A great dip (artichoke or carciofi) and home-made cheese crackers

Ok, its sunday and getting ready for the super-bowl (the big game) and made something pretty good for the pre-game munchies.

ARTICHOKE or Carciofi Dip:

You'll need
- 10-12 artichoke hearts, cleaned and cut.
- small bunch of flat parsley
- 3 garlic cloves
- extra virgin olive oil
- balsamic vinegar
- mozzarella cheese
- ricotta cheese

In a small pan, add about 2 T spoons of olive oil on medium heat and add two cut garlic cloves, when golden add the finely cut parsley.
Add the artichoke hearts, stir and cover for 10 minutes but be careful not to let burn.
Add approx. 2 T spoons of a good balsamic vinegar, I say good because there is a huge difference between a good and a poor vinegar. Add about 1/8 cup of warm water and cover again until those wonderful carciofi (artichokes) are well broken and tender. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Take of the heat and let cool slightly then place them into your food processor or blender.
Add to this the third garlic clove (good size) as well as 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese and 1/8 cup ricotta as well as a small amount of olive oil (2 T spoons). I like to add (optional) a small amount of cooking cream or panna da cucina but you can also use a low fat or light cream such as half and half coffee cream if you need to cut down on the calories...)
Blend until the dip is creamy and smooth and eccolo...

THE DIP NEEDS SOMETHING TO BE DIPPED INTO IT SO now comes the cheese crakers:

Sure you can buy something at the grocer but whats better than warm, home-made Italian cheese crackers?

You'll need:
- 1 1/2 cup unbleached all purpose flour
- 1 cup crated parmigiano
- 1/2 stick of butter
- 2 T spoons olive oil
- Rosemary or tyme
- 1 T spoon salt and 1 t spoon black pepper.
- Seranwrap (that clear plastic that drives me bonkers)

Start off by adding the parmigiano cheese and the butter together in a small bowl and mix together. Then in another medium size bowl, add the flour, rosemary or tyme, salt & pepper together along with the olive oil and mix together. When you have a good homogenous consistency, add the cheese and butter to this and form a dough ball.
On a wooden surface form a log shape form with this dough about 1.5 - 2 inches in diameter and roll this log so that it is compact onto the seranwrap and close the wrap so that it is rather tight. Place in your freezer for about 20-25 minutes and will explain why the freezer part below.

Heat your over to about 375F. Remove the log you made above and place on a wooden cutting board and with a clean and very thin cutting knife make about 1/4 inch slices from the log. Place the slices (or your soon to be Italian crackers on parchment paper (on a good size cookie sheet). Cook in heated over for approximately 25-30 minutes or until golden. Remove and let cool for 10 minutes and place these wonders on a big plate for a super antipasto or pre-game special with your artichoke dip.

ENJOY!

STUFFED PORCINI MUSHROOMS

This is a delicious starter which can be served with chicken or as a main dish. Its cruchy on the outside and savory and soft within, something I really love to do... adding extreme consistency and flovors in the same dish. I personally prefer porcini mushrooms as the flovor is so special but they can be substituted with white mushrooms as well.

YOU'LL NEED:

- 15-20 large porcini (or white) mushrooms, caps and stems are to be removed but put aside for this dish.
- 6 T spoons of extra virgin olive oil
- 2 T spoons of Marsala
- 3/4 to 1 lb (500-800 gr) Sausage (Italian spicey) and remove casing (skin)
- 5 scallions chopped well
- 3 garlic cloves
- 2 T balsamic vinegar
- 3 T spoonns parsley (minced)
- 1 small fist of pestoed (crushed) walnut
- 1/2 T black pepper
- 1 cup bread crumbs (I make them myself with wholewheat bread, parsely, salt, pepper, oregano)
- 4 oz marscapone
- 1/2 cup grated parmigiano

TO DO:

First thing is to put some good jazzy music on to set your background, relax a few minutes with the music and get started by preheating the oven to 300 F.
- Clean the mushrooms gently, trim the stems (chop them finely and put aside). Put the caps in a bowl and add 2 T spoons olive oil and the Marsala.
- In a small skillet place the crushed walnets (no oil) and on high heat toast the nuts.
- Heat 3 T spoons of your olive oil in a skillet over low heat and add your crumbled sausage (skinned) and walnuts let brown for about 8 minutes. Then splash with some good balsamic vinegar and let simmer for an additional 3 minutes.
- Add in your mushroom stems and let cook for 5 minutes. Stir in the scallions, minced garlic and cook for another 5 minutes.
- Add in the breadcrumbs and marcapone to the mushroom stems and let creamy. Take off heat and stir in the parsley and parmigiano. Let cool some and fill the mushroom caps with the sausage mixing and put in a tight layer on an oven dishy. Bake at 325 F until the sutffing is crowned and crusty (approx. 45 minutes)

ENJOY !

PASTA ALLA MATRICIANA

This is a great and really easy dish that will get those taste buds in 4th gear !

First thing is to put on some great Italian classical (I'd go with Verdi for this dish), take three deep breaths and go....

YOU'LL NEED:
- 4 thick slices of pancetta or bacon chopped into small squares
- 1 large white onion (sliced thin)
- 3 garlic cloves (never us the store bought stuff that I see everywhere)
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 tin chopped or diced tomatoes or better about 1/2 kilo (1 lb) mature whole tomatoes fresh from the market
- 600 grams (1lb) spaghetti, I like pici (which are wormlike thick spaghetti)
- a handful of chopped parsley
- 100 grams freshly grated parmigiano cheese
- Extra virgin olive oil

WHAT TO DO:
- cook your cut up bacon or pancetta in a wide and relatively deep frying pan over medium/high heat with 2 T-spoons olive oil until the fat is rendered (about 5-7 minutes).
- Add the finely cut onion and cuook until soft.
- Add in the smashed garlic cloves and red pepper flakes and cook for approx. 3 minutes.
- Add a fist of chopped parsley and stir in and add the tomatoes. Bring to a gentle boil and reduce the heat to low and simmer for about 10-15 minutes and be sure to stir (keep on the heat until the sauce has thickened slightly).
- To your boiling water for the pasta add a couple T-spoons salt and a dash of olive oil, add the pasta. When the spaghetti is just al dente, strain and add to your sauce and mix in well for a few minutes. Add some fresh cut parsley to the and stir out onto the plates. Add a sprinkle of parmigiano cheese and a dash of olive oil.

- Serve with a hearty Chianti Red

ENJOY !

PORCINI MUSHROOM SAUCES

T'is the Season !

Its the season here in Tuscany (September-October) for Porcini....
Living in Florence it's easy to locate these wonderful and sought-after mushrooms. Their correct name is Boletus Edulis, in latin meaning Superior Edible mushroom. Porcini are said to look the way a mushroom should with a white stalks topped by broad brown caps, they can be rather large (up to 6 inches across at the cap). Their size is important in determining what they ought to be destined for, the large ones are ideal for grilled dishes or fried and the smaller ones are ideal for wonderful sauces.

I have two variations of the porcini sauce, one with and one without tomatoes.
WITHOUT:
Serving size: 4
You will need:
-800 grams porcini (caps and stems) or one good size porcini/person
-4or5 table spoons extra virgin olive oil
-2 cloves of garlic (pressed)
-one spring of nipetella
-sale and pepper QB

Preparation:
Clean the mushrooms into bite-sized pieces and in a frying pan sauté in olive oil (extra virgin naturally)and garlic over low heat, be careful not to brown the garlic. Add the chopped mushrooms and stir. Add in salt,pepper and the nipetella and cover for about 10 minutes on low heat and stir until the porcini are soft.
This sauce is best served with fresh tagliatelle pasta and you will need about 300 grams for this serving size. After having cooked the pasta (3-4 minutes) in salted water, drain and add directly to the frying pan with the sauce. Stir gently and serve with a good Tuscan Red !
ENJOY

WITH TOMATOES:
Follow the above instructions, however the ripened tomatoes (four, diced) need to be blended into the garlic plus fresh parsley and oregano. Allow the mushrooms to cook slowly on low heat while your sauce gradually thickens.

FRIED SARDINES A great simple dish !

Servings 6

You'll need the following:
- 2 pounds (about 1 kg) of sardines
The filling:
-3.5 oz bread crumbs
-1/2 cup milk
-2 eggs
-2 oz of parmigiano (grated) cheese
-1 oz fresh parsley
-a pinch of oregano
-salt & pepper QB
-Extra virgin olive oil

The Bread Coating:
-2 eggs
-breadcrumbs
-flour (all purpose or 00)

BRINGING IT ALL TOGETHER:
(you'll need about 30 minutes to prepare and another 10 minutes cooking time)

Get out a good size bowl and mix together (for the filling) the bread, milk, eggs and grated parmigiano, parsley, oregano, oil and salt & pepper.

Wash and clean the sardines but remove the innards, heads, scales or just buy them cleaned, its easier! Then dry them by placing them on a paper towel.

Butterfly the fish and place them on a flat work surface. Spread your filling on each fish ensuring that it sticks well. Close the sardines and dust them in flour, then dip in a bowl of your beaten eggs and cover with breadcrumbs. Its important that you ensure that the breadcrumbs adhere well to the fish.

At this point, its time to fry the fish in oil. Its a good idea that the sardines are completely immersed in the oil when frying.

Serve when they are golden, but its best to place the cook sardines on a paper towel before serving to absorb the extra oil.

ENJOY!