Cozze gratinate - Mussels au gratin

Mussels au gratin  are one of the most classic summer recipes of south Italy. It's really simple and quick to prepare and have the perfect recipe for a tasty dinner with fish.

1 Kg of mussels (I recommend especially the variety called mussels of Taranto, small but very fragrant and tasty)
2 cloves of garlic 
1 bunch of parsley
4-5 tablespoons bread crumbs or better fresh white bread
Milk
2-3 tablespoons  of olive oil
5-6 tablespoons of grated parmesan cheese
1/2 glass of water mussel
pepper


Usually we ask to clean and open mussels in fish shop. But if you don’t have this possibility you should clean the mussels by removing the beard and scraping the outside. Then open them. For more easy opening place the mussels in a pan, cover with a lid and leave until the shells open not (1-3 minutes). You should not cook them – only open. Strain the cooking liquid and keep aside.
When the mussels are open, remove the empty half shells, put those with shellfish in a baking dish side by side each other.

If you use bread crumbs – mix it with grated parmesan. 
Mince the garlic and parsley and mix them with olive oil. 

Put over mussels then put bread crumbs with grated parmesan.

Pour a little of milk and cooking liquid (that mussels will not be dry but rich). 

You can also mix them before and then cover each mussel with a teaspoon of mixture to completely cover the fruit. Put again crumbs with grated parmesan. Then put pepper.


If you use fresh bread – take pulp of the bread, mix well it with milk, olive oil and cooking liquid. Then push pulp. Mix with minced garlic and parsley. Cover each mussel with a teaspoon of mixture to completely cover the fruit.  Then dredge with bread crumbs and grated parmesan. Put pepper.


We forgot to buy fresh bread so on my photos you see recipe with bread crumbs, but usually we make with fresh bread pulp.


Preheat your oven to 380-395 F (200 C) . I switch on for beginning all oven then only bottom part so mussels are cooked well but not burned from above. Cook for about 10-15 minutes. They must have a nice golden color.
If you can cook mussels in wood stove they will be so tasty that you never taste before!

Buon appetito!

Italian Polpette - meatballs

Italian Polpette (meatballs) - is traditional Sunday food in Brindisi. They can be made fried or braised in sugo (traditional italian tomato sause).

You will need:
1 lbs ground beef or veal
2 eggs
200 gr Parmiggiano Reggiano (Parmesan cheese), grated
Parsley
Black Pepper
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
White bread with no crust
Oil to fry (better olive oil)

In a bowl mix well ground meat, 2 eggs, pepper, parsley, pressed garlic and Parmesan. You may want to add third egg and some white bread, previously soaked in milk and squeezed out.

Shape small size balls. Warm up the oil (not less than two fingers depth in the pan to deep fry the balls). Fry a few polpette at a time, taking out on the paper towels to drip the extra oil. Cover polpette with another paper towel to keep warm. 

So, that’s all!
If you want to cook polpette in sugo you could fry them slightly and then stew 10-15 minutes in sugo. In this case they would be called “polpette al sugo”. 
Buon appetito!

Insalata caprese

Insalata caprese  is a typical recipe from the island of Capri, the most famous island in the Gulf of Naples. When its too hot in summer I don't eat much that's why I like to cook it  because it’s fresh, fast and easy to make. It takes about five minutes for preparation. You can order this salad almost in every beach bar in Italy
A caprese salad or a insalata caprese is consisting of fresh tomatoes (better cherry), mozzarella, extra virgin olive oil and basil. The salad can be seasoned with salt, pepper and origano. 


You will need:
1 fresh ripe tomato or 3-4 tomatoes cherry
1 ball fresh mozzarella 
fresh basil leaves

The quantity of cheese you should decide yourself - try and maybe you will like it with much tomatoes.

You need only to slice all ingredients and mix it wil oil, sale and pepper.
Caprese salad is usually accompanied by toasted bread.

Buon appetito!

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Katrin

Risotto with pumpkin

Today I bought a pumpkin. It's been a long time since I wrote a post about Italian recipes. So today I decided to cook Risotto con la zucca for a dinner and write about it. I love the flavor of this simple recipe and this is why I would like to share it with you. It's very easy to cook! It takes approximately 30-35 minutes total!

You will need:
100 g butter/3,5 oz
1 onion
2 liters of vegetables broth/68 fl oz
400 gr of pumpkin/14 oz
350 gr of rice/12 oz
salt and pepper, to taste

Clean and cut the pumpkin.

Put cut pumpkin in a pot with water and cook about 10-13 minutes.

Remove pumpkin from water keeping the broth. I usually add some vegetables (onion, carot, smallage, potatos, tomatoes – whatever I have available) and cook a vegetable broth. Puree the pumpkin adding a little broth.

Add butter to a wide pot and heat up. Add the finely chopped onion and let it cook a little.

Now add the rice and fry it slightly. Reduce heat to low. At this point you can add a little  white wine. When rice absorbs the liquid add about 1/3 of the broth and and stir it with rice.

Then add pumpkin and stir it with rice.

When rice absorbs the broth again, add more broth (a little at a time) and cook until it reduces. Add salt and pepper. Stir it often till the rice will absorb all liquid. When the risotto is creamy and not al dente, cover the pot with a lid for one to two minutes. Risotto is ready!

Before serving you can grate the Parmigiano Reggiano cheese and stir with risotto.