Hazelnuts dressing and poached eggs

Another rainy day here ... argh!

Tomorrow I'm going to go in France, Saint-Tropez!, where I hope to find some nice and warm weather.

In the meanwhile voilà an easy salad recipe I made today for me and my dad (Can you see him in the picture below, working in our vegetable pot!?). I have decided to use some hazelnuts, considering that they are an important product of my region. So ... enjoy! And "see" you when I will come back from France!

Salad with hazelnuts dressing and poached eggs

TOOLS:

• 1 frying pan
• 1 pot
• 1 mixer

TIMING:

• 20 minutes

INGREDIENTS:

• green salad, I used the one of my vegetable pot, so tender! (insalata verde)
• 1/2 ounce hazelnuts, fresh or toasted (10 grammi di nocciole)
• 1 egg/person (un uovo per persona)
• a slice of "pancetta"; pancetta is thiker than bacon, not smoked, more meaty than bacon, I'm sorry, but I have never find anything similar in New York ... (una fetta di pancetta tagliata spessa circa mezzo cm)
• some marjoram leaves (alcune foglie di maggiorana)
• salt
• oil
• vinegar

FIRST STEP:

• Clean and wash carefully the green salad. Gently dry it.

pulire e lavare l'insalata quindi scolarla

• Toast the hazelnuts for few minutes in a large pan, moving them often so that they will not burn. When they are done let them cool

tostare le nocciole, se già non sono tostate, per alcuni minuti in una padella. Muovere costantemente così che non brucino. Quando sono pronte lasciarle raffreddare

• Put them in a mixer and mix. Just few seconds! What you need is to chop them, not to reduce them in a powder

quindi passarle in un mixer per alcuni secondi. Ciò che vogliamo ottenere è una granella, non una farina di nocciole...

• put the hazelnuts in a little bowl, add 5 tbsp of oil and a pinch of salt to prepare the dressing

mettere la granella in una scodellina e aggiungere 5 cucchiai di buon olio d'oliva e il sale per preparare il condimento

SECOND STEP:

• warm a frying pan and cook the "pancetta" cut in little slices without any other seasoning. Cook on medium heat until the fat will melt and the "pancetta" will golden. When you turn off the heat, add some leaves of marjoram, cover with a lid and let rest for some minutes. Dry pancetta from the fat and set apart.

scaldare una padella quindi aggiungere la padella tagliata in piccoli pezzi. non aggiungere altro condimento. cuocere a fuoco medio finchè il grasso della pancetta non sarà sciolto e la pancetta dorata. Quando il fuoco è spento aggiungere alcune foglie di maggiorana, coprire con uncoperchio e lasciar riposare alcuni minuti, quindi scolare la pancetta dal grasso

THIRD STEP:

• Boil some water with two spoons of vinegar and a pinch of salt

bollire dell'acqua con due cucchiai di aceto e un pizzico di sale

• shell a fresh egg in a bowl

sgusciare un uovo in una ciotola

• when water is boiling turn it with a tablespoon, so to create a sort of whirlpool, and then slide the egg into the water. Cook the egg for three minutes on low heat. Gently dry.

quando l'acqua bolle, girarla con un cucchiaio creando una sorta di mulinello, quindi aggiungre delicatamente l'uovo. cuocere 3 minuti su fuoco basso, quindi scolare

FOURTH STEP:

• Arrange the salad on a plate, dress with the hazelnuts oil and spread with marjoram pancetta

sistemare l'insalata su un piatto, condire con l'olio alle nocciole e cospargere con la pancetta alla maggiorana

• next to the salad dispose the poached egg spread with some pepper and the hazelnuts chopped

vicino all'insalata mettere l'uovo in camicia cosparso con un pò di pepe e nocciole.

Enjoy!

Buon appetito!

Snow peas salad with mint dressing and goat cheese croutons

As promised here I am with an easy recipe for days like this: very, very hot days!

It's a salad dressed with a fresh mint sauce. It's light, but complete, thanks to the goat cheese. If you don't like the taste of this kind of cheese you can use a creamy and fresh cow cheese and the result will be equally amazing!

The main ingredient is the snow pea. In Italy we use to call them "piselli mangiatutto", which means "eat-all peas" (hemmm I'm not sure about this translation!). In fact they are like peas but you eat everything, also the pod!

For what concerns the dried tomatoes, prepare them some days in advance with my recipe, so that they can be soft and tasty when you use them.

TOOLS:

• 1 pot
• 1 pan
• a mixer

TIMING:

• 30 minutes

INGREDIENTS:

• 8 oz snow peas (2 etti circa piselli mangiatutto)
• 4 1/2 oz fresh goat cheese (1 etto circa di formaggio di capra fresco)
• 6 dried tomatoes (pomodori secchi, vedi ricetta di questo blog)
• 2 celery stalks (2 gambe di sedano)
• 1 tablespoon of pine nuts (20 grammi di pinoli)
• 1/2 lemon (mezzo limone)
• extra-virgin olive oil
• 5 mint leaves (5 foglie di menta)
• a baguette (pane tipo baguette)
• salt

FIRST STEP:

• To clean the snow peas just cut the two edges. Than wash them.

per pulire i piselli basta tagliarne le due piccole estremità e poi lavarli

• Boil in boiling and lightly salted water the snow peas for about 10 minutes. Dry and let them cooler

cuocete i piselli mangiatutto in acqua bollente e salata per circa 10 minuti. Una volta scolati lasciateli raffreddare

• Clean and wash the celery

lavate e pulite le gambe di sedano

SECOND STEP:

• Prepare the bread croutons: cut a baguette in slices of about 1/2 cm (yes, cm! I hate inches!), toast them in a hot frying pan with just a drop of oil and some salt. When they become golden they are ready! Set apart

preparate i crostini: tagliate la baguette in fette di circa mezzo cm di spessore, tostatele in una padella bollente con qualche goccia d'olio e un pò di sale. quando diventano dorate sono pronte. tenetele da parte

THIRD STEP:

• prepare the dressing: put 3 spoons of lemon juice, 5 spoons of oil, 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 5 mint leaves in a blender and mix until the dressing emulsifies and thickens.

preparate il condimento: mettete 3 cucchiai di succo di limone, 5 d'olio, 1/2 cucchiaino di sale e le foglie di menta in un frullatore ed emulsionate finchè il composto non si ispessisce

• Spread the top of the croûtons with the fresh goat cheese.

spalmate il formaggio di capra sopra i crostini

FORTH STEP:

• cut the celery in little pieces, and do the same with the dried tomatoes. Mix them with the snow peas, dressing with the mint sauce.

tagliate il sedano in piccoli pezzi e fate lo stesso con i pomodori secchi. Mescolateli con i piselli condendo con la salsa alla menta

• arrange the salad on a plate and decorate with some pine nuts. Dish with the goat cheese croûtons.

sistemate l'insalata su un piatto, decorate con i pinoli (eventualmente tostati). Servite con i crostini di formaggio di capra

Enjoy, Buon appetito!

Spring salad!

NOTE: I have added some basic indications in italian for italian readers and for people who are interested in learning some italian cooking words!

Hey HI!

I have to begin my post confessing you that I thought about this recipe yesterday, when the weather was warmer than today. As a matter of fact this is a salad that I used to cook with my mother to welcoming the spring on the Easter Day. Anyway, I ate it today for lunch and I can assure you that even with a lower temperature it works so well!

The main ingredients are asparagus and salmon, if you wish you can also add quail eggs ...

You can cook the salad as an entrée or, as I did today, as a main and complete dish, depending on the occasion. It's light and healthy.

Asparagus is a seasonal vegetable. It contains vitamins A, B, C, folic acid (very important for pregnant women) and it is diuretic (oh-oh!). Salmon is a fish rich of omega3 fatty-acids. So this recipe is very good both for your taste and for your body.

Before starting another little info: I have tried the DE CECCO pasta bought here in Manhattan, and I think it's ok. I mean, I was afraid for the quality because often Italian brands use different standards for the production of ingredients for the foreign market, but I have to admit that this one isn't bad at all! In the next weeks I'm going to try other brands.

And now let's start!

INSALATA PRIMAVERILE DI ASPARAGI E SALMONE (spring salad with asparagus and salmon)

TOOLS:

• 1 frying pan (padella)
• 1 pot (pentola)

TIMING:

• 1 night for the marinade (1 notte per la marinatura)
• 30 minutes for the recipe

INGREDIENTS:

• a little head of lettuce (una piccola testa di lattuga)
• a bunch of asparagus
• 7oz of salmon fillet (200gr)
• 1/2 avocado
• white wine (Chardonnay)
• fennel seeds (semi di finocchio)
• lemon
• oil
• salt

FIRST STEP:

• cut salmon into little cube

tagliare il salmone a cubetti

• marinade it with the wine and some fennel seeds for a night (also a little more it's ok!), keeping in the fridge

marinare con vino e semi di finocchio per una notte in frigo

SECOND STEP:

• after having washed the asparagus, boil them in boiling and salted water for not more than 10 minutes (depending on the size), being sure that the edges are over the water, although they will cook to much.

cuocere gli asparagi in acqua bollente e salata per non più di 10 minuti

...in the meanwhile...

THIRD STEP:

• warm up a frying pan and, when it's warm, add the salmon drain from the wine. Let it cook for 10 minutes without seasoning (so that the salmon will lose its fat: oh yeah it's ok also for your figure!!!)
• when cooked let it colder in a plat

scaldare la pentola e quindi aggiungere il salmone scolato dalla marinatura. far cuocere circa 10 minuti

FORTH STEP:

• prepare a citronette: 5 spoons of oil, 2 spoons of lemon juice and a pinch of salt. Beat it!

preparare la citronette con 5 chucchiai d'olio, 2 di succo di limone e sale sbattuti

FIFTH STEP:

• put together salad, asparagus, salmon and avocado and dress with citronette!

unire gli ingredienti e condire con la citronette

Buon appetito!