Tutto Italiano.....Pasta al Nero di Seppia and Strawberry Panna Cotta with Rose Water

 Pasta al Nero di Seppia with Cherry Tomatoes, Olives, 

and Mushrooms in a Cognac Cream Sauce

Strawberry Panna Cotta with Rose Water 

Weather is so good, we feel the spring is finally here!!....We are having warm and long days...nice salads are present on our tables......But......I was craving Italian food!!!.....Yes.....Pasta and Dessert.....I love Italian Food !!

Pasta al Nero di Seppia with Cherry Tomatoes, Olives, and Mushrooms in a Cognac Cream Sauce

500 grams of squid-ink pasta. I make my own pasta, as I shown in a previous post. I add 1 teaspoon of squid-ink per egg.

300 grams of cherry tomatoes

250 grams of mushrooms

100 grams of black olives (sliced)

300 cc of thick cream

1 Garlic (chopped)

1/2 onion (chopped)

1/4 cup of cognac

Olive oil

Sea salt

Pepper

Sage (4 leaves)

Make your own squid-ink pasta or buy it. If you make your pasta, then let it dry.

Wash the cherry tomatoes. In a pan, add some olive oil and garlic. Once it is hot, add the cherry tomatoes and roast them. Sprinkle it with sea salt and pepper. When they are cooked, set aside.

In a pan, heat some olive oil, and add the chopped onion and the sage. When the onion is translucent, take the sage out, and add the garlic. Incorporate the mushrooms, add the cognac, and cook the mushrooms while the alcohol evaporates. Add the cream and stir it. Add the black olives. Season it with salt and pepper, and set aside.

In a big pot with boiling water and salt, cook your squid-ink pasta. Once it is cooked, drain it and put it in a big bowl. Add the roasted tomatoes, and toss it, then add the mushrooms/olives/cognac cream and toss it. Serve it and sprinkle with Parmiggiano cheese. Enjoy!!!

Strawberry Panna Cotta with Rose Water 

Panna cotta:

3 cups of cream (I use 35%)

85 grams of sugar (you can use more or less)

3.5 teaspoon of gelatin powder

5 tablespoon of water

Seeds of 1 vanilla bean

Strawberries Mix

350 grams of strawberries

70 grams of sugar (more or less depending on your taste)

3 tablespoons of rose water

Wash the strawberries. In a blender, mix the strawberries, sugar, and rose water until you have a puree. 

Put the gelatine in a cup, and add the water. Wait until the gelatine absorbs the water and makes a gel.

In a pot, place the cream over medium heat with the sugar, and the seeds of vanilla bean. Mix it. Once the cream starts to boil, add the gelatine and cook for two minutes at very low heat.When the mixture is warm, distribute half of this mix on glasses. Place it in a refrigerator until is set. Add half of the strawberry pure to the remaining cream, and put this mixture in the glasses (second layer). Place it in a refrigerator until is set. Once this part is set, put the strawberry coulis on top and garnish with a mint leave.  Enjoy!

 

Nutty Pasta with Herbs ......more delicious than expected!!

I am not really a fan of cooking TV programs  because either I don't have time to watch them or  they are not appealing to me. However, since I saw a Nutty Pasta recipe in the TV program of Laura Calder, I decided that I must try this recipe. What I found appealing on this recipe? I think it was the mix of almonds, pine nuts and pistachio. Nevertheless, the ingredient that captivated my attention was the mint. 

I'm using mint more and more in salty dishes. I use it with chick peas, rice and other grains.....But, With pasta?  no idea how it would taste.

I follow exactly Laura Calder's recipe, but I made my own fresh pasta. However, I thought that something was missing and something was extra for my taste. Therefore, I added garlic, and took out the orange zest. For that reason, I made it two ways: her way and my way (with garlic and without orange zest). Which one do I prefer the best?.....With garlic....of course!!

Here goes the recipe (Nutty Pasta from Laura Calder):

• 60 grams of almonds
• 60 grams of pine nuts
• 60 grams of pistachios
• 1 bunch parsley leaves
• 1 bunch mint leaves
• 370 grams of spaghetti
• 1 sprinkle Olive oil
• Parmesan cheese, for grating
• Orange zest (optional)
• 1 Garlic
• Water from the cooking pasta

Cook the pasta in boiling water. Put the nuts and herbs in a food processor, and chop them. Add a little of cooking pasta water if needed. Add garlic and salt. This mix should have texture, and not need to be completely smooth.

Mix of herbs and nuts

Sauce with texture

Drain the pasta and reserve some cooking water. I add cooking water to the sauce because it was too dense. Toss the pasta in a bowl, and add olive oil. Add the nuts and herbs sauce, mix it and serve with Parmesan cheese on top.

 Enjoy!

Squid-ink Spaghetti with Roasted Cherry Tomatoes, Green Peas, Feta Cheese and Shrimps...

You know that I love Pasta, and I love it  in all forms, shapes, colors, textures, flavors and sizes. Also, I like eat with colors. I'm not an expert, but I try to do my best in terms of plating. I have found that to create dishes with a lot of colors makes me happy!!

Here you have a colorful dish, with a lot of flavors. Here goes the recipe:

500 grams of squid-ink pasta. I make my own pasta, as I shown in a previous post. I add 1 teaspoon of squid-ink per egg.

300 grams of shrimps

200 grams of frozen green peas

200 grams of cherry tomatoes

Feta cheese as you wish

Butter

Olive oil

Garlic

Sea salt

Pepper

Oregano or Basil

Make your own squid-ink pasta or buy it. If you make your pasta, then let it dry.

In a pan, heat some butter. Once the butter has melted, add garlic and green peas. Season it with salt and pepper. Once it is cooked set aside.

Wash the cherry tomatoes. In a pan, add some olive oil and garlic. Once it is hot, add the cherry tomatoes and roast them. Sprinkle it with sea salt and oregano or basil. Once it is cooked set aside.

In a pan with olive oil and garlic, roast the shrimps. Add salt and pepper. Once it is cooked set aside.

In a big pot with boiling water and salt, cook your squid-ink pasta. Once it is cooked, drain it and put it in a big bowl. Add olive oil and toss it, add the cooked green peas, roasted cherry tomatoes, roasted shrimps and toss it. Serve it and sprinkle feta cheese. Enjoy!!!

With this recipe I participate in the contest Sapore di mare from the excellent blog La via delle spezie. http://laviadellespezie.blogspot.com/     

Shrimp, Basil, and Orzo Salad....tasty and refreshing for the summer!!

1 1/2 pounds shrimp

3/4 pound orzo

Juice of 1/2 lemon  (more as you wish)

1 red bell pepper

Basil chopped (as you wish)

3 Green onions(chopped)

½ red onion (chopped)

300 grams of feta cheese in small pieces

Ground pepper

Sea salt

Olive oil

In a pan with olive oil cook the shrimps (previously cleaned), add salt and pepper. Set aside. Cut the red bell pepper in small stripes, and stir fry in a pan with olive oil. Add salt and pepper, and set aside.

In a large pot bring water to boil (with salt), add the orzo and cook it for 8-11 minutes (follow directions of the package). When orzo is al dente, drain it and place it in a large bowl. Add the olive oil, salt, pepper and lemon juice. Add the shrimps and bell pepper, and toss to combine. Add the green onions, red onion, basil, and feta cheese. Mix it and let it rest for one hour to help the flavours combination. You can eat it warm, or let it cool overnight in the fridge and eat it cool.  Enjoy!!

With this recipe I participate in the contest Pasta Fredda Che Passione from the excellent blog Puffin in cucina e non solo...  http://puffinincucina.blogspot.com/

More artichokes.....Artichokes ravioli....and Artichoke sauce for pasta

It has been an artichoke week. It seems that we are having our own Artichoke festival like those in Castroville, Benicarlo, Cerda (in Sicily), Ladispoli , or Tuscany.....Yes ....we are having our own artichoke festival!!!

I posted how I make the Pasqualina, and the cleaning / cooking process for the artichokes. To make the artichoke raviolis, you follow the same instructions for cleaning and cooking them, but the filling is slightly different.

Many posts ago, I posted how to make fresh pasta. And this is the way I do to make the ravioli dough.

Now, comes the recipe and the pictures:

Filling

8 small artichokes

3 or 4 garlic cloves

Olive oil

Salt

Pepper

Nutmeg

Marjoram

1 egg

1 cup of grated parmiggiano reggiano cheese (or more to make the filling dry)

Once you have cleaned, cooked and seasoned the artichokes (as in the previous post), let it cool and chop them in small pieces. Once you have the small pieces, add the egg, marjoram and parmiggiano cheese. The filling has to be dry in order to be cooked in the ravioli. You can add more parmiggiano, or some people add breadcrumbs to avoid the saltiness of the cheese.

Then you make the pasta dough, pass it through the pasta machine, and fill the raviolis in the same way as I did with the panzotti posting. 

Cook them in salty water, and toss it with olive oil. I always prepare more filling to convert it into the sauce. Prepare half portion of the filling, add 1 cup of cream and 1/2 culp of milk. Add more pepper and heat it. Put it on top of the raviolis, and on top of pasta.....Enjoy!!!

Pasta with Calamari and Squid Ink Sauce....mmmmm....yummy!

I love seafood in all shapes, colors, textures, and aromas. For me, seafood is elegant, delicate, attractive, pleasant, and delicious. The tastes of sea urchin, salted cod fish, anchovies, clams, mussels, and so on are ambrosial.  Seafood is consumed in the five continents, but Australia, Iceland, Japan, New Zealand and Portugal have the highest per capita consumption of seafood in the world.  It is well known the health benefits for the brain, heart and joints of seafood. Nevertheless, for me seafood is nothing but celestial....

I have made a pasta with calamari and squid ink sauce....I hope you would enjoy it as much as we did!!!

For the pasta:
I have made fresh pasta as in my previous post (I did just one pound of flour). You can cook your favorite pasta.

For the sauce:
1 pound of squids
2 teaspoons of squid ink sauce (I use concentrated)
2 onions (chopped)
1 can of tomatoes or 5 ripe tomatoes
3 garlic cloves (chopped)
Salt
Pepper
Oregano
Dry Red Pepperoncini
Fresh chopped parsley
Olive oil

For the sauce
In a big pan, heat the olive oil and and add the chopped onions. Season it with salt, oregano, pepper, and add the garlic. Cook until the onion is translucent.

Add the tomatoes. Let it simmer for 7 to 10 minutes at low heat.

In another pan, heat olive oil and sir fry the calamari. Reserve some of the juice.

Dissolve in the calamari juice the squid ink. Add it to the tomatoes sauce.

Add the calamari and pepperoncini at your taste. let it simmer for 5 minutes

Drain your cooked pasta, and mix it with the sauce. Serve it with fresh parsley on top, and parmiggiano cheese if you want. Enjoy!!