Antipasti ~ Appetizers
Marie Lucia’s Fiori di Zucchine Fritti ~ Fried Zucchini Flowers
Number of servings: 6
Ingredients
- 12 zucchini flowers (clean and de-stem the center)
- 1 ½ cup of flour
- 1 ¾ cup sparkling water
- Sea salt, to taste
- Fresh black ground pepper, to taste
- Garlic powder, to taste
- 1 teaspoon of baking powder
- 1 liter of canola oil, for frying
Instructions
- Clean the flowers and de-stem the inside.
- In a bowl, mix the flour and sparkling water until the mixture is the consistency of a loose pancake batter. Add the sea salt, black pepper, garlic powder and baking powder mix very well.
- Dip each flower into the batter and gently deep fry in hot canola oil until they float to the top and are golden brown.
- After frying place on brown paper, sprinkle with sea salt and mangia!
Brioche Salata~ Savory Brioche
Ingredients
- For the Dough:
- 3 ¼ cup Flour ‘00’
- 4 Fresh Eggs
- 7 tbsp Butter
- 5 ¼ tbsp Brewer’s Yeast
- ½ cup Milk
- A pinch of Salt
- For the Filling:
- ½ cup Baked Smoked Ham, diced
- ½ cup Salami, diced
- ½ cup Fontina cheese, diced
Instructions
- Place the flour on the pastry board, preferably wooden, and create a hole in the center.
- Break the eggs and butter in to the hole along with the brewers’ yeast, the milk and the salt.
- Mix together until you have a uniform dough.
- When the mix is well combined put the baked smoked ham, salami and the Fontina cheese inside and mix with your hands.
- Pour the mixture into a bunt pan, lined with butter and flour, and place in the oven for 45 minutes at 180°C (350°F).
Primi~ First Courses
Pasta Al Fresco
Number of servings: 2
Ingredients
- 1 to 2 bulbs of fresh fennel, depending on size
- 200 g (7 oz) of De Cecco Penne Rigate Kamut
- Sea Salt
- Extra virgin first-cold-pressed lemon olive oil
- Extra virgin first-cold-pressed olive oil
- 3 chili peppers
Instructions
- Clean the fennel and slice into thin pieces about ¼ inch thick.
- Line a piece of foil in a pizza pan and drizzle with extra virgin first-cold-pressed olive oil.
- Spread the fennel on the foil, add salt and pepper to taste.
- Let it roast in an oven at 325°F for 20 minutes or more until golden brown.
- When baked golden, remove from oven.
- Boil a big pot of water with a pinch of salt.
- Toss in the pasta and boil until al dente. Simultaneously heat up a little lemon olive oil with three small chili peppers, add the cooked fennel. Take two generous ladles of pasta water and add to the fennel.
- Drain pasta and add to the pan of fennel.
- Toss ingredients until the pasta and fennel are mixed.
- Serve immediately.
Pasta Con Vongole, Fiori di Zucca e Zucchine ~ Pasta With Clams, Zucchini & Zucchini Flowers
Number of servings: 2
Ingredients
- 3 zucchini (4 or more if they are the very small thin ones)
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 2 chili peppers
- Extra virgin first-cold-pressed olive oil
- Sea salt
- 6 squash flowers, take off the thorns that grow around the outside; and remove the stamens from the male flowers (the center part full of pollen) and pistils from the female ones.
- 200 g (7 oz) Linguine pasta
- 2 cups (or more if you like more clams) of vongole
Instructions
- Take your zucchini, wash well, and slice into thin ¼ disks.
- In a sauté pan, warm up the olive oil, two to three cloves of pressed garlic, 2 chili peppers and salt to taste.
- Slowly stir up the ingredients, keeping the heat very low.
- When the garlic is blond, remove it and add the zucchini.
- Add a half cup of water to the pan and cover.
- Meanwhile fill a giant pan with water, salt to taste and let the water boil.
- Keep an eye on the zucchini and add water if the pan gets too dry.
- When the squash are soft and cooked, add the vongole and cover.
- Continue to cook on medium heat until the clams open.
- When the pasta is almost cooked, al dente, add the torn squash flowers to the sauté pan and cover. Take a ladle (or two if on the dry side) of pasta water and add it also to the sauté pan.
- When the clams open you can turn heat off.
- Drain the pasta and add to the sauté pan.
- Stir and serve.
- *A note on Fiori di Zucca, Squash Flowers: The female flower grows golden blossoms attached right to the actual zucchini, squash. The male flowers grow onto the plant and they do not grow any fruit at all. Male flowers tend to be bigger and both are edible. The female have pistils and the male flowers have stamens, both are located in the center of the flower and should be removed before cooking.
Secondi ~ Second Courses
Tonno Scottato ~ Seared Tuna
Number of servings: 2
Ingredients
- Two lean slices of fresh tuna
- Extra virgin first-cold pressed olive oil
- Sea salt
- Arugula
- Lemon
- Sea Salt
- Aged Balsamic Vinegar
Instructions
- Wash three handfuls of Arugula and dry well.
- Place in the center of a plate and pile high.
- Take a sauté pan and drizzle enough extra virgin first cold pressed olive oil to lightly coat the pan, and heat over medium.
- Add the tuna slices and let cook for a couple minutes on each side until you see the very outer layer only turn pink.
- Salt to taste.
- Remove and let cool a couple minutes.
- Place the tuna from bottom to top on the bed of Arugula keeping its pyramid shape.
- Drizzle with olive oil and aged Balsamic vinegar.
Dolci ~ Desserts
Ciliegie Sotto Spirito ~ Black Cherries in Liquor
Makes one jar
Ingredients
- 1/2 pound of organic dark cherries
- 1/3 cup of sugar, I use the dark turbinado sugar
- 2 cups of 100% grain alcohol or vodka can be used
- 1/2 cup of rum
- Zest of 1 lemon or orange. Peel the fruit like a potato without getting any white pith.
Instructions
- Choose dark, firm, unblemished cherries. Remove the stems and rinse them with cold water. Dry well. Place cherries in a large, airtight glass jar fitted with a secure rubber gasket cover.
- Add the orange zest and sugar, then cover with spirito and rum. Close the jar tight and shake. Keep the jar in a cool dry place and shake it around every day. After about 6 to 8 weeks, separate the fruit from the juice.
- Prepare a simple syrup by dissolving 1 cup of sugar with 1 to 1 1/2 cups of water, to taste (or to taste) in a medium saucepan. Once the sugar is dissolved, remove from the heat and allow to cool. After the syrup is cool, place in the fridge for an hour or o until very cold, and add the fruit back into the juice.
- Leave aside for 2 months.
- Aside from eating the ‘drunken’ cherries, you can use the cherry-alcohol over ice cream, fruit salad, pound cake, as a bath for sponge cakes, a cherry or fruit tiramisu’.
Vino Con Pesche Bianche E Gialle ~ White Wine With White & Yellow Peaches
Number of servings: 4
Instructions
- Yellow and white peaches have made their way onto the summer scene in Italy.
- And if you like fresh peaches served simple, cut them into thin slices and add to a glass pitcher.
- Pour a cold bottle of Falanghina, the choice on the Amalfi Coast (let sit a few hours so the peaches soak in the wine, while Venetians sip a sweet blend of pureed peaches and Prosecco for their classic Bellini!