Growing Basil, Pesto Tips and Guido's Family Pesto Recipe

Basilico (the herb, basil) is in season and as my grandmother and mother come from Genova, the birthplace of pesto, I love to include making this delicious sauce in our cooking class menu.

I would like to share with you some tips on growing basilico (basil), for making a great pesto sauce. I would also like to share my own family recipe for pesto. Enjoy!

Growing Basil: Basil enjoys a mediterranean climate, and although it likes the warm Italian summers, it does not like too much sun, needs a lot of shade and enjoys being watered regularly. I grow basil from seedlings and in pots, so I can move the plants into the shade when needed. It is important to pinch or cut off the buds to prevent premature flowering and this also encourages a more lush growth. Good rich soil helps. The smell of fresh basil is amazing!

Tips on using fresh basil

1/ To clean: Never fully wash basil leaves, only wipe them with a clean cloth (this helps the basil stay fresh, green and dry)

2/ When using a mortar and pestle to grind the ingredients, always use a stone or marble mortar and a wooden pestle. as this brings out the best flavour! (Never stone with stone or wood with wood)

3/When you have placed the ingredients, including the basil leaves in the mortar, add a pinch of sale grosso (rock sea salt) before you start to grind (and also another pinch as you continue). This will help you grind the leaves more easily and keep the colour of the basil leaves light (because of the natural sodium in the salt)

4/If you use a blender instead of a mortar and pestle to grind the basil leaves, put the metal blade in the freezer before you use it. This will help stop the leaves browning in the process.

Guido's Pesto Sauce Recipe

Ingredients: 1 large bunch of fresh basil leaves, 1/3 of a clove of garlic, handful of pine-nuts, 60 g of Grana Padano cheese, extra virgin olive oil, pinch of salt.

Method: (using a blender): To prepare pesto, put basil leaves, pine-nuts, Grana Padano and Pecorino cheese, 1/3 of a clove of garlic and a  pinch of salt into the blender with a little extra virgin olive oil. Blend until smooth (or chunky, if preferred), then add more olive oil.

Pesto is very versatile as it is not only tasty with gnocchi or pasta, it is also often eaten in Italy with fish dishes or as a dip!

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Summer time - Limoncello Recipe

 Limoncello 

Limoncello is a classic Italian liqueur, originally from the Amalfi Coast. It’s traditionally offered at the end of a meal, to help with digestion and to cleanse your palate. The good news is that you can make your own!

Guido's Limoncello Recipe

Ingredients : 500 ml (2.1 cups) of 90% alcohol, 750 ml (3.2 cups) of water, 500g (17.6 oz) sugar, 5 large organic, non-treated lemons. 

Method: Wash and dry lemons. Zest lemons with a potato peeler. Put lemon zest and alcohol into a large, air-tight glass jar. Leave to infuse for 30 days. 

After 30 days:Boil water with sugar until sugar is completely dissolved and let this cool down completely. Add the water and sugar mixture into the  jar  of alcohol and lemon zest. Leave to rest for another 40 days. Filter limoncello through a cloth and put into bottles. Your limoncello is ready!

How and when to serve: drink limoncello ice-cold after your evening meal.  You can keep limoncello in the freezer and serve it in small chilled glasses. Sip it slowly to appreciate the full flavour.

Guido's Tip : You can use the same method to create a variety of different Italian liqueurs. For example, you can use orange peel, walnuts, hazelnuts, basil leaves, fennel, cherries or your favourite combination of herbs.

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Italian Summer Salad - Insalata Caprese

Summer in Italy 

Farm Garden to Table - Caprese Salad

Summer in Italy has arrived and Italians tend make meals that do not include turning on the oven...unless we have to. It's also a great time to enjoy what we've grown, bought locally in season, and what we can source directly from the farmers. We currently have an abundance of the mediterranean herb, basil. Basil is not only used in to make pesto, it's also used fresh in cold drinks, salads and added to the top of pizzas (just out of the oven). It has a very fresh smell that reminds me of my childhood.

This month I want to share with you a very special Italian dish that has the colours of the Italian flag, and found in different variations in each region. I am sharing my simple and delicious recipe for  Caprese Salad. I usually use Buffalo mozzarella and make this version for my family. Enjoy!

Insalata Caprese - Caprese Salad Recipe

Ingredients (serves 6); 500g (17.6 oz) fresh mozzarella (from buffalo or cow’s milk), two ripe large tomatoes, extra virgin olive oil, fine sea salt and fresh basil leaves to your taste. 

Method: Cut mozzarella and tomatoes into thin slices. In a plate, compose the Caprese salad by aligning and alternating tomato and mozzarella slices, beginning and finishing with tomato. Add salt and lots of organic extra virgin olive oil, to your taste. Garnish with basil leaves and serve.

Caprese Salad and the Sabine Hills view

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Roman Artichokes - Carciofi alla Romana

Artichokes are a favourite ingredient in Roman cuisine. They are now in season and available at farmer's markets around our region. There is a specific variety of artichokes that is grown in the Roman countryside. These artichokes are so tender they can be eaten raw with salt, olive oil and lemon juice, if picked when they small.

A very traditional way to cook artichokes is 'alla Romana'. Roman style. You need a type of wild mint called mentuccia, which only grows in central Italy. It has small, light green leaves with lighter spots on them and a very strong smell and flavour. It is collected from the fields, although the best one grows out of old walls. If you can't find any mentuccia (that is if you don't live in Italy!) regular mint will do. Here is the recipe.

Carciofi alla romana (Roman style artichokes)
Serves 4: 4 artichokes, extra virgin olive oil, fresh mint, fresh lemon, garlic, salt & pepper.

Chef Guido's Tip: Rub your hands with fresh lemon juice before you start to prepare your artichokes. This will prevent your hands being 'blackened' by the artichoke 'juice'.

Method: Prepare the artichokes by disposing of all the tough leaves and by peeling the bottom part and quickly rub half a lemon on them, which will prevent them from darkening. Stuff the artichokes with mint leaves, a little chopped garlic, salt and pepper. Put them upside down (stalk up) into a pot just large enough to contain them, pour a quarter of a glass of olive oil and half a glass of water on them. Cover the pot and let cook until tender (the amount of time really depends on the type of artichokes). Buon Appetito!

When artichokes are in season, and prepared the way Guido recommends, you can eat the whole artichoke, choke and all!

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Asparagus Risotto Recipe - Risotto Asparagi e Guanciale

Wild asparagus, thin and full of flavour

We have numerous very spiky asparagus plants growing around our garden, close to walls or near the roots of our olive trees. After a rain shower in late March and April, while we are searching around our own plants, many locals are found probing the roadsides with a long stick in search of the new shoots. They are difficult to find and a real prize when you walk home with a small handful to add to your next meal. Wild asparagus are much thinner and stronger in flavour than the cultivated asparagus you find at the local markets. Visit us in March or April and you will get to taste them for yourself.

Risotto Asparagi e Guanciale Recipe

Risotto Asparagi e Guanciale (serves 6)

Ingredients: For the vegetable stock: 1 carrot, 1 celery stalk, 1 small onion a large pinch of salt. For the risotto: 500 (17,6 oz) g of 'Arborio' or 'Carnaroli' rice, 1 medium bunch of asparagus, 50g (1.7 oz) of butter, 50g (1.7 oz) of guanciale or pancetta, 1 cup of grated Parmigiano cheese, 1 small onion, half a glass of white wine, salt to taste.

Method:Prepare the vegetable stock by placing a whole peeled onion, a carrot and a stalk of celery together in a large pot of water with a large pinch of salt. Once the stock is boiling, lower the heat and keep it simmering while making risotto.
Finely chop an onion and gently fry it in most of the butter (leave a curl for later). Add diced guanciale or pancetta and finely chopped asparagus. Add dry rice and let it fry with all other ingredients for a minute or two, stirring. Pour in white wine and let it evaporate. Pour enough boiling vegetable stock to cover rice. Stir rice from time to time but not continuously. Add more boiling liquid vegetable stock when needed. Check salt and add a pinch if necessary. When rice is 'aldente' (cooked but firm), turn off heat, add Parmigiano cheese, a curl of butter and stir vigourously. Serve immediately and hot.

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Late Winter Salad with Fennel, Orange and Olives : 'Insalatina di finocchi, arancia e olive'

Welcome to the last days of Winter. The sunlight are getting longer and the temperature is slowly warming up. Fresh fennel and blood red oranges (in fact any variety of oranges) are at their best, and last season's cured olives are now ready to eat. Here is one of my favourite seasonal salads. This salad is easy to make, full of fresh flavours, and will only take you 5 minutes to prepare.

In Italian it is called 'Insalatina di finocchi, arancia e olive' meaning 'Italian Fennel, Orange and Olive Salad'. It combines some wonderful flavours: fresh and crispy fennel, juicy sweetness of the orange, and the salty full flavour of local olives (black olives are best to use).

Home made  'Insalatina di finocchi, arancia e olive'
using blood and local oranges, our own cured olives, plus locally grown fennel

Ingredients:
½ - 1 fennel
2 oranges peeled (blood orange and / or navel oranges)
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (Sabina D.O.P.)
1 large handful of black olives, (gaeta, leccino, carboncella, suggested varieties)
Pinch of fine sea salt, to taste

Instructions:
Chop your fennel in long thin strips, along the grain of the fennel. Cut your juicy ripe peeled oranges into cubes. Add both the fennel and the orange pieces along with a handful of black olives into a bowl.  Drizzle over a healthy amount of olive oil ( please only use extra virgin olive oil, as it is the best!) and sprinkle over some salt, to taste. Mix all the ingredients together and serve chilled.

Tip: If you make this salad a few hours before you need it, just mix it and leave it in the fridge. The flavours will blend together.

Please tell me what you think.

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Risotto ai funghi - Mushroom Risotto

Risotto ai funghi - Seasonal Italian Recipe

Mushroom Risotto, Risotto ai funghi, is a typical Winter risotto recipe that I enjoy cooking for my family. This risotto combines the earthy fresh taste of mushrooms with the creaminess of rice and parmigiano cheese. Topped with fresh parsley.  It's absolutely delicious and we hope you enjoy making it too.

Risotto ai funghi Recipe

Ingredients (serves 6): For the vegetable stock: 1 carrot, 1 celery stalk, 1 small onion, a large pinch of salt. For the risotto: 500 (17,6 oz) g of 'Arborio' or 'Carnaroli' rice, 300g (10.5 oz) of fresh champignon or porcini mushrooms, 50g (1.7 oz) of butter, 1 cup of grated parmigiano cheese, 1 small onion, half a glass of white wine, salt, pepper and fresh chopped parsley to taste.

Method: Prepare the vegetable stock by placing a whole peeled onion, a carrot and a stalk of celery together in a large pot of water with a large pinch of salt. Once the stock is boiling, lower the heat and keep it simmering while making risotto.

Finely chop an onion and gently fry it in most of the butter (leave a curl for later). Add sliced mushrooms. Add dry rice and let it fry with all other ingredients for a minute or two, stirring. Pour in white wine and let it evaporate. Pour enough boiling vegetable stock to cover rice. Stir rice from time to time but not continuously. Add more boiling liquid if necessary. Check salt and add a pinch if necessary. When rice is 'aldente' (cooked but firm) add Parmigiano cheese, a curl of butter and stir vigourously. Garnish with fresh finely chopped parsley. Serve immediately and hot.

Buon appetito!

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