11/26/2009

Thanksgivings' little roasts (Arrostini del Ringraziamento).


As I told to a blog reader in a comment in Italy Thanksgiving is not a holiday: we just celebrate Christmas.

This doesn't mean we don't know about this very important U.S.A. holiday and today on tv I saw a Thanksgivings' recipe really easy and fast that could be loved abroad.

Turkey is surely the main dish served during this day, turkeys are really big and I heard U.S. ovens are so big just to cook things like turkeys.

Is it true? :D

Our standard ovens are probably too little to cook a whole turkey, so this is my version of a classic recipe!


You need:


turkey's thin slices, 2 per person

some bacon in a single slice, how much depends on how many you are

1-2 red onions peeled and sliced

half a spoon of sweetcorn per person

a little dried prune without kernel per person

extra-virgin olive oil

salt

rosemary
white dry wine

all pourpose flour
string to tie meat on
Chop bacon in tiny pieces, put them in a pan with onions and stirfry for a while, then add sweetcorn and prunes and cook untill tastes are well amalgamated: this is the roasts' filling.
Spread a turkey slice and put a spoon of filling in it, close the slice with string, do it with every slice.
Pass the little roasts into the flour, then in the same pan where you stirfried the filling, add extra-virgin olive oil, heat it and put roasts in.
Let it cook with a glass of white dry wine and rosemary, add salt if needed.
Cook softly for about 25 minutes, then serve with mashed or creamed potadoes.
Happy Thanksgiving everybody!!

11/24/2009

Mozzarella shots ( Bicchierini di mozzarella)



Need a quick appetizer?


Do you want a nice "Italian style" entree?


This is what you need!


Take as many liquor glass (so, small and short) as the guests are, then you need:





mozzarella cheese (fresh, good, the one that if you cut you can see the milk dripping, not the plastic balls you find sometimes at supermarket)





a red and ripe tomato (more or less it depends on how many people you have to serve)





fresh basil leaves





extra-virgin olive oil





salt

PLEASE NOTE: this recipe is a lot better with "burrata" that is a special kind of mozzarella filled with milk cream and stripes of mozzarella itself.

It's a great cheese but I suppose it's not so easy to find abroad so I used mozzarella for this recipe.

If you find it anyway don't esitate: use burrata!






Crush the basil leaves with oil and a little salt untill you have a rough pesto alla genovese, put a coffee sppon of this pesto in each glass.


Now chop the mozzarella cheese in very tiny pieces, put them into the glasses, the same quantity in each, fill almost 'till the top.


Cut the tomato in very tiny cubes, season them with salt and oil, add a little spoon of them on top of mozzarella cheese.


Pay attention to put same quantity of the three ingredients in glasses, just to give all of them the same look.


Now you have a nice Italian flag appetizer, enjoy!