Fancy A Quick Italian? (Speedy Meals)

Member Name: Picasso

Product:	Speedy Meals
Date:	27/10/08 (460 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Wonderful Italian Food

Disadvantages: None

Italian food is without a doubt my favourite. When I was at primary school, I shared my class with a lot of Italian children and was lucky enough to be invited round to their houses for meals. Until then, the only spaghetti I had encountered came from a tin. Although we have some excellent and authentic Italian restaurants in the UK, it has been on my travels around Italy in the last five years that I've realised what I've been missing. Dining at the Casale le Torri in Ponsacco, Tuscany where there was no menu and no wine list. For three hours we were subjected to course after course of gastronomic delights, each course being explained to use by the owner whilst his wife and daughter cooked. The choice of wine was house red or white which came from the owner's own vine yard. Afterwards a trio played music whilst we drank brandy with the family and the rest of the diners until the early hours.


I posted a suggestion to dooyoo for Italian recipes as there wasn't one in the food category. My suggestion came back with the note "already suggested". I emailed dooyoo to say this wasn't so and the response I got read "We want to keep categories as broad as possible, for example we have categories for meat recipes, vegetarian, pasta etc. I am sure your delicious Sicilian recipes will fit under one of these". Well actually they didn't. I had previously contributed to veggie meals and as no meat featured in these, they didn't "fit" there either. The fact that my suggestion included a couple of dishes meant that the only category I could put them was under "speedy" as the recipes are quick and easy to make. I'm disappointed by this - there goes my suggestion for Greek recipes. So here goes for a quick Italian:-


My favourite pasta dish is also my signature pasta dish and takes me back to a little taverna on the beach at Milazzo in Sicily. Pasta alla Norma is very popular in Sicily and usually cooked with spaghetti although some restaurants choose different pasta. It is really easy to cook and I usually prepare the sauce a few hours before, which leaves only the pasta to cook when we are ready to eat. The recipe does involve aubergines which can be messy but don't worry because like Delia, I cheat.


Pasta alla Norma
This menu serves two as a main course or four as a starter.

500g small tomatoes or a 500 g can of a good quality.
1 small red onion chopped
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 garlic gloves
¼ teaspoon of chilli powder
A handful of fresh basil
A 100g of ricotta or gorgonzola cheese crumbled
Ground black pepper
400g of pasta
And for my cheat. 1 280g tin of cooked eggplants in oil. I buy Palirria. These can be bought at Tesco for £1.29 per tin.

Method for the sauce
1. Fry the onion in the oil
2. Add the chilli, garlic and tomatoes
3. Pour in the can of aubergines and chop whilst in the pan
5. Add the pepper and half of the cheese
6. Before serving add the basil

When preparing in advance, I stop at number 5. When I'm ready to cook the pasta, I heat the sauce at the same time. Once ready, drain the pasta and turn into bowls and cover with sauce. At this stage top with remaining cheese and a couple of basil leaves to decorate.

I particularly like this dish with gorgonzola as it gives it a subtle bite.



Bruschetta with a difference
Bruschetta is a great starter or served as a canapé and again is simple to make. The toasted bread which is often topped with chilled chopped tomatoes, onions, olives or pesto really gets the taste buds going. In the Tuscan restaurant I mentioned earlier, we were served bruschetta with fresh figs. It was wonderful and here is my version which serves four:-


You will need
4 thick slices of country bread
2 garlic cloves halved
Extra virgin olive oil for drizzling and brushing
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
8 ripe figs
Black pepper
Shavings of Parmesan cheese


Method

To make the bruschetta, grill, toast or pan grill the bread on both sides until lightly charred.
Rub the top side of each slice with the garlic.
Drizzle with oil and keep warm in a low oven.
Take the figs and make two cuts across each one, not quite quartering them and keeping it intact at the base. Ease open and brush with balsamic vinegar and oil.
Place the figs down side in a frying pan or grill pan and cook for around three minutes. Alternatively you can place them under a hot grill until they begin to brown.
Put two figs on each slice of toast, sprinkle with parmesan shavings. Drizzle with olive oil.
Serve immediately


And finally for a simple dessert dish, Italian ice cream served with a tot of amaretto liquor on top. If you don't want the alcohol, serve with a couple of amareeto biscuits.


Buon appetito!

Summary: Italian recipes