| Mock
meat sauce
PREPARATION:
Mince
onion, 1 clove of garlic, celery, carrot, a little parsley and basil.
Sautè with 2 slices of ham, finely minced, and lightly brown in oil.
When it is the right colour, pour ½ cup dry white wine over the mixture
and allow to envaporate. Then add 2 pounds peeled, seeded plum tomatoes
(you can also use the canned kind, but if there are seeds, you must
strain the sauce when it has finished cooking). Simmer for about 1 ½
hours, adding a little warm water every now and then if the sauce gets
too thick. Add some salt when the sauce just being to thicken and some
freshly ground pepper when cooking is complete. 1 hr 45 minutes.
Minestra
di pane
Bread
and vegetables soup in the manner of "Granny Giulia".
Ingredients
for the Sauce:
- 3.45
cups fresh beans (red or kidney)
- 1.3/4
cups gr. ripe tomatoes
- 3/4
cups cubed raw potatoes
- 1
black cabbage
- 2
carrots
- 2
celery stalks
- 1
onion
- 1
clove of garlic
- some
parsley
- 1.5
cups cubed stale Tuscan bread
- 5
tbspn extra virgin olive oil (add extra according to taste)
- 1
hot pepper (Capsicum)
- salt
and pepper
PREPARATION:
1. In
a large saucepan sauté the garlic, diced onion, chopped carrot, celery
and parsley in the oil until golden brown.
2. Wash and cut the remaining vegetables. Add them to the saucepan and stir
constantly for 15 mins over a medium heat.
3. Boil the beans in a separate saucepan. Once they are cooked, add them
to the vegetables with enough broth to cover the vegetables. Cook the
combined ingredients for 45 mins over a medium heat.
4. Cut the stale bread into slices and cover the bottom of a tureen.
Alternate layers of bread and vegetables until the pot is full.
If you don't finish your "Minestra di Pane" in one sitting you
can reheat it the following day adding some extra olive oil The result
is the famous Ribollita.
A
nice Tuscan Lasagna
PREPARATION:
Ingredients
for the sauce:
- 2
onions: 1 brown, 1 white
- 1
glove of garlic
- 1
leek
- 2
celery sticks
- 3/4
cups. boiled lean beef
- 3/4
cups lean pork
- 1/4
cups of chicken
- 4
chicken hearts
- some
parsley
- 1/2
litre of milk
- extravirgin
olive oil
- a
bit of cinnamon
- 1
nutmeg
- pulp
of 4 tomatoes
- a
sage leaf
- rosemary
- a
bay leaf
Ingredients
for the Béchamel Sauce:
- 1.5
litre of milk
- 1
nutmeg
- salt
and pepper
- 1/4
cup butter
- 3/4
cup plain flour
PREPARATION
of the sauce:
1.
Finely chop the onion, garlic, leek, celery and parsley. Lightly fry
them in the oil with the sage, bay leaf and rosemary. Once the
vegetables are browned remove the herbs.
2. Finely mince the meat. Add the meat to the vegetables and cook the
combined ingredients for a further 20 minutes.
3. Add the tomato pulp, milk and a bay leaf and continue cooking the
sauce over a medium heat for approximately 2 hours.
PREPARATION
of the béchamel sauce:
4. Bring
1 litre of milk to the boil. Put 1/2 litre of cold milk into a separate
saucepan and slowly add the flour (stirring continuously to avoid
lumps), grated nutmeg and salt.
5. Put the saucepan containing the cold milk mixture over a medium heat
and stir constantly until it begins to thicken. Add the boiling milk and
butter and allow the sauce to thicken for a further 5 mins reducing the
heat to low.
FINAL
PREPARATION:
6.
Cook the lasagna in a saucepan of salted boiling water.
7. Cover the base of a greased baking dish with a thin layer of meat
sauce, then add a layer of bechamel sauce, and a layer of lasagna. (You
can also add some parmesan cheese.) Repeat this process until all the
ingredients have been used, finishing off with dobbs of butter on the
top.
8. Cook the lasagna in a preheated oven for 1/2 hour at 180°.
Pasta
bean soup
PREPARATION:
Mince
onion, 1 clove of garlic, celery, carrot, a little parsley and basil.
Sautè with 2 slices of ham, finely minced, and lightly brown in oil.
When it is the right colour, pour ½ cup dry white wine over the mixture
and allow to envaporate. Then add 2 pounds peeled, seeded plum tomatoes
(you can also use the canned kind, but if there are seeds, you must
strain the sauce when it has finished cooking). Simmer for about 1 ½
hours, adding a little warm water every now and then if the sauce gets
too thick. Add some salt when the sauce just being to thicken and some
freshly ground pepper when cooking is complete. 1h 45 mins.
Springtime
"spaghetti"
PREPARATION:
Prepare
all the necessary vegetables: remove the stems and cut the leaves of ½
bunch of turnip greens into thin strips; 10 ounces of peas; remove the
hard outer leaves and quarter 4 artichokes; blanch 7 ounces of asparagus
tips. Now chop 2 ounces of ham, including some fat, and brown in a pan
with a little oil.
Add 3 or 4 finely dliced spring onions. When the onion is golden-coloured,
mix in all the other vegetables and cook gently, moistening from time to
time with warm water and serve with the vegetables and a generous
sprinkling of grated parmesan cheese. 45min. |