Another video recipe of one of the most favourite Mediterranean fish (in Maltese)
Ingredients
2 tuna steaks of 250g each
2 garlic cloves
Mint
basil
half a glass of white wine
lemon
300g polenta
Olive oil For decorations
4 king prawns
Soy sauce
2 Tbsp brown sugar
red capsicum
lemon juice
White sauce
Butter
2 Tsp flour
Fish stock
Glass of wine
Dark Sauce
Tomato pulp
mint
cuttlefish ink
Onion
garlic
A friend of mine gave me this recipe, which is a different take on the traditional pesto. This is what I call a summer mediterranean dish. Easy to prepare, very tasty, especially if you use very good olive oil. Vegetarians, write this one down..
Ingredients
500g penne
1 1/2 c green peas fresh / frozen
3/4 c packed basil leaves
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp capers, drained
1/3 c extra virgin olive oil
1/2 c chopped walnuts, toasted
salt and pepper, to taste
Method
Bring a large stock pot of water to a boil and add penne. Cook until al dente. Drain and transfer to a serving bowl.
In a food processor or blender, blend the peas, basil, lemon juice and capers. Add the olive oil in a slow stream, and blend until combined.
Add to serving bowl with pasta and mix well. Add walnuts and season to taste with salt and pepper.
Have you ever been to Tuscany? No? What are you waiting for? Tuscany's go it all. If you want to get away from the city-like atmosphere and enjoy some of Italy's most picturesque sceneries and medieval cities, still intact, then you ought to visit Tuscany. Florence is its capital city, the birthplace of the renaissance, home to the influential De Medici Family and Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo.
Tuscany is also famous for its cuisine, varying from the famous Bisteccha Fiorentina, Cacciucco Livornese to the numerous wine regions amongst which, that of Montepulciano.
This is where me and my better half decided to spend our 5 day summer holiday. A short holiday of course, considering the vast stretch of land of the Tuscan Region. We landed at the Galileo Galilei Airport in Pisa. This is where all the major low cost airlines land. A reasonably small airport considering the constant flow of tourists pouring in from around the world. We had to wait in the blazing sun for a few minutes before the airport bus took us to the car depot to pick up our pre-booked car.
Driving in Tuscany is a must if you really want to enjoy the hidden gems this region has to offer, the far stretching lands covered in sunflowers complimenting the vastly green areas and the occasional lonely tree sitting on a hilltop.
Our first taste of the Tuscan cuisine was at VignaIlaria. A wonderful place nestled in the countryside outside the city walls of Lucca.
We noticed a beautiful garden on our way in and opted to eat outside however we had to cancel our plans, rain started pouring down heavily.
The ambient inside is equally pleasant. Vigna Ilaria is what I call a casual fine dining spot. We were greeted by Andrea, the owner and left it up to him to impress us with his tasty dishes.
Inside Vigna Ilaria
We had a selection of 4 starters followed by a main course and desert. We had some red wine of the region suggested by the sommelier.
The antipasti we chose were Insalata Lia and Acciughe di Monterosso (anchovies).
Insalata Lia
Fresh anchovies with lemon juice are a speciality of the region with the fish being caught from Viareggio and Livorno (famous for the Cacciucco alla Livornese which I managed to taste as well. My next dish was also fish based, the Carpaccio di Sarago bianco
Carpaccio di Sarago Bianco
and an interesting small pan for Vanessa. Inside was an egg immersed in some of the best cheese the area has to offer.
An evening to remember, a brilliant food experience with dishes which taste like poetry.
We bid Andrea, the owner and his staff farewell and took to the road for a 30 min drive back to our base in Pisa.
This is a very easy to prepare summer dish which could serve both as a healthy lunch or else as a filling dinner. Smaller portions could also be served as a starter.
Ingredients
(for 2 )
1.5 cups cooked barley
rucola or mixed green leaves
parmesan shavings
olive oil
fresh baby tomatoes
olive oil
Method
Cook barley as per instructions
Run under cold water to stop it from cooking any further
In a salad bowl add the sieved barley together with the mix rucola / mixed green leaves
Add some parmesan shaving / pecorino cheese
Cut the baby tomatoes in half and add it to ingredients
Season with salt and pepper and extra virgin olive oil. (I used Tartufo flavoured olive oil).
300 grams of pasta (I used penne rigate)
3 fresh sausages
Frozen mushrooms or dried mushrooms
Garlic
Oil
Chili
1 / 2 cup white wine
Chopped parsley and basil
Method
Put some olive oil in pan and fry the garlic and chilli flakes.
Crumble sausage in a skillet and squash it with a fork. Cook until browned.
Halfway through the process, remove the garlic.
When the sausage is browned, add the chopped mushrooms (without throwing the water of dried mushrooms, if you used them) and cook for a few more minutes. Add the white wine until reduced by half.
Finish the sauce by either adding some of the reserved liquid of the dried mushrooms or by dissolving 1 / 2 mushroom cube in hot water.
Add some fresh cream and stir.
Meanwhile cook the pasta al dente and then toss with the sauce in the pan of sausage and mushrooms.
If you like steak, you will love this black pepper-crusted tuna steak recipe. Best enjoyed medium-rare. The spicy pepper crust is perfect with this meaty fish.
Mix the basil, thyme and the black pepper together. Season the tuna with the mixture.
In a hot saute pan, add the olive oil and sear the tuna until cooked rare or to desired temperature. Remove the tuna. Then add the wasabi, fish stock and the soy sauce to the hot saute. Reduce the stock by half.
