Salsiccie e fagioli

Salsiccie e fagioli (or Sausages and Beans!)

Regardless of how you say it this combination is a favourite in one form or another throughout Europe and indeed though the new world such as the United States and Australia where by European dishes were taken to the Colonies by settlers.

Here is one of my favourites that is often eaten at home for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

It is based on the tomatoey 'Fagioli all Uccelletto' from Tuscany that is traditionally served with pigs liver if my memory serves me well, and a little bit like the French cassoulet (but with out the duck!)

The list of ingredients are as follows, this is how I cook it but feel free to adapt, I use the rosemary and touch of chili combination, usually however it wouldn't have the chili and would have sage instead of rosemary....but i really would recommend lots of fresh crusty bread to mop up the juices with!

500 g Good Italian pork or Toulouse sausages

220 g Dried cannellini beans

Large tin (400g) of good chopped tomatoes

Glass of red wine

3 cloves of chopped garlic not too fine as its nice with a bit of body.

2 tablespoons of chopped fresh rosemary

1 teaspoon dried chili flakes

3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

Salt and black pepper

Method:

Soak the beans overnight in cold water in a suitable container.

Drain the beans and rinse , simmer in fresh water for 35-45 minutes, drain and set aside for later use.

Saute the sausage over a low heat until nicely coloured all over-set aside

Add olive oil, garlic and rosemary to the saute pan and heat through gently so as not to colour the garlic (this will make it bitter if it does)

Now add the wine and the sausages back in to the pan and reduce the wine by half.

Now add the tomatoes and add a little bit of salt (depending on the sausages you do not want to over season in case the sausages are highly seasoned and spiced) and the drained beans.

Simmer for around 15 minutes until the sausages are cooked through and the sauce has thickened up a little.

Check the seasoning

Serve with chopped flat leaf parsley.

Nice!

Imqaret-Maltese Date Fritters

O.K. so I know that this is not strictly Italian at all. But I am a lover of all food and this dish is one that brings back happy memories of time spent in Malta.

If you ever visit Malta you will find that several cuisines shape the style of Maltese cooking. British, French, Italian of course and Arab or North African cuisine.



I have been to Malta quite a few times now and just simply can not resist these little sweet treats. They are usually sold from mobile or static 'kiosks' in the street and have a very good stall just out side the entrance to the walled City of Valletta the Maltese capitol.
Imqaret are basically date fritters. It doesn't sound as exciting when you put it like that.

But when you combine the small list of ingredients and spices this wonderful treat comes to life.

The ingredients for the imqarets are as follows:

400g Plain flour

2 tablespoons lard or margarine
1 Tablespoon caster sugar
1.250 kg pitted dates (soaked for an hour before in 1 tablespoon of anisette, and a little water)
Zest of 1 orange
2 tablespoon anisette, brandy or sambuca (1 tablespoon is for soaking the dates: see above)
1 tablespoon orange flower water
A small pinch of ground cloves

Method:

For the imqaret dough, rub the fat (lard or Marg) into the flour.
Add the sugar to the mix and rub in gently.
Moisten the mix with a little anisette (or Brandy or sambuca) and a touch of water so that a soft dough is formed.

Now for the filling:

Drain the dates. Combine the dates, cloves, orange zest, liquor and orange water.
Roll the imqaret dough out into a long wide strip and place the filling on the top of the dough to form a layer about 1.5 cm thick. leaving a small edge around the 'border' clear.
Moisten the edge of the pastry and fold over to cover the filling.
Press all edges well together to seal with the back of a fork.
Cut into diamond or rectangular shapes (about 4 x 3 inches.)
Fry in clean deep hot oil until golden and crisp.

Finally drain on absorbent kitchen paper and serve whilst still hot.

When I have made these at home I have served them with a little bit of runny honey and a few chopped pistachios.....and a dollop of ice cream. Try clotted cream ice cream if you can get it. But that is up to you. They are fine just the way they are!

Well there you go. This recipe works for me but If any one has got any other ways of making them then please do let me know. I am always willing to try new ways!

Enjoy.

An Old Favourite

Well the following recipie will not break any boundaries but it is an old favourite and an easy spot of lunch to 'whip up.'

It does break the duel carb rule as well by using both potatoes and pasta in the same dish.

A few days a go I made up a large batch of pesto and fancied using some up today with something or other. Alas, no meat or fish in sight and my wife has the car.

I'm sure we have all been there before.

As always in our house there is an abundance of all manner of dried pastas and new potatoes.

Pesto con fagiolini e patate

Pesto with green beans & potatoes.

For the pesto Genovese (this will make enough for around 6 portions):

75g/3oz basil

50g/2oz pine nuts lightly toasted

50g/2oz parmesan cheese freshly grated

2 clove garlic, peeled & chopped

120ml/5fl oz olive oil

Salt and pepper at your discretion, I prefer to count on the salt from the cheese and 'pepper' flavour from the basil.

Whizz or chop all ingredients together. Not too fine though. It is nice to have a few 'bits in it' this way you know its home made.

The rest of the dish:

20-30 new potatoes (depending on appetite) Cut in half.

220g/5oz Green beans toppped and tailed.

300g-460g/120z-16oz dried pasta such as Linguini or spaghetti

Place new potatos in pan of cold salted water-place on stove and bring to a steady boil but not furious. About 15-20 minutes

In the mean time also a bring a pan of water to the boil for the pasta. Allow approximately 4 litres of water per 500g of pasta when using dried pastas. When water is boiling add salt.

Also bring a smaller pan of water up to the boil for the green beans. Salt lightly.

By now your potatoes should be almost cooked and your pasta water pan boiling.

When you are almost ready to take the potatoes off It is time to cook your green beans and pasta.

Add your pasta of choice to the pan of boiling water. After a few seconds the pasta will start to soften enough for you to submerge the pasta under water. Place a lid on to bring the water back to the boil. At this stage I would suggest that you supervise the pan as over flowing water can extinguish your flame.

At the same time add your green beans to the smaller pan which should have reached the boil well before the pasta pan. The green beans for al-dente will take 2-3 minutes

Remove lid of the pasta panand stir gently. Depending on the type and brand of dried pasta the cooking process should only take a few minutes for al-dente. Check after 3 minutes.

In the mean time if you havnt already done so, take your potatoes off and drain.

Now take off your beans and drain-set aside. Now take off your pasta, drain but keep some of the cooking water at hand to loosen the end dish.

If every thing has gone to plan your potatoes should be cooked nicely (not over cooked) and drained, your pasta and beans are cooked as well.

Combine all three ingredients to a mixing bowl (Not one that is stone cold but rather room temperature) and add your pesto-use as much or as little as you like, but remember that most of the flavour for the dish is in the pesto. And stir to coat. If the sauce is a little thick and dry then add a touch of the cooking water to the dish.

Serve with a pepper mill at hand and extra parmesan.

Although not traditional I do like to add either slow roasted or 'confit' cherry tomatoes or sun blush tomatoes to this dish at the end if I have some as they add a welcome 'sweetness' to the

end product.

Although I prefer to eat it warm this can of course be chilled making sure to refresh pasta, potaoes and green beans after cooking to prevent discolouration and getting over cooked, and eaten as a 'salad.'

Hope you like this lovely simple dish!

Welcome lovers of Italian food!

Dear All,

Welcome to my little blog. My name is Shaun and although a chef by trade have left the industry (..more or less!) to pursue a different career path. I trained in both French and Italian kitchens and have a passion for both cuisines. The great thing about the Italian kitchen for me is the diversity that can be seen from region to region. The food available really does vary from the North to the South, and to the islands of course and the seasonality truly does reflect what will be on offer. I am a great lover of fish, game, vegetables and everything in between. Truffles of course are way up on the list and have been fortunate enough to work with them (and perhaps have a nibble or two as well along the way!)

I am always to keen to learn about others foodie experiences and look forward to discussing this topic with others.

Here I would really just like to invite fellow foodies to discuss and share our thoughts, recipies, debates and ideas about Italian cusine. I will try to include a few recipies from my Uncle Umberto who as a native to Rome and a chef by trade has promised to pass on a few of his tips, and of course my dear Mama's recipies also.

So if you have a passion for Italian food then please join us, post a question perhaps and we can try to help answer all our questions.

Happy cooking and Buon appetito!

Shaun