Tag Archive for: sicilian recipes

For a snack, an aperitif or to enrich the bread basket, try the Onion and anchovy flat bread.

Try a fibre-rich dough using not only wholemeal flour, but also soluble fibre i.einulinwhich is essential to reduce the glycaemic index of the preparation. The presence of a very simple filling of onions and anchovies also enriches the nutritional profile of the recipe: additional fibre from the onions and all the goodness of Omega 3 from the anchovies.

Since I had them available, I decided to try using Giarratane onions, the sweet, extra large Sicilian onions that are perfect when combined with tasty anchovies, for a truly mouth-watering result.

If you feel like turning on the oven and making Focaccia, try the Buckwheat and Corn Focaccia.

Onion and anchovy flat bread

carbohydrates 38.82g per 100g

schiaccia-di-cipolle-e-alici

Ingredients for a flat bread of 28cm diameter

  • 400g gluten free bread flour mix, brand Nutrifree** (for the version with gluten, see below)
  • 400g water
  • 400g onions
  • 60g brown rice flour*
  • 20 g inulin*
  • 20g buckwheat flour*
  • 10-12 anchovies in oil
  • 8g brewer’s yeast
  • 8g salt
  • extra virgin olive oil
  • dried oregano
  • salt and pepper

**Ingredients specific for celiacs

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

Preparation

  1. Dissolve the brewer’s yeast in the water.
  2. Place the flours and inulin in the bowl of a planetary mixer, start mixing and add the water with the yeast in a trickle; mix for 5 minutes at medium speed, then add the salt and 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, mixing for another 3-4 minutes.
  3. Form a ball with the dough, place it in a bowl and lightly grease the surface with extra virgin olive oil; cover with cling film and leave to rise until doubled in volume (approx. 2 hours).
  4. Meanwhile, slice the onions and slowly fry them in a non-stick pan with a little oil. Season with oregano, adjust salt and pepper and set aside.
  5. Divide the dough into two parts, one slightly larger to form the base of the flat bread: roll the dough out onto a sheet of baking paper and cover a baking tin at least 28 cm in diameter.
  6. Stuff with the onions left to cool and the chopped anchovies; cover the filling with a second disc of dough, pierce it with a fork and brush the surface with extra virgin olive oil.
  7. Bake in a convection oven preheated to 200°C for 30 minutes.

schiaccia-di-cipolle-e-alici

Version with gluten of Onion and anchovy flat bread

For the dough, replace the Nutrifree flour, rice flour and buckwheat flour with 500g of all-purpose flour and mix it with 330g of water. The preparation and filling remain unchanged.

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.