VEAL WITH MILK

Meat entree - light


3 lbs veal tenderloin
2 cup broth, hot
2 cups milk, hot
1/2 cup chopped almonds
2 tbsp chopped rosemary
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup 00 Italian flour
salt, pepper


Mix together almonds, rosemary and flour. Tie meat with butcher string in order to keep the shape. Dredge into the flour, almond rosemary mixture. Reserve the remaining for future similar preparations.

Warm the olive oil in a deep pot, big enough to contain the meat but not too big; sear the meat into olive oil, all sides!

Pour broth and milk over it (both hot), season with salt and pepper, and let boil for 5 minutes. Lower the heat to medium-low, cover with a lid, and cook for about 25-30 minutes (until fully cooked through).

As soon as meat has cooled down enough to handle it, slice it and arrange it on a serving dish, covered with the sauce.


This recipe serves about 8-10


- You can serve this dish with broccoli or other steamed/baked/suateed vegetables.
- You can prepare this dish the day before and, when needed, warm it up in the oven (300 for 10 minutes), on an ovenproof serving dish, sprinkled with some more chopped almonds.
- You can also use pork tenderloin, it's the leanest part.
- If you use fat free milk, it's going to be an almost fat free dish!

ZUCCHINE CREAM WITH FARRO.

Soup - vegetarian - lactose intolerant safe (see notes below)


1 lb zucchine, cubed
1 cup farro
2 cups vegetable broth
1 bunch basil, leaves separate from stems
4 tbsp parmigiano, grated
Extra virgin olive oil to drizzle


Bring a large pot of water to a boil. When it starts boiling, add salt and farro and cook for about 30 minutes.

In the meantime, bring 1 cup of vegetable broth, with basil stems, to a boil. Add zucchine and cook for 15 minutes, remove basil stems and add leaves. Transfer to a food processor and blend until you otbain a smooth cream.

Drain farro, bring the other cup of broth to a boil, then lower to simmer.

In a large pot over medium heat, combine zucchine cream with farro, season with salt, if needed, and cook for the remaining 10 minutes. If the cream thickens too much, add the warm vegetable broth, little by little, until you obtain your desired consistency.

Divide into individual bowls, drizzle with a very good extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle with parmigiano.

This recipe serves 4


- You can add a pinch of nutmeg, if you like it.
- You can make this recipe with butternut squash, using parsley instead of basil.
- This is vegetarian, light and lactose intolerant safe (avoid parmigiano).

MINI PIES WIH POTATOES AND MUSHROOMS

Appetizer - vegetarian - celiac safe


2 lbs potatoes
2 egg yolks
1 tbsp Parmigiano, grated
2 oz Italian dried Porcini
1 cup of diced Provolone
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Chopped fresh parsley, garlic and salt


Wash and boil potatoes.

Soak mushrooms in lukewarm water for 20 minutes.

When potatoes are fully cooked, drain them and let they cool down to room temperature, peel and force through a ricer, then add yolks, salt and Parmigiano; mix well to combine.

Divide the potato mix evenly between 6 individual baking molds, lightly greased, giving the shape of a little bowl.

Warm olive oil in a non-stick skillet over medium heat, sautee garlic and add mushrooms. Season with salt and cook to desired doneness; you can use part of the soaking water (carefully filtered) to cook mushrooms. Sprinkle with parsley.

Preheat oven to 350.

Divide mushrooms evenly in the potato bowls, then bake for about 20 minutes; remove from oven, sprinkle with cheese and bake for another 10 minutes.

Serve immediately.


This recipe serves 6


- You can use provolone, asiago, pecorino.... any cheese you like
- It can be prepared in 2 days: Prepare potato baskets and bake empty for 20 minutes, prepare and cook mushrooms on day 1, assemble and bake for 10 minutes on day 2.
- It's vegetarian and celiac safe.

FISH FILLETS WITH ORANGE, WALNUTS AND OLIVES

Fish entree - celiac and lactose intolerant safe (see notes below)


1 1/2 lb fish fillets
1/2 orange, juice and zest
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
6 tbsp REAL Italian breadcrubs
1/2 cup walnuts, roughly chopped
1/4 cup Italian dried black olives, chopped
2-3 tbsp pecorino, grated
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tbsp parsley, chopped
Salt and pepper


Squeeze it's juice in a little bowl, add salt and pepper and stir until salt dissolves, then add 2 tbsp of olive oil. With this mixture, brus both sides of fillets.

In a small non-stick skillet, warm up the remaining olive oil, add breadcrumbs and walnuts and sautee until toasted. Remove from heat.

Arrange grated orange zest in a bowl. Add garlic, parsley, olives, cheese and the walnut-breadcrumb mixture. Mix well and spread on the fish fillets.

Preheat oven to 375.

Roll them (or fold them) and secure with a toothpick; arrange on a greased baking dish (or lined with parchment paper) and bake until crisp.

Serve with fresh salad, steamed, baked or sauteed vegetables (or a combination of them).


This recipe serves 4


- You can use cod, tilapia, sole fillets even though this recipe is perfect for fresh (or defrosted) sardines
- Real Italian breadcrumbs have no herbs in and are very fine.
- If fillets are too thick to be rolled or folded, leave them flat and spread mixture on top, then bake. You can also layer them.
- Lactose intolerants should add a few more breadcrumbs in lieu of cheese and celiacs should do exactly opposite.

ORECCHIETTE WITH ARTICHOKES AND SALMON

Pasta entree - Lactose intolerant safe (see notes at the bottom)

1 lb Orecchiette
10 oz fresh Salmon, diced
1 12oz jar of marinated artichoke hearts, drained and cut in 1" pieces
1 14oz can of Italian San Marzano peeled tomatoes, roughly crushed with a fork
1/2 cream
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup dry white wine
1 clove garlic, crushed
Salt, chopped parsley, hot pepper flakes


Bring a large pot of water to a boil.

In the meantime, in a large skillet over medium-high heat, warm the olive oil. Sautee garlic until golden, then discard it.

Add salmon and sautee a couple of minutes, then add artichokes and wine and let evaporate.

Stir in tomatoes, and their juice, sprinkle with hot pepper flakes and season with salt, lower the heat and simmer for about 10-15 minutes; add cream and cook for 5 more minutes until sauce thickens.

Add salt and 2-3 tbsp of oil in the boiling water, then add pasta (trying to pour it through the oil, so it will stick a little less).

Cook for about 8-10 minutes, then drain (reserving some water) and transfer into the skillet with the sauce. Sautee pasta with the sauce, tossing to combine well, for at least 2-3 minutes; if the sauce thickens too much, add some of the reserved water to thin it.

Serve immediately sprinkled with freshly chopped parsley.

This recipe serves 4-6 people


- If you avoid cream, this recipe will be lactose intolerant safe.
- If you want a lighter recipe, use milk with some cream cheese instead of cream.
- You can use crushed Italian San Marzano, same quantity, if you perfer it.
- You can use onion instead of garlic; if you like to leave garlic in your sauce, mince it instead of crushing it.
- You can use fresh artichokes, but this will increase a lot the time and the preparation.
- Please, do NOT use Parimigano: it's not supposed to go on pasta with fish because it will cover its delicate taste.

POTATO, HAM AND CHEESE PIE

Appetizer - Side dish - Vegetarian and celiac-safe (see notes below)


3 lbs potatoes
3 tbsp butter
1/2 cup Parmigiano, grated
1/2 cup milk
2 eggs
2 8-oz Mozzarella,thinly sliced
3 big slices of ham (or 6 smaller ones, or depending on the slices size)
Breadcrumbs (the real Italian ones: no seasonings), salt and pepper (optional)


Boil potatoes, peel and mash them, or force through a ricer. Arrange them in a bowl and add butter, parmigiano, milk. eggs, salt and pepper (Optional). Mix well to combine.

Preheat oven to 375.

Lightly grease, and sprinkle with breadcrumbs a 8" baking dish and arrange half of the potatoes mixture into it. Line with mozzarella and ham and cover with the remaining potatoes.

Sprinkle with breadcrumbs and dot with butter.

Bake until top is golden and crusty.

This recipe serves 4-6, depending on what else is served.


- You can use Prosciutto di Parma (which is less salty then others) but adjust the quantity of salt.
- Without breadcrumbs, it's celiac-safe. Without Prosciutto is vegetarian.
- If you poke and microwave potatoes, you'll save a time.

TORTA DELLA NONNA - REVISED (Grandmother's cake)

Dessert

Grandmother's cake is a "Closed" cruts-pie (crostata) filled with custard and pine nuts and topped with some more pine nuts.


For the dough:
3 cups of Italian 00 flour
1/3 cup sugar
3 extra large eggs
3 oz butter, diced and chilled
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 pinch salt

For the apples:
3 little apples, peeled and sliced
Juice of 1/2 orange
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp butter
1/4 cup raisins
2 tbsp pinenuts
2 tbsp amaretto liqueur

For the custard:
2 eggs
2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp flour
2 cups milk


Arrange apple slices in a bowl with fresh orange juice, which will prevent apples from turning dark. Soak raisins in amaretto, diluted with same quantity of water.

Prepare the dough: in a bowl arrange all dry ingredients and mix them to combine evenly. Add butter and mix it roughly with flour mixture; form a well and put the eggs in it.
Mix all ingredients well but quickly in order not to warm up butter too much (which would result in a "hard" dough), you have to obtain a smooth "ball".
Wrap it in plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes at least.

Prepare the custard: warm up the milk without letting it boil. In a saucepan, with heavy bottom, combine the sugar, the flour and the eggs, whisking to prevent lumps. On low-medium heat add the warm milk in a slow stream, always whisking and bring to boil, whisking continuously; it will take about 5-8 minutes (the warmer the milk, the quicker the cooking). Never stop stirring, otherwise your custard will stick to the bottom and burn, giving it an unpleasant taste.

Prepare the filling: place butter, apples (with the juice) and raisins in a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat and sautee for about 4-5 minutes. Remove from heat and add 2 tbsp of sugar, along with pinenuts.

Add sauteed apples to the custard and stir it to combine well.

Preheat oven to 375.

Grease and dust with flour a 9" tart pan (or line it with parchment paper).

Remove dough from refrigerator and roll it on a lightly floured surface until you obtain 2 discs about 1/4" thick, one slightly bigger than the other.

Place the bigger disk in the pan and punch the bottom with a fork in order to allow steam to escape.

Pour apple custard into the shell when it's still warm, then sprinkle with pine nuts. Cover with the smaller disk and press edges tightly. Make a couple of cuts on the "lid" to allow steam to escape.

Bake on central rack for about 30 minutes. The top should be golden.

Serve at room temperature (sprinkled with confectioners' sugar if you like it).


- If this pie goes to kids, soak raisins into water or orange juice.
- You can use apples or pears or peaches, whichever you prefer, always following the instructions given for apples.
- I usually use parchment paper but I slightly grease it: my cakes always sitck to it, I may be doing something wrong.
- If you pour warm or hot custard into the shell, it will not separate from it when you cut the pie.