Tag: tips

7 tips to avoid wasting in the kitchen – Italian Cuisine

Cooking without waste is one of the goals of each of us, but many times it happens that what could have been eaten ends up in the garbage. On the National Food Waste Prevention Day, here are some tips to help prevent this from happening

You know how much food is thrown away each year? According to the FAO, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, we Italians throw in the trash about 65 kg of food every year, especially fruit, vegetables, bread and other fresh foods. Established in 2014, the National Food Waste Prevention Day it is intended to remind everyone that they must try to improve the situation. A good way is to start with the small things, the ones that are within the reach of all of us.

Here are our tips in 7 helpful tips:

1) Think and observe before buying: try to imagine a sort of menu of the week and take a good look at what you have in the fridge, freezer and pantry (yes, even in the second row, on the last shelf). In this way the shopping list will be shorter and only of necessary things.

2) At the supermarket with a full stomach: if you are hungry when you go shopping, it could happen that different products appear mysteriously in your cart that perhaps were not essential. And that maybe they will stay for months at the bottom of the pantry. Give them as a gift, someone who will appreciate them will be there for sure.

3) Dates are important: always check the deadlines, remembering that "to be consumed preferably by" does not mean to be thrown away. Make foods close to date X more prominent.

4) Out to dinner: it is now almost a consolidated practice and no one will be surprised if you ask to take away what you have not finished. Far from it. And this also applies to the wine bottle.

5) Long live the schiscetta: if you do not finish everything you have prepared, divide it into small airtight containers and use them for the lunch break in the office, or freeze them to eat them again. If, on the other hand, there are small quantities left over, try transforming them into a new recipe: omelettes, filled with savory pies, vegetable cream, pasta sauce …

6) Don't pay attention to aesthetics: never choose a fruit for its beauty, you might be disappointed. In the same way, do not throw away trusting only your eyes, if the apples are bruised, they will be perfect to enrich a cake or to become a compote to be served with cheeses.

7) Gastronomic reuse: at first it takes a bit of imagination and the desire to experiment, then it will become a habit to imagine a second destination for peels, peels & C.

Speaking of the latter, here are some our recipes against waste in the kitchen:

Roman cuisine in a veg way: 5 tips – Italian Cuisine

If there isn't a dish that hasn't been reworked, then Roman cuisine can also be done in a vegan key. And a place in Rome proves to have succeeded in the enterprise

When it comes to tradition, souls light up and tongues are on fire. Even if cooking has always been an evolving path. This is also true for Roman gastronomy, which still remains today a continuous operation of reinterpretation, exchange and improvement. As in the case of the carbonara itself, a recipe with a recent history, which in “La Cucina Italiana” of 1954 appeared with garlic, gruyere and pancetta.

We can therefore think of one Roman cuisine in a veg key? A local in Rome tried it, Romano Refuge, which since 2016 has decided to combine traditional Italian and Roman dishes with their vegan interpretations. In addition to offering contemporary vegan cuisine.

As the chef says Davide Leo, is a choice that arises from many assumptions. First of all for a form of curiosity and creativity. «There is carbonara di mare, there will also be veg. I am a big fan of garlic, oil and chilli. Do you know that even great chefs have revisited this dish? We just want to discover other ingredients, "he says, emphasizing the fun and inclusive aspect of his work.

Then there is the desire to fill the void in those who miss certain dishes, certain shapes and flavors. It's a way to practice known recipes, using only plant-based ingredients. And then there is also the attention to tourists, many, who travel to the capital. If they are vegan, will they have to give up on tasting a carbonara forever? According to the chef of the restaurant, no one should be deprived of a dish if there is an alternative. And in the case of desserts, for example, whose recipes have been refined over the years, the difference between one dessert and another is imperceptible.

To understand how to see Roman cuisine in this new light, we have collected five simple tips from Davide Leo, suitable for even the most skeptical, which take into account the flavors, aesthetics and also the nutritional values of the ingredients.

The good alternative to bacon

The king of many Roman pastas, it can be easily replaced with seitan and tofu which, when processed and cooked in an intelligent way, can restore an equally structured flavor and which do not differ too much from the meat in consistency. Both tofu and seitan can be enriched with spices, for example with smoked salt or pepper, or with herbs, such as rosemary and fennel. The crunchiness is then served if you resort to frying.

How to replace the egg

Eggs can be replaced in various ways. It really depends on the destination recipe. With fruit in sweet preparations (such as bananas) with chickpea flour and other completely natural thickeners in savory preparations. There is no specific ingredient. Indeed, there is never a specific ingredient. So much so that it is not only the ingredient, but also its processing and cooking that restore a certain flavor.

There is a world for cheeses

Parmesan, pecorino, butter, milk: in Roman cuisine there are more cheeses, just think of cacio e pepe. Good news: replacing cheeses, or rather, as Leo specifies, milk and its derivatives is very easy and with a little patience you can also make it at home. Just use nuts like almonds, cashews and macadamia nuts. One of the most common vegan cheese and pepper recipes starts with cashews.

Escalopes, Saltimbocca and Scacciatora

Meat also has interesting alternatives, which can be processed with marinades, stocks and smokes. Here the reference ingredient is seitan, used for both scallops and saltimbocca with vegan sliced. And then the "Scacciatora" which makes fun of the world of hunting, and is a dish in which the seitan is worked like a braised meat and accompanied with a reduction of Montepulciano.

The pizza and the supplì

We are in Rome and the Roman pizza cannot be missing (even if that of Rifugio Romano is not a pure Roman one, but slightly more consistent). For mozzarella we always refer to the great world of milk and its derivatives. So you can use a veg mozzarella for the toppings and so also for the inside of the supplì, prepared with tomato and a vegetable sauté. For the breading, it can be done in two steps: one in a flour and water batter and the other in breadcrumbs.

How to cook pearled and hulled spelled: all the tips – Italian Cuisine

Spelled is an excellent substitute for rice and is a very nutritious cereal, easy to cook and to use in a thousand recipes

The Emmer it's a cereal increasingly used in the kitchen, even instead of rice. Easy to prepare, it is very nutritious, but above all it is versatile: it can be made in soups, but also toasted like moles risotto or how side.
Curious to know the techniques to cook it? Below we provide you with a practical overview, while in our gallery you will find many recipes in which to use it.

cooking spelled

How to cook pearl spelled

What is the difference between pearled and hulled spelled?
The pearly one is deprived of the outer skin. For this, before boiling it, just rinse it under running water and then cook it in a little water, so that it can be absorbed by the beans. About half an hour will be enough, first with a lid and then the last few minutes without.

How to cook hulled spelled

The hulled spelled, on the other hand, has an outer skin. For this reason, it may take about an hour to cook it in a normal pot, and before you have to let it soak for at least an hour. If you use the pressure cooker, you can cut cooking times in half.

How to cook steamed farro

Both types of spelled can be steamed using a steamer. Bring the water to a boil, then place the steamer, pour in the spelled and cook for about half an hour.

How to cook spelled in soup

Spelled soup is a winter must, to warm the stomach and palate. To prepare it, just boil the spelled separately and then add it to the vegetables you have chosen for your preparation: potatoes, beans, courgettes, carrots… whatever you want.

How to cook toasted spelled

Spelled can be an excellent substitute for rice in risottos, for example. If you use raw spelled, you will need to soak it before using it in the recipe. Prepare the sautéed risotto and then pour the spelled into it. Toast it for 5/6 minutes, without letting it burn. After toasting it, add the broth little by little, always stirring to prevent it from sticking to the pan.

Gordon Ramsay Recipes