Minestrone, a soup full of vitamins

Minestrone, a soup full of vitamines

Now that winter is coming, its a good thing to stock up on some vitamins. And what better way to do it with a good cup of soup. But what is minestrone. It's a thick soup with all kinds of vegetables. Every region (probably every village) has it's own way of making it. I'll teach you how my family makes it.

You start with the ingredients:

• 2 carrots
• 2 sticks of celery
• 1 whole onion
• 1 zucchini
• 2 potatoes
• a can of beans (white or the burlotti beans)
• a can of pelati (pealed tomatoes)
• stick of butter

Before we start cooking the vegetables, we need to chop them to a size that is not to small and not to big. To small and they'll disappear in your soup, to big and it will take a lot of time to cook them.

Once you've chopped your veggies, it's time to take a big pot (preferably +4 L) and put it on a high heat. Put in your stick of butter and let it melt. Now you take your can pelati and put it all in. Once you've crushed the tomatoes you can put in your veggies (except for the beans). Let them sweat for a few minutes while you stir everything gently. Now you can add water, about 1,5 L or enough so your veggies are covered with water and wait for the water to boil.

When you notice that your soup is boiling, you bring down the heat to a minimum and let it simmer. Once you feel that the veggies are almost  done, you add the beans (the whole can, even the moist). Leave it until all veggies are cooked. At the end, season with salt and pepper.

You can add some pastina if you want, it will make the soup a lot thicker, but i leave it up to you.

Enjoy!

Sugo della nonna

Sugo della nonna

I'm back! Sorry it took a while, but had a really busy couple of months with our newborn son. This new recipe is a tribute to my grandmother. I grew up with this sauce, she made it every week. I remember the Sunday lunch with fresh made tagliatelle or gnocchi. Hmmm the memories.

My grandmother made this with tomato passata from a can. But last September i made some passata myself with fresh San Marzano tomatoes. Of course i'll be using the fresh passata.

So what do you need to make this sauce:

• 500 gr of veal stew
• 2 Italian sausages
• clove of garlic
• 2 carrots
• 2 sticks of celery
• 1 onion (stick 3 cloves in the onion)
• some dried chili
• 2 liters of passata
• olive oil
• small cube of bacon fat

Lets start making the sauce... First you take a big pot and put it on high heat. Put in a good amount of olive oil and bacon fat, your clove of garlic and your dried chili. Let this simmer for a minute until the oil is really hot (make sure you don't burn your garlic!). Now it's time to put in your meat. Depending on the size of your pot, you can do it all at once, or a few pieces of meat at a time.

When you see that your meat is nicely colored, you add your passata, carrots, celery and onion. Let this simmer for at least 2 hours, season it with peper and salt and your sauce is ready to be served!

What i really like with this sauce is some fresh made tagliatelle and a good glass of red wine... Enjoy!

Pizza!

Pizza!

Let's make some pizza. I've searched all over the internet to get a really good recipe for the pizza dough. After trying several, i finally found the one i really liked. It's from a recipe for the real pizza from Napels.

The ingredients are very simple (for 3 to 4 pizza's, depending on thickness):

• 600 gr flour 00 (double zero)
• 600 ml water
• 30 gr salt
• 1 bag of instant yeast or 2 gr of fresh beer yeast

Now put all of your water in your mixer bowl together with 10% of your flour and yeast. You start mixing on low to medium speed until all of the dry ingredients are dissolved in the water. Once it's dissolved you add your yeast en also little by little the rest of the flour. When all of the flour is added, you keep mixing for about 20 minutes.

Once you've mixed it for 20 minutes, it's time to let the dough rise. Also you'll notice that the dough is a bit wet, that is normal. I put the dough in the oven for 2 to 3 hours. Keep in mind that the oven needs to be in the off mode.

When the dough has risen enough you'll need to divide it in to 4 parts (the amount of pizza's you want to make). Roll them to the thickness you like and start topping them.

So what do i use for topping? I just take some passata and mozzarella cheese. You can add all sorts of other stuff you want like: salsiccia, salame, ham, all sorts of cheese, artichok, olives, ... Don't overfill your pizza, remember, less is more. I usually just do 1 topping besides the passata and mozzarella, and maybe some olives. You can also add some dried chilly flakes or some garlic to spice it all up.

Once the pizza is topped you'll need to put it in the oven. Remember, the hotter, the better. My oven goes up to 260°C (500°F) and will need about 10 minutes. Keep in mind that the hotter you go, the faster the pizza is ready.

Now the pizza is ready to eat! Enjoy!

Lazy Monday lasagna

Lazy Monday lasagna

The best thing about lasagna is the leftovers for the day after. I don't like to heat the whole thing up in the microwave oven. I prefer to heat it back up in a saucepan.

It's very simple and easy. Just take the piece of lasagna from the day before and cut it in to small chunks. Put some good olive oil in your saucepan and bring it to a nice heat. Trow in your chunks and stir it all until it's reached a good heat so you can eat it.

Now you can choose to put it on a plate or eat it right out of the saucepan. I prefer the last! Enjoy this quick lazy dish!!

Pasta al forno with broccoli and ricotta

Pasta al forno with broccoli and ricotta

All credits to my girlfriend for this recipe. A very simple and fast dish with very few ingredients:

• broccoli
• 200 gr coarsely chopped minced meat (i use the one used in Italian sausages)
• dried chilly flakes
• 250 gr ricotta
• a handfull of parmesan cheese
• 400 ml milk
• 200 gr pasta (we used maccaroni)

At first you need to start cooking your broccoli and your pasta. You take a big pot with water and put in your broccoli. When your water starts to cook, you'll have to wait a minute or two. Then you put in your pasta.

While your pasta and broccoli are cooking, you start roasting your meat with some olive oil. To spice it all up, you put in some chilly flakes (all depending on how hot you want it to be) and season with salt and pepper.

Now it's time to prepare the milk and ricotta. For this you'll need a measuring cup. So put your ricotta and milk in a measuring cup and mix it up until it's a homogeneous mass.

When your broccoli and pasta are ready (check cooking time of your pasta) you'll have to bring all ingredients together. Take an oven plate and first put in your pasta and broccoli. See that you distribute it evenly. When it's all in the oven plate it's time for the ricotta mixture. This also you'll need to distribute evenly among the pasta and broccoli. At the end you sprinkle it all with some parmesan cheese and season again with salt and pepper (if needed).

Put this all in a preheated oven of 180°C (356°F) for about 15 minutes and it's ready to eat!

If you like this dish, feel free to comment below and follow me on instagram.

Lasagna, the best Sunday family lunch/dinner

Lasagna, the best Sunday family lunch/dinner

What greater feeling then when you wake up on a Sunday morning with the smell of homemade lasagna in the oven... For me it brings back childhood memories. For our family it was Sunday lunch with lasagna, tagliatelle or gnocchi...

So how do you begin. In a previous post i showed you how to make the sauce. It's best you make it the day before and leave it a night in the fridge. The day itself you start by making the pasta, you can also buy the lasagna leaves but where's the fun in that...

What do you need for the pasta:

• 500 gr of flour 00 (double zero)
• 5 eggs
• a pinch of salt

My grandmother used to make the pasta by hand, I do it with a mixer. If y
ou're up to, you can try it by hand but it will take a lot more time. So I put all the above ingredients in the mixer bowl and start to mix it at a low speed and work it up to a low-medium speed. When all is mixed properly you put the dough in clingfilm and leave it in the fridge for about 30 min.

When it has rested you take it out of the fridge and work it through your pasta machine. It's best you start with small portions of your mixture. Your machine won't be able to process it all at once. So you take a piece of dough and you start at the biggest number on your machine. You repeat this with all of your dough. Don't forget to sprinkle them with flour or else they'll dry out. Now you need to repeat this with a lower stand on your pasta machine. I usually do first 9, then 6 and then 3.

If you've reached the correct thickness of your dough, you'll need to cut them in smaller squares so they can be boiled in water. Now take a big pot and fill it with water and a pinch of salt, and bring it to a boil. Once the water is boiling you can put your pasta in it, i do it one square at a time so they don't get stuck together. I'd suggest to boil the pasta for about a minute. Once boiled you put your slices to dry on a big tablecloth or several towels.

Now it's time to make your bechamel sauce. It's pretty simple but you have to keep your eyes on it at all time while making it. So what do you need:

• 150 gr of flour 00 (double zero)
• 150 gr of butter
• 2 handfuls of grounded Parmesan cheese
• 1,5 liters of milk

Put your butter in a pot and put it on a small heat. When the butter is melted you can put your flour in it. Try not to trow all of it in at once. This way you avoid cloths. Don't forget to keep stirring during the whole process. Now it's time to add your milk, also try not to pour it in all at once. The bechamel needs to be thick but you still need to be able to stir in it. At the end you put in your Parmesan cheese and stir until it's all melted away in your sauce.

And now the moment we've all been waiting for... how to assemble the lasagna. You start with a big oven platter and start by putting some of the tomato sauce we made a previous post. Now fill with a layer of pasta. Make sure you cover the whole bottom of your platter. Again put some tomato sauce on the pasta but now you also put some bechamel sauce on it (not to much, just a few drops). Repeat this untill you've reached the top of your platter. Put the last layer of tomato sauce and bechamel sauce on it and sprinkle the whole platter with grounded Parmesan cheese.

Put the platter in a preheated oven of 180°C (356°F) for about 35-40 minutes. Take it out of the oven and leave it to rest for about 10-15 minutes and enjoy your homemade lasagna!

Crostata, a great snack

Crostata, a great snack.

A great snack with your 4 o'clock cappuccino is "crostata". You can make it with a lot of things, but my favorite is with cherry jam. You can also make it with Nutella, but it's a lot heavier. Later i'll show you what else you can make with Nutella.

So let's start with the crostata dough. What do you need?

• 450 gr flour type "00" (double zero)
• 3 eggs (room temperature)
• 150 gr sugar
• 100 gr butter (room temperature)
• 1 bag of "pane degli angeli" (yeast for sweets)
• 1 jar of cherry jam (or any jam you like)

You first mix the bag of "pane di angeli" with your flour and butter (in small pieces) until it's a homogeneous mass. Now mix in your sugar and your eggs. Knead your mixture until you have an elastic mass. Wrap your dough now in clingfilm and put it for at least 30 min in your fridge.

When the dough has rested enough, you'll need to take a sheet of greaseproof paper. Put 2/3 of your dough on it and roll it out until it's half a cm thick. Take your dough with the greaseproof paper and put it in a tin form. The other 1/3 of your dough is needed to make strips to put on top of your crostata.

Once the dough is in your form, you'll need to fill it with your jam. Be careful, to much jam and your dough will be all soggy, to little and it will be to dry. My tin form is 28 cm in diameter and i use about 400 gr of cherry jam.

Now it's time to make your strips. Take the 1/3 of the dough you cut out before and roll it in to long strips of about half a cm thick. Cover your crostata with them. You can be creative with it. I'm not so creative and do horizontal and vertical lines.

When finished you'll need to put the crostata in a pre-heated oven of 180° C (356° F) for about 30 min. Let it cool down and it's ready to be served with a nice cappuccino!