Tag: tastiest

The tastiest day – Italian Cuisine – Italian Cuisine

The stories under the tree. We all have a secret memory of the holidays from when we were children. Like the glass of milk for Santa! For you one of the stories of our editorial staff taken from the December issue

That day there were no rules. Or rather, there were very different rules. We got up when we wanted to, or rather, we got up at eight poked by my little brother who was awake from five to ask me, every three minutes, if we could go and open the presents brought by Santa Claus. And Santa Claus always left a letter of thanks, with fluttering writing, for the panettone and the glass of milk we left near the tree the night before. The milk, for him and also for the Befana … had a healthy value and altruistic safety: if we put the sparkling wine, then how do they drive the sled, or the broom, for the rest of the night? Above all, if all the children put sparkling wine, they would get drunk. Not that they fall down before having delivered all the presents.
So: milk. And Christmas is safe. That day there was no work to distract the parents, like the other 364 days, not even for a moment, throughout the day. That day they were all for us, and us for them, who enjoyed our cries as the packages were opened. Then, incredible for us little ones, we stayed all morning in our pajamas, playing with new gifts and watching the Smurfs movies (very long films in our perspective of "TV only a quarter of an hour then go play whatever it is more interesting ), wrapped like kittens, on mum and dad.
What did we eat? I hardly remember it, maybe something light, good, but not too different from other days. However, we dined in the dining room rather than in the kitchen, with the table cheerfully dressed in a bright red tablecloth and the "party dishes".
And then off, all playing together again. I try to visualize what was on the dishes that day … but I don't remember the things to eat with the mouth … I remember appetizers of pampering, laughter rolls stuffed with smiles, accompanied with the delicious "no tickle no" and for dessert the warm embrace of my family. The everyday menu in reality but, in Quel Giorno, much tastier. A Concentrate of Magical Moments (not even Harry Potter) that fills my stomach even today, at the very thought of it.

P.S. Growing up, we agreed that, with the panettone for Santa Claus, there could be a little sparkling wine. Without compromising international flights, because on the other hand they drive reindeer and are teetotalers, you know.

A story by Rita Orlandi

the basic recipe and the tastiest variations – Italian Cuisine

With potatoes, without potatoes, with eggs, without eggs, with vegetables. All the dumplings you want in one article for you!

Prepare the gnocchi it is really very simple and the ingredients are only three: flour, eggs and potatoes, plus a pinch of salt that you can however omit and add only in the dressing.
Let's see immediately how to proceed for the classic recipe.

Ingredients

1 kg of potatoes
300 g of flour 0
1 egg
salt

Method

The first thing to do is to boil the potatoes.
Wash them well and then put them, whole and with the peel, in a pot full of water.
Turn on the heat and bring to a boil, then calculate about 15 minutes of cooking, but even less if the potatoes are small.
Prick them with a fork and if they are soft drain them.
Cut them into pieces and mash them with the potato masher while they are still hot.
The peel will come off and only the pulp will remain.
Mix it with the flour and the beaten egg and once you have a smooth and uniform dough, let it rest for half an hour wrapped in plastic wrap.
If the dough turns out to be too sticky add more flour, but little else the gnocchi will become very hard in cooking.
Make snakes with the dough and then cut them into pieces as large as a hazelnut.
At this point the gnocchi are ready to be dipped in salted boiling water.
As soon as they rise to the surface, drain them with a slotted spoon and season with a tomato sauce or in a pan with butter and sage.

Dumplings without eggs

Yes, dumplings can also be made without eggs, just add more flour.
The procedure is the same and the cooking also.
Change the texture slightly, which will be slightly harder.
You can make them colorful by adding turmeric to the dough.

Ingredients

1 kg of potatoes
350-400 g of flour
salt

Gluten-free dumplings

The gluten-free gnocchi can be prepared with a glute-free flour suitable for this type of dough or with rice flour.
The consistency is slightly different and the gnocchi will be softer and lighter, but the taste is almost identical.
Be careful not to overcook them though, because they fall apart quickly.

Ingredients

1 kg of potatoes
400 g of rice flour
3 eggs
salt

Ricotta Gnocchi

You can make gnocchi even without potatoes and we offer you the recipe of the famous ones Gnudi, that is ricotta and spinach gnocchi.
They are very tasty and delicate and above all beautiful to look at because they are bright green in color.

Ingredients

100 g of fresh spinach
200 g of cottage cheese
125 g of flour + the one needed for the pastry board
1 egg

Method

Wash the spinach and cook for a few minutes while still wet in a non-stick pan closed with the lid.
Let them cool and squeeze them well.
Chop them with ricotta, egg and parmesan in a blender and then pour everything into a bowl and add the flour.
Knead with your hands adding more flour if necessary.
On a pastry board, form many snakes with the dough and cut them into small pieces.
Let the dumplings rest for about 30 minutes on the pastry board and then cook them in salted boiling water until they come back to the surface.
You can leave the dough very soft and throw it in water with a spoon, or you can make compact dumplings.
In the first case, season only with melted butter and plenty of Parmesan cheese by polishing them in a pan.

Cauliflower dumplings

As we have seen, you can make gnocchi with vegetables and in addition to spinach we suggest you try the version with cauliflower.
Someone prepares them with raw cauliflowers simply blended and then mixed with water and flour, but we prefer the cooked version which is what we present to you.

Ingredients

500 g of raw cauliflower
500 g of 00 flour
1 egg
salt

Method

Wash the cauliflower, cut it into pieces and cook it in boiling water until it becomes soft.
Once drained, mash it with a potato masher or a fork and mix it with the flour and the egg.
Make a loaf and let it rest in the refrigerator.
Once the gnocchi are obtained, cook them like potatoes and then season them with a simple vegetable cork or a light pesto.

Colored dumplings

We have already said that the dumplings can be colored with turmeric to turn yellow or with paprika to turn red, but you can add very colorful vegetables to the dough to make them really beautiful to serve.
Blended red turnips, for example, make them pink and carrot orange.
Try them and you will make your children happy especially.

How to give dumplings a good shape

If you have never done them before, we suggest you to make simple balls, the so-called Potatoes.
To adjust you with the dimensions considered that they must not be too large, but not invisible.
A hazelnut is the right unit of measure, a nut is too much!
If, on the other hand, you want to try your hand at preparing beautiful dumplings to look at, then once you have cut the snakes into pieces, scratch them with the teeth of a fork or with a little finger, dig them in the center to create a sort of dimple that will collect all the seasoning.
However, if we can reveal a secret to you, it is more important that they are good than beautiful!

How do you pronounce "gnocchi"?

It seems easy to say gnocchi, but in fact it is not.
Let's start by dividing the word dumplings into several parts.
GN in Italian is read as NI, but pressing the tongue more on the palate.
EYES instead reads as OK but only with a final E which is pronounced in English I. So imagine saying Oke.
Now join NI + O + OKE and try to pronounce GNOCCHI!
Mission accomplished!
Maybe it wasn't that difficult indeed.

Pasta stuffed aubergines, the tastiest ideas – Italian Cuisine

The techniques, the basic recipe and the tasty alternatives to prepare the unique dish that we cannot do without this summer

Aubergines are the summer queens, very good and perfect for preparing many different dishes. IS if they never tire on the grill, it is when we prepare them filled that we discover the truest soul. But for today we have put aside the classic recipes and filled them with pasta. Yes, our beloved pasta. Which transforms the stuffed aubergine into a unique and rich dish, but also fun. Here the basic rules to avoid mistakes and some greedy summer proof.

The right aubergines

To prepare eggplants stuffed with pasta we can use various types of aubergines. The the purple ones are more suitable, slightly rounded in shape, which can be cut in two and whose base is perfect for holding pasta. The aubergine is also indicated lilac round, the Florence violet and the black oval round. If you do not want to have scraps, cut them instead for the length and you can use both halves obtained in this way.

The technique

The operation that will make this recipe perfect is the preparation of aubergines. To get a flawless result we will have to cut them in two engrave them with the tip of the knife forming sharp cuts in the pulp that possibly cross. Once these cuts are obtained, we will cook them in the oven at 200 ° C for about 20 minutes, taking care to cover the non-stick pan with a sheet of parchment paper.

Space

But where do you put the pasta? To create the cavity that will house the pasta that enriches the aubergines, we will have to equip ourselves with a spoon with which we will help each other to remove half of the pulp. Obviously this aubergine can be cut or reduced to a cream to dress the pasta or blended with a little oil and spread on toasted bread.

Our recipe

The unmissable alternatives

Stringy filling: to obtain a "Sorrento" effect, add the mozzarella cubes to the pasta, which you have cut and left to dry a few minutes before. One passed in the oven and you're done.

Frittino: if you love fried aubergines, they will be the ideal element to complete the dish, along with grated salted ricotta. The Norma pasta inspiration will be irresistible.

Blank: pasta and eggplant purists also love it in white. Therefore the aubergines could be stuffed with a pasta simply seasoned with the pulp obtained from the aubergines and sautéed with oil, garlic, pine nuts and thyme.