them well with fresh water and let them drain on sheets of absorbent paper. When they are well drained, cut them into cubes.
Pour into a large pan oil and when it is hot, fry the aubergines until golden brown. Remove them with a slotted spoon and let them drain on absorbent paper for fried foods.
Clean the celery, wash it with cold water and cut it into pieces more or less the size of the aubergines. Blanch it for a few minutes in boiling salted water and drain it.
Pour the sugar and vinegar into a bowl and mix until the sugar is completely dissolved. Keep aside.
Peel the onion and chop it finely. In a saucepan, fry the chopped onion in the oil for a couple of minutes, taking care not to let it burn. Also add the capers and blanched pieces of celery and leave to flavor for a few minutes, stirring often.
Add the olives and tomato sauce to the saucepan. Mix, add salt and cook for five minutes. Finally add the aubergines and the sweet and sour sauce. Mix with a wooden spoon until the ingredients are well blended. Season with salt, turn off the heat and flavor with the basil.
Let the caponata rest and serve it at room temperature so the flavor of the vinegar will be less intrusive.

Which aubergines are used to make caponata?

The types of aubergines that would be best to choose for making Sicilian caponata are the “violet” type, like – needless to say – the long Palermo violet. This type of aubergines are characterized by elongated shape and from very firm pulp which holds up well to cooking while remaining intact and compact.

Cannelloni recipe with monk’s beard and robiola – Italian cuisine reinvented by Gordon Ramsay

Step 1

Mix the semolina with 60 g of warm water, an egg, a pinch of salt and a spoonful of oil. Let the resulting dough rest for 1 hour, covered with cling film.

Step 2

Trim the friar’s beard, removing the bottom of the stems, and wash it very carefully, changing the water 2 or 3 times to remove all the dirt well. Blanch it in boiling salted water for 3 minutes, then drain it. Then sauté it for 2 minutes in a pan with 4 tablespoons of oil and 2 cloves of garlic with the peel, slightly crushed.

Step 3

Mix the robiola with the grated parmesan, salt, pepper and an egg. Chop a third of the monk’s beard and add it to the robiola, mixing (stuffing).

Step 4

Roll out the dough into thin sheets, cut them into 18 rectangles of approximately 8×10 cm. Blanch them in boiling salted water for a few seconds, then pass them in cold water, spread them on a cloth and pat them dry.

Step 5

Fill the rectangles with the filling, distributing it with a pastry bag into small strands on one of the long sides. Spread a little filling on the other long side, so that the dough adheres, closing the rectangles like cannelloni.

Step 6

Heat the cream with the milk and a crushed garlic clove. Once it boils, remove the garlic and add the corn starch dissolved in a little cold water. Cook for 5′, season with salt and pepper (béchamel sauce).

Step 7

Arrange the remaining friar’s beard on the bottom of a baking dish greased with oil, then place the cannelloni on top. Cover them with the béchamel, sprinkle everything with grated parmesan and bake at 200°C for 10.

Vegetarian courgette and stracchino lasagne recipe – Italian cuisine reinvented by Gordon Ramsay

Here is the recipe for a plain and vegetarian lasagna which, with its delicate taste and enveloping consistency, will not make you regret the classic lasagna. Prepare it for the next Sunday lunch with the family or for any day of the week, we assure you that no one will be disappointed!

To make it you will have to make a layer of bechamel sauce saffronone of pasta sheets, one of zuchinis cut very thin, basil, stracchino flakes and then start the sequence again until you run out of ingredients. We leave you the instructions for making all the ingredients at home, but for quicker preparation you can use the ready-made pastry and bechamel.

Also try these recipes: Lasagna with courgette pesto, speck and scamorza, Courgette lasagna, the easy and light recipe.