Tag Archive for: recipes with carb counting

Gluten-free vegetarian recipes: Lasagna with pesto and green beans

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What could we do if we are given a whole box of beautiful Genovese Basil PDO directly from Celle Ligure? Pesto alla Genovese can be used in so many dishes, including this irresistible Lasagna with pesto and green beans. You can also use pesto in theLegumotti salad with caramelised Tropea onion instead of creamed spinach!

If we use dry pasta, Lasagna with pesto and green beans will be very quick to prepare! We will need just enough time to cook the green beans, the béchamel and finally finish recipe in the oven. In addition, you can also prepare the lasagna the day before or freeze it very easily. Watch how to prepare it!

Very important: if you use dry pasta, the béchamel sauce must be abundant and rather liquid otherwise the pasta may not cook properly, so form a nice layer of béchamel sauce on the surface to avoid nasty surprises!

basilico genovese

The basil delivery pack

basilico genovese

Lasagna with pesto and green beans

19.31g carbohydrates per 100 g

 Ingredients for a 25x35cm rectangular baking tin

  • 1 litre milk
  • 300g string beans
  • 300g gluten free Lasagne, brand Massimo Zero**
  • 100g approx. grated Parmesan cheese
  • 100 g pesto Genovese*
  • 100 g butter
  • 90g wholemeal rice flour*
  • salt

**Ingredients specific for celiacs

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

Preparation

  1. Steam the green beans or cook them in lightly salted boiling water, then cut into 3-4 cm long pieces.
  2. Prepare the béchamel sauce by heating the milk on the stove. In the meantime, melt the butter in a saucepan and add the flour to make a creamy mixture. When the milk has almost come to the boil, pour it over the butter and flour mixture, stirring with a whisk so that no lumps form, then return to the heat to thicken.
  3. Complete the béchamel sauce by adding salt and about 70g of grated Parmesan cheese. Keep about 1/4 of the béchamel sauce aside to cover the surface of the finished lasagna, while adding the pesto Genovese to the remaining béchamel sauce.
  4. Start composing the lasagna. Pour a small amount of béchamel sauce on the bottom of the baking dish, form a layer of lasagna, cover it with plenty of pesto béchamel sauce, sprinkle with 1/3 of the green beans and grated Parmesan cheese to taste. Continue until all ingredients are used up.
  5. Cover the last layer of lasagna with the white béchamel sauce, sprinkle with Parmesan and bake in a preheated oven at 220°C for at least 20 minutes.

lasagne al pesto e fagiolini

Version with gluten of Lasagna with pesto and green beans

Replace dry gluten-free lasagna with standard lasagna.

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The flavour of Christmas: Cappelletti in meat stock

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If there is one recipe that is the symbol of our Christmas, it most certainly is the recipe for Cappelletti in meat stock because it accompanies not only Christmas Day, but also the preceding period of busy preparation and anticipation.

And the recipe for Cappelletti is part of the advent calendar of the Italian Food Bloggers Association which presents a typical family recipe for every box.

Making Cappelletti in meat stock: a family affair

The preparation of Cappelletti is a family affair: yes, because the whole family gets involved during Christmas holidays and everyone is assigned a task based on their culinary skills, an indispensable contribution to this almost sacred ritual.

There are two types of these beloved stuffed buttons: those stuffed with stew and those stuffed with cheese (called Anolini), each of which has its own convinced and adamant admirers.

Tradition has it that for the most important feast of the year, the stuffing with meat stew should be preferred, so Cappelletti are going to be prepared. Stracotto is prepared several days in advance also because, as its name implies, it takes so long to cook. Precisely for this reason, the cooking juices, with precious flavours and aromas, are used piping hot to moisten the breadcrumbs (unlike cheese stuffing where broth is used for this purpose).

Although the ingredients are few and the recipe is always the same, the stuffing (together with the meat stock) is the element that most determines the success of the Christmas lunch because the stracotto will never be perfectly the same as the previous year’s, nor will the Parmesan cheese and bread we use be identical, so the tasting committee has a task of great responsibility. One of the most vivid and amusing memories I keep of the “Cappelletti factory” is the ritual of tasting the filling by the men of the house who, excluded from all household chores, could not help but be involved in the approval of the filling: an additional pinch of aged Parmesan cheese, a bit less of nutmeg, in short, an invisible recipe hidden in the memory of tastes.

cappelletti in brodo

The traditional dough: 100g flour for 1 egg

My grandmother’s rule has always been this, a proportion that we cannot maintain in the preparation of gluten-free dough, which requires more hydration and therefore more eggs.

The dough must be bright yellow due to the careful selection of eggs with the yolk having an intense colour to ensure an even, golden dough. My grandmother’s powerful arms (now often replaced by my own) would push her wrists so that they would sink into the resistant mass of flour and eggs, which would eventually surrender, becoming docile and smooth, ready to receive the precious explosion of flavour of the filling.

My mother was (and still is) in charge of rolling out the pastry into thin, almost transparent strips and my aunt presided over the precision work of distributing the filling. And then, the workforce still available was given the task of cutting with round, smooth or ribbed stencils, and the patient arrangement, especially by the children of the house, in perfectly aligned rows; so that the precise number of Cappelletti prepared was readily known and flaunted with acquaintances and friends in fun competitions in search of Guinness records.

Capon stock 

Last but not least, the stock. Again, for Christmas, the choice of ingredients is very accurate and detailed: a rich piece of beef, a large beef bone, a free-range capon and the essential vegetables for colour and fragrance, namely onion, celery, carrot, garlic and parsley. Slow cooking, careful skimming of the foam on the surface and an eye on the cooking of the meat that will be the second dish of the day: the boiled meats accompanied by homemade sauces, sweet and spicy.

Once the stock has been strained and the salt has been adjusted, the last effort before the pleasure and the feast: throw in the cappelletti and cook them, keeping them at a gentle simmer to prevent them from opening and releasing their filling. So here they are, the adored and legendary “floaters“, as  Parma natives like to call them.

cappelletti in brodo

Cappelletti in meat stock

37.31g carbohydrates per 100g raw cappelletti, without stock

 

Ingredients for the egg pasta for 4 servings

  • 300g flour for fresh pasta  Molino Dallagiovanna** (for gluten-free version, see below)
  • 4 eggs
  • salt

Ingredients for the Cappelletti filling

  • 150g stew meat
  • 75g breadcrumbs, brand Nutrifree**
  • 40g Parmigiano Reggiano, 36 months, grated,
  • 35g Parmigiano Reggiano, 24 months, grated,
  • 1 egg + 1 yolk
  • meat stew liquid to wet the breadcrumbs, salt and nutmet

Ingredients to complete

  • 2.5 litres approx. of meat stock, preferably prepared using capon
  • Grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese

**Ingredients specific for celiacs

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

Preparation

  1. Prepare the dough: make a well with the 2 flours, crack the eggs in the centre, add a pinch of salt and start by beating the eggs with a fork; gradually incorporate the flour until you can knead the mixture using your hands. Continue mixing with a fork until the dough is stiff enough to be kneaded by hand. Continue working the pastry until it is smooth and compact.
  2. Cover the pastry with foil and leave it to rest while the filling is prepared.
  3. Bring the stock almost to the boil, then pour small amounts of it over the breadcrumbs, stirring so that the liquid is perfectly absorbed. When all the breadcrumbs have been soaked, mix well and leave to cool for about ten minutes. It is important that the breadcrumbs are wet, but still well separated and not creamy.
  4. Add all the other ingredients and mix to obtain a filling with a rather hard consistency.
  5. Cut the pastry into slices, flatten them with a rolling pin, then roll them out into thin strips, 30-40cm long and about 7cm wide with the pasta sheeter. Place mounds of filling of a suitable size for the ring you are using in the centre of the pasta sheet, spacing each 2cm apart.
  6. Fold the pastry over lengthwise, press the pasta sheet around the perimeter of the filling with your fingers and cut out the cappelletti with the cutter.
  7. Put a pot of stock on the stove and when it comes to the boil, lower the flame, remove from the heat for a moment (to prevent the broth from spilling out when pouring the cappelletti) and throw in the cappelletti. Let them cook until the pasta dough is of the desired consistency.
  8. Serve the cappelletti with the stock piping hot and, if desired, sprinkle them with grated Parmesan cheese.

degustare i cappelletti in brodo

Version with gluten of Cappelletti in meat stock

Replace the Molino Dallagiovanna fresh pasta fix flour with an equal amount of wheat flour, kneading it with 3 whole eggs, while all other ingredients remain unchanged.

 

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Stracotto for Christmas Cappelletti

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Preparing the Stracotto stew for Christmas Cappelletti is a big responsibility because expectations for the most anticipated meal of the year are always very high. This is how I prepared it to bring my whole family to the table… definitely feeling everyone’s eyes on me!

First of all, the stew should be prepared with three types of meat: beef, veal and pork. It’s a bit like doing no wrong to any of these meats, which at different times of the year brighten up our tables with extraordinary dishes.

As the name stracotto implies, the meat is cooked for such a long time that it falls apart simply by piercing it with a fork.

Once ready, the stew is blended or finely minced and the boiling cooking juices are used to wet the breadcrumbs that will be used to prepare the legendary Christmas Cappelletti, the meat-filled version of Anolini in broth.

And believe me, the type of filling is by no means an irrelevant matter! The tradition of eating one type of stuffing instead of the other is so ingrained that restaurants are obliged to put one or the other version on the menu according to boundaries dictated by custom, or else the menu would flop completely!

Here then is how to prepare Stracotto for fans and supporters of the meat version of this stuffed pasta, namely Cappelletti.

Stracotto for Christmas Cappelletti

negligible carbohydrates per 100g

Ingredients

  • 350g beef
  • 350g pork
  • 300g veal
  • 300g red wine
  • 50g onions
  • 50g carrots
  • 30g celery
  • 30g tomato paste
  • 30 g butter
  • 1/3 clove of garlic
  • 3 cloves
  • extra virgin olive oil
  • water
  • salt

Preparation

  1. Put the butter in a pan or earthenware casserole and melt it; add chopped onion, carrot and celery and brown it.
  2. Add the tomato paste and a third of a clove of chopped garlic, let the paste caramelise slightly, then place the three types of meat in the vegetable base, sealing the meat on all sides. Stick a clove into each piece of meat.
  3. Add the wine and pour in enough water to cover the meat, season with a pinch of salt, put the lid on and leave to cook on a low heat for at least 4 hours.
  4. After the time has elapsed, remove the cloves and add salt to taste. Remove the meat and put it in a food processor. Strain the cooking juices through a colander, add the remaining vegetable pieces in the colander to the meat in the processor and chop finely.
  5. Heat the liquid from the stew well and use it to scald the breadcrumbs of the Cappelleti filling.

stracotto

Version with gluten of Stracotto for Christmas Cappelletti

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

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Homemade sofficini: irresistible gluten-free

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It is indeed true that there are some recipes that are simply irresistible, and homemade Sofficini are a perfect example.

Simple, versatile, mouth-watering, in short, the tasty dish whose only problem is that you can never get enough and would never stop eating it. In addition, homemade Sofficini are perfect to let our imagination run free in stuffing them to suit any season and, why not, whatever ingredients are available in the fridge at home.

Remember that using béchamel sauce as a ‘wild card’ ingredient to keep the filling soft without it leaking out during cooking (as is easily the case when using a melting cheese) is a good solution. Watch the video about how to prepare homemade Sofficini step by step so it will be even easier to cook them.

And if you want to accompany them with a delicious salad, try this Dominican Salad.

sofficini fatti in casa

Homemade Sofficini   

32.40g carbohydrates per 100g

Ingredients for 15 pieces

Ingredients for the dough

  • 250g gluten free bread flour mix, brand Nutrifree**
  • 210g water
  • 40g wholemeal rice flour*
  • 30g extra virgin olive oil
  • 7g brewer’s yeast
  • 5g salt
  • rice flour* for dusting

Ingredients for the filling

  • 200g milk
  • 120g cooked ham*
  • 80g breadcrumbs*
  • 40g Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, grated
  • 1 egg
  • 3 cherry tomatoes
  • 20g wholemeal rice flour*
  • 15g extra virgin olive oil
  • a pinch of salt
  • extra virgin oil to cook the Sofficini

**Ingredients specific for celiacs

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

Preparation

  1. Put the flours in a planetary mixer and add the water with the dissolved brewer’s yeast. While mixing the ingredients, add salt and extra virgin olive oil. Continue mixing until the mixture is even and fairly compact, pulling it away from the sides of the planetary mixer from time to time.
  2. Place the dough in a bowl and cover it with cling film; leave it to rise in a warm place for about 2-2.5 hours or until it has doubled in volume.
  3. Prepare a firm béchamel sauce. Pour the extra virgin oil into a saucepan, mix it with the rice flour, then dilute with milk gradually so that no lumps form. Put the saucepan on the heat and let the sauce thicken. Remove from the heat and season with a pinch of salt and grated Parmesan cheese.
  4. When the Sofficini dough has risen perfectly, take pieces of dough and roll them out to a thickness of about 2mm. Cut discs 10cm in diameter and stuff them with cooked ham, 2 pieces of seedless dates and 1 teaspoon of béchamel sauce.
  5. Put a bit of water in a small bowl, dip a finger in it and wet half the circumference of each filled disc with it. Fold each disc in half so that the edges coincide and form a half-moon, pressing well to seal the Sofficini perfectly.
  6. Beat 1 egg in a bowl, dip the Sofficini in it, then cover them with breadcrumbs.
  7. Put a little oil in a non-stick frying pan and when it is hot, brown Sofficini on both sides. Wipe the non-stick pan well with paper towels between cooking different batches of Sofficini so as to remove breadcrumbs remaining in the pan that may burn.
  8. Lay the Sofficini on kitchen paper and serve hot.

sofficini fatti in casa

Version with gluten of homemade Sofficini

To prepare homemade Sofficini with gluten, replace the gluten free flour with an equal amount of wheat flour and reduce the amount of water in the dough so that it is firm and not sticky, about 160g of water should be sufficient.

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Autumn at the winery: Hunter’s style Gnocchetti with hare

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Also this year the Tuscan Wine Tourism Movement in collaboration with theItalian Food Blogger Association has launched the initiative involving 15 food bloggers to propose a pairing of a Tuscan wine with an autumn recipe, and my proposal is these Gnocchetti with hare. See also my pairing from last year for Christmas Bacchus .

Hunter’s style Gnocchetti with hare and Monterosola Winery

The winery I was lucky enough to be matched with is Monterosola in Volterra, a winery that has been active since 2013 to realise the dream of a Swedish family, the Thomaeus, to produce wine in a state-of-the-art, hi-tech, eco-sustainable winery in full harmony with the nature of the enchanting Tuscan countryside.

crescendo IGT 2018

Crescendo IGT 2018 – Photo by Lorenzo Moreni

The wine that Monterosola decided to send me is Crescendo IGTa 100% pure Sangiovese from 2018. It is a full-bodied wine that matures 15 months in French oak barrels, preparing itself for an ageing process that certainly does not frighten it. Pouring Crescendo, one is struck by its garnet red colour that goes well with the fresh notes of red fruits and spices, expressed in the mouth by fine tannins, good acidity and a pleasant persistence: definitely a name that is a promise!

When thinking of a recipe, I wanted to find a meeting point between two iconic autumn ingredients, pumpkin and Porcini mushrooms, and a meat with a strong enough personality to stand up to Crescendo. A friend offered me the solution on a silver platter by giving me a hare ready to be cooked! And the perfect connection between the sweet Gnocchetti and the gamey hare is in the slivers of 40-month aged Parmigiano Reggiano, which immediately befriended the notes of toasted almonds and spices of the enveloping sips of this impressive red.

After trying this combination, all you need to do is book a visit to the winery!

Hunter’s style Gnocchetti with hare

10.77g carbohydrates per 100g

Ingredients for Gnocchetti for 6 servings

  • 630g ricotta
  • 200g Parmigiano Reggiano, 24 months, grated,
  • 200g mashed pumpkin, oven baked
  • 200g gluten free pasta flour mix, brand Molino Dallagiovanna**
  • 2 eggs
  • brown rice flour* for dusting
  • salt

Ingredients for hare sauce

  • 1 litre milk
  • 900g boneless hare
  • 100g Crescendo IGT 2018
  • 60g onions
  • 60g carrots
  • 30g celery
  • 30g triple concentrated tomato paste
  • 15g dried Porcini mushrooms
  • 1 bay leaf
  • meat stock
  • aromatic herbs for marinating (rosemary, sage, thyme)
  • garlic
  • spices (coriander grains, chilli, pepper)
  • extra virgin olive oil
  • Parmesan cheese 40 months to serve

**Ingredients specific for celiacs

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

Preparation

  1. Marinate the hare in a large bowl completely covered with milk and water with the herbs and garlic. Leave the hare in the fridge for 2 days, turning it once a day.
  2. Remove the meat from the marinade and de-bone the hare so that you have about 900g of meat, which you cut into small pieces of about 1 cm per side.
  3. Prepare the chopped vegetables typical of meat sauce, i.e. chopped onion, carrot and celery, and brown them in a saucepan with a little oil and half a clove of chopped garlic. When the vegetables are browned, add the triple concentrated tomato paste, possibly diluted with a few tablespoons of water, let it flavour for a few minutes, then add the chopped meat.
  4. Seal the meat over a high heat for a few minutes, then douse with the Crescendo IGT and let it evaporate. Add a ladle of meat stock and the bay leaf, put the lid on and lower the flame to the minimum.
  5. Soak the dried Porcini mushrooms, then cut them into small pieces and add them to the meat. Leave to cook for at least 2 hours, turning occasionally.

Preparation of Gnocchetti

  1. In a bowl, mix all the ingredients together to obtain an even and rather sticky mixture. Cover the bowl and place it in the refrigerator to rest for at least 30 minutes.
  2. With a little flour, start forming cylinders with a diameter of about 1.5cm and cut the dumplings; put them on trays dusted with flour.
  3. When the meat sauce is cooked, season with salt and pepper, a teaspoon of ground coriander grains and a pinch of chilli pepper.
  4. Put a pot of water on the stove, salt it and cook the dumplings until they rise to the surface. Drain them with a slotted spoon, toss them in a large frying pan to gain flavour with the hare sauce and serve.
  5. Complete the dish with a few thin slivers of 40-month aged Parmigiano Reggiano.
gnocchetti con ragù di lepre e lamelle di Parmigiano Reggiano 40 mesi

Gnocchetti hare sauce and slivers of 40-month Parmigiano Reggiano cheese

Version with gluten of Hunter’s style Gnocchetti with hare

Replace the 200g of gluten free flour with 220g of wheat flour; no other adaptation is needed.

 

 

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Potato and courgette patties with Parma ham

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I don’t know about you, but with the kids home from school, the need to cook lunch and dinner every day makes it difficult for me to find solutions to satisfy their appetite, desire for variety and time available, so try these Potato and courgette patties with Parma Ham.

Boiling potatoes will be the longest step, but the rest will only take you a few minutes. Obviously you can replace Parma ham with another ham you like, but it is important to remember that by combining a source of fat and protein with potatoes, you will slow down the absorption of carbohydrates, so it will be helpful to avoid glycaemic peaks.

You can accompany these Potato and courgette patties with a side dish of vegetables for a complete and balance meal. And if you love pies, but don’t want to turn on the oven, try this Pan-fried potato pie.

 

Potato and courgette patties with Parma ham  

14.41g carbohydrates per 100g of patties without Parma ham

Ingredients

  • 700g potatoes
  • 350g courgettes
  • 80g spring onion or leek
  • 60g breadcrumbs**
  • 40g butter
  • Parma ham
  • extra virgin olive oil
  • salt and pepper

**Ingredients specific for celiacs

Preparation

  1. Boil the potatoes in a pot of water, then peel and mash them with a potato masher, add butter while they are still hot so that it melts well, then set them aside.
  2. In the meantime, put a few tablespoons of oil in a non-stick frying pan, brown the finely chopped spring onion or leek, then add the courgettes grated with a coarse-hole grater, season with salt and pepper, then cook for about 10 minutes, making sure that the courgettes are nice and dry.
  3. Add the cooked courgettes to the mashed potatoes, mix well and season with salt and pepper if necessary.
  4. With the help of a 6cm diameter cutter, form 2cm thick patties; roll them in breadcrumbs very carefully because they are quite soft, then brown them in a non-stick frying pan with a few tablespoons of oil until very crispy on both sides.
  5. Top each patty with a slice of freshly sliced Parma ham and serve.

Pizzette di patate e zucchine al prosciutto

Version with gluten of Potato and courgette patties with Parma ham 

Replace gluten free breadcrumbs with standard breadcrumbs

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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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Venere rice turrets with almond cream and tomatoes

When you don’t know what to do and are in the mood for a tasty, beautiful and complete and balanced first course or one-course meal, Venere rice turrets with almond cream and tomatoes are definitely a possible answer, even fun to prepare together with me.

Discovering Venere rice

Did you know that Venere rice is an all-Italian product? It is the first Italian brown rice born, cultivated and processed exclusively in the historical rice-growing lands of Piedmont and the beautiful Tirso Valley in Sardinia.

It was the seed co-operative Sapise (Sardo Piemontese Sementi) that in 1997 crossed a very hardy local white rice variety with a black Asian variety that could not be cultivated in Italy, resulting in this rice that was named Venere after the planet in our solar system, but also after the goddess of love for its alleged aphrodisiac powers (in Asia, these properties are attributed to the black colour of the rice!). The trademark is registered and you can find all the information by clicking on this link: https://www.risovenere.it/

Personally, I find the aroma and taste of Venere rice irresistible, which makes me overcome any reluctance in the face of the long cooking time, which is the characteristic of all wholegrain rice types. Well, we know that brown rice has a much lower glycemic index than white rice, so this characteristic also makes it preferable to other options.

The quantities I propose for the almond and tomato cream, will certainly leave you with a little more than you need to serve the turrets, but I think it is worth making more so you can combine it with vegetable Pinzimonio and croutons as a healthy and delicious dip.

One last note that certainly never hurts: Venere rice turrets are also a treat for the eyes!

My recipe for Venere rice turrets with almond cream and tomatoes    

11.26g carbohydrates per 100g

 Ingredients for 4 turrets

  • 160g Venere rice
  • 300g cow’s milk mozzarella
  • 300g San Marzano tomatoes
  • 40g peeled almonds (soaked in water for a few hours)
  • 30g bread**
  • 12 cherry tomatoes
  • 2 tablespoons of lemon juice
  • 1 tablespoon of anchovy sauce or a few anchovies in oil
  • 1 bunch of basil
  • basil leaves to complete
  • extra virgin olive oil
  • apple vinegar
  • salt and pepper

**Ingredients specific for celiacs

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

Preparation

  1. Boil the rice in salted water, drain it and season it with lemon juice and anchovy sauce or 2 anchovies melted in olive oil in a heated pan for a few minutes, then let it cool. Cut 6 slices of mozzarella and let them drip. Take some square cutters 6-7cm long and fill with a layer of Venere rice, one of mozzarella then one of rice and press the layers down. Let it rest.
  2. Drain the almonds and put them in a food processor with the chopped San Marzano tomatoes, a pinch of salt, a handful of basil leaves and the crumbled bread. Blend until creamy.
  3. Cut the cherry tomatoes and season them with oil, salt and apple vinegar.
  4. Unmould the rice and mozzarella turrets, garnish with cherry tomatoes and a quenelle of tomato and almond cream on top of the turret. Complete with a few basil leaves, a drizzle of oil and a grinding of pepper.

Foto delle Torrette di riso venere con crema di mandorle e pomodori

Version with gluten of Venere rice turrets with almond cream and tomatoes

Replace the gluten-free bread with an equal amount of standard bread.

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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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Starter or aperitif? Teff tartlets with Squacquerone cheese and vegetables

An aperitif with friends is always an extremely pleasant convivial moment, one of those appointments during which chit-chatting must be enlivened by good wine but also good food such as Teff tartlets.

Chips, peanuts are always available but, let’s be honest, they are not the right solution. That’s why you need a few extra ideas to make a special and appetising aperitif to share also with the little ones. That’s right, because they can be an interesting and tasty way to get children to eat the much ‘dreaded’ vegetables (such as Vegetable and tuna flan).

Therefore, we propose our recipe for preparing tasty and colourful Teff tartlets with Squacquerone cheese and vegetables.

Teff tartlets with Squacquerone cheese and vegetables

44.29g carbohydrates per 100g of baked brisè pastry

Ingredients for the brisè pastry

  • 80g teff flour*
  • 75g water
  • 55g wholemeal rice flour*
  • 45g buckwheat flour*
  • 45g almond flour*
  • 45g butter
  • 1 tablespoon milk
  • 1 pinch of salt

Ingredients for the filling

  • 150g Squacquerone cheese
  • 1 carrot
  • 1 courgette
  • 1 leek
  • 1 piece of cabbage
  • extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper to taste

**Ingredients specific for celiacs

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

Preparation

  1. Start by preparing the dough for the tartlets. Blend the butter with the milk, using a food processor, until soft; add the three types of flour to the freshly processed butter, add salt to taste and knead until smooth. Then wrap the dough in cling film and let it rest in the refrigerator for about 1 hour.
  2. Line tartlet moulds with the brisè pastry and bake at 180°C for 10-15 minutes. Remove from the oven and leave to cool.
  3. And now the filling. Julienne the carrot and courgette, finely slice the leek and thinly slice the cabbage. Put a little oil in a non-stick frying pan and sauté the vegetables with a pinch of salt and pepper until slightly soft.

La farcitura delle tartellette di teff

The filling of the teff tartlets

  1. Just before serving the tartlets, assemble them by placing a teaspoon of Squacquerone cheese on the bottom of each tartlet and then cover it with the warm vegetables.
Le tartellette di teff con le verdurine

Teff tartlets with vegetables

Version with gluten of Teff tartlets with Squacquerone cheese and vegetables

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

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