An Easter dish
Lamb chops with capers and
cream
This is neither a traditional
roasted lamb dish nor a quick dish. You need to cook it with care before
savouring it. But I guarantee its unforgettable taste and its success. So keep
it for special occasions.
You need 500g. of lamb chops,
one tbsp of olive oil, 30g. butter, one clove of garlic, sage, 200g. of thick
double cream, two tbsp of capers, 10 tbsp of white wine, salt and pepper.
Put oil and butter in a pan.
Let the butter melt and add the lamb chops and the garlic. Sprinkle the lamb
with salt, pepper and sage on both sides. Add white wine and let the lamb chops
cook for ten minutes. Add capers and cream and cover the pan with a lid. Let it
cook for ten more minutes. Remove the lid and let the sauce dry a bit.
Serve the lamb chops warm
with sauce and capers on top. Good side dishes are boiled potatoes seasoned
with olive oil, lemon juice and parsley, and boiled cauliflowers and broccoli
seasoned with butter and vinegar.
Chicken breast fillets with
prosciutto (or ham)
An easy way
to earn a hug.
My children
have always liked chicken breast fillets since they were little kids. It is
tender meat which they could easily chew with their milk teeth and the taste is
mild. I usually cut them in pieces of half an inch, dredge them with flour and
salt and cook them in hot butter and oil.
Two weeks
ago my eldest son announced he wished to introduce his girlfriend to us. She
would come for the weekend. He was so happy about it that I felt proud of him.
I was excited, too, as it was my first experience of this kind.
Before
planning the menu I thought it was better to ask my son about it. I suggested
our usual dishes, like carbonara or chicken breast fillets. He said chicken
breast fillets was o.k. but no chilli in any dish. She did not like it.
I had to
come up with something new and tasty. I started to experiment right away.
I prepared
my chicken in the usual way and added one clove of garlic and 70 g. of
prosciutto cut in pieces. I sprinkled some sage and rosemary on the whole as
well and added four tbsp of white wine.
I let them cook on both sides but towards the end of the cooking it was getting
dry so I added some water.
My husband
said it was all right but a little bit of chilli powder wouldn’t do any harm.
I needed to
have another go.
After a few
days I had my chicken breast fillets again. I cut them in pieces, dredged them
with flour and set them in the pan with hot oil and butter. Instead of
prosciutto I added 100 g. of thin sliced ham I had cut in pieces. I also added
one clove of garlic, sage and rosemary but no white wine, instead two tbsp of
thick double cream.
My husband
licked his lips- it was delicious.
So this is
the one I am going to do when she
comes, I thought.
The great
day arrived. I felt curious......and scared. Did I look all right? Was the
house clean enough? My hair was in a mess as usual.
I must say I
was flabbergasted when I saw my son and his girlfriend. They looked perfect,
like a fairy tale couple. He is fair and muscular, she is a delicate brunette.
I made sure
I was as discreet as possible and prepared my chicken, with ham and thick double cream, for Saturday
dinner with the utmost care.
It was a
success. She congratulated me and thanked me again and again for my cooking and
the hospitality.
When she
went away on Sunday evening she hugged me. I felt moved.
To resume
here are the ingredients.
Prosciutto
version for four people: 300 g. of chicken breast fillets, flour, salt, 70 g. of prosciutto, four
tbsp of white wine, sage, rosemary, chilli powder, two tbsp of olive oil, 30 g.
of butter, one clove of garlic, some water if it gets dry.
Ham
version for four people: 300g chicken breast fillets, flour, salt, 100 g. of ham, two tbsp of
thick double cream, sage, rosemary, two tbsp of olive oil, 30 g. of butter, one
clove of garlic.
Easter Dish
Lamb chops
in white wine
When Easter
approaches I always feel better. Warm
weather is near, hopefully. Besides, my
family love lamb dishes. Here is a delicious one, very tasty and easy to
prepare. Hope you like it.
For four
people you need:
Six lamb
chops, a clove of garlic, rosemary, oregano, six green olives, six black
olives, two tbsp of olive oil, half a glass of white wine, salt and pepper.
Pour the
olive oil in a pan, add garlic and the lamb chops. Sprinkle salt, pepper, oregano and rosemary
on both sides of the lamb chops. Let
them cook for a while. Chop the olives,
add the wine and cover the pan with a lid. Let it simmer for fifteen minutes or
more, till it is cooked.
Serve with
the juices from the pan and olives on top.
For side dishes you can have mashed potatoes and spring greens seasoned
with lemon juice, olive oil, salt and a clove of garlic.
A spring dish
Pancake Roulade
Warm spring
time calls for something cool. Here is a
special stuffed pancake I prepared for my parents who visited me for the Easter
holidays.
Their
reaction? Well....they ate it, though
they seemed to prefer more traditional food.
I think it’s
super.
For the pancake you need: four eggs, half tbsp
of flour, 1tbsp of milk, salt, oil.
For the
filling you need: 80 g of tuna, half tbsp of capers, some leaves of fresh
parsley, 100 g of ricotta, a tbsp of mayonnaise, a few drops of vinegar, salt
and pepper.
Whisk the
ingredients for the pancake and cook it in a hot oiled frying pan. In the meantime prepare the filling, mixing
and blending all the ingredients. When
the pancake is ready set it on a plate and spread the mixture on it. Roll the pancake, wrap it in tinfoil and let
it cool in the fridge for one hour. Cut
it in slices and serve it cold. You can
use the mixture for canapés as well.
Enjoy!
Roasted
trout
Fish is my
favourite dish right through the year.
My mother said that when I was a child they used to take me to the
mountains or to the lakes near Rome to have a roasted trout in a regional
restaurant. I ate it with such a gusto
and so quickly that they were delighted.
In summer
time it is a perfect second course after a generous plate of spaghetti with
tomato sauce and basil.
For two
people you need: two trout, the juice of one lemon, 10 g of parsley, one tsp of
salt, pepper, vinegar, four tbsp of extra virgin olive oil and one clove of
garlic peeled and finely chopped.
Clean and
wash the trout and set them in a rectangular oiled tin. Chop the parsley and mix it in a bowl with
the lemon juice, salt, pepper, oil, vinegar and garlic. Beat it for a while and spread the mixture on
the trout inside and out. Let them rest
for half an hour then roast them in the oven at 150° C, for 30/40 minutes.
Polpettone
Mince
meatloaf
I don’t need
to cook when I am in Italy because I am often invited to meals or because we
eat out, but I take a look at what other people prepare and copy the recipe, or
even better, adapt it to my Anglo-Italian cooking style.
My mother
made a fantastic polpettone one day
so I asked her for the recipe. The word
polpettone means a big polpetta (meat ball) because the main
ingredient, mince, is what we use with meat balls. Actually it looks like a chubby meatloaf and
the word is reminiscent of “a dog’s dinner”...a typical Italian wordplay. There is no messing about with the recipe,
though!
It is a
quick tasty dish which you can prepare in large quantities and freeze, as I
usually do.
For four
people you need.
250 g of
minced beef, 250 g of minced pork, one bread roll soaked in a little milk and
water, salt, pepper, parsley, 2 tbsp of parmigiano, one clove of garlic,
rosemary and oregano, 5 tbsp of white wine, 100 g of ham (or mortadella), one
egg, 2 tbsp of flour and olive oil and butter to fry.
Mix the
minced beef and pork in a large bowl, add salt (about a tsp), pepper, parsley,
parmigiano and the egg. Chop the ham and
add it to the mixture. Squeeze the bread roll and add it to the mixture. Mix
everything with your hands and form a thick loaf (or two loaves). Roll it in the flour and fry with oil and
butter on both sides for 10-15 minutes.
Finally bake it in the oven (150°C) for forty-five minutes on a greased
oven tray with garlic, white wine, oil, rosemary and oregano. When it is cool cut it in slices and serve it
with its juices.
Good side
dishes are green peas cooked with butter and roasted sliced potatoes.
Saltimbocca alla romana
No pasta this time.
This is a traditional recipe
from Rome, my birthplace. It is simple but delicious.
For four people you need 400
g. of thin-cut steaks of beef or veal, 120g. of prosciutto, 30g. of butter, two
tbsp of olive oil, two or three tbsp of white wine, warm water, some sage
leaves, cocktail sticks, salt and pepper.
The beef steaks must not be
thick so use a meat pounder or your fist to make them thinner. Sprinkle salt
and pepper on the meat. Some people like to coat them with flour as well. Put a
slice of prosciutto on the steak and a leaf of sage on it. Skewer them to the
meat with a cocktail stick.
In a frying pan warm olive
oil and butter. Cook the steaks on both sides adding the wine at the end. When
they are ready set them on a plate and add two or three tbsp of warm water to
the sauce left in the pan. Let it cook a few more minutes and pour the sauce on
the steaks.
By the way ‘saltimbocca’
means ‘jumping in your mouth’. You can’t
wait to eat them!
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