Tag: tips

#LezioniDiSpesa: every day live Instagram tips to optimize your spending – Italian Cuisine

Shopping is a topic. All we do is talk about it these days. When to go shopping? How often? What to buy? And then, how to cook everything we have stacked in the pantry?
Despite the great experience in the kitchen of all of us, there are many doubts, because in fact few of us were used to making stocks for so many days, to cook only with what we have at home, to optimize costs as much as possible. Usually we were more careful to optimize time, because of that before there was very little.

For this reason, every day, in addition to articles, tips and recipes here on our website, we have opened a new space to discuss and get some company, on Instagram: every day from 11 live the chefs of La Scuola de La Italian cuisine will answer all the doubts we have on the topic of spending.

How to participate in the direct Instagram?

Connect to Instagram and follow the profiles of La Cucina Italiana and La Scuola della Cucina Italiana: at 11.00, every day, just click on the profile icon and you can follow the live broadcast, the comments will be read by the editorial staff and you can speak directly with the chefs.

Program of the week

– Monday 23 March, 11 am – @LaCucinaItaliana: the chef Davide Negri talks about meat

– Tuesday 24 March, 11 am – @ScuolaLCI: the chef Giovanni Rota reveals the secrets of homemade pasta and quick sauces

– Wednesday 25 March, 11 am – @LaCucinaItaliana: the chef Marco Cassin faces the fried, classic, alternative, always irresistible!

– Thursday 26 March, 11 am – SCHOOL: the chef Davide Brovelli mission impossible … rice "without"!

– Friday 27 March, 11 am – ITALIAN CUISINE: the chef Emanuele Frigerio mission impossible part 2 … sweets "without"!

– Saturday 28 March, 11 am – ITALIAN CUISINE: the chef Maria Donati ends the week sweetly: fruit in dessert

Asparagus: varieties and shopping tips – Italian Cuisine

Buonissimi asparagus! Usually they are harvested in late March, so we are almost at the height of their seasonality.

The edible part of the asparagus is called turion, sprout that develops from an underground stem said rhizome, and is colored White until it comes to the surface. In contact with the light the turion becomes green, more or less intense, rosy is Violet, depending on variety and cultivation technique. For example, white shoots are generally obtained from green varieties that are not exposed to light. The turion, the edible part of asparagus, it is usually tender and fleshy, with a pleasant sweetish taste.

Between whites, the best known are those of Pescia, Cesena, Bibione, Terlano, Rivoli Veronese, di Bassano Dop, of Cimadolmo (IGP). Among those with a very lightened tip, the white of Holland, Germany, Sile and the big Erfurt.

Among the green turione varieties are the so-called asparagus Californian, as the Mary Washington and the Brock-Imperial 84, very common and also used for freezing. Also green is the asparagus that is grown in the Bolognese plain of Altedo and that obtained the Igp.

The variety it produces has a more rustic flavor violet shoots such as the early Tuscan and the Early and Late of Argenteuil, a city in northern France famous for its asparagus since the days of the Sun King; with an inimitable perfume and flavor, buttery and soft violet of Albenga – Slow Food Presidium, recognizable by the very large shoots and the intense color that fades down towards the base – and the Neapolitan, the latter completely purplish.

Among the spontaneous species, thefield asparagus, also called wild is that of wood. Field asparagus sprouts are quite common and are harvested from April to May. I'm thin, dark green with purple tips, with an intense, almost bitterish flavor; therefore they are ideal ingredients for the preparation of risotto, lasagna, quiche oe even Pancake.
L'forest asparagus it grows in the maquis and is included in the set of shoots called in the Veneto with the name of bruscandoli.

Asparagus are ideal for the preparation of soups, soups, creams, omelettes, omelets, risotto, but they are also simply delicious boiled or sauteed with butter, seasoned with a drizzle of olive oil and lemon or served with fried eggs.
The tips, if very fresh and thinly cut, they can also be eaten raw in carpaccio and salads.

Tips for buying and storing:

• 1 Asparagus must be hard, the tips they must not have scales at the base but they must be sodas and well closed; if they are bellied it means that the asparagus is not fresh.

2 • Also stems they must turn out well firm, must not be empty or broken, and must have a round and never flattened section; if they are soft to the touch, it means that they have already been collected for some time.

3 • Great importance also has final part of the stems, where the asparagus have been cut: this section must not appear too woody or dry otherwise it means that they are not fresh.

4 • To find out if the asparagus are fresh, smell them: as soon as they are picked they have no smell

5 • For store better, immediately after the purchase you have the asparagus in a bowl with cold water, covered with a wet cloth, and transfer them to a cool place or to the less cold compartment of the refrigerator.

Cleaning and cooking

The size of the asparagus also determines cleaning and cooking: if they are a lot thin just gently scrape the stems and then rinse well under cold running water before cooking.

If not, if they are thick, you have to scrape them with a potato peeler starting from 3-4 cm below the tips; then they must be aligned on the work surface and the wood end of the stem must be cut at the same height.

Yes wash then under cold running water and yes they cook "standing" in special high and round pots, where they are positioned tied to bunches and with the tips riots upward, in boiling and slightly salted water which must not exceed three quarters of the stems. You can also blanch them in a saucepan or, better, cook them in the pan vapor.
Watch out for cooking times determined by the thickness of the asparagus – usually it should not exceed 10 minutes – bearing in mind that they must be firm, al dente and not too yielding.

Don't throw the pieces cut from the stems, the broken parts or excessively large and scaly shoots, but fry them in a pan with a drizzle of oil and leek, bathing them with a little boiling vegetable broth or water; therefore frullateli and keep the mousse in a glass jar in the refrigerator or in closed trays in the freezer: it will be an excellent base for countless preparations.

of Monica Pilotto
March 10, 2016
updated on March 18 2020
by Barbara Roncarolo

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How to prepare risotto: tips and recipes – Italian Cuisine

Roasting, cooking, creaming: these are the three stages of preparing a risotto. Here's how to make these steps to bring Milanese risotto, but also sausage or parmesan

Pasta and risotto they are the first two par excellence of Italian cuisine, both very versatile, to be prepared with many different ingredients, but with the difference that the second is a less popular dish, certainly more widespread in the culinary tradition of northern Italy and a little more difficult to cook, due to the various phases that require its preparation and for its long cooking. It is therefore worth seeing together what are the fundamental steps of the preparation of a risotto.

Risotto: which rice to choose

Let's start from choice of rice. There are many varieties and some are more suitable than others for preparing risotto. According to the shape of the bean and the cooking properties, the rice is divided into common, semi-fine, fine and superfine. The last two sets are characterized by larger and tapered grains and a better seal in cooking because they cook more slowly and remain more al dente, therefore they are ideal for cooking risotto. Arborio, the Carnaroli, considered one of the best rice, Vialone Nano, a good alternative to Carnaroli, Volano, Roma, Baldo, Sant’Andrea.

Risotto: how to toast rice

The first fundamental step in the preparation of a risotto is the roasting rice which is used to give compactness to the grain and prevent it from breaking during cooking. So bring one wide saucepan, heat it and pour all the rice over it. Keep the rice mixed with a wooden spoon and toast it for a few minutes. You will understand when it is ready by touching it with your fingers and sniffing it: the rice must be very hot and release the aroma of the cereal. Roasting can also be done by adding a fat, or with an onion sauce (or shallot) is butter (or oil), and blending the rice, once toasted, with a glass of wine.

Cooking risotto: cooking and creaming

At this point the rice must be entirely covered with del hot broth that can be vegetable or of meat based on the risotto you want to prepare. During cooking, keep a moderate flame. The rice must always be completely covered by the liquid to ensure uniform cooking, therefore the broth must be continuously added, little by little and as it will be absorbed by the rice.
Cooking times vary according to the type of rice, but generally they are not less than 15-18 minutes. Once ready, the rice goes removed from the heat and stirred with a knob of cold butter and Parmesan cheese.

Risotto: how to prepare it first

Generally it is not done, because the best risotto is the espresso one, but if you want to go ahead with the rice preparation, proceed as explained above but stopping cooking a few minutes earlier, when the grain is chewable but still crunchy in the center. Roll out the rice in an airtight container to cool it and place it in the covered fridge. When you need to serve the risotto, put it back in the pot, add the broth, light the heat over medium heat, add any seasonings and cook keeping stirred. It will take you a few minutes and the rice will be ready. Keep out of the heat and serve.

Saffron risotto

The risotto par excellence is the saffron risotto. To prepare it, finely chop the onion and let it dry in a saucepan over very gentle heat with some butter. At this stage you can add ox marrow if you like. Add the rice and toast it on high heat for a minute, stirring. Then wet it with the white wine that you will evaporate. Pour the hot broth a little at a time, stirring occasionally. Cook the rice for about 16-20 minutes, according to the chosen rice, adding, halfway through cooking, two sachets of saffron. Salt if necessary. Remove the pan from the heat, add cold butter and grated Parmesan cheese and stir, stirring until the risotto is soft and creamy. Leave to rest for a minute with a lid then serve.

Sausage risotto

One of the most delicious risotto is certainly the risotto with sausage. Prepare it like this: sauté with a knob of butter and chopped shallots, then add the sausage into pieces, without casing, and brown it, mixing everything with a wooden spoon. Add the rice, let it toast for a few minutes and add some red wine. Proceed to cook the rice by adding hot broth as it is absorbed. Once cooked, remove from the heat and stir in butter and parmesan.

Risotto alla monzese

The risotto alla monzese it is prepared like the sausage one, only in the recipe we will use the luganega, a typical sausage from Monza and Brianza, a fresh sausage that looks like a long and narrow roll. It is light in color and its taste is sweet: it is made with pork, grana padano, marsala, meat broth and aromas.

Parmesan risotto

Another very tasty risotto, but also simple and that everyone likes is the risotto alla parmigiana. To do this, prepare a sauté with a little oil and the chopped onion, add the rice, brown it on a high flame, then blend it with red wine and continue cooking, stirring often and adding, a little at a time, some hot broth; after about 12 minutes, when the risotto is still al dente, add the diced scamorza cheese, melt it, then turn off, salt and stir in a knob of butter, a minced pepper and plenty of grated Parmesan. Let the risotto rest for a couple of minutes, then serve.