Thursday, July 31, 2014

Pasta as a protagonist...

Again food photographies))
This time I was inspired by pasta, hope you like them))






You can Find my photos on ShutterstockFotolia and other stocks.

Monday, July 21, 2014

Pasta with Red scorpionfish - italian recipe

Earlier I wrote a recipe for pasta with crabs. Today I will tell you how to cook my husband's favorite dish - pasta with Red scorpionfish. Here they are in the photo - red and dark - ugly, with spiny fins, but very tasty)) 

First you need a Red scorpionfish 500-800 for two portions. That is one big or two smaller fishes. In the store they have cleaned the fish: 

Then you need

  • garlic, 
  • 0.5kg of cherry tomatoes, 
  • 300 ml of white wine, 
  • olive oil, 
  • pasta - tubettini (about 80-100g per person) - you can take a different pasta, such as spaghetti or paccheri. 


Then you need big deep pan, because we won't cook pasta separately but put it directly to sauce. So, fry the garlic until it became golden brown, then remove it from the oil. 



Put fish into a pan and cover it immediately, because there will be splash of oil. 

After 5 minutes,put the tomatoes cut in half 

5 minutes later, pour a little of wine into the pan. You can leave it open. 

Leave the fish to stew until it will be cooked.
And now we make other preparations. Take the rest of the wine and mix it with boiling water in a ratio of 1:2 (or 1:3). This method of cooking in wine gives the finished dish amazing taste. The main thing is not put too much wine and its quality should be good. Bad wine can spoil the whole taste of the dish. 

When the fish is cooked, remove it from the pan and collect all the bones, which remained in the pan. Add wine mixed with water and when it boils, add the pasta. Yes, we do not cook the spaghetti separately but in sauce, because they will absorb a full taste of the sauce, and you just can not break away until eat all))
Add a little of salt (quite a bit, because the sauce will be boiled down and salinity increase).

Yes, I left fish for a photo and removed it later) 

The time necessary to cook spaghetti read on the package. But of course we are preparing them by eye, or rather by taste - as the Italians say, "al dente", which means to the tooth. When spaghetti are ready they are not hard inside, but a little sink in teeth. Then while you put them on a plate and carry on the table, they will reach the desired condition, but will not be overcooked.

Before serving dish, sprinkle with chopped parsley. Parsley can also be added to the spaghetti for 3-5 minutes before finish to cook.




Buon appettito) 

Thursday, July 17, 2014

Two hours in Castelmezzano, Basilicata

Some times ago on a Sunday we were in Basilicata. Looking through Tripadvizor for the restaurant, where we could go for lunch, I noticed that all restaurants in the town Castelmezzano have many reviews. Other restaurants within 30 kilometers have not more then a dozen of reviews. And all the reviewers wrote about the "Volo dell'angelo" - Fly of the Angel. It grown an interest in us, and we decided to look at this town and find out what is this - Volo dell'angel

In Italy, a beautiful small towns we call Borgo, and, as it turned out that Castelmezzano is among the 100 most beautiful Borgo of Italy. This was a surprise, and it's only 2 hours by car from Brindisi! This stunning little town, literally stuck to the cliff. 


Volo dell'angelo turned out to be an attraction famous for Europe! 

Between two mountain peaks in Lucan Dolomites a steel cable tensioned (actually two of them - because you make two way fly). You can feel like an angel who flies in the sky and see breathtaking panorama. Anyone who overcame his fear, can enjoy not only the sensation of free flight but magnificent views a bird's-eye, or better to say - angelic's -eye. There are gorgeouse mountains, water stream and forests. Unfortunately, it was still closed (it was spring), but we will definitely go back and try it) 



In Castelmezzano thera re many narrow streets, rising at an angle and small ladders to shorten the path between the streets. 



There are several restaurants, in one of which, a small trattoria over this bar we had lunch. 15 euros per person, we got a fixed menu, everything was very tasty and soooo much that the next time we'll take only one)) 

Top-down view of the houses and streets 

On the opposite hill is another town - Petrapertosa, on the right

On the way to the town of a top view of Basilicata