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!

Spaghetti broccoli, fast and simple!

Spaghetti broccoli, fast and simple!

Something you can make if you don't have the time to cook is spaghetti broccoli. In spite of the other recipes on my blog, this is not one of my grandmothers. It's a recipe that we got from my girlfriends grandmother.

It's a very simple dish. You just need a few ingredients:

• 2L broth (or 2L of water with 2 broth cubes)
• 2 cloves of garlic
• dried chilly flakes
• 1 bunch of broccoli
• 1 laurel leaf
• 125 gr bacon blocks (optional)
• Parmesan cheese

You start by cleaning your broccoli. Only use the florets of the broccoli. Put them in a big pot with your broth, chilly flakes, laurel leaf and garlic. Now bring it al to a boil. Once your broth is boiling you can add your spaghetti. The rest depends on the brand and type of spaghetti you use. We usually use spaghetti number 12 from "De Cecco". These will need about 12 minutes to cook. Don't forget to season with salt and pepper. The next part is optional but it gives an extra flavor to your dish. 

Let's prepare our bacon. Very simple... You take a pan, heat it and put your bacon in and season it with peper (i use salty bacon so no need to put salt on it). Leave it until your bacon is brown and crispy.

Now take a deep plate (like a soup plate) and put your spaghetti in it, fish out some broccoli florets and add your bacon. Finish it all with some broth and Parmesan cheese.

Enjoy this quick and easy pasta dish and don't forget to follow me on instagram!

Risotto with salsiccia and peas

Risotto with salsiccia and peas

Who can say no to a nice plate of risotto... I love it!!

The key to a nice risotto, is a good broth (see my post about brodo). The broth defines the taste and quality of your risotto. A bad broth gives a bad taste, it's that simple. You can always try using the broth cubes that you buy in your supermarket, but if you have the choice, choose wisely... You also don't need to put to many ingredients in your risotto, keep it simple.

So how do you start... Let's do, like the French say, our "mise en place". First of all, you'll need all the ingredients:

• 250 gr of minced pork meat (i use minced meat that they put in Italian sausages)
• rice, i use "Riso Gallo Arborio"
• dried chilly flakes
• 1 chopped onion
• 2 cloves of garlic
• peas (i use frozen peas)
• olive oil
• butter
• parmesan cheese

Now, why do i use Italian sausages minced pork? The answer is pretty simple: It's grounded coarsely and seasoned and it also gives a better texture to the risotto.

Let's start making the risotto now. You take a low casserole and put some olive oil and butter in it. You heat it up until your butter is melted. Now it's time to put in your meat. Once the meat has colored, you can put your onion, garlic and chilly flakes in it. Let it stove until your onion is some what transparent. Now you can throw in your rice.

Leave the rice until it has absorbed all the butter and olive oil. Once it has, you can add your broth, just until you cover all your ingredients. The rice will now cook in your broth and absorb all the flavors from it. It will take about 15 minutes for your rice to be "al dente". Keep tasting it because you need to add your peas at the perfect moment. Your rice has to be almost ready.

When you've reached that point, you add your peas. Stir everything until you like the cooking time of your rice. Now before putting your risotto on a plate you'll have to add some parmesan cheese and some butter. Just enough to make your rice stick together and make it more creamier. Keep stirring until the cheese and butter have dissolved, and then it's ready to serve!!


Enjoy your risotto, don't forget to comment and visit my instagram!

Sauce for lasagna (Vincisgrassi)

Sauce for lasagna

One of my favorite dishes is lasagna (in the Marche it's called Vincisgrassi), and specially the sauce in it. I actually make two sauces for my lasagna. One is a tomato based and the other one is a bechamel sauce. Naturally i don't put the same amount of both sauces in it. The bechamel is just to make the lasagna more creamier. I remember when my grandmother used to make it on a Sunday lunch... The whole house used to smell of it... Heavenly...

Now how do i make the tomato based sauce. Let's start with the ingredients:

• Olive oil
• bacon grease (just a small piece)
• 500 grams of minced meat (i use 50/50 pork/beef)
• 2 bottles (750 ml each) of tomato puree (aka pasata)
• 1 l of milk
• 1 carrot (chopped into fine pieces)
• 1 stem of celery (chopped into fine pieces)
• 1 onion (chopped into fine pieces)
• 1 marrowbone

So how do we start... You take a big pot on your stove and put in some olive oil and your bacon grease.

You heat it up until your bacon grease looks see through. Now it's time to put in your minced meat. You leave it to simmer. When your meat is nice and brown, you put in the carrot, onion, celery and your marrowbone. Leave it just to sweat a bit and then poor in your 2 bottles of tomato puree and the milk.

Bring this all to a boil and leave it on a low fire for at least 2 hours. After these 2 hours you season with salt and pepper (how much is up to yourself) and remove the marrowbone and bacon grease. Now the sauce is ready to be put in your lasagna.

Next time i'll show you how i make my bechamel sauce.

Don't forget to follow me on instagram!

Let's make some brodo!

Let's make some brodo!

Something that i really like making is brodo di pollo (chicken broth). And if you use fresh vegetables, it's very healthy! Making brodo has a lot of advantages. You can use it for several things:

• risotto
• vol-au-vent
• basic for all sort of meat sauces
• cooking pastina
• goulash
• ...

Now how do you start making brodo. Well, first of all you'll need several fresh vegetables. I used 2 onions, 2 sticks of celery and 2 carrots (a nice trick that my grandmother thought me, is to stick 3 cloves in each onion). An other ingredient you'll have to buy is chicken. I usually use 3 whole drumsticks as you can see in the picture.

After cleaning all your vegetables, you take a big pot (at least 5L). You put your chicken, vegetables and 1 star anise in it. Now you can fill your pot with water (fill it up to at least 5L), and bring it to a boil.

As an extra touch, you can also add some tomato paste. This will give your brodo an orange color.

Once you bring it all to a boil, leave it on a low heat, for at least 1h30. After that, you take out all the vegetables and chicken, and distribute it in to smaller containers.

I usually don't eat the remaining vegetables but you can mix them up with some of the brodo and eat it as soup. The chicken will i use to make vol-au-vent. You'll see another topic on that later on.

Thanks for reading and don't forget to follow me on instagram!

Focaccia time!

Focaccia time!

One of my favorite things to make when i get bored is focaccia. It's very simple to make and you can practically finish it with what you like. I usually keep it very simple. Just a few cherry tomatoes, onion, rosemary and some sea salt.

So what are the basic ingredients for making a focaccia:

• 500 grams of 00 (double zero) flour
• 15 grams of salt
• 15 grams of sugar
• 400 ml of water
• 140 ml of olive oil
• 1 bag of instant yeast

These are the ingredients for the topping:$

• 6 cherry tomatoes
• half an onion
• some rosemary
• sea salt
• olive oil

To make the dough for the focaccia you put 10% of the flour and salt in to your mixers bowl (you can also put it in a regular bowl, but i prefer to mix everything with my mixer). Together with your flour goes your water, yeast, sugar and olive oil.

You start mixing everything together and begin to put (little by little) the rest of the flour in. When all of the ingredients are mixed, you keep the mixer running on a low-medium speed for at least 15 to 20 minutes.

When all is mixed you put the mixed dough on an oven plate (you can choose your form, round, square, ...) and put it in the oven (make sure the oven is not on) to raise for at least an hour or 2.

After 2 hours you'll see that your dough has at least doubled in size (if not, you've not used the correct amount of yeast or haven't placed it in a dry place). Now you take your dough out of the oven and put the oven on 200°C (or 392°F) and start preparing your toppings.

You first start by pushing your dough with your fingers so you have hollow holes in your dough to put your toppings on.

I usually cut the cherry tomatoes in to 3 parts and my onion pretty rough. You put it all on your dough together with the rosemary. Now you take a brush and dip it in to your olive oil and smear your dough with the olive oil. At the end you take a good pinch of sea salt and scatter it on your focaccia.

Now all you have to do is to put the focaccia in your pre-heated oven for about 15 minutes and it's ready. Let it cool down until it's ready to eat.

What i usually like to eat with a piece of focaccia is some prosciutto, some salame or a nice piece of parmiggiano together with a nice glass of Italian red wine.

Meet the chef!

Meet the chef!

My name is Fabrizio Cesari, 30 years old, and i'm a real food-lover.

The passion for food started a few years ago when my girlfriend an i started living together in our own apartment.

I started experimenting with old recipes from my Italian grandmother who died in 2007. After a while i started inviting some friends and family members to try my own dishes and enjoy a great evening together.

At first it was mostly simple pasta dishes with my grandmothers sauce (with some changes to the recipe). But after some experimenting, i began to learn more and more techniques and tried several recipes from the internet and old cooking books. So i began making my own dishes by editing some existing recipes.

I'm most interested in the recipes from my grandparents region in Italy, Le Marche. Why this region? Well... i spent every summer holiday when i was a kid in a city called Senigallia for at least 4 weeks (mostly in July). It was like a home away from home. We (my sister and I) had a lot of friends and some relatives. We went out eating a lot and learned new flavors. The summers were always awesome.


Now my girlfriend an I have our own house and a great kitchen to do our own cooking. We invite a lot of friends and relatives to eat and enjoy good company and a nice glass of wine (mostly Italian). The picture on the left is an old picture where some friends and i are enjoying a good plate of gnocchi in my grandmothers kitchen. 

I hope you'll enjoy the several recipes i'm going to post here. Feel free to try and comment them! You can also follow me on Instagram.