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It is my friend Anna Gallo who takes me on a journey to her native land, Calabria, giving me a beautiful bread bag from the art textile workshop Mario Celestino of Cosenza. And that is how I came up with the idea of preparing a dish that combines land and sea, a dish where squid meets ‘nduja, the undisputed queen of the tip of our boot: Calamari in fish soup with ‘nduja.

Calabria is definitely the region where red is the colour that paints the table, and it does so with chilli, the star ingredient of the ‘nduja, the sausage prepared by mixing pork meat and other spices, but also of the Sardella, a spicy cream made from whitebait, as well as many other specialities, and textiles and local handicrafts.

So let’s paint our tables red and add a little spice to life!

Calamari in fish soup with ‘nduja

negligible carbohydrates per 100g without bread

Ingredients for 4 servings

  • 1kg squid, cleaned
  • 100g white wine
  • 30g slivered almonds*
  • 20g ‘nduja*
  • 1 sprig of parsley
  • 2 small sprigs of marjoram
  • 1 clove of garlic
  • 1/2 lemon with edible peel
  • extra virgin olive oil
  • salt
  • homemade bread**

**Ingredients specific for celiacs

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

Preparation

  1. Cut the cleaned squid with beaks and eyes removed into strips and sauté them in a frying pan with a little extra virgin olive oil and the chopped clove of garlic. Sprinkle them with white wine and let it evaporate.
  2. Add the ‘nduja and cook for 5 more minutes: taste the squid and turn off the heat when they are soft because prolonged cooking makes them rubbery.
  3. In the meantime, toast the slivered almonds and use them to top the squid, also season with chopped parsley, marjoram leaves and a grating of lemon peel.
  4. Serve the fish soup with slices of toasted homemade bread.

calamari in brodetto alla nduja

Version with gluten of Calamari in fish soup with ‘nduja 

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

 

The summer heat is here and our solution to fully enjoy the days outdoors is a fresh and complete recipe: Couscous with prawn and courgette curry.

In this way, you have a unique, tasty dish that is perfect for satisfying a craving for good food without weighing you down and for travelling eastwards with flavours. For your summer, you can also try this Swordfish salad.

The tip: prepare some extra, it will be great even the day after!

Couscous with prawn and courgette curry

Couscous 35g carbohydrates per 100g

Prawn and courgette sauce 4.12g carbohydrates per 100g

Ingredients

  • 500g courgettes
  • 500g milk
  • 400g peeled and deveined prawns
  • 300g water
  • 250 g couscous Bia gluten free**
  • 30g shallot
  • 2 heaped tablespoons of grated coconut
  • 1 tbsp curry
  • 1 tsp turmeric
  • extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper

**Ingredients specific for celiacs

Preparation

  1. First prepare the couscous. Put 300g of water in a saucepan with a pinch of salt and heat it, without bringing it to the boil. Pour the couscous into a bowl and cover it with hot water; let it rest for the time necessary to allow all the water to be absorbed and the curry to set.
  2. Put a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil in a non-stick pan and brown the finely chopped shallot. Add curry and turmeric, and toast for one minute before adding the courgettes cut into sticks half a centimetre in diameter and 4cm long. Let it season for a few minutes, then cover with milk, add salt and pepper and let it cook for about ten minutes. At this point, sprinkle with grated coconut, add the peeled and deveined prawns, stir the mixture well and let it cook for a few minutes.
  3. In the meantime, shell the couscous, add a few tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and salt to taste.
  4. Serve by placing 3 heaped tablespoons of couscous in the centre of a deep dish and the hot prawn and courgette curry sauce all around.
  5. Watch the videorecipe of a very similar preparation.

cous-cous-senza-glutine-uno-che-per-gaia

Version with gluten of Couscous with prawn and courgette curry

Simply replace the gluten-free couscous with a standard couscous, all other ingredients are naturally gluten free.