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Tiramisu’: a healthy version!

Posted by Serena
Jul
6
2009

It’s time for another recipe, and as we are in the middle of a sultry summer here in Italy, in the period known as il solleone (the lion sun), what’s better than a nice, cool, refreshing dessert? Tiramisu’ is probably the best known Italian pudding in the world, but perhaps not many people are aware of the meaning of its name. Literally translated, tira-mi-su’ means “pull-me-up” or, as you say in English, “pick-me-up”. In fact we feel quite invigorated when we eat it, no? But a small slip in the spelling of its name can create an amusing mistake: a few years ago we went to a pub in a tiny village somewhere in the south of England. While sipping the local cider I happened to glance up at the menu’ written in chalk on the blackboard: one of the desserts on offer was “tiramuso”! I started giggling and had to explain to my surprised husband that the misspelling, tira-muso, means “pull-a sulky face”, quite the opposite of the original meaning!

A good Tiramisu’ is always welcome, but it’s not the sort of thing you make everyday, as it’s a very rich and time consuming recipe (too much of it will pull your cholesterol up instead of your morale). Fortunately, however, there is an alternative, and many years ago a friend of mine taught me this simple, relatively healthy, version that you can make at home with everyday ingredients, and eat without worrying too much about the consequences. I’m going to give you the recipe, but you’ll have to forgive me because I never measure things when I make it, lo faccio ad occhio (I do it by eye).

Ingredienti

Dry, plain biscotti (biscuits), the sort we call Marie, and that we eat for breakfast dipped in “caffelatte”.

Caffe’ nero dolcificato   Black coffee, slightly sweetened.

Liquore: Brandy or similar (optional)

Burro (butter) or margarina (margarine)

Farina (flour) or Maizena (cornstarch)

Latte (milk)

Zucchero (sugar)

Cacao dolce (sweet cocoa)

 

Preparazione

Make a besciamella dolce (sweet béchamel sauce) with butter (or margarine), flour (or cornstarch), and milk, adding sugar  when it is almost cooked, and leave it to cool slightly. Mix the coffee with a couple of spoonfuls of brandy (if you choose to use it). Use a rectangular container with tall sides, made of Pyrex if possible. Put a layer of biscuits at the bottom of the container. Pour some of the coffee mixture over the top to soak them, then cover with some sweet béchamel sauce. Repeat the process of making layers in the same way until all the ingredients are finished (I often have to make some more besciamella because I’ve made too little, or I make too much sauce and have to get another container to make an extra portion of pudding, oh dear!). Put it in the fridge for several hours to cool down and set; sprinkle the top with cocoa before serving. Enjoy it chilled.

Variazione extra salutare (Extra healthy variation)

A few days ago I had some guests who didn’t drink anything caffeinated. As I didn’t have any decaffeinated coffee, I decided to improvise and use caffe’ d’orzo (barley coffee) instead, and it worked really well. Caffe’ d’orzo is a popular substitute for coffee here in Italy as it is naturally caffeine free, and let’s face it, there’s something a bit ‘unnatural’ about decaffeinated coffee! Caffe’ d’orzo is made from ground, roasted barley, and is prepared in the normal mocha (Italian coffee maker) or, even better, in the caffettiera Napoletana (Neapolitan coffee maker).

Mmm… Mi e’ venuta l’acquolina in bocca! Vado a prepararmi un buon Tiramisu’ salutare! (Mmm… my mouth is watering! I’m going to prepare a nice, healthy Tiramisu’!)

 
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La Farinata

Posted by Serena
May
1
2009

Very often it’s the simple things in life that are the best, take for example la farinata. La farinata, or faina’ as the locals call it, is a delicious savory pancake made with farina di ceci (chick pea flour), water and olive oil. Originating in the region of Liguria, la farinata  is also popular a bit further south in the Massa area where they call it ‘calda calda’ (literally ‘hot hot’), and in Lucca, Pisa, and Livorno where it is known as  cecina or cecino. The Fiorentini (‘People from Florence’) call it Farinata alla Fiorentina (‘Florentine Farinata’) although this name is erroneous because, as mentioned above, it’s origins are Ligurian. Further afield la farinata can even be found in Provence, France, where it was taken by the mothers of young Italian men who were forcibly enrolled into Napoleon’s army and followed to France by their distraught families.

Do you ever wonder how, where, and by whom recipes were invented? Well fortunately we have a legend (yes yet another legend!) which explains the precise origins of la farinata, eccola (here it is):

In August of 1284 the Genovesi (‘People from Genoa’) gave the Pisani (‘People from Pisa’) a jolly good bashing at the battle of Meloria. During the chaos of battle a number of sacks of ceci (chick peas) split open and got mashed up with the contents of several broken barrels of olive oil in the galley of a Pisan ship. Now, the Genovesi have a reputation for being tirchi (tight), and have a horror of throwing anything away. They therefore fed their Pisan prisoners bowls of the flour and oil mixture or ‘farinata’, rendered more palatable by the heat of the sun which had evaporated the water. Later the Genovesi, recognizing a good thing when they saw it, perfected the recipe by baking a thin layer of the impasto (paste) on large iron skillets in an oven.

If you don’t have the opportunity to pop down to Liguria to buy yourself a nice hot piece of ‘farinata’ you can always have a go at making it yourself. Here’s what you need:

Ingredienti:

250 gr di farina di ceci                                250 grams of chick pea flour

750 ml di acqua                                         750 milliliters of water

olio extravergine di oliva                            extra virgin olive oil

sale e pepe                                               salt and pepper

Optional:

1 nave Pisana in cui mescolare l’impasto    1 Pisan battleship in which to mix the paste, if you don’t happen to have a Pisan battleship handy you can always mix it by hand in a bowl.

Put the flour in a mixing bowl, dilute it with the water and add salt to taste. Mix the flour and water thoroughly until it is smooth and there are no lumps. Leave the mixture to rest for at least 4 hours or preferably overnight. Skim off the surface foam that should have formed, and remix the paste. Spread a generous amount of oil (my recipe gives about a quarter of a cup!) in a low wide baking pan, then pour in a thin layer (roughly 3mm) of the flour and water paste, stirring it with a wooden spoon to allow the oil to be absorbed by the ‘farinata’.  Cook in a preheated oven at 200 C (400 Fahrenheit) until the farinata is golden in color and has a crusty surface. Cut into squares and serve hot sprinkled with rosemary leaves or freshly ground black pepper.

If you are not familiar with metric measurements you will easily find a number of sites on the internet that give conversion rates for just about everything, e.g. http://www.unitconversion.org/weight/grams-to-ounces-conversion.html

 

Buon appetito

 
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Torta Verde di Lucca

Posted by Serena
Mar
20
2009

I was inspecting the orto (vegetable garden) yesterday and to my delight I saw that the bietole (Swiss chard, a type of perennial spinach very popular here in Italy) is starting to grow back after its winter rest. I immediately thought of Torta Verde di Lucca (Lucca’s Green Pie), also known as Torta di Verdure (Vegetables Pie) or Torta d’Erbe (Green Vegetables Pie). In Lucca this is a very popular pie made from simple ingredients that would be available in the house of every contadino (peasant), but it’s not well known outside Lucca. Despite the name and the ingredients, Torta Verde di Lucca is actually a sweet pie. In other parts of Italy, if you ask for a Torta di Verdure or Torta d’Erbe, you’ll be given a savoury vegetable pie. So without further ado here’s the recipe for Torta Verde di Lucca.

Ingredienti per la pasta (ingredients for the pastry):

400 grammi di farina (14 oz plain flour)

150 grammi di zucchero semolato (6 oz caster sugar)

100 grammi di burro ammorbidito (4 oz softened butter)

vanillina (vanilla essence)

3 uova: 1 intero e 2 tuorli (3 eggs: 1 whole and 2 yolks)

Buccia di 1 arancia e 1 limone grattugiati (grated rinds of 1 orange and 1 lemon)

2 cucchiaini di lievito in polvere (2 teaspoons baking powder)

2 cucchiai di olio d’oliva (2 tablespoons of olive oil)

1/2 bicchierino di liquore a piacere (25 ml of your favorite sweet liqueur)

Put the flour on the work surface; make a well and add the eggs and all the other ingredients. Mix well, beginning with a fork and then with your hands, work quickly but don’t overwork the mixture. Make a ball and leave the dough to rest in a cool place.

Ingredienti per il ripieno (ingredients for the filling):

100 grammi di pane raffermo (4 oz leftover bread)

100 ml di latte (100 ml milk)

50 grammi di burro (2 oz butter)

100 grammi di zucchero semolato (4 oz caster sugar)

30 grammi di formaggio grattugiato: parmigiano e pecorino (1 and 1/2 oz grated cheese, a mixture of parmigiano and pecorino)

2 uova sbattute (2 eggs, beaten)

300 grammi di bietola tritate (12 oz Swiss chards, chopped, if not available you can use spinach)

1 ciuffo abbondante di prezzemolo (a handful of parsley, chopped)

50 grammi di uva passa (2 oz raisins)

50 grammi di canditi (2 oz candied peels)

50 grammi di pinoli (2 oz pine nuts)

1/2 bicchierino di liquore a piacere (25 ml of your favorite sweet liqueur)

1 pizzico ciascuno di sale, pepe, noce moscata e cannella (1 pinch of each of the following: salt, pepper, nutmeg and cinnamon)

Soak the bread in the milk. In a large frying pan melt the butter, add the Swiss chard and the parsley and cook them for a few minutes until soft. Leave them to cool down. Squeeze the milk out of the bread, place it in a mixing bowl and add the cold Swiss chards and all the other ingredients, mix well. The mixture should be slightly runny. Grease a 30 cm pie dish, and dust it with flour. Roll out the pastry until it’s wider than the pie dish. Line the dish with the pastry and pour the filling mixture into it. Trim the pastry and with the leftovers make some flat strips; use them to decorate the pie with a crisscross pattern. Bake in a moderate oven, 180C degrees, 350F, or Gas Mark 4, for about 1 hour, until the filling is firm and the pastry golden. Serve cold.

Buon appetito!

 
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Chiacchiere di Carnevale

Posted by Serena
Feb
20
2009

Here in Italy we have reached la Settimana Grassa (the fat week), which is the final week of Carnevale. La Settimana Grassa began yesterday with Giovedi’ Grasso (fat Thursday) and will end next Tuesday with Martedi’ Grasso (fat Tuesday, or Shrove Tuesday). These are days of euphoria and excess, particularly regarding food, because traditionally people had to use up all their meat, butter and eggs (hence the name fat week) before Mercoledi’ delle Ceneri (Ash Wednesday) when the Quaresima (Lent) begins. Quaresima was traditionally a period of penitence and moderation during which the consumption of meat and rich food was not allowed. During la Settimana Grassa Feste in Maschera (masquerade parties) will be taking place in every school and main piazza, as well as many private houses (see my last blog about Maschere di Carnevale, Carnival masks), and wherever you go you’ll find Chiacchiere di Carnevale (lit. Carnival chats), which are the fried sweet pastries that are also known as Cenci fritti  (lit. fried rags) or Frappe. They are very easy to make, so if you want to try them, here is the recipe:

Ingredienti:

400 grammi di farina (14oz of plain flour)

60 grammi di zucchero semolato (2.5oz caster sugar)

50 grammi di burro (2oz butter)

2 uova (2 eggs)

200ml di vino bianco secco (200ml of dry white wine)

Un pizzico di sale (a pinch of salt)

Abbondante olio per friggere (enough oil for deep frying)

50gr di zucchero a velo (2oz icing sugar)

Place the flour, caster sugar and salt on the work surface. Make a well and add the butter, which should be cut into small pieces, and the eggs, then mix all the ingredients whilst adding the white wine a bit at a time. Knead the dough until smooth, and then roll it out very thinly (about 1-2 mm), then, using a fluted pastry cutter, cut the pastry into roughly 5cm by 2cm rectangles. Make 2 parallel lengthwise cuts through each rectangle of pastry. Deep fry the chiacchiere in hot oil until they become a dark, golden color, drain them and put them on some kitchen paper, let them cool and then dust them with icing sugar. Serve the chiacchiere with Moscato Naturale d’Asti (or any fruity sweet white wine).

Buon Appetito!

 
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Aceto Balsamico di Modena

Posted by Serena
Feb
8
2009

Aceto balsamico di Modena is a concentrated, syrupy, dark brown balsamic vinegar with a deep complex aroma; just a few drops of it in any sauce or salad will give it a unique flavor. But what makes aceto balsamico di Modena so special and why is so expensive? Well, as the name implies, authentic balsamic vinegar is only made, following an age old tradition, in the counties of Modena and Reggio Emilia which form part of the Emilia Romagna region in Northern Italy. The mosto (grape juice before fermentation is complete) from Trebbiano and Lambrusco grapes is boiled until it has been reduced to half its original volume; this liquid, which is called sapa, is then put into small casks to mature. The casks are laid out in rows layered one on top of the other and every year the content of one layer of barrels is poured into those of the row beneath, and so on. Each row of barrels is made from a different type of wood, each of which infuses the liquid with its own particular aroma: castagno (chestnut), ciliegio (cherry), gelso (mulberry), ginepro (juniper), and quercia (oak). The process takes a minimum of five years, which explains the rarity and the high price of authentic aceto balsamico di Modena DOP. The special reserve balsamic vinegar is bottled in 200 ml ampolle (small glass bottles) designed by the Italian designer Giugiaro, with those reserved for 12 years having a capsula oro (gold lid) whilst the 25 years old Extravecchio (extra matured) reserve has a capsula avorio (ivory lid).

It is, of course, impossible to try to produce real aceto balsamico at home, but you might want to try this simple recipe for a nice home made aromatic vinegar:

Aceto al limone (lemon vinegar). You will need 1 liter of white wine vinegar and 3 un-waxed lemons. After having washed and dried the lemons, use a sharp knife to remove the rind (be careful to only use the yellow part of the rind); put the rind in a glass jar with a wide opening; pour the vinegar over the rind; close the jar tightly and leave it to infuse for at least 10 days after which time the vinegar is ready to be filtered and bottled. Aceto al limone is particularly good for dressing green salads and fruit salads, it also makes a really good accompaniment for fish.

Buon appetito!

 
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