Discovering Italian PDOs: Savoury muffins with Provolone Valpadana PDO

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While still loving the ‘old’ way of travelling, I decided to embark on a journey of discovery of the Provolone Valpadana PDO through the project “Choose your taste, sweet or spicy, only from Europe”in collaboration with the European Commission and theItalian Food Bloggers Association. The project aims to improve the manner in which European quality labelled products are recognised and promote their consumption, and I did it with my Savoury muffins with Provolone Valpadana PDO.

logo progetto 

My encounter with this product dates back to my childhood when I accompanied my father to the International Dairy Cattle Fair in Cremona , where the food stands present at the social event for breeders from Northern Italy displayed huge cheese wheels, shiny, sometimes round and sometimes cylindrical. Their size fascinated and, at the same time, frightened me.

After so many years, discovering how this cheese is made fills my heart with joy.

The sweet and spicy Provolone Valpadana PDO

Where does the name of this cheese come from? From the Italian word prova “try” (because in the past, when there were no technological means to verify that the curd was fermented to the right point to be spun, pieces of it were taken and spinning tests were made repeatedly (hence the name Provola and its augmentative Provolone) until the results were perfect to proceed.

marchio

The production area of Provolone Valpadana PDO includes part of Lombardy, part of Veneto, the province of Piacenza and part of the province of Trento, an area characterised by the presence of the Po Valley.

The production process in brief

  1. Milk preparation in the boiler within 60 hours after milking.
  2. Addition of fermented whey from the end of the previous day’s processing and, if necessary, of additional lactic acid bacteria always obtained from the whey of Provolone Valpadana PDO.
  3. Rennet and curdling, the stage from which the differentiation between mild and piquant Provolone starts, thanks to the addition of calf rennet in the former and kid rennet in the latter, which cause the milk to curdle at a temperature of between 36 and 39°C.
    coagulazione

    Curdling (photo by Consorzio del Provolone Valpadana PDO)

  4. Fermentation and cutting of the curd, when the curd is allowed to rest by fermenting on suitable surfaces and, once ready, cut and then stretched.
  5. Stretching, a process that takes place in water at 85-95°C, consists of melting the curd by pulling it to form long threads.
  6. Moulding, cooling and firming, when the curd is moulded either by hand or in special moulds and placed in ice-cold water to promote rapid cooling and subsequent firming.
  7. Salting, which consists of immersing the cheeses in brine for a period of time depending on their size.
    salatura

    Salting (photo by Consorzio Provolone Valpadana PDO)

  8. Tying, possibly smoking and maturing are the final stages of production since once the cheeses are tied, they can be smoked and matured or stored for a short time in the case of sweet Provolone Valpadana PDO.
stagionatura

Maturation (photo by Consorzio Provolone Valpadana PDO)

Many shapes for many flavours

As a great cheese enthusiast, I find the variety of shapes in which Provolone Valpadana PDO can be presented really unusual, because each size will have its own uniqueness in terms of flavour. So not only is there a difference between sweet and piquant, but within those, ranging from small 6kg wheels to huge 100kg cheeses, the sensory profile develops in a multiplicity of nuances.

For this reason, maturation periods can vary from a minimum of 10 days to over 240 days!

How to use Provolone Valpadana PDO

Given the variety of flavours, textures and maturations, Provolone Valpadana PDO can be used in an infinite number of recipes, which will then be characterised by our choices: a delicate version with a milky scent or a strong touch of flavour and spiciness, as if we had added a pinch of chilli pepper.

Provolone can be used directly raw or in preparations that are to be cooked in a pan or in the oven. Here is the recipe I have prepared to share with you and which I cooked using mild Provolone Valpadana PDO, but which you can easily modify using the piquant version of the same cheese to obtain a completely different result: have fun experimenting!

Savoury muffins with Provolone Valpadana PDO

33.43g carbohydrates per 100 g

Ingredients for 4 large muffins

  • 90g wholemeal rice flour*
  • 75g Provolone Valpadana PDO sweet or spicy (sweet in the photo)
  • 2 eggs
  • 35g tapioca starch*
  • 30g milk
  • 25 g extra virgin olive oil
  • 20g dried tomatoes
  • 5g baking powder for savoury pies*
  • salt and pepper

*Ingredients whose labels must read “gluten-free” (or, in Italy, present on  Prontuario AIC)

Preparation

  1. Coarsely chop the Provolone cheese and dried cherry tomatoes and set them aside.
  2. Place the rice flour and tapioca starch in a planetary mixer or bowl, then mix with eggs, milk and oil until smooth and creamy; finally add the yeast, Provolone cheese and cherry tomatoes and season with salt and pepper.
  3. Pour the mixture into 4 rather large muffin tins, filling them 3/4 full.
  4. Bake the muffins in a static oven preheated to 180°C for 10-20 minutes.
  5. Take the muffins out of the oven and eat them warm – they are mouth-watering!

muffin salati al provolone

Version with gluten of Savoury muffins with Provolone Valpadana DOP

The recipe contains only naturally gluten free ingredients, so no adaptation is necessary for its version with gluten.

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Coffee Tomini with yoghurt sauce and golden apples

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Do you remember the book by my blogger friend Raffaella Fenoglio of the blog Tre civette sul comò entitled ’50 Shades of Coffee‘? Here is the second mouth-watering recipe: Coffee Tomini with yoghurt sauce and golden apples. And if you love coffee, try also Gnudi with coffee.

A chat with Raffaella

  1. Why a book about coffee?

Coffee is a cue that all three of us liked: myself, Silvia Casini and Francesco Pasqua. It is a universal element, with which music, literature and film are imbued. We added history, curiosities, caffeomancy, recipes, historical cafés, coffe painting, etiquette, star constellations, horoscopes, aphorisms… and many many experts and in the end we had collected so much material that we could have written an encyclopaedia! The difficult thing was to cut, trim, decide what was less interesting. The editor then worked on the infographics and the end result exceeded our expectations.

  1. Is there a recipe in the book that you are particularly fond of?

Let’s face it, the difficult part was the food & wine part: we didn’t want to lapse into banal recipes – you won’t find Tiramisù – and we imagined a complete menu based on the ‘wine from Arabia’. My favourite recipe, among the 50 suggestions, is Cheese with coffee fruit chutney.  We paired this recipe with a SAUVIGNON BLANC SESTO 21 from Casata Mergè. A wine from Latium, from 100% Sauvignon Blanc grapes, structured, suitable for accompanying special cheeses.

  1. In your latest publications, cooking is an integral part of other art forms such as poetry, literature and cinema. How did the idea for this approach come about and what else is boiling in the pot?

In 2020, together with Silvia Casini and Francesco Pasqua, we drew up some literary projects in which we could merge our skills – namely cinema, poetry, literature, music, food and wine. To our great joy, many of those projects, once they landed on the tables of publishers, were successful! So for the following two years you’re going to see some great things! Very interesting and eclectic volumes are coming out. Furthermore, the three of us, taken individually, are fiction writers and have one book each out.

  1. Our first meeting took place when your book Indice GliceAmico came out, a subject that is particularly dear to me because of the attention that diabetes requires of us, where did your interest in this subject come from?

Diabetes has touched my family. This stimulated me to focus on low glycaemic index recipes but until the cookbooks linked to my blog came out, I had no idea of how widespread diabetes was, especially among children.  I find your online cooking courses supported by a clinical nutritionist very interesting. This is the way to inform in the best way without frightening patients and their families.

Coffee Tomini with yoghurt sauce and golden apples

4.45g carbohydrates per 100g

Ingredients for 4 servings

  • 4 pieces of Tomino cheese of about 90g each
  • 200g apples
  • 125g plain fat-free Greek yoghurt
  • 1 cup of strong coffee
  • 30g ginger
  • 1 organic lemon, zest and juice

Preparation

  1. First put Tomini in a bowl to marinate with the cup of coffee and the peeled, sliced ginger. Let them rest for about an hour in the refrigerator.
  2. Peel the apple, cut it into segments and brown them in a little extra virgin olive oil in a non-stick pan until lightly browned on both sides.
  3. Remove the Tominos from the marinade, blot them with kitchen paper to remove excess coffee and cook them in a non-stick pan or on a grill.
  4. Prepare the yoghurt sauce by simply flavouring it with grated lemon zest and a few teaspoons of juice.
  5. Serve Tomini hot, accompanying them with the yoghurt sauce and a few apple slices.

tomini al caffè con salsa di yogur e mele dorate

Version with gluten of Coffee Tomini with yoghurt sauce and golden apples

The recipe contains only naturally gluten free ingredients, so no adaptation is necessary for its version with gluten.

 

 

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Non fried Sicilian Caponata

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Sicily is undoubtedly one of the most popular destinations for art and cuisine, and one of its gastronomic symbols is undoubtedly Sicilian Caponata , of which I share the recipe of dear friends from Carini, near Palermo, whom we feel are part of our family. The only change I made is not frying aubergines… I hope you’ll forgive me!

Precisely because of its Italian character, I chose the Caponata recipe as the star of a fantastic project to make the international public aware of what the products of a virtuous cosmetics company contain, Davines which uses Slow Food Presidia to extract its active ingredients. So you can watch the video made in the Davines Scientific Garden to discover that the ingredients of Caponata are also the ingredients of solid shampoos that are as friendly to humans as they are to the environment.

So have a good trip to discover a recipe that makes us beautiful inside and out!

Non fried Sicilian Caponata 

9.34g carbohydrates per 100g

Ingredients for 6-8 servings

  • 830g aubergines, preferably round or striped
  • 550g tomato sauce and peeled tomatoes
  • 300g onions
  • 225g celery
  • 150g pitted green olives*
  • 60g raisins
  • 40g pine nuts
  • 30g salted capers
  • 10g sugar
  • extra virgin olive oil, white wine vinegar and salt

**Ingredients specific for celiacs

*Ingredients whose labels must read “gluten-free” (or, in Italy, present on  Prontuario AIC)

Ingredienti della caponata

Preparation of Non fried Sicilian Caponata

  1. Wash and peel the aubergines, then dice them, sprinkle them with a pinch of fine salt and leave them to drain in a colander for a couple of hours. Blot the aubergines to remove the water they have released and fry them in a non-stick frying pan with a little oil (this is the step that makes the difference to the original Sicilian recipe in which the aubergines are deep fried).
  2. Soak the raisins in water.
  3. Meanwhile, cut the celery in pieces and cook it for about 5 minutes in boiling water, then drain it (without throwing away the cooking water) and set it aside.
  4. Cut the pitted olives in half and set aside.
  5. In a non-stick frying pan, pour a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and sauté the sliced onion, then add the celery, olives and well-desalted capers and leave to gain flavour for about ten minutes.
  6. In the meantime, in another non-stick pan, cook the tomato sauce and peeled tomatoes for about 15 minutes so that they shrink, adding sugar and a pinch of salt. Finally, pour in the vegetable mixture, aubergines, wrung out raisins and pine nuts. Stir and cook for about a minute, then remove from the heat and add white wine vinegar to taste. Adjust salt if necessary and serve Caponata warm or cold.

Caponata

Version with gluten of Non fried Sicilian Caponata 

The recipe contains only naturally gluten free ingredients, so no adaptation is necessary for its version with gluten.

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Summer recipes: Savoury cheesecakes with courgettes and olives

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E’ arrivata l’estate e con essa il caldo che ci va venire voglia di piatti freschi e gustosi e allora è il momento ideale per preparare queste Cheesecake salate con zucchine e olive senza dovere accendere forno o fornelli!

 

Summer has arrived and with it the heat that makes us crave for fresh, tasty dishes, so now is the perfect time to prepare these Savoury cheesecakes with courgettes and olives without having to turn on the oven or cooker!

All the ingredients are typical for a cheesecake, but the shape is more unusual in the small glass, ideal for a cheerful and colourful appetiser. Lemon peel and mint give freshness with their scent, courgettes provide crispness and olives the unmistakable sapidity – in short, a complete experience for the senses and great joy for diners!

What are you waiting for? You only need a few ingredients, you can follow the video and in 15 minutes you will have everything ready to impress family and friends. And if you want to end the meal with a sweet version of a cheesecake, try these Strawberry Cheesecakes.

Savoury cheesecakes with courgettes and olives

10.70g carbohydrates per 100g

Ingredients for 8 small glasses

  • 300g Ricotta cheese
  • 100g courgettes
  • 40g Le Veneziane mini breadsticks**
  • 40g pitted black olives
  • 20g Pecorino cheese, grated
  • 20g peeled and roasted almonds
  • 1 lemon zest
  • fresh oregano or caper powder*
  • mint leaves
  • extra virgin olive oil
  • salt and pepper

**Ingredients specific for celiacs

*Ingredients whose labels must read “gluten-free” (or, in Italy, present on  Prontuario AIC)

Preparation

  1. Wash the courgettes and cut them into chunks, place them in a small bowl with the diced olives, 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and a grating of lemon zest, salt and pepper. Stir and allow to gain flavour.
  2. Prepare the ricotta cream: put Ricotta in a bowl, add grated Pecorino Romano cheese, add a pinch of chopped fresh oregano or caper powder, and finally season with salt and pepper.
  3. Crumble the breadsticks and place them on the bottom of 8 small glasses. Cover them with the Ricotta cream and complete the preparation with the courgette and olive salad and the lightly chopped toasted almonds.
Le cheesecake pronte per essere gustate

Cheesecakes ready to be enjoyed

Version with gluten of Savoury cheesecakes with courgettes and olives

Simply replace the gluten-free breadsticks with standard ones, all other ingredients are naturally gluten-free.

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Mini buckwheat breadsticks

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Are you short of time, but fancy something tasty and versatile? Mini buckwheat breadsticks will be a delightful surprise. Watch how to prepare them on my YouTube channel!

Very few ingredients, quick and easy to prepare, you can use them as an aperitif or to make the bread basket even richer, perhaps by combining them with some Buckwheat and corn focaccia.

The base is a brisè crust whose flavour is enriched by blended sesame seeds that allow us to reduce the amount of salt contained, but let’s not forget that these are buckwheat mini breadsticks that contain butter, so let’s not eat too many… as they are irresistible!

Finally, sesame seeds are rich in calcium, as well as containing Omega 3 and Omega 6, so they are good supplements for lactose intolerant people and to prevent osteoporosis.

Mini buckwheat breadsticks   

carbohydrates 49.7g per 100g

Ingredients

  • 130 g gluten free bread flour mix, brand Nutrifree**
  • 60g buckwheat flour*
  • 80g butter
  • 40g water
  • 1 egg white
  • 20g sesame seeds
  • 1 pinch of salt

**Ingredients specific for celiacs

*Ingredients whose labels must read “gluten-free” (or, in Italy, present on  Prontuario AIC)

Preparation of Mini buckwheat breadsticks

  1. Put the sesame seeds in a blender and blend to a flour.
  2. In a bowl, mix all the ingredients: the sesame flour, bread flour and buckwheat flour, a pinch of salt, the cold butter in small pieces, the egg white and the water and stir to obtain an even mixture.
  3. Form a ball with the dough, wrap it in cling film and place it in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
  4. Take pieces of dough and form them into cylinders 1cm in diameter, cut them into pieces 3-4cm long and lay them on a baking tin lined with parchment paper.
  5. Bake the breadsticks in a static oven preheated to 180°C for about 20 minutes.
I mini grissini al saraceno pronti per essere gustati come stuzzichino

The mini buckwheat breadsticks ready to be enjoyed as appetisers

Version with gluten of Mini buckwheat breadsticks

Replace the gluten free flour with 150 g bread flour and reduce the amount of water if the dough is too soft.

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Mini Easter pies with artichokes: Italian gluten-free Easter

Mini Easter pies with artichokes are my single-serving version of the Easter pie the Easter classic and symbol of rebirth par excellence.

Prepared with the ever-present brisé pastry, in the filling, in addition to Swiss chard, I used artichokes and quail eggs for an irresistible taste.

If the weather and temperatures permit, with Mini Easter pies with artichokes we can also organise an Easter or Easter Monday lunch outdoors, even in the form of a picnic, as the mini pies are very easy to carry and enjoy, whether sitting or standing.

Are you ready to knead? Let us begin and… a Happy Easter to you all!

Mini Easter pies with artichokes  

19.26g carbohydrates per 100g

Ingredients for the brisé pastry

  • 300g gluten free bread flour mix, brand Biaglut**
  • 150g butter
  • 80g water
  • salt

Ingredients for the filling

  • 300g cow’s milk ricotta
  • 200g cleaned artichokes
  • 200g cleaned Swiss chard
  • 100g Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, grated
  • 12 quail eggs
  • 1 egg
  • 10g parsley
  • 1 clove garlic
  • salt, pepper

Ingredients for the béchamel sauce

  • 100g milk
  • 10g brown rice flour*
  • 10g extra virgin olive oil
  • salt

**Ingredients specific for celiacs

*Ingredients whose labels must read “gluten-free” (or, in Italy, present on  Prontuario AIC)

Preparing Mini Easter pies with artichokes

  1. Mix all the ingredients for the brisé pastry in a planetary mixer or bowl until smooth and even. Cover the brisé pastry with cling film and place it in the refrigerator for the time needed to prepare the filling.
  2. Sweat the Swiss chard in a non-stick pan with a little oil and using only the remaining water from washing. Allow the water to evaporate well before chopping it.
  3. Clean the artichokes by removing the tough leaves and tips, then cut them in half to remove the choke and cut them into wedges. Cook the artichokes in a non-stick pan with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and a clove of garlic (to be removed at the end of cooking), seasoning with a pinch of salt.
le mammole

Mammolas

  1. Prepare the béchamel sauce. Put the milk on the stove and bring it to the boil. In the meantime, mix the oil with the rice flour and when the milk has come to the boil, start adding it slowly into the rice flour mixture, stirring so that no lumps form. Add the milk and put everything back on the heat until the béchamel starts to thicken. Season with salt and leave to cool.
  2. Put the ricotta in a bowl, add the chopped Swiss chard and artichokes. Also chop the parsley, add it to the mixture and season with grated Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper. Finally add the béchamel sauce and mix well.
  3. Roll out a thin disc of dough on a cutting board and cut 12 discs of the necessary diameter to cover tartlet moulds. I used the non-stick 12 muffin mould by Le Creuset and a 12cm diameter pastry cutter. Fill all the mould.
  4. Fill the brisé shells with the artichoke mixture almost to the top and create a hole in the centre of the filling. Break a quail egg in the hole, then cover the egg with more filling.
La preparazione delle pasqualine

Preparation of Mini Easter pies

  1. Cut 12 disks of brisé pastry the size needed to cover and seal each pie using a fork. Finally, beat the egg and brush the surface of all the pies and use a toothpick to pierce the surface of each pie in the centre: the small hole will act as a ‘chimney’ and reduce the risk of cracking during baking.
  2. Bake the Easter pie in a static oven preheated to 180°C for about 25 minutes until the surface is golden brown. Take the pies out of the oven and serve lukewarm or cold.

Pasqualine ai carciofi

Mini Easter pies with artichokes ready to be enjoyed

Version with gluten of Mini Easter pies with artichokes

Replace the gluten free flour in the brisé with an equal amount of wheat flour; no other adaptation is needed.

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Radimonio: Pinzimonio with Radicchio Variegato

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How to prepare a Pinzimonio that no one can say no to? A cream of Radicchio Variegato di Castelfranco and grilled Parmigiano Reggiano rinds for a recipe that is also anti-waste.

Radimonio? A cream made with Radicchio Variegato to make Pinzimonio irresistible 

The journey to discover the products protected by the Consorzio Tutela del Radicchio di Treviso PGI and Radicchio Variegato di Castelfranco PGI, true ‘winter flowers‘ because of their splendid shape. To represent my region of origin, Emilia Romagna, and my family tradition, that of Parmigiano Reggiano production, I thought of a custom of peasant cuisine that I have always loved because it is an expression of respect for food and the commitment behind its preparation: the use of grilled Parmigiano Reggiano rinds.

All the work behind Radicchio made me inevitably associate it with the product my family has always been dedicated to. Radicchio is marked by long waits in the countryside and Parmesan cheese has to wait years for nature to take its course to give us unique and unrepeatable flavours. That is why I believe it is a crime to waste even a small part of the product, and farming culture teaches us never to do so.

A modern interpretation thus inspired me to come up with a way to enjoy a truly unusual snack or aperitif because it sees Radicchio variegato, normally eaten raw, cooked for a few minutes in a pan and a ‘scrap’ of cheese turned into a very tasty crunchy stick to scoop up a cream that also carries the aromatic note of another great product of the Veneto region, Recioto wine. Furthermore, the blade-shaped leaves of late Radicchio are ideal to complete the tasting experience.

Trying is believing.

What Radicchio Variegato di Castelfranco PGI looks like

Il radicchio variegato di Castelfranco

Radicchio Variegato di Castelfranco: a beautiful rose

Its beautiful rose shape and the play of colours of its leaves makes us associate it with a very special flower because it blooms when others are asleep, i.e. in winter. Its origin is a hybrid between radicchio and escarole from which Variegato takes a combination of characteristics.

The product bears the name of the town where the country culture of its cultivation is rooted in the history of a plain characterised by long, harsh winters during which families found shelter from the cold by gathering in the stables. It was in the stables, protected by straw, that chicories were stored to protect them from frost and, as often happens, an extraordinary method was discovered to make the plants even tastier: the forcing technique.

What is the forcing technique?

This is the technique whereby the plants are left in the dark (in ancient times under straw, today under special cloths) so that they lose their chlorophyll, the whitening process we also saw in Radicchio Tardivo. In addition to taking on their unmistakable colour, the bitter taste of the chicories fades and the leaves acquire an extraordinary crunchiness.

To enjoy Radicchio Tardivo in a slightly unusual way, try the Strozzapreti with Radicchio and pumpkin fondue.

Radimonio, my Pinzimonio with a Radicchio Variegato dip

2.2g carbohydrates per 100g

Ingredients for 4 servings

  • 300g Radicchio variegato di Castelfranco PGI
  • 150g Crescenza cheese (I used goat’s milk cheese)
  • 100g shallot
  • 50g Recioto wine
  • 1 clove garlic
  • rinds of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
  • leaves of Radicchio di Treviso tardivo
  • extra virgin olive oil
  • pepper
  • salt

Preparation

  1. Cut the shallot into thin slices and sweat it slowly in a pan with a little extra virgin olive oil for about 10 minutes.
  2. Wash the radicchio, cut it into strips and add it to the shallots. Cook it for a few minutes over high heat while continuing to stir it with a wooden spoon. Douse Radicchio with the Recioto wine and end cooking without allowing the Radicchio to dry out too much: overall cook for about 6-7 minutes.
  3. Transfer the Radicchio into a blender or food processor, blend it to a cream, add the Crescenza cheese and blend again to make the mixture smooth and even. Season with salt and pepper.
  4. Take the Parmsan rinds remaining after eating up the cheese, scrape them with a knife to clean the outside. I like to leave them slightly thick, about 5mm, so that the inside is also slightly softer.
  5. Place a grill on the stove and heat it up to a high temperature; lay the Parmesan rinds on it and grill them on both sides until they acquire a dark golden-brown colour.
  6. Place the cream in a bowl and serve it with the warm rinds and the Radicchio tardivo leaves, both of which can be used as ‘spoons’ to scoop up the Radicchio cream.
Radimonio con croste di parmigiano grigliate e radicchio tardivo

Radimonio with grilled Parmesan rinds and Radicchio tardivo

Version with gluten of Radimonio

The recipe contains only naturally gluten-free ingredients, so no adaptation is necessary for its version with gluten.

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Parma Accoglie: Savoury biscuits with Parma Ham mousse

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This Savoury biscuits with Parma Ham mousse  is my second recipe dedicated to the project Parma Accoglie that I presented in the recipe dedicated to Parmigiano.

Why Food Valley?

Have you ever wondered why Parmigiano Reggiano and Parma Ham come from the same area? This is certainly no coincidence and the link between them should make us reflect on the sustainability of the supply chain. In fact, the whey left over after making Parmigiano cheese (thus a product that would be processing waste) is one of the main foodstuffs in the diet of the Po Valley Heavy Pig intended for the production of ham and the rich range of deli meats that take their name from the villages in the province of Parma where they are made, a veritable map of specialities (Culatello from Zibello, Salame from Felino, Spalla from San Secondo).

Parma ham, especially with the lengthy maturation as in this recipe, is extraordinary as it is, and the best advice may be to handle it as little as possible in the kitchen. For this reason, I thought I would propose a recipe in which the ham is not cooked, but on the contrary is kept cold because that does not alter its aroma and flavour.

An unusual use of Parma Ham

It may seem like a waste to put a 24-month Parma ham in the freezer, but beware: thanks to the presence of salt and the scarcity of water, the ham will not freeze, it will merely become cold and harder. This way, we can blend it to obtain what I like to call ‘grated ham’, without it heating up and changing its smell and taste (see how to use it in other recipes).

As the ham returns to room temperature and you serve the Savoury biscuit with Parma ham mousse, the ham releases all its wonderfully sweet aromas. I adore the combination of those with the notes of the Traditional Balsamic Vinegar produced a few kilometres further east.

If you want to discover the secrets of how Parma Ham is madein addition to enjoying it in local trattorias and restaurants during your visit, you can come back during the Prosciutto Festival held every year in early September in the town of Langhirano towards the Apennines (unfortunately not in 2020) or organise a visit to one of the 200 ham factories. I assure you that after seeing the level of care and detail put in its production, it will taste even better!

And to find out what to do in and around Parma, explore some suggestions on the blog posted by my friend Aura.

I biscotti salati con mousse di Prosciutto di Parma e gocce di Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale

Savoury biscuits with Parma ham mousse and drops of Traditional Balsamic Vinegar

Parma Accoglie and my recipe for Savoury biscuits with Parma ham mousse

43.45g carbohydrates per 100g of savoury biscuits

2.6g carbohydrate per 100g mousse

 Ingredients for the savoury sablé dough (you will need half)

  • 200g flour for bread and yeast BiAglut** (or wheat flour for those who can have it)
  • 130g butter
  • 60g almonds
  • 1 egg white (approx. 40g)
  • 30g wholemeal teff flour*
  • 30g corn starch
  • 7g salt

Ingredients for the ham mousse (15 single portions)

  • 220g real or vegetable cream
  • 80g Parma ham matured for 24 months in a single slice and placed in the freezer
  • 5g gelatine sheets*
  • Traditional Balsamic Vinegar of Modena or Reggio Emilia
  • parsley leaves for decoration

**Ingredients specific for celiacs

*Ingredients whose labels must read “gluten-free” (or, in Italy, present on  Prontuario AIC)

Preparation

  1. Prepare the mousse, which needs to rest for at least 1 hour in the freezer. Soak the gelatine in a small bowl of cold water. Place the ‘frozen’ Parma ham in the  food processor and blend it finely, but without it heating up. Add 100g of cream to the grated ham.
  2. Pour 20g of cream into a saucepan and heat it; add the soaked gelatine so that it melts completely, then pour it into the container with the ham.
  3. Whip the remaining cream and fold it in the ham mixture with a spatula. Fill the chosen moulds with the mousse (I chose these), determine the size according to the sablé biscuit you will be making. I chose a 5cm diameter) and place in the freezer until the mousse is hard enough to be taken out of the moulds without difficulty.
  4. Prepare the sablé dough for the biscuits that will serve as the base for your mousse. This dose is about twice as much as you will need, but, unless you use pasteurised egg whites, it cannot be divided. So take advantage of this to make extra savoury biscuits that you can combine with dips and soft cheeses for your aperitifs. Mix the flour with the butter to form crumbs, then add all the other ingredients to form a smooth, compact mixture.
  5. Take two sheets of baking paper and place the sablé in between; with the help of a rolling pin, roll out the dough to a thickness of about 4mm and, leaving it on the paper and placing it on a tray, put it in the refrigerator to rest for at least 20 minutes. When the sablé is firm, cut small disks with a 5cm diameter biscuit cutter and place the disks on a perforated silicone mat. This way you will be able to knead and cut the dough very well.
  6. Bake the biscuits in a static oven preheated to 160°C for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool.
  7. Remove the mousses from the moulds. If you are going to serve them soon, keep them at room temperature for about 30 minutes before finishing them or store them in the fridge until you need them: they will last perfectly for 2 days.
  8. Take a biscuit, place the mousse on it and top with a few drops of Traditional Balsamic Vinegar of Modena or Reggio Emilia. Decorate with a parsley leaf.
Il biscotto e la mousse: perfetti finger food

Biscuits and mousse: a perfect finger food

Version with gluten of Savoury biscuit with Parma ham  mousse

Simply replace the 200g of gluten-free flour for the savoury sablé biscuit with an equal amount of wheat flour.

 

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Legumotti Salad with Caramelised Tropea onion

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Salads are a perfect solution for summer and this Legumotti salad mixed in a smooth, velvety Swiss chard cream, completed by sweet caramelised Tropea onions will give you the pleasure of a great gourmet dish.

The recipe is naturally gluten free and is rich in vegetable protein and fibre, suitable to be eaten at lunch or dinner, warm or cold; it is perfect as a main course if eaten in a large portion, or as an appetiser or first course if served in smaller quantities.

The Swiss chard cream will be a real surprise that you can use for so many other preparations: use it as an accompanying sauce for flans and fresh stuffed pasta, roast meat, mixed salads and, of course, as a sauce for pasta dishes (gnocchi with this cream are delicious).

Caramelised Tropea onions don’t need to be introduced. The only attention we have to pay is to the sugar they contain, either naturally or by adding brown sugar to caramelise them. In fact, onions behave like some other vegetables (e.g. carrots and peppers) which, when cooked, considerably increase the amount of carbohydrates per 100g: the raw onion contains 5.7g/100g, whereas once cooked, the value rises to 23.6g/100g.

For this reason, I have given you the carbohydrate value of caramelised onions separately so you can better calculate the carb count when adding them to your dish or preparing them for many other applications. Oh yes, because once you have prepared the caramelised Tropea onion, you can use it to season a pasta dish, fill a sandwich or focaccia, accompany a meat or fish main course, or even to complete a spoon dessert that I happened to taste on one of my culinary adventures.

Insalata di Legumotti con cipolla di Tropea caramellata

Legumotti salad with Swiss chard cream, caramelised Tropea onion and topped with grated salted ricotta

Legumotti Salad with Caramelised Tropea onion

24.52g carbohydrates per 100g cooked Legumotti pasta with Swiss chard cream

47.62g carbohydrates per 100g caramelised Tropea onion

 

Ingredients for the Legumotti and Swiss chard cream

  • 250g Barilla Legumotti*
  • 300g fresh Swiss chard already cleaned (without the harder white ribs)
  • 80g spring onion
  • 20g extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 clove garlic
  • salted ricotta
  • marjoram
  • salt and pepper

Ingredients for caramelised onion

  • 450g Tropea onions
  • 30g apple vinegar
  • 20g extra virgin olive oil
  • 20g brown sugar
  • salt and pepper

*Ingredients whose labels must read “gluten-free” (or, in Italy, present on  Prontuario AIC)

Preparation

  1. Start with the caramelised onions, which are the most time-consuming preparation. Cut the onions in half and slice each half into fan shapes. Wilt them in a non-stick pan with extra virgin olive oil on low heat and with the lid on; after 10 minutes, add the apple vinegar and brown sugar; season with salt and pepper and cook for a further 10 minutes, leaving the pan uncovered in case there is liquid on the bottom. Put the onions aside.
  2. Wash and clean the Swiss chard. Put a pot of lightly salted water on the stove and when it boils, blanch the Swiss chard for a minute, drain it and throw it into cold water. Pour it into a colander so that it drains well.
  3. Chop the leek and put it in a non-stick pan with the extra virgin olive oil and the clove of garlic; add the lightly wrung Swiss chard; season with salt and pepper, a pinch of marjoram and leave to gain flavour for about ten minutes. Remove the garlic, transfer the vegetables to a food processor and blend them to a smooth, homogeneous cream.
  4. Put a pan of water on the stove, add salt and when it comes to the boil, cook the Legumotti for 9 minutes. Drain them and put them in a bowl. Dress them with the Swiss chard cream and serve them on individual plates. Complete with caramelised onions and a grating of salted ricotta cheese. You can eat Legumotti warm or cold as you like: I love them in all preparations, so here is another recipe that may interest you, Legumotti with vegetables.

Version with gluten

The recipe is naturally gluten-free, so no adaptation is required

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Stuffed picnic baguettes

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Stuffed baguettes are a great idea not only for a picnic, but also for a lunch at work. Unlike what you may think, a sandwich can be healthy and complete, as well as tasty, as in this recipe full of fresh vegetables. These Stuffed picnic baguettes are therefore a solution for young and old, and for all tastes!

If you decide to take them for lunch at the office or for a picnic and you don’t have time to prepare fresh bread, you can freeze the loaves and stuff them as soon as they have softened slightly after taking them out of the freezer, so when it is time to eat them, they will still be soft and fragrant.

The other feature I love about stuffed baguettes is that they have a hearty and succulent filling, but because of the way they are prepared, they are easy to transport and store and the risk of dirtying the basket or other container you put them in is reduced.

And the stuffing? Have fun, dear friends, this is just one idea among thousands possible!

Stuffed picnic baguettes

65.81g carbohydrates per 100g unstuffed baguette

Ingredients for the baguette starter dough

  • 400g water
  • 330g flour mix for bread, brand Caputo Fioreglut**
  • 170g wholemeal rice flour*
  • 5g brewer’s yeast

Ingredients for the baguette dough

  • 200g flour mix for bread, brand Nutrifree**
  • 110g water
  • 50g buckwheat flour*
  • 40g milk
  • 10g brewer’s yeast
  • 10g salt
  • brown rice flour* for dusting
  • extra virgin olive oil

Ingredients for stuffing

  • 9 slices of Primosale cheese
  • 9 lettuce leaves
  • 1 tomato
  • 1 avocado
  • ½ lemon
  • 1 bunch of parsley
  • tuna in oil (optional)
  • salt, pepper, extra virgin olive oil to taste

**Ingredients specific for celiacs

*Ingredients whose labels must read “gluten-free” (or, in Italy, present on  Prontuario AIC)

Preparation

    1. Knead the ingredients for the starter dough to obtain an even mixture; place it in a large bowl, cover it with cling film and place it in the refrigerator to rise for 12 hours.
    2. Take the starter dough and mix it with all the ingredients for the dough; knead well, if possible in a planetary mixer, then cover again with cling film and leave to rise for 1 hour in a warm place.
    3. Place the dough on a lightly floured cutting board and divide it into 9 pieces.
    4. Flatten each piece into a rectangle of about 10x15cm, roll it from the short side to form a cylinder; brush the mini-baguettes with extra virgin olive oil.
    5. Let the mini-baguettes rise for another 30 minutes, then bake them in a convection oven preheated to 200°C for about 35 minutes.
    6. Let the mini-baguettes cool down and prepare the avocado sauce. Put the pulp of a ripe avocado in a blender, add the juice of half a lemon, a small tuft of chopped parsley, salt and pepper, then blend to a smooth, even sauce.
    7. Take the mini-baguettes, cut them in half, remove the crumb from both halves and start stuffing the lower half of the baguette.
    8. Come tagliare le baguetteCome svuotare le baguetteBaguette svuotate pronte per essere farcite
  2. Put a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil on the lower half, a pinch of salt, a grinding of pepper; form a layer with a slice of tomato, cover it with the avocado cream, place a slice of Primosale on top, put another layer of avocado sauce and a slice of tomato.
  3. Now take the top of the mini-baguette without crumb, lightly drizzle it with extra virgin olive oil and flavour with a pinch of salt and a grinding of pepper. Cut a slice of lettuce into strips and compress it well inside the baguette cavity; if you decide to put tuna fish, place it on top of the lettuce; close the mini-baguette and seal it with a string or foil so that it is tight.
  4. Let the mini-baguettes rest tightly sealed until ready to eat, when you can cut them in half to see the contents and be able to bite into them easily.

Baguette farcite

Version with gluten

For the starter dough, replace the Caputo flour and rice flour with a bread or pizza flour and mix it with 275g water; for the dough, replace the Nutrifree flour and buckwheat flour with 100g water without adding milk.

 

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