Sweet November

November! The saddest month of the entire year. At least for me. Even the name sounds sad, November! The sun is going down at 4 PM already, temperature is going lower, is cold outside and the only thing you are up to is to stay under your duvet sleeping. They should allow to the human race the hibernation as for animals. Duvets ready, pillows, your cosiest pyjamas and I'll see you in March!!! Unfortunately that is not possible, so what we can do instead to get us out of bed. The answer is really simple: bake cake of course! And not any cake, a cake that reminds of the autumn but is colourful and tasty, but at the same time healthy and rich in vitamins, really important in this season. A nice and orange carrot cake with hazelnuts. This recipe I am about to introduce you contains the most healthy hazelnut in the whole world, hazelnuts that come from my father's garden in our country house, in the beautiful coast of Cilento.  

INGREDIENTS:

100g plain flour
150g of shredded carrots
150g of hazelnuts
125g of sugar
3 eggs
16g of yeast
few drops of vanilla extract
40g of vegetable oil or butter

METHOD:

Pre-heat the oven to 180°. Put 1 whole egg and 2 egg yolks (don't throw away the white part of the two eggs) in a large bowl with the sugar and start to mix with a hand mixer. Then add the vegetable oil(or butter) and continue to mix.

Meanwhile put in another bowl through a sieve the flour and do the same with the yeast, putting them in the same bowl with the flour and mix.  Add in the mixture of sugar, oil and eggs few drops of vanilla extract, then add the shredded carrots and hazelnuts and keep stirring. At this point you can add at the mixture the flour with the yeast and blend it altogether. In another bowl, with a hand mixer whip the egg whites until they become like candid snow that you will add to the previous mixture  and stir from the bottom upwards for few minutes. When the mixture will be smooth and homogeneous you can put in a round tin previously greased and floured. Bake in a hot oven for 40/45 minutes approximately and always try with a toothpick if is dry inside. If is still wet let the cake in the oven for other few minutes.

 

 

You can serve it with icing sugar on the top and enjoy for breakfast or tea time...or whenever you want!

Cheers!!!

 

How to make your own preserves: Peppers sott'olio

It is always amazing when I go food shopping and I find something that makes me shout like a teenager when she sees her idols. At my age we had Backstreet boys (honestly my girlfriends had, my idols were Queen, Beatles,U2 and so on...still are), now should be 1 Direction if I am not wrong...But anyway, this is not the point. What I mean is that, teenagers shout when they see 1Direction and other groups like them...I shout in the market when I see food that I like. Last time, with my boyfriend (fiancée, almost-husband, roommate), we were in North End Road market, a market that I love because I always find what I need...fruits, vegetables  fresh and tasty. Even tomatoes are tasty and is quite unbelievable in England. Of course they come from Africa, or Spain...sometimes Italy as well...and this is a thing that makes me cry more than shouting.  So, we were in the market...and suddenly I shout: "Oh my God, look at those peppers!" - My boyfriend usually hates when I shout in this way or when I make noises of astonishment, because he says that he gets scary...like something bad is happening...boys... Well of course I bought those amazing peppers (after carefully smelled and touched), with other wonderful vegetables and some delicious strawberry that didn't taste like pee. I say that 'cause my friend Federica from Milano told me that she bought strawberries that tasted like pee....I don't know where honestly...but she lives in Chiswick, so I would avoid that area. Anyway, for your reference the market stall where I buy vegs and fruits is almost at the end of North End road,  in Fulham area, just in front of Sport Directs. He has the best things... I guarante you.

Since I bought quite a lot peppers, I decided to preserve some, in order to long-term eat.

So guys, below you can find my own way to make peppers preserved.

Ready?

INGREDIENTS (for 1 jar)

4 large mixed peppers

2/3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

2/3 tablespoons of white wine vinegar

salt

2 garlic cloves

fresh parsley

1 teaspoon of chopped chilli

one clean empty glass jar

METHOD:

Put in a large baking tin the peppers. Turn on the oven at 200 ° fan and put the peppers inside for 30/40 minutes, or check until they are well cooked and smoothed.

                            Take the tin outside the oven and set aside until the peppers cool down.

 When the peppers are ready to be touched, we carefully peel them off and remove the seeds and put the naked peppers in a bowl. If you like me are allergic to everything, I kindly advise you to use disposable gloves. 

Then we put in the bowl with peppers the liquid saved in the tin to give extra-taste.

 Then we chop the two garlic cloves and the fresh parsley and we add at the bowl, with an handful of salt and we mix everything. 

We take the glass jar and we start to put the peppers in it. When is half full we put one tablespoon of olive oil and one of vinegar and half teaspoon of chilli. We continue to put the peppers in the jar and when we finish we add the rest of the vinegar, of the olive oil and the chilli. 

With a teaspoon we mix a bit and then we close the jar with the lid and we make sure is well screwed.

 We flip the jar on a tablecloth for at last 24 hours. In this way we make pressure on the lid and we can save our preserve for a while....of course not for a year. 

Once opened save in the fridge...or eat them all!

Tips: this kind of preserves are perfect as antipasti with cheese and meats selections, but they are also amazing in a sandwich with goat cheese! 

Yum

To espresso or not to espresso...that is the problem

When I first came in London two years ago, I was shocked by how people had coffee: they were stand in line waiting to receive a big carton cup and when finally they had this "bucket" full of a strange black liquid, that they called coffee, they run away.

The very first day in England, with my almost-husband, we decided to go in one of the most famous brand of coffee shop, that I am not going to mention to don't make free ads,  just to have a coffee. We thought to sit on one of the fabulous sofa and order, but then we realized that we had to order at the till. So we queue up and when our turn arrive I say "Two coffee please." Then, I don't know why, the girl at the counter start to ask me thousand of questions like " Do you want espresso or Americano? Single or double? Take away or stay in? Macchiato? (that is an Italian word, but she sound like Chinese for me) etc... And in my mind I was like: C'mon girl, I am just asking a coffee, it's not so difficult to understand!,  but instead  I've just muttered something like "Mmm...What, sorry...don't know".  So the girl, that seemed pretty impatient, told us to take a look at the menu and stand aside while we were ready to order. I was like Hey sweetie, I've decided already, we want two bloody coffee!, but I just said to her "Ok". So we decide to look at the menu: a big board with oodles of beverages. When we finally understand how to order we come back to the girl, sure to don't receive any other silly questions, and proudly I say: " Two single espresso macchiato, stay in, please!" And she starts again: " Something to eat?" Oh my God, please! This is worse of the security checks at the airport. I have a quick look at the food. Cakes, muffins and pastry of all kinds. I don't want to stand aside again so I answered "No, thanks". But the cruel girl continues : "Ok then, what's your name?" WHAT? Do you want also my passport? I smile and answer to her: Federica and Domenico. We finally pay and wait...after almost one hour...to receive two big carton mugs with written on it Fredrika and Dominiko. We sit, sure to enjoy our moment of break...but eww! The coffee is disgusting. It has just the colour of an espresso, but the taste is horrible. We had to go through all this to drink this shit?

Now, I understand that for many of you could be an excessive reaction, but for people like me, that use to drink every day the most amazing espresso in the world, that coffee was nothing but eww! Luckily for us I put in my luggage my cool red coffee machine and a kg of Lavazza.

Now, I am telling you this, because I want to share with you how in Italy(especially in the south)we use to drink and enjoy coffee. As lunch or dinner, coffee break is a moment when people meet and relax together. My mum always say that if you want to really enjoy coffee break, first of all you have to take it seated. For me this is gospel truth. I can't have coffee stand up, tastes different when you have it comfortably seated...believe me! We need just little cup to drink our espresso...better pottery, we don't like carton or plastic material.

So now I am going to show you how to use and make  the best espresso ever with the coffee machine that you can use at home.

What do you need:

                                                                                                                                                         

 a coffee machine









ground coffee






How to proceed:        

STEP 1: fill maker with filtered wate
STEP 2: check that the water arrives at the same level shown in the picture

STEP 3: place the filter and make sure to remove the excess water
STEP 4: put coffee in the filter
STEP 5: close the coffee maker with the top and make sure is well screwed
STEP 6: put the maker on the stove at a low temperature (we want our coffe creamy and not burnt taste)
STEP 7: when the coffe start to come out just reduce a bit the heat
STEP 8: turn off the stove when the coffe is completely come up
STEP 9: pour the coffe, put in your favourite little mug, add sugar as you like and enjoy!

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4

Step 5

Step 6

Step 7

Step 8

Step 9

This is how I make coffee! I like this way because the coffee come up really strong...perfect particularly in the morning to wake me up or in the afternoon....to wake me up again! 

From now on I want you to enjoy your coffee break seated, with a little cup full of good espresso and if you want you can add an amaretto or cantuccino, if like me you are a non-smoker. If you smoke, the cigarette after is just perfect!

My collection of coffee maker: big , medium and little

My amazing set of hand-made Vietri pottery coffee cups and tray.

It's not Easter without Pastiera

Hello everyone. How did you spend your Easter break? Did you have fun? Did you eat something in particular? For these holidays I cooked delicious typical Easter dishes, included the" mythological" Pastiera Napoletana, the most typical Easter's sweet  in Naples and Campania. So, since I am from Campania and I love this cake with all my heart...and since I decided with my almost-husband to stay here for holidays, instead to go in Italy, I prepared the Pastiera to sweeten our days .

The Pastiera is not really  a cake, but is a tart and it is made from a very special and old recipe, that includes cooked wheat and a moisture taken from the orange tree blossom, that gives to this tart a unique flavour and taste.

The preparation does not require any particular cooking skills or ability, but does require patience and a little time spent in the kitchen...that in the end is really worth it.

Let's see ingredients and method

INGREDIENTS FOR 12 PEOPLE:

1kg pre packed sweet short crust pastry (if you want to make yourself I will explain in a next post how to make an homemade pastry. I just thought for this recipe to simplify your life).

500gr ricotta cheese

500gr sugar

5 whole eggs and 2 egg yolks

400gr of boiled wheat

30gr butter or lard

100gr of milk

vanilla flavour

orange tree blossom flavour

1 lemon

METHOD:

Let's start boiling the wheat following instructions on packet. After that mix the rest of the ingredients. Pour the wheat, the milk, the butter and 1 lemon grated peel in a casserole pan. Let it cook for 10 minutes and often stir the ingredients till they become cream. When the cream is ready let it chill. In a large bowl whip the ricotta cheese, the sugar, 5 eggs, 2 egg yolks, a spoon of vanilla flavour, a spoon of orange tree blossom flavour and mix everything. Then add the mixture with wheat cooled in the bowl and stir until everything is homogenous. Usually I mix everything with a hand mixer, to make smoother.Spread the pastry (either the pre-packed or the homemade) with a pin until is thicker. Put the short pastry in a 30cm wide pan greased and floured and cut the exceeding edges off, spread them with a pin and cut the short pastry in strips.Then pour the mixture prepared in the pan with the pastry and put the pastry strips on it.

My super homemade Pastiera

Pre-heat the oven a 200° and then pass to 180° when you start to cook your Pastiera. Cook until become golden and turn-off the oven. Let the Pastiera inside at least for 1 hour to dry completely.

Serve the Pastiera with icing sugar on the top.

Close your eyes...smell, eat and enjoy!

There is a legend about the Pastiera, telling that Partenope, the mermaid lived in the gulf of Naples, emerged every spring form the water to greet all the happy people who lived there and to intonating love call. One day her voice was so fascinating that all the people started to ran towards the se, moved by the sweetness of the song. So they decided to thank the mermaid giving her the most precious gift they had. Seven of the most beautiful maidens brought to Partenope the gifts: flour, wheat, ricotta cheese, eggs, water with orange flower fragrance, spices  and sugar. The mermaid was so happy of these gifts that decided to bring them to the gods and goddess who lived in the sea. The gods and goddess decided to mix them altogether. The result was the first Pastiera which exceeded the sweetness of the Mermaids 'call.

Another legend tells that Queen Mariateresa d’Austria, wife of Ferdinando II of Borbone, had a nickname "the queen who never smiled". One day her husband, who was outgoing and loved eating, convinced her to try a new recipe. As soon as she tried her first piece of Pastiera she couldn't resist smiling, and at this point her husband shouted: "I’ll have to wait next Easter to see my wife smiling again!"

The modern Pastiera was probably invented in a secret Convent very close to Naples city by a nun.  The nun wanted that the cake had to symbolize the Resurrection and, for this reason, she decided to use the flavour of orange blossom tree with ricotta, wheat, eggs and sugar.

Nowadays every person has a special recipe of Pastiera, but every good Neapolitan woman knows that the Pastiera must be cooked with some days in advance, no later than Maundy Thursday or Maundy Friday, in order to allow the fragrance to mix properly...to have a s a result that unique taste.

Ladies and Gentlemen...the Queen

God save the Queen...of Pizza!

I am not joking about the royalty of this recipe. When I say Queen I really mean it. "According to popular tradition, in 1889, 28 years after the unification of Italy, during a visit to Naples of Queen Margherita of Savoy, wife of King Umberto I, chef Raffaele Esposito of Pizzeria Brandi and his wife created  a pizza resembling the colours of the Italian flag, red (tomato), white (mozzarella) and green (basil), that they named it after the Queen, precisely Pizza Margherita".

So, today, here, on this royal blog I am going to explain you how to make what Raffaele Esposito made for the very first time 125 years ago: Pizza Margherita.

INGREDIENTS FOR THE BASE(to make 4/5 pizzas):

1kg white plain flour

1 tablespoon of yeast

1 tablespoon of salt

1 tablespoon of vegetable oil

2 teaspoons of sugar

1/2 litre of hot water

INGREDIENTS FOR THE TOPPINGS

400g chopped or plum tomatoes

500g of mozzarella

olive oil

fresh basil

METHOD:

To make the base let's start putting the flour into a large bowl, then stir in the salt and the yeast mixed with the two teaspoons of sugar. The sugar will help the yeasting of the dough.  Then add little by little the hot water and start to mix everything. We have to work well the dough, to make it smooth and  homogeneous. When we see it soft and smooth we can cover it with a tablespoon of vegetable oil, then we cover the bowl with a tea towel and set aside. You have to leave the dough to rise at least for 3/4 hours.

While our dough is rising we can prepare the other ingredients for the topping of our pizzas.

When the dough is doubled in volume, we start to make dough balls, working with the flour on a pastry board. With the ingredients used we can make 4 or 5 dough balls. Let's rise the dough balls for another two hours and, when they doubled in volume we can roll out them on a floured surface with a rolling pin.  We put our base in a baking tray or a baking sheet and we had tomato sauce and diced mozzarella.

To bake our pizzas we pre-heat the oven to 240C/fan or 220C/gas. We bake for 8-10 minutes until crisp.

When is done we add fresh basil and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

BUON APPETITO!

TIPS:

1)  If the dough is too wet add a bit more flour and work it in.

2) If dough is too stretchy to roll out, just leave it for 10 minutes or more and try again.

3) Is really important that the oven is well preheated to make sure that the base cooks on both sides. If the topping cooked before base, simply cover it with foil to avoid burning and give it another 5 minutes.

TIPS ON  TOPPINGS

As Italian, I would like to recommend you to use simple products. Guys please, don't use my mum recipe to make Hawaiian pizza, or meatball pizza, or pizza with chicken. I beg you, in Italy we don't make these kind of pizzas. The secret is simple but tasty.

As you can see in the video I put on top salami napoli (salame in italian). Is not pepperoni. I have to admit, the first time I've heard of pepperoni pizza I thought that was a pizza with peppers on top and not with a kind of spicy salami. FYI we call pepperoni pizza as Diavola (female devil).

Anyhow...one thing that should never miss on the top is mozzarella.  Whatever toppings are you using, don't forget to add at the end chopped mozzarella.

To eat a fresh pizza just add to a cooked base with mozzarella, cherry tomatoes, rocket salad and grated parmesan.

However, if you want to eat a classical pizza, try the Napoletana, with tomato sauce, capers, black olives, anchovies and garlic (NOTE: this is the only pizza without mozzarella on the top).

You can have an easy four season pizza with tomato sauce, sliced cooked ham, black olives, baby artichokes and mushroom.

But if you want to eat something really special and surprise your guests...and also you don't mind about money, make a fantastic pizza with Parma ham, buffalo mozzarella and grated parmesan...

Mmm mouth-watering!!!

Pizza Margherita

Spring the cake

I can't believe, the sun is shining, the spring is finally arrived and I feel very happy. It's time to start eating healthier, more veggies, more fruit and forget sugar and sweets. If you don't want to completely give up sweets, here a simple recipe for a homemade cake that you can eat for breakfast or with your afternoon tea. It doesn't contain lots of sugar and is really tasty.

INGREDIENTS:

300g plain flour (or you can mix 200g of plain flour and 100g of corn starch to obtain a softer cake)

200g of sugar

100g of butter at room temperature (or olive oil)

3 eggs           

2 tablespoon of cocoa

16g of yeast

few drops of vanilla extract

METHOD:

Put the 3 whole eggs and the sugar in a large bowl and with a hand mixer start to blend. Then add the butter (or the olive oil) and continue to mix. Meanwhile put in another bowl through a sieve the flour and do the same with the corn starch and the yeast, putting them in the same bowl with the flour and mix.

Add in the mixture of sugar, butter and eggs few drops of vanilla extract, then mix with the flour and yeast and stir from the bottom upwards for few minutes. Divided the mixture in two part and in one add the cocoa through a sieve and mix. When the mixture will be smooth and homogeneous will be ready to go in the oven. So pre-heat the oven to 180° and meanwhile grease and flour a baking tin. I used  a cake ring, that is the tin that makes cakes with a hole in the middle. Put in the tin the white part and then the black one. Bake for 30 minutes approximately and try with a toothpick if is dry inside. If is still wet let in the oven for other few minutes.

You can serve the black and white cake with icing sugar on the top.

Enjoy your breakfast with a slice of this cake, an orange juice and a bowl of mixed fruit! 

Yummy...

Angry Penne

Today is a lazy day. The sky is grey, is not cold, but not even warm and this morning I wanted just to stay in bed. Well...actually almost every morning happens. My bed is so in love with me, it doesn't want me to leave and sometimes  I feel oblige to stay. After a morning of housekeeping and work I hadn't much desire to spend time in the kitchen and, since the weather was so grey and I was so lazy I decided that I needed some spice to improve the day. So I prepared just for myself Penne all'arrabbiata.

This is a typical recipe from the Lazio region, but to be more specific is a typical recipe of the capital of Italy: Rome.  This pasta represents in some way  the nature of romans, "caciaroni", "incazzosi", but "bboni come er pane". The word arrabbiata (angry) refers to the chilli, one of the primary ingredients of this dish. When we eat the right amount of chilli, our cheeks become all red, like when we are angry or mad.

Although this pasta is very easy to prepare, is really tasty, in particular for people who like "hot meals".
Let's see the ingredients and how proceed.

INGREDIENTS FOR 4 PEOPLE:

400g of Penne

400g of chopped tomatoes

80g of grated pecorino romano

2 garlic cloves

1 chilli (or 2, it depends how HOT you like)

fresh parsley

salt

extra virgin olive oil

HOW TO DO IT:

Peel off and chop the garlic cloves. Meanwhile heat the oil in a frying pan over a medium heat. Add the chopped garlic and fry until is softened. Add the chopped chilli and the chopped tomatoes (I just like chopping) and stir well. Add salt as needed and a teaspoon of sugar. Yes you have read well, this is a little secret that my mum taught me. The sugar prevents the acidity of tomatoes, so the sauce will be less acid and tastier.  After this, stir and continue to cook for 5 minutes. Meantime prepare a large pan with water and let it boil. When the water boil and I mean boil, you must see bubbles in the pan, add the pasta and a little handful of coarse salt. Read on the packet of the pasta guidelines to cook. Usually penne cook for 10-12 minutes (if you buy a packet of pasta that has written on it 5 minutes cooking throw it in the trash immediately and buy a new one with the right cooking guidelines) but always try one penna before to drain. Cook the pasta al dente and drain thoroughly and stir into the sauce. Sprinkle pecorino romano like rain and chopped fresh parsley (the chopping comes again) and serve. 

Penne all'arrabbiata

Enjoy!

This simple dish is perfect when you are in hurry or when you come back after a night dancing in the disco with your friends and you are suddenly hungry. ..I speak from experience.

Note: Some people use chopped onions instead of garlic and grated parmesan instead of pecorino. These people are insane, believe me, but I told you just because no accounting for taste. You are free to use it, but if you decide to do it I forbid you to read my blog again.

I am joking, please read me...use any ingredients  you want!