Carnival Cake - Florentine Schiacciata

Schiacciata cake is a traditional Italian cake coming from Tuscany prepared in occasion of Carnival. This Italian recipe is so traditional that the amount of ingredients is known in tablespoons and not in gram. Schiacciata cake has traditionally a rectangular shape and on the surface sprinkled with icing sugar it has a lilium made with cacao powder because lilium is the symbol of Florence.

INGREDIENTS:
12 Tablespoons of Flour
8 Tablespoons of Sugar
8 Tablespoons of Milk
2 eggs
6 Tablespoons of Extra virgin olive oil
1 Orange juice
1 vanilla-flavored baking powder
Vanillin
Icing sugar
Cacao powder

PREPARATION TIME: 15 minutes

COOKING TIME: 45 minutes

WINE: Vin Santo (traditional Tuscany Wine)

PREPARATION
Preheat the oven at 170°C degree. Mix in a bowl the sugar with the eggs until you obtain a homogeneous mixture.

Add the flour, the milk, the orange juice, the extra virgin olive oil, the vanilla-flavored baking powder and the vanillin, mix all together.

Stir until you will have soft dough.

Butter and floured a rectangular baking pan,

pour the mixture and bake for about 40 - 45 minutes.

Check the cooking time by time, schiacciata cake will be ready when the surface becomes golden.

To better check the cooking use a spaghetto and insert it the middle of the cake, if it is dry when you remove it schiacciata cake is ready.
Let schiacciata cake cool down, sprinkle with icing sugar and with the shape of lilium  made with cacao powder.

BUON APPETITO!

Pici Cacio Cheese and Black Pepper

In this Italian first course recipe I put together two Italian traditions, one coming from Tuscany and the other coming from Rome. This first course Italian recipe is made with only 3 ingredients: pici, cacio cheese and black pepper. Pici is a traditional type of pasta coming from Tuscany, it looks like spaghetti a little bit more thick and rough; cacio is a traditional type of cheese typical from Rome, known also as Pecorino Romano cheese. The preparation of this recipe takes very short time and it is quite easy, you should only pay attention to obtain a good cheese cream. If you don't have Pici at home another type of pasta you can use to prepare this recipe is Bucatini of simply spaghetti.

INGREDIENTS (for 4 people):
320 g of Pici (type of pasta)
200g of Cacio cheese (known also as Pecorino Romano cheese)
Black Pepper

PREPARATION TIME: 10 minutes

COOKIN TIME: 15 minutes

WINE: Chianti Doc (Red Wine)

PREPARATION
Let salted water boil for pasta. In the meantime grate cacio cheese.



When salted water boils add Pici. The cooking time of Pici is different if Pici are fresh or dry. In case of fresh Pici you will need less time, if Pici are dried you will need a little bit more of time, but usually if you follow the cooking time indicated on the packaging everything will be delicious. 1-2 minutes before the end of the cooking of Pici remove 2 cups of boiling water and keep it because you will need it to prepare the dressing of Pici.



When Pici are cooked drain them. Preheat a large pan on a low flame, add some spoons of water that you kept from Pici, add Pici and sprinkle with a part of grated cacio cheese, and stir.



In this way the water mixed with water should give a cream made with cacio cheese. Continue to add cacio cheese and stir and if you notice that the cream becomes to dry add little bit more of water, in the meantime add also black pepper.



Serve warm.



BUON APPETITO!

Lamb with Potatoes

Lamb is the main ingredient of the Easter lunch, as I said in a previous recipe, so here I describe the typical recipe that is prepared in occasion of Easter in Tuscany. This recipe is simple and fast to prepare: you need the leg of lamb, better if it is boned, some rosemary and garlic that give a spicy taste to this delicious Italian second course and potatoes. It is sufficient that you place the entire ingredient in a baking pan then bake it for about 50 minutes and the lamb is ready. In this way you can also prepare another main ingredient of the Easter lunch that is kid.

INGREDIENTS (for 6 – 8 people):
2 Leg of Lamb (boned)
2 Cloves of Garlic
Rosemary
30 g of Pork underbelly cut in pieces
6 – 7 Potatoes
Salt
Black Pepper

PREPARATION TIME: 15 minutes

COOKING TIME: 1 hour

WINE: Colli Berici Tocai Rosso Doc (Red Wine)

PREPARATION
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Clean and peel the potatoes, cut them in squared pieces, then prepare the legs of lamb: cut in slices and in pieces the pork underbelly, the garlic and the rosemary, place the leg of lamb on a cutting board, make some incisions on its surface and put in them the pieces of porn underbelly, garlic and rosemary.



Sprinkle the lamb with salt and black pepper, then place it in a baking pan and place around it the potatoes, sprinkle also them with salt and pepper and bake for about 50 minutes.



Serve hot. This is the result:



BUON APPETITO!

Patty-cake of Zucchini

This patty-cake of zucchini is prepared according to the Tuscan cooking: the main ingredients used are eggs, zucchini, Parmesan and the Tuscan Pecorino that is a delicious cheese of medium seasoning with a spicy taste, for these characteristics the Tuscan Pecorino is ideal together with the sweet taste of zucchini. For a good preparation of this Italian recipes it is important the cooking of zucchini: the zucchini should be result a bit dry in order to obtain a more homogenous mixture when you add the eggs, the Italian cheese and the breadcrumbs. This Italian recipe can be served as a vegetarian second course or also in small pieces as a spicy appetizer.

INGREDIENTS (for 6 – 8 people):
1 Kg of Zucchini
3 Tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
Some basil
Some parsley
1 Clove of garlic
4 Eggs
40 g of Tuscan Pecorino
40 g of Parmesan
4 Tablespoons of breadcrumbs
20 g of Butter
Salt
Black pepper

PREPARATION TIME: 15 minutes

COOKING TIME: 30 – 40 minutes

WINE: Colli di Conegliano Bianco Doc (White Wine)

PREPARATION
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Preheat the extra virgin olive oil in a pan, clean the zucchini, cut them in slices and add them to the pan together with the chopped parsley, the clove of garlic and the chopped basil;



cook for about 5 minutes then sprinkle with salt and black pepper and continue to cook on a low flame covered for other 5 – 10 minutes.



When the zucchini are ready place them in a bowl and let them cold in the mean time place a sheet of baking paper on the bottom of a baking pan of 20 – 24 cm of diameter. When the zucchini are cold add the Parmesan, the Tuscan Pecorino,



the eggs and the breadcrumbs,



mix all together and pour the mixture in the pan.



Sprinkle with some other breadcrumbs and small pieces of butter.





Bake until the surface becomes golden.
This is the result:



BUON APPETITO!