Pie with Pepper, Zucchini, Aubergine and Carrots

Here another easy Italian recipe for pie that you can serve as an appetizer. This pie is mainly made with vegetables, in particular pepper, zucchini, aubergine and carrots, with the addition of Speck and Asiago cheese. The vegetables that I used for this Italian food are the vegetables that more often I have in my fridge so was very easy to decide how to use them. If you are vegetarian you can easy prepare this Italian recipe also for you not using the speck. If you don’t’ like the speck, you can change it with another Italian cold meat like, raw ham or cooked ham. The preparation is easy: you have just to clean, and cut the vegetables in long stripes, let them quickly cook in a large pan with some extra virgin olive oil and then put them on the surface of a flaky pastry with speck (if you like it) on the bottom and Asiago cheese on the top. This pie can be also a solution for children who don’t like vegetables so much.


INGREDIENTS (for 8-10 people):
Flaky pastry
1 Pepper
2 Zucchini
2 Carrots
1 Aubergine
Salt and Black pepper
3 Tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
200 g or 7,1 oz of Asiago cheese
5-6 thin slices of Speck

PREPARATION TIME: 30 minutes

COOKING TIME: 20 minutes

WINE: Pinot Grigio (White Wine)

PREPARATION
Start with the preparation of the filling of the pie: clean the pepper, zucchini, carrots and aubergine. Cut them in long stripes. Preheat in a large pan the extra virgin olive oil, when it is hot add the vegetables, sprinkle with salt and black pepper and let them cook for about 10 -15 minutes.





The vegetables shouldn’t be completely cooked because you will finish to cook them in the oven. Preheat the oven at 200 degree (or 390 fahrenheit). In the meantime place a sheet of baking paper in the bottom of a round baking pan and put on it the flaky pastry. Make some hole with a fork on the surface of the flaky pastry



and bake for 3 – 5 minutes. Cut in squared pieces the Asiago cheese. After 3 – 5 minutes remover the flaky pastry from the oven and place on its bottom the slice of speck.



Add the vegetables



and the Asiago cheese on the surface.



Bake for 20 minutes. Serve warm or cold according to your taste.



BUONA APPETITO!

Fusilli with Sauce of Cherry Tomatoes, Eggplant and Swordfish

This is the recipe of an Italian first course prepared with cherry tomatoes, eggplant and swordfish. The preparation is easy and quite fast: first you have to prepare a simple chopped of garlic and parsley, then you can prepare the cherry tomatoes, the eggplant and the swordfish cutting them in small square pieces. When the chopped is ready, put it in a pan with extra virgin olive oil, add to it the cherry tomatoes then the swordfish and separately fry the pieces of eggplant. When fusilli are ready pour on them all the ingredients and the dish is ready. BUON APPETITO!

INGREDIENTS (for 4 people):
1 Clove of garlic
30 g of Parsley
20 Cherry tomatoes
1 Eggplant
150 g of swordfish in 1 slice
320 g of pasta type fusilli
4 Tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

PREPARATION TIME: 20 minutes

COOKING TIME: 30 minutes

WINE: Golfo del Tigullio Doc (White Wine)

PREPARATION
Let salted water boil for fusilli. Preheat the extra virgin olive oil in a pan, prepare a chopped of garlic and parsley, add it to the pan and let it cook for 3 – 5 minutes.



In the meantime prepare the cherry tomatoes, the eggplant and the swordfish.
Cut the cherry tomatoes in half or in quarter, add them to the pan with the chopped and let them cook for about 10 minutes.



Peel the eggplant and cut it in small square pieces, let them fry in a pan with hot oil and when they are cooked place them in a dish covered with a kitchen paper in order to remove the excess of oil.



Cut also the swordfish in square pieces and when the cherry tomatoes are ready add them to the pan and let them cook for other 5 – 10 minutes.



In the meantime if the salted water boil add the pasta and cook it for the time indicated on the packaging. When pasta is cooked, before drain it, take some spoons of cooking water and add them to the sauce of cherry tomatoes and swordfish.



Now drain the fusilli, add them to the mixture together with the fried pieces of eggplant,



mix all together and serve hot.



This is the result:



BUON APPETITO!

Penne with Eggplants, Mozzarella and Tomato Sauce

Eggplants, tomato puree, mozzarella, basil, minced meat and Parmesan: these are the main Italian ingredients that I use to prepare this delicious Italian pasta-based first course. Its preparation is easy: first you should prepare the ingredients separately in this way, you should cut the mozzarella, cook the tomato puree with minced meat and basil, cook the pasta type penne and fry the eggplants then you should simply mix all the ingredients together. This Italian recipe seems to suggest another traditional Italian recipe typical of Sicily that is the famous “Pasta alla Norma” but these two recipes are different. In the next recipes I show you the typical preparation also of this.

INGREDIENTS (for 4 people):
350 g of Pasta type penne
800 ml of Tomato puree
2 Eggplants
Oil to fry the eggplants
50 g of Minced meat of veal
1 / 2 of Onion
4 Tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
3 – 4 leafs of basil
150 g of Mozzarella
Salt
Parmesan

PREPARATION TIME: 30 minutes

COOKING TIME: 1 hour

WINE: Sambuca di Sicilia bianco Doc (White Wine)

PREPARATION
Let the salted water boil for pasta. Preheat the extra virgin olive oil in a pan, cut the onion in slices add them to the oil and let it brown on a low flame in order to not burn them.



Then remove it, add the minced meat and let it brown,



add the tomato puree and the basil, mix all together and let it cook for about 30 minutes.



In the meantime prepare the eggplants, clean them, cut them as matches and fry them in a pan with hot oil.




When eggplants are cooked, place them over a sheet of kitchen paper in order to remove the oil in excess




and prepare the mozzarella cutting it in cubes.



When water boils, place in it the pasta and cook it for the time indicating on the packaging, then drain them. Re-place in the same pan a part of pasta, pour on it some sauce, a part of eggplant and a part of mozzarella, sprinkle with some Parmesan and mix all together;




continue in this way until pasta finish and at the end mix all together.
Serve hot. This is the result:



BUON APPETITO!

Small Balls of Aubergines

Small balls of aubergines can be served as an Italian appetizer, they are simple and fast to prepare and do you need only few Italian ingredients to prepare it: the main ingredient of this delicious Italian recipe is round aubergines that they are more sweet than the long ones, parsley and Parmesan. The preparation is simple because you should only make a puree of aubergines and mix it with the other ingredients, make small ball and fry them and so the appetizer is ready!

INGREDIENTS (for 4 – 6 people):
3 Round Aubergines
1 Egg
40 g of Parmesan
30 g of Parsley
1 Clove of garlic
Breadcrumbs
Oil for fry
Salt
Black pepper

PREPARATION TIME: 15 minutes

COOKING TIME: 15 minutes

WINE: Sambuca di Sicilia bianco Doc (White Wine)

PREPARATION



Clean and peel the aubergines, cut them in squared pieces, place them in a pan with water and let them boil for about 15 minutes.



When they are ready drain them, place them in a bowl and with a fork squash them in order to obtain a puree of aubergines.



Let them cool and in them mean time prepare a chopped of parsley and garlic, add it to the puree of aubergines together with the Parmesan and the egg.



Mix all together and add if the mixture is to soft add some breadcrumbs, sprinkle with salt and black pepper



and with the hand make small balls with the mixture like these in the picture below.



Preheat enough oil in a pan, when it is hot fry in it the small balls of aubergines, cook them until the surface become slightly golden.



When they are ready leave them dry from the oil and serve. This is the result:



BUON APPETITO!

Pasta with Tomatoes and Aubergine

This recipe is for a first course made of pasta, aubergine and tomatoes.

INGREDIENTS (for 2 people)
1 Dark large aubergine
250 g of Sweet cherry tomatoes (ciliegino)
Some leafs of basil
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt
Pepper
160 g of Pasta (type mezze maniche)
Parmesan (Italian cheese Grana padano)

PREPARATION TIME : 15 minutes

COOKING TIME: 20 minutes

DIFFICULTY: easy

WINE: Friuli Grave Tocai DOC (White Wine)

PREPARATION
Clean, peel and cut aubergine into cubes.

In a frying pan with some extra virgin olive oil cook the pieces of aubergine for 5 minutes.
Clean and cut tomato in half.

While pasta is cooking in salty boiling water; add tomatoes, salt and pepper to the aubergine and let the cooking complete, this should last 10 more minutes.
When pasta is ready (after almost 10 minutes of cooking), drain it, put it in the frying pan and sprinkle with Parmesan.
Compose the dishes and add some basil at the end.
This is the result:

BUON APPETITO!