Melanzane Ripiene - Baked Eggplants with meat

Melanzane Ripiene

Chef Guido chose this simple dish full of mediterranean flavours from his family recipes. These baked ‘melanzane’ (eggplants) are common in the Italian Riviera, or Liguria.  They can be served as antipasto or light main course. 

Here Guido is giving you his family's favourite version, filled with meat. It's delicious! Enjoy!

Version 2: Melanzane Ripiene with Meat:

Melanzane Ripiene - Serves 6

Ingredients: 3 eggplants (or aubergines), 350g (12.5 oz) of ground beef, marjoram, 1 small onion, salt, pepper, extra virgin olive oil, 

Simple sauce:  700ml (24 oz) / 1 bottle tomato passata (or peeled tomatoes); 2 garlic pieces crushed, small handful of basil leaves, pinch of salt to taste, olive oil.

Method: Cut the eggplants in half, carve out the flesh with a knife and chop it fine. Put this in a pan where a finely chopped onion has been shallow frying in extra virgin olive oil for a few minutes. Fry the eggplant flesh until soft, then add marjoram and minced beef. Mix well and keep frying until the meat is light brown. Add salt and pepper. Put extra virgin olive oil and salt on the eggplants' skins and fill them with the mixtures. Bake for 30 minutes at moderate heat 175 C (350 F) in a convection oven, until eggplant base is soft . 

Simple sauce: brown crushed garlic in olive oil in a pan, add, tomato passata and leave to simmer to blend flavours for 5 minutes. Add basil leaves and salt to taste, stir, and then turn off. Leave the lid on to keep flavours together.  

Serve with a simple tomato sauce of top of baked eggplants.

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Panzanella - straight from Guido's garden

This dish is quick to prepare, refreshing, and perfect for summer, when the vegetables used are in season; it is even advisable to let it rest for a few hours in the refrigerator before serving.

Ingredients (serves 6): 300g (10.5 oz) of Italian-style, stale bread, 2 medium-size ripe tomatoes, 1 cucumber, 1 small onion, 3 tbsp of apple or wine vinegar, fresh basil to taste, salt to taste, 3 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil.

Method: Cut the stale bread(usually 2 or 3 days old and hard) into cubes and soak with vinegar and cold water (to cover) in a large bowl. Leave for 5 minutes. Squeeze and drain the bread, then put it into another bowl. Dice cucumbers and tomatoes (half an inch dices). Thinly slice onion. Put vegetables in the bowl where you’ve previously put bread. Add extra virgin olive oil, salt and fresh basil to taste. Enjoy cold.

Guido's Tips: 

• Try using red onions: they will add a little sweetness to this traditional tuscan summer dish.
• Panzanella makes for a good ‘piatto unico,’ as you may also add some protein to this dish, like tuna or cheese or borlotti beans. 

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Guido's Nonna's recipe: Linguine with Pesto alla Genovese

 

Guido's Nonna's Recipe: 

Linguine with Pesto alla Genovese - Serves  6

Ingredients: 500 g (1 packet) of linguine pasta (La Molisana brand is recommended).

For the sauce: 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.

Cook Linguine aldente, put it back in the pot after draining and mix in with sauce and a little butter. Stir all together. Serve immediately.

Buon appetito!

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Pesto Tips by Chef Guido

Basilico (the herb, basil) is in season and as Guido's grandmother and mother come from Genova, the birthplace of pesto, he loves to include making this delicious sauce in our cooking class menu. Here are just some of the tips for making a great pesto sauce:

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.

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 Recipe: Filled zucchini flowers - Fiori di zucca ripieni

Fresh zucchini flowers are in season

Guido's vegetable garden - zucchini flowers in full bloom

In season now, zucchini flowers can be filled with a variety of ingredients and cooked in different ways. Although most people are familiar with the deep-fried, mozzarella-filled flowers, in the heat of summer I prefer this lighter recipe, which has the zucchini flowers filled with ricotta and gently baked for only 30 seconds, then served with basil sauce and cherry tomatoes.

Stuffed with Ricotta mixture and ready for the oven

Guido's Seasonal Recipe

Filled zucchini flowers - Fiori di zucca ripieni - serves 4

Ingredients: 12 zucchini (or courgette) flowers, 500g of ricotta, pinch of nutmeg, parmigiano reggiano, large pinch of salt, pepper, basil leaves (2 bunches), extra virgin olive oil, 24 cherry tomatoes, balsamic vinegar glaze.

Method: 

Delicately take out the flower's stamen and lay on a dish. 

Ricotta mixture: Mix ricotta with parmigiano cheese, salt, nutmeg in a bowl. 

For the basil sauce, put basil leaves in a blender with olive oil and a pinch of salt. 

Carefully spoon in the ricotta mixture inside each flower. 

Put zucchini flowers in the oven, preheated at 180 C for only 30 seconds. 

Remove from oven, and serve with basil sauce, quartered cherry tomatoes and decorate with balsamic vinegar glaze.

Stuffed zucchini flowers, just out of the oven

Sally and Chef Guido
Founders of Convivio Rome Italian Cooking Holidays, Italian Cooking Classes and Olive Tours and Winery Tours. Owners of Convivio Rome BnB.

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Tortino di Polenta con Fragole - Polenta cupcakes with strawberries and rum sauce.

Chef Guido's polenta cakes with strawberries (and cream rum sauce)

There was a time In Italy when wheat flour was scarce and expensive for many. This was certainly true during the Renaissance, but also during the 19th century and again during WW2. Since the discovery of the Americas a new, cheaper ingredient was available: maize flour (or corn meal, or polenta flour). A little wheat flour could be added to polenta flour and this would make the softest, most delicious bread. Adding a little sugar and raisins would produce a cake that was simply irresistible.
With strawberries and a rum sauce, this 'poor cuisine' classic from Lazio, Tuscany and Umbria can today become a refined, well presented and well balanced dessert.

Another use for polenta cakes: Locally, in the Sabine Hills, the bakers used to use these polenta cakes to test the wood fire oven temperature. If the polenta cakes cooked evenly, the oven was ready to put in the homemade bread.

Local Sabine Hills recipe: 

Tortino di polenta con fragole (with Guido's rum sauce). Serves 6

Ingredients: 200g (7.0 oz) of maize flour** (corn meal), 160 g (5.6 oz) of butter, 125g (4.4 oz) of sugar, 70g (2.4 oz) of wheat flour, 2 eggs, 80g (2.8 oz) of raisins, 150ml (0.6 cups) of single cream, 1/2 tsp of baking powder, a shot of rum.

Method: Melt butter on low heat, then put aside. For the cakes: Mix eggs with half the sugar, add maize flour first, then wheat flour with baking powder, add melted butter and raisins. Mix well. Distribute mixture into a muffin tray for 12 muffins. Bake at 170 C (338 F) for 15 minutes.

For the sauce: Pour cream into a small pot. Add the remaining sugar and a shot of rum. Stir and bring cream to boil for 2 minutes, then turn off heat.

Serve cakes warm with sauce at the bottom of the plate and strawberries* on the side.

*You can use blueberries or any other berry in substitute, if you wish.

** Maize flour (corn meal) - use the fine corn meal, not the course one.

Sally and Chef Guido
Founders of Convivio Rome Italian Cooking Holidays, Italian Cooking Classes and Olive Tours and Winery Tours. Owners of Convivio Rome BnB.

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Guido's nonna's Torta Pasqualina (Easter Pie) Recipe

Ciao Everyone, Buona Pasqua!  

In Genova and Cinque Terre, part of the beautiful Liguria region of Italy, ‘Torta Pasqualina’ (literally ‘Easter Pie’) is a savoury pie that’s prepared for the Easter Weekend. My nonna was from Genova, therefore every year she would make a whole lot of these delicious ‘torte’ not only for the family but also as a gift for friends.  

I would love to share this very traditional recipe with you. Easter Monday, for most Italians, is picnic day out in parks or in the countryside or even in your own garden. Torta Pasqualina is therefore perfect for this celebration with family and friends. For this pie, you can make your own puff pastry or buy it ready made. Here is the recipe, enjoy!

Torta Pasqualina

Ingredients: 600g (21.1 oz) or two ready made puff pastry round sheets, 6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, 5 eggs, 300g (10.5 oz) fresh spinach, 1 swirl of butter, 50g (1.7 oz) grated parmesan, 300g (10.5 oz) fresh ricotta, fresh or dry marjoram and salt to taste.

Method: Boil spinach for only 2 minutes. Drain and cool. Once cool, squeeze out as much water as you can from the spinach, then place it into a large bowl. Mix with the ricotta and add the olive oil, 1 tbsp at a time. Add marjoram and salt to your taste. Line the bottom and the sides of a cake pan (measuring about 23 cm or 9.0 inches) with the first puff pastry sheet. Put the spinach and ricotta mixture on top of the pastry in the pan. Create 5 little indentations in the mixture, using your hands or a tablespoon, to accommodate for the eggs. Brake the eggs and pour them into the 5 spaces you’ve created. Sprinkle with grated parmigiano cheese. Then top with the second puff pastry sheet, making sure it seals together with the first one. Bake at 160º C (320º F) for 45 minutes or until golden.

Buona Pasqua a tutti, Happy Easter e A Presto!

Sally and Chef Guido
Founders of Convivio Rome Italian Cooking Holidays, Virtual Cooking Classes and Olive Tours and Winery Tours. Owners of Convivio Rome BnB.

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Early Italian Springtime recipe - Paccheri carciofi e piselli (Artichoke and fresh Pea Pasta)

Paccheri carciofi e piselli

Chef Guido has chosen to share his family recipe for Paccheri Carciofi e Piselli  (artichoke and fresh pea pasta). ‘Paccheri Carciofi e Piselli’ are is a simple dish, that is delicious and fast to prepare that has a delicate ‘springtime flavour’. Paccheri is a traditional Neapolitan pasta which looks like a giant macaroni (a very large tube shape) and has been a favourite in his family for years. Its the perfect way to enjoy the new fresh peas and the last of the small, delicate artichokes before they finish their season. 

Ingredients (serves 6): 3 artichokes, 1 medium onion, 5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, 300g (10.5 oz) peas (fresh or defrosted), 500g (17.6 oz) of ‘paccheri’ pasta (alternatively: rigatoni), half a glass of white wine, 50g of pecorino romano cheese, a pinch of salt, 1 lemon, fresh mint to taste. 

Method: Prepare the artichokes by disposing of all the tough leaves and by shaving the bottom part (the ‘heart’) with a small paring knife. Cut the artichokes into thin slices and put these into a bowl with water and lemon juice. In a large pan, shallow fry 1 diced onion until translucent. Drain artichokes and add them to the onion and olive oil in the pan. Fry artichokes until soft, then pour in the wine and let reduce. In the meantime, add rock sea salt to 3.8 litres (1 gallon) of water in a pot. Leave to boil. Add ‘paccheri’ pasta to the boiling water. Add fresh peas to the artichokes in the frypan. Salt to taste. Add 4 tbsp of boiling pasta water into the artichoke and peas sauce. Drain your ‘aldente’ pasta and add it into the fry-pan together with the artichokes and peas. Add the pecorino sauce and mix all ingredients well. Serve with a few mint leaves (optional).

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For more recipes: Guido's FREE recipe e-booklet '5 Minute Pasta'

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