Spinach Risotto with Scamorza Cheese.

Spinach and Scamorza Risotto is one of the classical ones. 
Scamorza adds it's nice smoked flavour to the dish. What kind of cheese Scamorza is? The origin of this cheese is Southern Italy. It's similar to Mozzarella but it is aged more. Scamorza has a particular shape of a pear: while producing it they generally form the cheese in round shape and then tear one third of it to tie a string around it in order to dry the cheese. This is how it gets it's pear-like shape. Scamorza can be plain or smoked and for this recipe you need the smoked one...



INGREDIENTS: 
Servings: 2

160-180g rice
150-200g spinach
125g smoked Scamorza cheese
50ml white wine
1/4 onion
1 garlic clove
1 handful grated Parmigiano
~1 veg. stock cube
3-4 tbs EVO oil
1tbs butter

1. Chop onion finely and cut garlic clove into halves.
2. Pour some EVO oil in a sauce pan and simmer the onion and garlic till the onion gets transparent. Discard garlic after browning.

 3. Add rice to the pan and stir, the rice will absorb the condiment and become partly transparent.
Note: Never wash rice for risotto!!!
4. Pour a splash of white wine and stir, wait till the wine looses the alcohol.

5. Add 150ml hot water and half a vegetable stock to the rice. Stir well and keep cooking at a low heat.
Note: You can always use your home-made vegetable broth is you have any. I suggest the stock cube for those who don't have much time to prepare the broth...
6. When the rice gets dry add 100ml of hot water. 

7. Meanwhile, wash and chop the spinach into thin squares or stripes.
8. When the rice is almost ready (after about 15 minutes) add the chopped spinach. Always check if the rice needs more water.
Note: Why don't we put all the water (broth) straightaway? By adding the water little by little, risotto will result in being creamier!!!   

9. After about 5 minutes risotto will be ready, so you will switch the heat off and add Scamorza cheese that you cubed finely. 

10. Add one handful of grated parmigiano cheese and some butter to season your risotto.
   

Buon Appetito!!!

Italian Easter Pie - Torta Pasqualina

Easter festivity cannot be celebrated without eggs. So the recipe of this pie also include whole eggs. Besides being a religious holiday Easter is also the symbol of the forthcoming spring. And so we add spinach to the pie.  
The original recipe is prepared with the chards, instead of spinach and the pie is completely covered with the brisèe dough. But I like it the way I suggest.  


INGREDIENTS:
Servings: 8

500g spinach or chard (better)
350g ricotta cheese
4+1 eggs
250g Brisèe dough
pinch of salt

1. Sautèe the spinach with some oil and salt.
2. Chop the sauteed spinach into small pieces.

 

3. Mix the spinach with 100g of ricotta.

4. Mix 250g of ricotta cheese with 1 egg, add a pinch of salt.

5. Dress a mould with the Brisèe dough covering the borders as well. Cut the excess of the dough, we'll need it for decoration.

6. Pour the spinach-ricotta mix into the mould.
7. Make some "holes" in the spinach mix.

8. Pour an egg into a "hole". Repeat with other 3 eggs

9. Cover spinach with ricotta mix.
10. Pull the cut off excess of the dough to create thinner stripes.
11. Place the stripes as a grate, that is crisscross.

12. Turn the borders of the dough inside and pinch them each and every 2 cm.
13. Bake the pie in the preheated oven at 200C for 20-25 minutes till it has a nice golden colour of the crust.

Serve warm or cold as an appetizer or snack.

Note: To make 8 servings, try to find where the eggs are: you will find the 4 bumps. Cut the pie between the eggs into 4 parts and again cut over the eggs to half them.  

Happy Easter!!! 

  
 
 
  

   

Polenta Fritters

Today's recipe is a bit particular... it is prepared completely with the remainders! Great! That is the housewife's paradise! We don't through away anything ... Of course it's possible to prepare the same dish with normal ingredients. 
We had Polenta the other day. Polenta is an Italian corn flour porridge. I had just for a half a plate left... it was such a pity to throw it away.
In the evening we had some sauteed spinach and again there was some just to serve half a plate.
I usually cook generous portions but serve normal ones, so if one wants to top up there is some in the pot...
And finally I had some other remainder ingredients that were absolutely perfect for this dish - just a coincidence!!!

INGREDIENTS:
Servings: 2

1 big hand-full ready polenta
1 hand-full sauteed spinach
1 egg white
3 slices of bacon (I had Pancetta) 
black pepper
EVO oil
  
I repeat, you may prepare the fritters from scratch. Polenta recipe may be found HERE. 



1. Cut bacon into tiny cubes or stripes
2. Chop the sauteed spinach.
3. Mix polenta, egg white, spinach and bacon, use your hand or a fork to mix.
4. Add some black pepper to taste. 

5. Wet the hands with water and form small fritters (from that amount I got 4).
6. Fry them with some olive oil till they are brown at one side, then turn them over and fry the other side as well.

7. Serve with some fresh salad to your liking as a main dish. Or you may prepare the fritters from scratch and serve them as a starter or snack.
Note: Don't add any salt as all the ingredients are already salted.  

 
     

Spinach Salmon

Even  Cinderella found her Prince Charming!!! Poor low-calorie spinach and rich and fatty salmon: why not? Let's marry them!
Salmon is very rich in Omega3 and Vitamin D and spinach has Vitamin C, K and beta carotene and of course Iron and Potassium. Both of them are advised for dieting and for kids menu. So aren't you yet convinced?  You should be!!!    

INGREDIENTS:
Servings: 2

300g Salmon fillet
200g spinach
1 garlic clove
chilli
salt
EVO oil 

1. Sautèe spinach with some oil, chilli and a garlic clove, cool it down a bit. (Sorry, I always forget to take a picture of uncooked greens)
 
2. Pour some EVO oil to a ceramic / glass pot and place the salmon fillet in there, salt it and add some more chilli to taste.
3. Cover salmon with the spinach.

4. Cook in the oven at 200C for 15 minutes.
5. Serve seasoned with some lemon.

  

Stuffed Meatloaf

What to do with some minced meat? Hmmmm... Hamburger?.. Meat balls?.. Ragù sauce?..
Why not trying to do something unusual? It's been ages I haven't done this dish... Meatloaf.... we call it POLPETTONE (big meatball)

INGREDIENTS:
(for 4 persons)

500g mixed minced meat
1 egg and 1 yolk
125g mushrooms
15-200g spinach 
3-4 tsp grated parmigiano
3 slices Prosciutto crudo
herbs
nutmeg
salt
EVO oil

1. I had spinach the day before for dinner so I had it ready, but to prepare sauteed spinach is a piece of cake: wash carefully spinach leaves and let them drain well. Pour some EVO oil in a pan and add couple of garlic cloves, you may either leave the cloves with the skin and crush it a bit or you may cut them into big slices and take them out after cooking. This is all because we don't want the smell of garlic to prevail over the other tastes. Put your spinach into the pan, add salt and chilli and cover with a lid. Cook till it looses it's volume and become dry, but try not to burn it, so stir it from time to time.

2. Slice the mushrooms and cook them in the same manner as spinach, that's the best way, you will have nice and crispy mushrooms then.

3. Mince spinach and mushrooms together in a blender. Add a yolk (if you use a bigger amount you may add a whole egg)
4. Mix minced meat with an egg, salt, pepper, your favorite herbs and some grated parmigiano cheese.

5.  Cover the chopping board with plastic film, it will help you to form a roll.
6. Spread the meat mix over the film and then the spinach-mushroom paste in the middle of the meat.  

7. With a help of the film form a roll, sealing the the meat.

8. Pour some EVO oil into the baking form and place the meatloaf in it. You may leave it like this or cover with some slices of Prosciutto crudo or bacon. Pour some more oil on it.
9. Cook in the oven at 200C for 1 hour. After 20-25 minutes if you see that the top of the meatloaf is getting a bit burnt you may cover the pan with aluminum foil.

  
     This is the effect.... after one hour.
 I served it with some buckwheat, I love it...