ITALIAN FOODIES

          
The princess is sick with a throat infection so I’ve been house bound for the last 3 days. I haven’t even been to the shop so needless to say my fridge and cupboards are empty. I always have the basics so there is always a pasta dish that can be made from the few bits I do have. This is my survival list:

 - olive oil
 - tinned tuna
 - capers
 - tins of Italian tomatoes
 - sea salt and black pepper
 - lots of dried pasta
 - dried chilli
 - parmesan cheese in the fridge
 - butter
 - fresh basil on the window sill
 - garlic
 - anchovies
 - onions
 - cherry tomatoes
 - dried oregano
 - lemons (dried out most of the time)

Today I decided to give this simple pasta a try and it was really delicious. People often ask me about cooking pasta without it sticking together etc so I took a few photos to show you how I cook mine. 

what you need:

 -  tin of Italian tuna in olive oil, the difference in quality really is amazing with tuna in brine but you can use this if you can’t get Italian.

 -  400g tin of Italian tomatoes, once again an Italian brand is so much better and I don’t mean Roma:) De Cecco pomodorini are excellent, they are so sweet and full of flavour.

 - 1/2 an onion finely diced

 - 1 garlic clove finely chopped

 - olive oil

 - sea salt and black pepper

 - 350g linguine or spaghetti

what to do:

 - bring a pot of water to the boil and add salt. Fill the base of your frying pan with olive oil , add your onion and garlic and cook until softened.

once your onions and garlic have softened add your tomatoes and simmer for about 10-15 mins:

once your water is boiling add your pasta and make sure you stir it with a pasta fork or slotted spoon for tubular pasta:

the key to cooking pasta right is to continue to stir it, you do not need to use oil:

cook until al dente, I check mine by taking a piece out and biting it, no pic of me biting it I’m afraid;)

drain and return to the pan:

season your sauce, add your tuna and cook for a couple of minutes and add some of your sauce to your linguine:

serve with the remaining sauce on top and enjoy:)

                

buon appetito!

   

I’m in a really good mood today as the sun is shining, we’re just back from Killaloe where we had lunch and brought the princess to feed the ducks. This week the builder has also come back with a rough price for changing La Cucina around and putting in seating for 26 people and surprise, surprise it’s actually affordable - I LOVE THE RECESSION:)! We just have to sort out a few things with the landlord and the bank of course and then it’s all systems go, I can’t wait as we have wanted to do this for ages but couldn’t as everything was too expensive in relation to building work but with the downturn it is now possible. 

My sister also had her baby this morning by c-section as he was completely breached and everything went perfect, he was 8lb 1 oz, big babies run in this family, it must be our love of pasta:) I’m so relieved as she had a really rough pregnancy and they didn’t think she would make it at 21 weeks, she threatened miscarriage about 3 times so he is a little angel in disguise. They are both doing great and I hope to get over to see them both next week as they live in Canterbury.

I love pasta dishes without an actual sauce and I’ve mentioned before that one of my favourite pastas is spaghetti alio olio which is one of the most simple pastas you can make. This one is quite similar and just as easy and as tasty, I think the difference without the sauce is that you can taste the actual ingredients. I find this recipe great for using leftover courgette and garlic, you could also replace it with spinach for a change.

            

what you need for 2:

 - 1 large courgette

 - 1 garlic clove

 - olive oil

 - 1 tbsp dried chilli flakes

 - 350g pasta - I use orecchiette but you could also use linguine, fettucine, tagliatelle.

 - sea salt and black pepper

 - grated Parmesan

what to do:

 - bring a pot of water to the boil, add salt and your pasta and cook until al dente.

 - grate your courgettes with a cheese grater and chop your garlic.

 - fill the base of your frying pan with olive oil, heat and add your garlic and chilli and cook for a couple of minutes until golden but not too brown.

 - add your courgettes and cook until soft, make sure you stir them constantly.

 - season with salt and pepper, drain your pasta reserving some of the water.

 - add your drained pasta and Parmesan to your pan with courgettes, toss well and add water as needed.

 - serve with Parmesan cheese on top.

         

buon appetito!!

p.s. I’m having terrible problems answering your comments, I reply to all your comments, then press submit and everything dissapears, so annoying. Please don’t think I’m ignoring you because that’s not the case so keep commenting as I am reading all of them and do appreciate every comment)

        

The weather has changed with a vengeance, not that we had much of a summer but the last couple of weeks have been glorious, it’s so hard to go back to this again. If you live in Ireland chances are you will be indoors for the next week so it’s a perfect opportunity to make this pasta as you need to let these tomatoes roast slowly for a couple of hours. When I go shopping I always buy loads of tomatoes and normally make a roast tomato soup or just a simple tomato sauce. I was flicking through one of my pasta books and spotted this recipe which is perfect to use up tomatoes or to produce a really impressive dish when you have very little in the fridge.  

      

what you need:

 - 500g cherry or plum tomatoes - as usual I used tomatoes from SQ

 - 2 garlic cloves finely chopped

 - chilli flakes

- dried oregano

 - olive oil

 - balsamic vinegar

 - pappardelle or fettuccine

 - parmesan cheese

 - salt and black pepper

 

what to do:

 - pre-heat the oven to 150 degrees.

 - cut your tomatoes in half and place them cut side up in a oven tray.

 - sprinkle them with your oregano, chilli, garlic, salt and pepper. Drizzle with olive oil and vinegar.

 - roast in the oven until soft and wilted for about an hour and a half.

 - bring a pot of water to the boil, add salt and your pasta and cook until al dente.

 - Drain when cooked, put back in the pot and add some olive oil and mix in some parmesan.

 - serve with your roasted tomatoes on top.

I really enjoyed this pasta and it was a lovely change from my regular tomato sauce, I had some tomatoes left over so I used them in a sandwich the next day with some grilled chicken and brie which was “YUM”.

       

buon appetito!!

       

I haven’t talked about the recession on this blog yet but thought it was time I gave it a mention. Everywhere you look there are articles about how to save money, cut costs etc, most of them for some strange reason involve giving up panini and ciabatta(gasp). Our local paper had a front page article about cutting costs which focused on “sending the ciabatta back to Italy”, what has the poor ciabatta done to anybody besides saving them from the monotony of the rubber ham sandwich. Eddie Hobbs mentioned it in his 10 commandments for the recession too, the funny thing is nobody mentions giving up alcohol!! 

I know we are all feeling the pinch at the moment and being told to shop around for the best prices etc and I know this is a good idea but I personally don’t have time to visit Teso, Dunnes, Superquinn, Aldi and Lidl in 1 week to pick up the best bargains in each so I think the way I spend my money is probably what I should focus on so here’s where I’m saving and making changes(well trying to):

food costs:
cut down on buying junk - we don’t need 6 packs of taytos, packs of fun-size bars of chocolate, cans of coke etc. If they are not there you won’t eat them and your belly and hips will thank you for it. In saying that every time I’m having a sandwich I curse myself for not buying some walker’s cheese and onion but I’m going to try.

note to self - you don’t need to drink a glass of wine with dinner EVERY night or have a beer while watching telly EVERY night.

food waste -  I am very guilty of this but I have made a conscious effort recently as you saw in my last post to use up whatever is left in the fridge. I actually don’t do my main shop now until there is virtually nothing left in the house. I’ve stopped buying multi - packs as I don’t use them e.g. SQ do a really nice pink garlic but it comes in a pack of 4 and I always end up throwing out 3 so it’s back to regular garlic.

grow your own herbs - I was a terror for buying those little packets of herbs every week in case I would use them and then dumping them in the bin so I re-potted a basil plant at the start of the summer and I’m still using the same one. I also planted rosemary, sage, oregano and thyme in the new garden so I have a constant supply of them. I’m going to try growing a few vegetables this year too, I haven’t a clue about growing veg and wouldn’t even know where to start so I’m going to buy this

add more variety to your food week - we only eat red meat about once or twice a week, not intentionally but we just eat a variety of food. Pasta and soups are really cheap to make so eat them more often, we have pasta at least twice a week and soup once a week, chicken or fish once a week, pizza one night etc etc.

 - go to someone else’s house on Sunday, in our case the “MIL”;)

take-aways - only buy take-way from a fabulous little Italian place called La Cucina, it’s worth every penny:)

misc costs:
avoid Boots - this shop is a place of evil for me, I go in for a bottle of shampoo but leave €50+ less but I will have the silkiest hair, softest skin, the most natural tan, the most plumped up eyelashes but I somehow still look the same using the basics, plus I don’t have a million bottles in the bathroom collecting dust so I’ve saved on pledge;)

stop buying magazines - every month I buy Delicious and Olive just to read about the foodie news in the UK and about restaurants I’m never going to visit. I also buy Food & Wine and complain about how bad it is but I still buy it. I used to buy Hello, OK, Now etc but I’ve stopped as I’ve had enough about Posh n’ Becks and Brangellina.

household cleaning products - when we moved house and I actually cleaned out the press under the sink I couldn’t believe how many different cleaning products I had. Every new product advertised on the T.V. I bought it, I am a marketers dream. All I really need is a bottle of Jif, washing up liquid, pledge, domestos and a bottle of windolene. I’m a bit of a wipe addict, domestos wipes, pledge wipes, windolene wipes but I’m trying to change, it’s been difficult but I’m getting there slowly:)

beauty salons & spas - they’re just not me!! I never go but the odd time I get a gift of a facial or I try some new treatment, (note to family do not buy me vouchers for beauty salons) I know you are supposed to relax and unwind but I end up getting so stressed trying to relax because I’m supposed to be relaxing that I don’t relax - get me?? Bru bought me a voucher for a facial a while back and I nearly lost my life, while getting a face mask done it went something like this:

the beautifier - “do you mind having it on your eyes?”
me - “I don’t think so, why?” as she puts it on my eyes!
the b(for short) - some people don’t like it, they find it claustrophobic”

Now if she had said nothing I would have got on with “relaxing” but because I couldn’t open my eyes, my eyes decided to go nuts and try and open themselves, my eyelashes were fluttering a 100 times a second, I kid you not!! .She then decided to leave for 20 MINUTES to let me relax to the dolphin music and crashing waves all on my own in the dark with my uncontrollable eyes. To make a long story short she came back to check on me a few minutes later and I had to ask her to take it off - MORTIFIED and I still had to stay there and pretend to relax with cotton wool pads on my eyes instead for another 20 minutes. When leaving the girls at the counter all smiled sympathetically at me, she had told them all, I haven’t been to a beauty salon since. I don’t care what anyone says but Immac is a lady’s best friend!!

This has turned into a far longer post than I planned so back to the recipe, I’m trying to make new pastas that use ingredients that I have in my press and fridge without having to go out shopping. I bought a new pasta book for €8 by Eric Treuille & anna Del Conte recently and it is one of the best books I’ve ever bought. This is basically a “no cook” pasta and so simple to make.

               

what you need for 2:

 - 350g pasta

 - 1 tin of Italian tuna in olive oil

 - 250g cherry tomatoes cut in half..

 - juice of 1 lemon

 - 1 tbsp capers

 - olive oil

 - basil

 - salt and black pepper

what to do:

 - cook your pasta in a pot of salted boiling water until al dente and drain.

 - return to your pot with some of the cooking water and add your tuna, tomatoes, capers, basil, lemon and oil and toss well. Serve with some black pepper and basil on top.

       

buon appetito!!

p.s. what are your recession tips??

               

Every time I return from Italy the batteries are recharged when it comes to food, the one thing I always take away with me is “keeping it simple”. I don’t know about you, but sometimes I can spend ages looking through cookbooks and food magazines looking for something new and interesting to cook and then have to go shopping because I don’t have half of the ingredients. It was one of those days yesterday when I had nothing in the fridge except tomatoes, a couple of cloves of garlic, and a blooming basil plant on the windowsill, a simple pasta with home-made tomato sauce it was then! Everybody has their own way of making tomato sauce, this is mine:

              

what you need:

 - 500g tomatoes, I have to say there may be a recession but Superquinn’s tomatoes are still the best. I use a mix of their SQ superior Irish tomatoes and their Italian mix of 3 types of cherry tomatoes. Both are excellent and are perfect for making tomato sauce. 

 - 1 clove of garlic peeled

 - 8 basil leaves

 - olive oil

 - 1/2 tsp sugar

- sea salt and black pepper

 - Parmesan cheese

 - pasta of your choice, my favourite is spaghetti

           

what to do:

 - fill the base of a pan with olive oil and cook your garlic until it is brown and remove, leave your oil cool down a little.

 - bring a pot of water to the boil, add salt and your pasta and cook until al dente.

 - add your tomatoes and cook for about 10-15 mins until sauce has thickened. If it gets too thick just add a little water.

 - season, add your sugar and basil and cook for a another 5 minutes.

 - drain your pasta, return to the pot and mix in your sauce.

 - serve with freshly grated Parmesan cheese and some fresh basil leaves.

         

buon appetito!

              

                        Hear ye, hear ye, hear ye - THE KITCHEN IS FINISHED almost!!

Everything is in it’s place but nothing is working, I have to wait for an electrician to change all the Italian electrics and that electrician would be my father but he is off in Chicago on a 3 week holiday so it’s going to be another couple of weeks before it is operational but at least it looks good and all the boxes are gone so it looks more like a house now.
I’ve learnt a few things in this house purchase that I thought I would share with you:

1. never try to be a property developer and buy a house at the height of a property boom(sept 2006 off the plan) as you then end up living on a building site while the builders have downed tools waiting for the bubble to return and your view to the front is scaffolding and to the side is the builder’s own unfinished house but it’s all going to be OK by 2010, I believe everything I read, I have to:)

2. never buy off the plan UNLESS you understand them, I had notions of putting an island cooker in the middle of the kitchen, you would see how funny this is if you saw the size of my kitchen.

3. to avoid unnecessary stress do not decide to open a 3000sq ft restaurant the week you are trying to move house.

4. never believe a chain smoking Italian when he says he will be back in 10 days, multiply that by four.

5. DO NOT put solid walnut floors in the hall when above chain smoking Italian is using it as his base for putting your kitchen together. Hiding the scratches under a rug does not hide them from your mind.

6. re the walnut, there are many shades of this colour. Just because the Italian bedroom suite says walnut in the brochure don’t be surprised when it arrives from Italy and it is more like cherry and soooooo does not match the walnut wooden floors you paid a fortune for and now you have to think about putting down a cream carpet in the future because nothing matches AT ALL!

7. do believe your house will look nice painted “country white” inside and smugly smile at the non-believers when the oohs and ahhs are being delivered and saying “wow the white is really nice, I thought it was going to look like a hospital”!

8. NEVER think you will have enough money for everything, be happy to have the basics, the toilet roll holders and bathroom mirrors can come at a later stage, be happy you have your 42″ t.v. even if the man of the house is using your bronzing compact mirror to shave, hey he wanted the big t.v!

9. do not believe the gardener when he says 2 weeks and “don’t worry the summer hasn’t started yet” when you are looking out at a jungle dreaming of drinking a glass of wine on the deck and admiring your Italian themed haven.

10. lastly enjoy your new “casa” as it’s not long before it becomes old and the smell of new is gone and the novelty of keeping it perfectly organised and clean will wear off and it becomes “home”:)

Back to the food and this month’s special in La Cucina is one of my favourite recipes from the Amalfi coast in the south of Italy. It is so quick and easy to make and bursting with flavour. I have to come clean and say we don’t make our own gnocchi all the time in La Cucina but we use a really good brand called Cordelia which is a small family company who are actually based in the next village to Atina where the FIL is from. If you don’t live in Limerick and can’t make it to La Cucina, here’s the recipe.

what you need

 - tomato sauce or passata. If you are using passata you will need one onion finely chopped and olive oil.

 - 1 buffalo mozzarella ball

 - handful basil leaves

 - grated parmesan cheese

 - 250g gnocchi

what to do

 - if you are using passata, fry your onion in some olive oil until soft, add the passata, some basil leaves, season with salt and pepper and cook for about 10 mins.

 - bring a pot of water to the boil, add salt and your gnocchi and cook until they rise to the top. Drain and add to your sauce.

 - add some parmesan and tear up your mozzarella and add to the pan, leave to cook for a couple of minutes to melt the cheese.

 - serve with some parmesan and basil on top. You can also finish this off in the oven for about 20 mins which is even more delicious.

                          

buon appetito!!

p.s. my “lil sis” in the UK has branched out on her own and started a company specialising in wedding chair covers, stationary etc, check her site out here

                                           

I’ve nothing much to report on the new business front except that the contracts to be signed are in the post as we speak, the accountant is getting the business plan together, I’ve warned my bank manager that we are coming to get lots of money, he thinks I’m joking, he’s in for some shock,  Alessandro is in Italy sourcing equipment so it’s busy, busy!!!! Just to give you a little info on it, we are opening an Italian bar and grill, it is a restaurant but it will be casual dining focusing on pizza, pasta and a large grill serving all different types of steaks, home-made burgers, fish like tuna steaks, swordfish steaks etc. The focus will be on simple, home-cooked food that’s affordable!! I think eating out has changed a lot in Ireland over the last couple of years and people are moving towards casual dining, somewhere you can eat any night of the week and not just a Saturday night or for special occasions. I know myself that I would eat out a lot more if there were more casual dining options but it is an area that is really lacking in Limerick so we are hoping to fill that gap!!

Everybody I tell says what a great idea it is and how badly Limerick needs something like this and how exciting it is for us!! Yes it is exciting but I won’t really be excited until  2 or 3 years time when it is established and “maybe” beginning to make a profit!! Until then it’s lots of stress, lots of phone calls with the bank looking for more money and no sleep but hey I’m tough so don’t go worrying about me now:)

With the new house and full freezer  - oooh the excitement, I plan to start cooking lots of dishes like cannelloni, lasagne, pasta al forno etc that I can make up in big batches and freeze and then just pop into the oven on the busy days when I have no time to cook. Lasagne seems to be a lot more popular in Ireland than cannelloni and seems to be the one that most people would make themselves at home but I actually prefer cannelloni. Everyone thinks of spinach or meat cannelloni so I’m going to post about different flavours and fillings from the norm.  This recipe is based on one I saw a while back in a pasta book I picked up in SQ by Ann and Franco Taruschio which has 100 different pasta recipes and really is a great addition to the cookbook collection. This recipe is really easy and was really fast to make, I cooked the pasta sheets in the morning, left them in the cold water and went off and did the shopping and then put it altogether when I came back, it was really delicious and the princess loved it too so it will be a regular in the Italian foodie house!!

what you need:

 - 500g ricotta cheese

 - 2 eggs

 - 100g grated parmesan cheese plus extra for topping

 -  tbsp chopped flat leaf parsley

 - 1 tbsp chopped basil

 - sea salt and black pepper

 - 10 - 15 slices of parma ham

 - fresh tomato sauce or passata ( we have tubs of fresh sauce or bottles of De Cecco passata in La Cucina)

 - pasta sheets or cannelloni tubes - we have really good fresh pasta sheets in LC at the moment which are perfect for lasagne or canneloni. If you can’t get fresh use dried pasta sheets or dried tubes.

 - butter or margarine

 - nutmeg

 - olive oil

                   
                   
                    

what to do:

 - bring a pot of water to the boil, add salt and some olive oil and cook your pasta sheets until al dente. Don’t over cook as they have to into the oven to be cooked again. Scoop out with a slotted spoon or sieve and drop into container of cold water with a little olive oil and leave to cool down. Lay out a tea towel, place pasta sheets on it and dry off with some kitchen paper. 

 - in a bowl mix your ricotta, eggs, herbs, parmesan, season with salt and pepper and a pinch of nutmeg.

 - put a slice of parma ham on each pasta square and divide the mixture between the pasta sheets and roll up into tubes.

 - grease your oven dish and arrange the cannelloni in a single layer. Cover with your passata and srinkle over lots of parmesan.

 - bake in the oven for 20-30 mins and serve with extra parmesan.

                        

buon appetito!!!

                                   

So, the novelty of sleeping with my award has worn off and I only shine it every 2 hours instead of every hour now;) and it has been returned to La Cucina and put in it’s place of pride on the shelf  beside the Mulino Bianco biscuits for everyone to marvel at! I don’t think anyone has even noticed it, they are too distracted by Laura’s damn cupcakes:) The princess is better even though she’s about half the size she was last week from not eating and she has passed it onto Bru so he was on dry toast and boiled risotto rice yesterday so I was eating alone!! I always notice this about Italians, they always know what to eat for different ailments whereas I stay in denial and still have chocolate biscuits when I’m sick just to cheer myself up whereas Bruno won’t even put butter on his toast but I still would. Bruno’s family always eat boiled risotto rice with just a drop of olive oil for an upset tummy whereas I still want to add Parmesan but they aren’t even tempted because it will disagree with their stomach, they cure everything with food before medicine whereas we tend to go straight to the chemist!!

 I was in the mood for pasta but not interested in doing anything too difficult when cooking for one so I had a quick look through my selection of cookbooks, the majority purchased in Tk Maxx at a quarter of the price. My newest addition is ”Fresh Italian” by Marina Filipelli which is a good enough book, the photos are very good and she gives nutritional analysis and healthy tips on all the recipes but I just didn’t find anything new or very exciting about it but it’s still a good one for the collection!! 

I spotted this recipe and it’s very similar to a recipe we do with prawns but I liked the idea of using sea bass for a change as it is a fish I would never put with pasta. I have to say it was absolutely delicious and I loved it and will  definitely be making it again for 2 the next time. Bruno looked a bit depressed to be honest while I was ooing and ah-hing while stuffing my face beside him while he drank some more flat 7up!!:)

                                           

what you need for 2:

 - 2 sea bass: I got mine in Superquinn and got them to fillet them for me so I would use 2 fillets per person as they were not that big. Remove the meat from the skin and chop into small chunks.

 - 250g sweet tomatoes: I used the San Marzano plum tomatoes from Italy available in SQ which are really good, sometimes Dunnes have them too!! If you can’t get your hands on any you can use a tin of tomatoes, the De Cecco pomodorini are really good but add a teaspoon of sugar if using tinned tomatoes.

 - 1/4 tsp dried chili

 - 1 garlic clove

 - tbsp flat leaf parsley chopped

 - 125ml dry white wine

 - olive oil

 - salt

 - pasta: I used Cordellia fresh tagliatelle that we sell in packets in La Cucina but you can use dried spaghetti or tagliatelle too.

what to do:

 - if you are using fresh tomatoes you need to skin them so bring a small pot of water to the boil and put your tomatoes in for about 2 minutes and drain. Leave to cool and peel the skin off and chop.

 - bring a pot of water to the boil, add salt and your pasta and cook until al dente.

 - fill the base of a deep pan with olive oil and cook your garlic clove until brown and remove, add your chili flakes and remove from heat for a couple of mins.

 - add your tomatoes and put back on heat, add your wine and a little sea salt and cook for about 10 mins over a medium heat until sauce thickens up.

 - when your pasta is almost ready add your fish and parsley to your sauce and cook for about 3-4 mins. The fish cooks quite fast so don’t cook for too long.

 - add the drained pasta and a little of the water to the sauce and mix together and cook for a couple of mins and serve.

 - I served mine with a little rocket on top and a squeeze of lemon juice which added a nice bite and flavour to the dish. Just to really annoy him I washed it down with a big glass of chilled Pinot Grigio:)

                                           

buon appetito!!

                    

To be honest I’m not a big lasagne lover, I do love the MIL’s mini meatball and egg lasagne which she does at Christmas, a similar recipe is actually in this month’s Taste Italia magazine!!! Lasagne is one of our most popular dishes in La Cucina even though most people seem to order chips with it to give it that Irish twist;) We do a huge amount for catering with meat being the most popular choice. Actually mention lasagne in Ireland and everybody thinks of meat, one of the nicest lasagne I’ve had has been a simple pesto lasagne. I spotted this recipe in the Silver Spoon a while back and I liked all of the ingredients so I decided to give it a go this week. It turned out to be a little difficult to do as the princess decided that being down on the floor is just not as much fun as being up in Mammy’s arms while she is trying to put a lasagne together so the two of us actually made it one handed!! She’s in full walking mode by the way which is such a relief, my back is back to it’s normal position!!:)

By the way, if anyone has an Italian dish that they love but can’t quite get the recipe right or if their is a dish you have had in Italy and have never seen it outside of Italy and would love to make it let me know and I will do my best to find the recipe in question, make it and post about it. Robert has asked me about an Aubergine style chutney that he regularly has in Italy but has never seen the recipe for here so I’m on a mission to find it at the moment. There is an aubergine caviar in the Silver Spoon but I don’t think this is it so my search continues!! As always let me know in the comments or by email!!

WHAT YOU NEED:

 - 2 large aubergines sliced.

 - margarine for greasing

 - 300g lasagne sheets - available in La Cucina

 - 50g pine nuts, chopped

 - 150g ricotta cheese

 - 120ml/40z tomato puree - available in La Cucina

 - 12 fresh basil leaves

 - olive oil for drizzling

 - 4 tbsp Parmesan cheese

 - salt

WHAT TO DO:

 - place the aubergine slices in a colander, sprinkle with salt and leave to drain for 1-2 hours.

 - rinse, pat dry and cook under a preheated grill until tender.

 - preheat the oven to 180 degrees.

 - grease an ovenproof dish with butter.

 - cook the lasagne in a large pot of salted boiling water with a dash of olive oil for 6-7 minutes until al dente, drain and place on a damp tea towel.

 - arrange a layer of lasagne on the base of the prepared dish, place half the aubergine slices on top and sprinkle with half the pine nuts, half the ricotta, half the tomato puree and six basil leaves.

 - drizzle with olive oil and repeat the layers.

 - sprinkle the top with lots of parmesan cheese and bake for 40 minutes.

                                 

Buon Appetito!!

Random Cooking Term - “BATTUTO”
onion, carrot, celery and garlic chopped with a heavy knife form the basis of many Italian dishes. It is sometimes sauteed with pancetta, pancetta fat or pork-back fat as a base for minestrones and meat dishes.

Meatballs are really popular in Ireland and spaghetti with meatballs is one of out best selling dishes in La Cucina! We make them once a week in batches of 200-250, everyone dreads it as they take so long to do as each one is rolled by hand! We normally have 2-3 people doing the rolling and it still takes over an hour, by the end of the bowl we always decide to make some burgers just to finish sooner. This recipe is great for home-made burgers too, we often have them for dinner in a toasted ciabatta and Bru does a really nice sauce with diced onions, white wine and parsley drizzled over the top - delicious!!!

Just to let you know that we have started doing calzone in La Cucina again and they are selling really well! We are selling them as a snack from the cold deli and we change the filling everyday, this week we had aubergine and vine cherry tomato and spinach and ricotta yesterday and we are getting great feedback about them! Alessandro’s soups are going really well and customers are coming in especially asking “what soup has he made today” which is great, it was parma ham and cannellini bean yesterday which I had for my lunch and it was delicious! We’re starting fresh minestrone on Monday so even if it doesn’t sell I’ll be well fed anyway:) He’s keeping all the staff well entertained with his stories of the Italian celebrity lifestyle, I mentioned he works for the owner of Diesel. He works as his main chef on his boat 7 months of the year travelling to all the “beautiful” places like Monaco, Monte Carlo etc and cooking for all of his famous friends at all hours of the morning. He has met famous Italian singers, actors and most importantly for all the males in La Cucina “ITALIAN FOOTBALLERS”  - he was woken up one morning at around 5am by a guy introducing himself as Roberto, he was half asleep and didn’t realize until he was gone that it was Roberto Baggio - Bru’s favourite “Juve” player of all time!!
 
We all find it funny that he has come from there to little La Cucina in Limerick but he wants to learn English so we scored big time!!! It can be difficult too as he is a trained Italian chef and obviously wants to cook his pasta the right way with not too much sauce etc but we already had a couple of complaints that the pasta was too dry so, here we are having to tell this chef to add more and more cream or sauce to his pasta which is probably a bit of an insult to him but that’s just the way it is!! He’s really down to earth though and although he doesn’t agree with it he accepts it and does it our way so everything has worked out fine.

There are many different recipes for meatballs and to be honest I don’t really like them with spaghetti but love when the ”MIL” makes “lasagne con polpettini”!!. Most recipes fry the meatballs but as we make so much we cook them in a big pot of tomato sauce but I will give you the most common recipe!!

                
WHAT YOU NEED:

 - 500g mince beef( try and get round steak mince as it is much better quality).

 - 1 tbsp flat leaf parsley chopped

 - 2 garlic cloves chopped

 - 1 egg lightly beaten

 - 1 thick slice of bread

 - 6 tbsp milk

 - 1 onion peeled and finely chopped

 - 1 carrot scrubbed and finely chopped

 - 1 celery stalk finely chopped

 - 2 x 400g cans of Italian tomatoes

 - fresh basil finely chopped

 - 5 tbsp freshly grated Parmesan

 -  olive oil

 - sea salt and black pepper

 - plain flour for dusting

 
WHAT TO DO:

 - put the milk in a bowl and soak the bread in it. Using your hand mash it together. You can use breadcrumbs (55g) instead if you prefer but we use bread.

 - mix together the meat, parsley, 1/2 the garlic, Parmesan, bread, egg and season well! We always taste a little of the raw mixture just to check the seasoning and we are still alive!!:) 

 - shape the mixture into small meatballs, roll lightly in flour and leave aside.

 - to make the sauce fill the base of a saucepan with olive oil, add the onion, carrot, celery and garlic, heat over a medium heat for 5 -7  mins until soft. Add the tomatoes and leave to simmer for 20 mins, add your basil, season and simmer for 5-10 mins.

 - in a wide shallow pan heat the olive oil, add the meatballs and cook until brown all over, turning very gently to avoid breaking them up! Transfer to a plate with paper towels to drain.

 - bring a pot of water to the boil, add salt and your spaghetti, cook until al dente and drain.

 - put your meatballs in a pan, add your tomato sauce, cover with another pan or lid and heat for 10-15 mins until heated through.

 - put your spaghetti back in the pot, add a little of your sauce to your spaghetti and serve your meatballs and remaining sauce on top and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

BUON APPETITO!!