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!!!
Friends are coming to visit you? Easy busy!!! Good conversation and some salty cheesy biscuits... this is what you need!!!
These savoury biscuits are so crispy and teasing that you won't even notice how the dish will get empty... Nice as a starter or just a snack, people usually eat them one after the other...
INGREDIENTS:
Servings: -
300g (3 glasses) flour
250g cheese
250g margarine
2 eggs + 1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon milk
nutmeg
pepper / chilli
sesame seeds
What kind of cheese to choose for this recipe? Any medium hard type of cheese like: Emmental, Gouda, Edam, Leerdammer... You may try mixed cheese: 125g soft cheese and 125g hard cheese, like Pamigiano, Pecorino... You may also mix all the cheeses you have in the fridge.... as an option.
1. Grate the cheese with a medium grater, if you use a hard cheese grate it with a fine grater.
Note: I used the Swiss Emmental for this recipe.
2. Mix the cheese with flour and spices.
3. If the butter is room temperature, add it cut in pieces, if it's from the fridge then grate it, it will be much easier to mix with the cheese and flour mix.
4. Add 2 eggs and mix the dough well.
5. Refrigerate the dough for an hour.
6. Roll the dough out about 1cm thick and cut any shapes you like. I usually cut into sticks and offer them as a snack...
Note: An easy way of rolling the dough out is to put the dough ball over a plastic film and cover with another film, then roll it out.
7. Spread some egg yolk mixed with 1 teaspoon of milk over the biscuits with the help of a silicon brush.
8. You may sprinkle the biscuits with the sesame seeds after you have spread the egg mix over.
9. Bake your biscuits at 200C for 20 minutes.
Note: I prepared half of the biscuits with the sesame seeds and the other half without them....
10. Cool the biscuits down before serving. You may serve them as an appetizer or a snack with some cold good beer.... Cheers!!!!
CHEERS !!!
I said : Let's have a light dinner! I mean, no steak, no sausages, no burger... What do we have as a veggy? Broccoli....
OK!!! I'm not on a diet but sometimes you really need something lighter...
INGREDIENTS:
Serving: 2-3
1 big broccoli
3-4 large slices of ham
100g Gruyer cheese
50g Pecorino cheese
salt
chilly
EVO oil
1. Divide broccoli head into florets and cook them in non-salted water till half done. Drain them carefully.
Note: Why not to salt the water? If you boil green veggies without salt, they will keep their nice green colour. You can always salt them later, cannot you?
2. In a pot pour some EVO oil and distribute nicely the florets.
3. Rip ham into small parts and insert them in between the florets.
4. Add salt, chilly and pour some more oil.
5. Grate finely Pecorino cheese and coarse way Gruyer cheese. Mix them.
6. Spread the cheese mix over the broccoli generously.
7. Cook in preheated oven at 200C for 20 minutes then increase the heat till 220 and cook for 10 minutes more till it's golden on top.
To those who said not to like how broccoli smells while it boils dedicated!
150-200g spinach
1. Chop onion finely and cut garlic clove into halves.
5. Add 150ml hot water and half a vegetable stock to the rice. Stir well and keep cooking at a low heat.
