Licia's Italian Recipes

First off, the famous dessert Tiramisu!!
Try this and you will never go back to the packaged version sold in supermarkets!!
(and Julie, you can leave out the Marsala if you prefer!)



Ingredients:
700g/ 1,5 lb mascarpone
6 very fresh (essential!!) eggs (5 if eggs are particularly large)
100g / 3,5 oz sugar
half cup of Marsala wine
1 cup (circa, more if needed) freshly brewed coffee (not too strong, slightly diluted) or little more as needed.
600g / 1 lb + 5oz Savoiardi or lady fingers
pure cocoa powder unsweetened
sweetened cocoa powder


Instruction:

Separate eggs. Beat together yolks, sugar, wine and mascarpone until the mixture attains a smooth creamy texture.
Whip the eggwhite vigorously until it becomes solid. (do this patiently with "high energy", if it is not solid enough the end result will be soggy and soupy!)
Carefully fold in the whipped eggwhite into the mascarpone/york mixture, blend them well and evenly.

Mix 2 teaspoonful of sugar into the coffee, then pour in a container large enough to dip savoiardi/lady fingers comfortably. dip each pieces of biscuits into the coffee quickly, (wet the entire surface for a moment but not until it gets soggy all the way through) lay them neatly in one layer at the bottom of a large square/rectangular baking dish (or 2 medium).
pour half of the cream (mascarpone/egg mixture) evenly over the savoiardi, then sprinkle the sweetened cocoa powder to cover the surface.

Arrange another layer of savoiardi on top, repeat with the cream, then top it off with unsweetened pure cocoa powder.

Chill it in the fridge for a couple of hours before serving.

Thank you for this Tiramisu recipe, Licia! I have tried to make tiramisu with friends but that time we put too much Marsala innit!

LOL I hope you didn't get drunk from Tiramisu!! One time I used Rum instead of Marsala when I didn't have one, it turned out quite tasty as well! ;-)

Licia,can you explain me shortly,what is this mascarpone like about

Milana, Mascarpone is a kind of soft, very creamy fresh cheese!! Look I found a wikipedia page in Russian!!

Mascarpone, Wikipedia in Russian

I love Mascarpone! (And no, luckily we didn't get drunk, LOL. But Tiramisu tasted a little too much Marsala.
Ricotta is another favourite of mine, and I especially love big shell pasta (what is it's name, Licia?) filled with spinach and Ricotta. With good thick tomato sauce & herbs. It's quite difficult to find big shell pasta here!

I love Mascarpone, sometimes I eat it just with strawberries as it is very fresh

Thank you for this recipe Licia, I will try it any time soon!

Oh,unfortunately it's not available in our stores,but it looks like...like....like Zebra Enchante!

Milana, you shouldn't put the Magical Zebra along something white and creamy, it might give me bad bad ideas

Milana, I think you will find from your stores something which resebles Mascarpone. You have lovely Smetana and cottage cheese in Russia - can't remember the names of them unfortunately.

Yes, of course it won't be the same as real Mascarpone but I'm sure you may try another cheese to make Tiramisu

@ Milana, that is a pity there is no mascarpone available near you!! But as Kati and Julie pointed out, you may be able to find some Russian product which is similar enough. Or ricotta may not be a very bad idea...

@Katia, I love ricotta, too... it is so versatile it's great for stuffed pasta (shell shaped pasta = conchigilioni) as you said, also wonderful for making various desserts. Have you ever tried ricotta made with sheep milk, perhaps when you were in Italy? (ricotta di pecora) It is gorgeous, much richer and creamier than regular cow milk ricotta One of my favourite ways to eat ricotta is mix in some shaved chocolate, sugar and candied fruit and eat it just as is!!

Yes, Licia, conchigilioni was the name! I found them once from Lidl, but then they disappeared, and I've tried to seek them from countless of places, in vain. Usually it's quite easy to find different pasta types nowadays even from our little town stores. I love giant shell pasta, with ricotta-spinach filling and so did my guests. Sheep milk is my favourite, too, more tasty than cow milk. I have to try ricotta di pecora!

Actually conchiglioni is not the most popular or readily available type of pasta here either, or at least in Rome. It may be more popular in some other regions, as each regions in Italy has varied styles, specialties and tendencies, which make each regional cuisine very distinct.
I often do cannelloni with the spinach and ricotta filling, I prefer this to the meat sauce filling. The fresh, rectangular pasta sheets (which is also used to make lasagna) are much more easily found and readily available. But when I have the time I prefer making the pasta myself. It is worth the effort, and if you have the food processor for kneading and the pasta cutter it is not too much of work to do so! And you can make it enough for two dinners worth in one go, as you can store it in the fridge for a few days as well.
I will post the recipe for homemade pasta the next time!!

I think I never actually ate ricotta There's a lot of stuffs I still have to discover!

Jersey_Fierce wrote:

I think I never actually ate ricotta There's a lot of stuffs I still have to discover!

Of course hun, and you are still very young!!! I have to admit I had never eaten or even seen a real fresh mozzarella until I came to Italy either!
And I am sure there are many more delicious specialties from around the world of which I am yet to discover!

Apology for a lengthy entry, but if you follow the instruction carefully, it will be fool proof and once you get a hang of it, it will be a pretty simple operation!!



Nothing beats freshly made homemade pasta, and it is actually quite simple to make!! Of course if you have an electric mixer and an Imperial type pasta cutter it makes the process much easier but even without them it is not a mission impossible, until two years ago when we bought them, I used to do it all by hands quite regularly, and it's really worth the effort, also you can make enough for 2-3 dinners in one go as it keeps in the fridge for several days!!

1 egg to every 100g of flour
Have some water in a little cup/jug handy

1. Kneading

-with an electric mixer

Put the flour in, then make a slight dent and crack the eggs into the dent.
Turn on the mixer, first on slower, then turn it up gradually. If the dough is too dry, add a little water, a few drops at a time. The dough must remain full of body, and shouldn't turn sticky or runny. When the consistency of the dough stabilises turn the mixer up to a vigorous cycle near full speed. Let it knead for about 5-10 minutes, checking intermittently, until the dough is smooth, elastic and very compact.

-by hand
Before you start, keep extra flour handy, make sure your hands are dry and covered with flour.
Pile the flour on a clean, smooth, flat work surface, thoroughly dusted with flour. Make a well in the centre. Beat the eggs, and carefully pour the mixture into the well. Carefully let the top edges of the flour into the eggs, then smoothing up the flour from the outer sides towards the centre to guide into the eggs, let it slowly incorporate into the pile of flour. If the egg spew out don't panic, swiftly push the "lava" into the flour and continue to work. Once the eggs are roughly amalgamated into the flour, start kneading vigorously, thoroughly from every angle, utilising your body weight. If the dough is too dry and crumbly, add just a few drops of water (and no more) at a time, to make the dough smooth enough to work with but never let it become sticky or runny. Sprinkle generous amount of extra flour on the work surface as needed. Continue to knead in the same manner for at least 20 minutes, until the dough is elastic, smooth and compact.

If you are rolling out the dough by hand,
Cover the dough with a plastic film, and let it rest for about an hour. This resting will "tame" the elasticity and make flattening process easier.

2. Flattening

Again prepare a clean, smooth, flat surface to work, strewn with flour and smear more flour onto your hand as well, and more flour ready nearby.

-with a pasta cutter

Secure the pasta cutter on the work surface.
Separate the dough into smaller pieces in order to fit them through the cutter easily and evenly. First Roll each pieces out on the thickest setting.
Narrow down a couple of notches and repass each pieces. If it gets too long, cut in half.
Continue until each piece is about 1,5mm thick sheets for lasagne or filled pasta (ravioli, tortellini etc.), 1mm for tagliatelle, trenette etc.

-by hand

Separate the dough in a few pieces. With a rolling pin flatten out each piece evenly, gradually working into thin sheets, 1,5 mm for lasagne or filled pasta (ravioli, tortellini), 1mm for tagliatelle, trenette etc. Do not worry if the dough spreads into irregular shape, in the end the odd ends can be sliced off, and there is always a way to utilise them. Make sure to cover the work surface with additional flour from time to time as the dough absorbs the loose flour.

3. Cutting:

Tagliatelle/Trenette: With a pasta cutter, choose the size of the pasta form and cut each sheets. By hand, slice them with a sharp, fairly large, smooth bladed knife into desired width. They are best air dried first before being put away, if you have a rack, that will be ideal so every strip will be aired all around.

Lasagne: if they are reasonably regular size, leave as is or slice them into roughly the same sizes.

Ravioli: use a round ravioli cutter, to be filled and folded over in half moon shape, or alternatively put spoonful of filling with even spaces directly on to the sheets, then cut through in between the filling (making sure there is enough space around the filling to secure the edges all around) to make square shapes.

Extra remains: It is normal for you to be left with some odd bits and pieces. They also have a "status" and are called "maltagliate" in Italian. If they are rather large slice them into tagliatelle like strips, and enjoy with sugo, ragù etc. just as you would with other pasta.

4.Hang dry

Let the cut pasta dry for about half an hour, a special rack shown in the above picture is an ideal equipment, however you can also use a rack from your oven as well.

5.. Storing:

Coat the pasta with dry flour as you put them in a container that closes tightly. If you stack lasagne sheet or ravioli, use a sheet of wax paper in between.

6. Cooking:

Fresh pasta cooks very fast. After dropping the pasta into generous amount of boiling water, two minutes will suffice for the pasta to be ready.
For filled pasta, watch carefully and scoop each pieces out as they float onto the surface. Do not overcrowd the water so as not to affect the temperature too drastically.
To make lasagne, no need for precooking the pasta. Lay them directly between the layer of sauces and cheeses. Make sure the surface of the pasta is covered completely with the sauce before baking, so it will be cooked properly.

Ooooooooooooh thanks! I will try next week and will post pictures!

How much would you put flour for 4 people? And do you rather like to cut it by hand or with the machine?

We have a pasta cutter so we use that to make lasagna/cannelloni sheets or tagliatelle, but of course you can slice them by hand. Bit of irregularity adds a character!! Just make sure to use a very sharp knife!!
It is almost impossible to flatten into a regular shape, so the edges are bound to be some irregular shapes and sizes, but that is also normal, it is called "maltagliate" (badly cut) and can be mixed into regular dishes unless you are particularly fussy about esthetics!

The amount depends, all of us in our household have much more appetite than average, so we tend to make much more than what is indicated in recipes, also in Italy the normal portion size tend to be smaller than that of abroad, because pasta dishes are just a part of a whole meal, rather than a main dish, it is considered as a "starter". What I usually do is using 500g flour, and make two meals for 3, which means 6 generous servings!

Molto grazie! *should have take Italian*

Jersey_Fierce wrote:

Molto grazie! *should have take Italian*

Prego hun, if you decide to learn more Italian, I am at your disposal any time!

Maybe I will next year if my Russian studies does not work as planned

Stuffed, fried courgette flowers


This is a very popular antipasto (especially at a pizzerias) or tapa, delicate yet flavourful. Courgette flowers are sometimes sold with a baby courgette intact, in this case you can leave the courgette attached to the flower and cook altogether, just make sure to remove the stamen inside the flower.

Stuffed Zucchini Flowers (Campania, Lazio)

15 courgette flowers
100g, or as needed 50/50 flour/corn flour(maizena) mixture
2 eggs
cold water*, as needed
200g fresh mozzarella
15 anchovy fillets (optional)
frying oil
Salt and black pepper to taste
*you can use a fizzy water, which tend to make the coating even more crispy!


Carefully eliminate the stamen from inside the courgette flowers and gently rinse the flowers, being careful not to break them.
Heat the oil* in a large frying pan (deep enough to let the flowers "swim") or an electric fryer to about 175°C*.
*If you don't use a fryer or a thermometre, test the hotness with a small drop of the batter. It should sizzle and float to the surface immediately.

In a shallow bowl, beat the eggs with a little salt and pepper. Add the flower mixture and little by little, cold water. Mixing well and bring the batter to a smooth consistency, something like a crepe batter.
Slice the mozzarella into thin strips and pat dry the anchovy fillets to eliminate excess oil.
Fill each courgette flower with a strip of mozzarella, 1 anchovy fillet and mozzarella. Make sure the mozzarella will stay within the flower petal, not sticking outside. This way the petals will close themselves while being cooked, preventing mozzarella from oozing out.

Dip the stuffed flowers into the batter, coat thinly and evenly.
Gently slip the courgette flower into the oil, cook about 3 at a time. If you are using a fryer, do not place them in the raised basket as the batter will stick, drop the flowers directly in the oil and let it swim.
Fry for a couple of minutes on each side, until they turn golden.
Gently remove each flower with a slotted spoon and let them rest on an absorbent paper.
Serve immediately.

Funny thing is that I ate this for the first time during my vacations in Tunisia Loved it!

Thank you Licia, for this wonderful recipe