Qastan tal-imbuljuta

It's beginning to get cold and I had been thinking of doing this recipie for a while... It reminds me of cosy winters at home with all the family.

Hope you enjoy it...

Kannoli tar-rikotta

These cornets / kannoli require specially shaped tin moulds which may be bought from any supermarket.

Ingredients

for the pastry

225g flour

2 tsp sugar

2 tsp drinking chocolate

2 tsp margerine

2 tsp shortening

2 tsp red wine

approx 470ml cold water

For the filling

400g rikotta

55 g plain chocolate

115 g glace cherries

55g icing sugar

115g blanched and roasted almonds

Method:

Mash the rikotta, chop up the chocolate, cherries and almonds.  stir these into the rikotta together with the sugar.  Make the pastry:  either place all ingredients in an electric mixer and blend, using a dough hook, or mix by hand, using the rubbing-in method.  Roll the pastry out thinly.  Cut into rounds with a cutter and place each round over a tube. Deep - fry the kannoli a few at a time turning them until they are evenly brown.  When the lemon rind gets brown, replace it with a fresh piece.  Cool the kannoli on absorbent paper.  They ought to be filled at the last possible moment.

Arjoli

 

This recipe is usually associated with ‘bebbux’ (snails) however it is really a shame to use arjoli only with snails considering a lot of people are not fans of such dish. 

This paste can be used both as a dip or even better,  as a paste for ‘hobz biz-zejt’.  I’d rather spread some arjoli instead of tomato paste.

This is how you do it….

 

Ingredients

200gr tuna,

400g tomato paste (kunserva)

1 large chopped onion

4 heads of garlic

100 g pitted green olives

6 anchovy fillets

250g breadcrumbs or crushed water biscuits

Fresh parsley

2 chilli peppers

¼ ltr good olive oil

Method

Mix everything into a bowl and put into a blender.  Add the olive oil while blending, until you arrive to the desired consistency.  The amount of chilli peppers depends on your taste-buds. 

nero di seppia

Just cooked this wonderful spagetti nero di seppia after buying fresh cuttlefish (seppia) from marsaxlokk.

anybody wants to know the recipie?

Cooking Tuna with a difference

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

Green Pea Pesto

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.

My Tuscan Experience

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.  

To be continued...