Spelt Salad with Basil Pesto and Cherry Tomatoes

A fresh Italian salad for the hot summer, you need only few ingredients: spelt, basil pesto and fresh cherry tomatoes. The preparation of this Italian salad is easy and fast and you can also prepare it in advice and keep in the fridge. You can prepare it in the morning for the dinner or the night before for the next lunch, in this way the salad it will result more tasty and all the flavors will be good mixed.

INGREDIENTS ( for 4 people):

320 g of Spelt

3 Tablespoons of Basil Pesto

12-15 Fresh Cherry Tomatoes

Salt

PREPARATION TIME : 20 minutes

COOKING TIME: 20 minutes

WINE: Sangiovese (Red Wine)

PREPARATION

Boil the spelt for about 20 minutes in salted water.

 

Drain the spelt and let it cool down. If you want to eat it immediately you can put it in the fridge so it will cool down faster. In the mean time wash the cherry tomatoes and cut them in slice, keep one or two tomatoes  entire to use on the top of the salad. When the spelt is cold add the basil pesto

 

and the slice of the cherry tomatoes, mix all together. Serve cold with an entire cherry tomatoes on the top.

BUON APPETITO!

Piattoni Beans with Tomatoes Puree

Piattoni beans are particular type of green beans with a flat shape. Piattoni beans are typically prepared with fresh tomatoes or tomatoes puree and onion. Here I show you an easy and fast delicious recipe to prepare piattoni beans as a side dish or as an appetizer. You can use this recipe also for the preparation of a first course with pasta.

INGREDIENTS (for 4 people):

500 g of Piattoni beans (Flat green beans)

1 Onion

100g of Tomatoes puree

4 Tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

Salt

PREPARATION TIME: 15 minutes

COOKING TIME: 20-30 minutes

WINE: Pinot Grigio (White Wine)

PREPARATION

Wash and clean the piattoni beans,

cut them in pieces. Preheat the extra virgin olive oil in a large pan, cut the onion in slices and add them to the pan. 

Let the onion sauté for few minutes.  Add the piattoni beans and the tomatoes puree, sprinkle with salt and let them cook for few minutes. 

Add 2 glass of water and let the piattoni beans cook for about 20 -30 minutes. 

Serve hot.

BUON APPETITO!

Pasta and Cannellini Beans Soup

Pasta and beans soup is a traditional Italian recipe, popular in almost all the Italian region. It is prepared in different way in Tuscany, Lombardy, Veneto, Campania and Sicily. Here the recipe that I learned from my mother prepared with spaghetti cut in small pieces and Cannellini beans. It is easy to prepare but at the end you will have a delicious recipe. I prepared it with Cannellini beans in can, the garlic and the chilli pepper. If you have dried Cannellini beans just remember to soak them in water the day before. If you don’t have spaghetti you can use small soup pasta like ditalini or maccheroncini.

INGREDIENTS (for 4 people):

300 g of Cannellini Beans

1 Clove of Garlic

4 Tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

50 g of Tomatoes puree

200 g of short Pasta like spaghetti cut in small pieces

400 ml of water

Raw salt

Chilli pepper

PREPARATION TIME: 15 minutes

COOKING TIME: 1 hour

WINE: Montepulciano d’Abruzzo Doc (Red Wine)

PREPARATION

Preheat the extra virgin olive oil in a large casserole. Add a clove of garlic and let it sauté’. Add the Cannellini beans and let them sauté for few minutes;

add the tomatoes puree, the salt and the chilli pepper. 

Add the water and let the Cannellini beans cook for about 10-15 minutes. 

During the cooking pay attention if the water reduces too much in case add a little bit more. When the Cannellini beans are ready add the pasta and let it cook for about 8- 10 minutes. Serve hot.

BUON APPETITO!

Buckwheat spaghetti with Fontina Cheese and Cabbage

I took the idea for the preparation of this Italian first course from the preparation of Pizzoccheri, an Italian traditional recipe from Valtellina. What you need to prepare this delicious first course is buckwheat spaghetti, Fontina cheese and savoy cabbage. The preparation is very easy because cabbage and spaghetti cook together. Then when they are cooked you have only to drain them and add the Fontina cheese that will give them an extraordinary taste. If you want a preparation more similar to that of Pizzoccheri you can also add the potatoes in small pieces and cooked them together with the cabbage. This recipe is also very light, indeed I didn’t use any extra virgin olive oil but all the taste is given by the delicious Fontina Cheese.

INGREDIENTS (for 4 people):

320g of Buckwheat spaghetti

400g of Savoy Cabbage

150 g of Fontina Cheese

PREPARATION TIME: 10 minutes

COOKING TIME: 20 minutes

WINE: OltrePò Pavese Barbera Doc (Red Wine)

PREPARATION

Wash and cut the leaves of cabbage. Place them in a large pot with the salted water where you will cook also spaghetti. 

Let the water boils and cook the cabbage for 10-15 minutes. When the cabbage is cooked, add to it spaghetti and let them cook for about 8-10 minutes. 

In the meantime prepare the fontina cheese in small cubes. When spaghetti are cooked drain them, place them again in the same pot and add the Fontina cheese. 

Mix all together and let the cheese melt. Serve hot.

BUON APPETITO!

Pasta and Chickpeas Soup

This is an Italian recipe for pasta and chickpeas soup that I learn form my mother. It is easy to prepare but at the end you will have a delicious recipe. I prepared it with dried chickpeas soak in water the day before but you can use also the pre-cooked chickpeas in can, the garlic and the chilli pepper. The type of pasta that I like more for this Italian recipe is spaghetti cut in small pieces but you can always use other types of pasta, the important thing is that it should be small soup pasta like ditalini or maccheroncini.

INGREDIENTS (for 4 people):

300 g of Chickpeas

1 Clove of Garlic

4 Tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

50 g of Tomatoes puree

200 g of short Pasta like spaghetti cut in small pieces

400 ml of water

Raw salt

Chilli pepper

PREPARATION TIME: 15 minutes plus the time you leave the chickpeas soak in the water (12 18 hours)

COOKING TIME: 1 hour

WINE: Ribolla Gialla (White Wine)

PREPARATION

Soak the chickpeas in water the day before. Preheat the extra virgin olive oil in a large casserole. Add a clove of garlic and let it sauté’. Wash the chickpeas and add them in the casserole. 

Let them sauté for few minutes; add the tomatoes puree, the salt and the chilli pepper. 

Add the water and let the chickpeas cook for about 40-50 minutes. 

During the cooking pay attention if the water reduce too much in case add a little bit more. When the chickpeas are cooked add the pasta and let it cook for about 8- 10 minutes. 

Serve hot. I like pasta with chickpeas in soup.

BUON APPETITO!

Velvet Sauce of Cauliflowers

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The velvet sauce of cauliflower is an Italian recipe ideal for the cold winter. Cauliflowers are typical vegetables of the winter period and you can use them to prepare different type of delicious Italian recipes from the Cauliflowerswith Ricotta Cheese Cream to different type of soup and minestrone. The preparation of this velvet sauce is very east and fast, you put potatoes, onion and cauliflowers in pieces in a pot with the extra virgin olive oil, salt and thyme and water and you let them cook. Serve the velvet sauce of cauliflower with crunchy pieces of bread.

INREDIENTS (for 4 people):

1 Cauliflower (1-1,5kg)

4 Potatoes

4 Tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

1White onion

Salt

Thyme

Bread

PREPARATION TIME: 15 minutes

COOKING TIME: 30 minutes

WINE: Pinot Grigio (White Wine)

PREPARATION

Wash and peel the onion and the potatoes, wash the cauliflower. Cut everything in pieces and place them in a pot, add the extra virgin olive oil and let them sauté for few minutes. 

Sprinkle with salt and thyme. 

Add around 500ml of water, cover with a lid and let the water boil. 

Then remove the lid and let the vegetables cook for almost 30 minutes. Stir time by time and when you see that the cauliflower and the potatoes become soft, 

remove from the flame and with a hand blender make the velvet sauce.   

If the velvet sauce looks too much watery let it cook for few minutes in order to let the water evaporate. Cut the bread in cubes and bake them in order to make it crunchy. Serve the velvet sauce hot with the crunchy bread and a little bit of raw extra virgin olive oil.

BUON APPETITO!