LEMON MARINATED SHRIMP AND ARTICHOKES

A wonderful contrast between the sweet shrimp, bitter artichokes and slightly sour marinade! It’ll tickle your palate.

Ingredients:


-Tiger shrimp with shell and head (you decide how many per person)
-Small sweet artichokes (the small ones that you can eat row)
-Lemon
-Fresh basil
-White wine
-Garlic

Average prep time: 30 min
Cooking time : 8 min

Put the shrimp into a bowl and add a little bit of olive oil and lemon juice. Remove the harder outer leaves of the artichokes and chop the remaining part of the artichoke very thinly. In a glass, prepare the juice of half a lemon and two tablespoons of white wine. Heat up some garlic in a pan and sauté the artichokes at high heat for just one minute. Next, add the lemon and wine mixture you just prepared and add some table salt. Let juices reduce for another minute. Remove the artichokes from the pan (you want them to still be crispy so don’t cook them too much!) and put them into a bowl. Chop a couple of basil leaves finelyand mix them with the warm artichokes. Re-heat the same pan you used for the artichokes, remove the shrimp from the marinade and throw them in the hot pan (you don’t need to add anything else in the pan). Cook the shrimp for 2 minutes per side. Done!!! Super easy!

Wine suggestion: I had a marvellous fantastic amazing Ferrari perle’ 2003!!! Wow! Ferrari is one of my favourite producers!!

Music suggestion: do you know Scott Matthew? I love his music as much as I love Ferrari!

BUFFALO SCAMORZA AND ARUGOLA STUFFED CALAMARI

Super easy and super tasty!!!

Ingredients:

-Fresh calamari
-Buffalo scamorza (if you can’t find buffalo scamorza just use a regular one or use a smoky cheese)
-Arugola (rocket)
-Garlic

Average prep time: 20 min
Cooking time: 20 min

Here we go!

Clean the calamari and chop the heads off. Clean the inside of the body.
Chop the arugola and scamorza finely and season with some mash garlic, table salt and olive oil.
Stuff the calamari with the mixture you just prepared.
Oil a baking tray and sprinkle some table salt on it.
Preheat the oven at 356 (180 Celsius) for 10 minutes and cook the calamari (cook the heads too) for 20 minutes. Serve on soft polenta.

BUON APPETITO!

Wine suggestion: Collio sauvignon or, anyway, a white wine with enough personality to match the smokiness of the cheese and the bitterish flavour of the calamari

Music suggestion: morphine!!

Buffalo ricotta and red shrimp stuffed gnocchi with arugola and sun dried tomatoes sauce

A very delicate flavour and a great effect!!


Ingredients:

-Yellow potatoes
-Durum flour
-Buffalo ricotta
-Red shrimps (fresh, with shell and possibly head)
-Fresh basil
-Arugola (rocket)
-Sun dried tomatoes
-Garlic







Average prep time: 1 hour
Cooking time: 5 minutes

Here we go!

First boil the potatoes (with the skin) until tender. While you do that you can peel the shrimps and put the shells and heads to boil in as much water as you will need to cook the gnocchi. By cooking the gnocchi in this water you will increase their flavour.

The stuffing is easy: chop the shrimps roughly , put them in a cup with the ricotta and mix the two ingredients together. Chop the basil finely and add to the mixture. Now season with a little bit of olive oil and table salt. Again I am not giving you the quantities!! You know I want you to play with your recipes and find your own personal way to interpret them! This is how you’ll learn to cook!!!!

The sauce is easy too: mince some garlic and heat it up in a pan with some good olive oil. Then add the arugola (rocket) and cook it until tender. It’s up to your taste if you want the arugola to be left whole or chopped. The sun dried tomatoes are to be added just before the arugola is done. You want their flavour to be fresh and not too cooked. Don't put too many tomatoes! The arugola should be the predominant flavour in the sauce. Chop tomatoes finely (almost into a mash.)

Your potatoes are ready!!! Mash them in a bowl, add about 30% of flour (again same story: you’ll have to play and practice! The kind of potatoes you are using and the humidity of the environment you are working in are important elements and they will always effect your gnocchi) and mix well using your hands until you obtain a soft and smooth ball of dough.
Using a rolling pin flatten the dough trying to make it into a rectangular or oval shape.
The dough must be about a third of an inch thick. Put the stuffing in the middle and roll the dough around it like you were making sushi.
Be really careful when you do this as the roll is very delicate and don’t worry if you think is too soft.
When you are done rolling, wet the roll a little bit and let it sit for a couple of minutes in order to make it close properly (make sure to have some flour on the surface where you are working or the roll will stick to it!).

Now you can cut the roll into slices about 2 inches wide. Every slice is to be cut in half again width wise. If you made the dough properly, when you cut the slices in half they will close automatically keeping the stuffing in. The last thing to do is to delicately roll your gnocchi in abundant durum flour and let them sit again for couple of minutes.

Almost done! Remove the shrimp's shells and heads from the boiling water and throw your gnocchi in (don’t put too many or they will not cook properly. Once the bottom of the pan is covered in one layer of gnocchi is enough. You might have to cook them in turns). You’ll know when your gnocchi are ready! Any kind of gnocchi naturally rise up to the surface when they are done.

While you are boiling the gnocchi, heat up the sauce and when they are cooked throw them in the pan with the sauce. Cook for a couple of minutes and they are ready!!!
Please don’t put parmesan cheese on it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You have to taste the delicacy of the ricotta and the shrimps! Parmesan cheese would cover the flavours!!!

Buon appetito!!!!!

Wine suggestions: Collio pinot grigio. Dry, full bodied but fresh and soft with hints of apple and green pepper.

Music suggstions: this recipe is so delicate and classy that it needs some classical music!!!

SWORDFISH, ASPARAGUS AND GRAPEFRUIT RISOTTO

Spring is coming! Let’s start it with this beautiful fresh risotto


Ingredients:

-Carnaroli Rice
-Swordfish (half of a slice per person)
-Grapefruit (half per person)
-Asparagus (10 per person)
-White Wine
-Garlic
-Fish Stock

Average prep time: one hour if you make real fish stock as you are supposed to do!!! I am against fake powder stock! So if you don’t have time to boil some fish heads and bones you might as well skip this recipe… but it would be a shame because it’s really good and different

Cooking time: 20 mins

Here we go!
Heat up some garlic with good olive oil in a pot. Cut the asparagus into small pieces and leave a couple per person out for garnishing. When the oil is hot enough, throw the asparagus pieces in the pot and cook them for a couple of minutes adding some table salt. While the asparagus are cooking, cut the grapefruits in half, squeeze them in a small bowl and add as much wine as the amount of juice you obtained. Now pour the grapefruit/wine mixture into the pot and turn up the heat. Grab the asparagus you left out and slice them thinly length wise.

Cut the swordfish into chunks, peel the rest of the grapefruit so you have just the pulp and cut it as well into chunks the same size as the swordfish ones. While you are doing this, the juices in the pot should have reduced and should have thickened into a cream…if they are not yet it means you are really quick! If it’s all burned it means you’ll have to be faster next time!!!

It’s time to add the rice. Let it cook until all the juices are about dry then start adding the fish stock every time the rice is dry. While you keep doing that, heat up some butter in a pan, add some salt and sauté the asparagus slices for 3 or 4 minutes.

About 5 minutes before the rice is done (it depends of course on how “al dente” you want your rice to be! But it should be roughly 15 minutes after you poured the rice in the pot), add the swordfish and the grapefruit chunks. One minute before it is done, add a little bit of butter and let it melt.
Now you’re Done!!!!

Wow!! Intense! But it’s all worth it. Serve with the asparagus slices on top. A sprinkle of freshly ground black pepper is just perfect on this risotto! Yum! And if you want, you can garnish with a thin slice of grapefruit.

Wine suggestion: Falanghina! A dry and aromatic wine that breathes the fresh costal air of Campania!

Music suggestion: anything from "The Complete Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong on Verve".

PUMPKIN AND HAZELNUT RAVIOLI

A great combination of textures!!

Ingredients:
-Home made pasta dough (for this one i used durum wheat and 2 eggs for about a third of a pack of flour
-Pumpkin
-Toasted hazelnuts (or even better if you find fresh ones and you toast them yourself!!)
-Garlic

Average prep time: 1 hour
Cooking time: 2,5 minutes for "al dente"

Ok here we go!
Cook the pumpkin in a pre-heated oven until tender. Mince some garlic and heat it up in a pan with some extra virgin olive oil. While the garlic is heating up, remove the pumpkin from the oven and cut it into chunks. Now pour the pumpkin in the pan, salt it and sauté it in the garlic for a couple of minutes, then add just a bit of water and cover with the lid. Cook the pumpkin until tender enough to be reduced into mash by just using a fork. Don't worry if there are some small chunks of pumpkin... I actually prefer to leave some to add texture. Now you just have to grind the hazelnuts in the mixer and add them to the pumpkin mash. The stuffing for your ravioli is ready!

Now let's work the dough! Once you flattened down the pasta dough, cut it into discs using a glass: just press the upper edge of the glass on the dough and twist it a little bit. The size of the discs must be about the size of your palm. Each discs will make one ravioli so plan ahead for the amount of dough you will need.
Using a little spoon put some of the stuffing in the centre of each disc.
Prepare just one ravioli first so you'll understand how much of the stuffing you have to put in each of them.

Now the fun part! Once you put the stuffing in the centre of the disc, wet the edges in order to make them stick together when you close the ravioli. Fold the disc in half and gently press around the stuffing. Make sure the raviolo is well closed or the stuffing will leak out when you cook it. If you are happy with the shape you obtained, that's it! You are done!
But there are a lot of fun shapes you can create.
In this case I folded them into a "tortellini" shape: your raviolo now has the shape of a half moon. Grab the corners of the ravioli, pull them together and overlap them. Press the two corners together gently. The rest of the dough around the stuffing will automatically follow.

wine suggestion: either a Valpolicella or Corvina or a not-so-strong red wine

P.S.: A great sauce for this course is duck ragù!!

BUON APPETITO!

CHICKEN INVOLTINI WITH SPECK, BURRATA AND FIG JAM

Here's one of my last inventions. A very tasty and delicious main course with a sweet touch.

Ingredients:

-Chicken breast
-Speck (if you can't find speck you can also use Parma ham or pancetta...but speck is perfect!!!)
-Burrata (if you can't find burrata use a good buffalo mozzarella)
-Fig jam

Average prep time: 5 min

Cooking time: 30 min

Ok here we go!!!
First of all you'll have to flatten down your chicken breast using a rolling pin or anything else hard with a round edge. Don't worry if you make some little holes in the meat...i'll tell you how to fix them later!
Now that your breast is ready, sprinkle some table salt and extra virgin olive oil over it. Grab a slice of speck and put it on the top of the chicken.
Cut the burrata in half, remove the soft inner part and spread it on top of the slice of speck you already placed on the chicken breast.
Now the sweet touch! Add just a little bit of fig jam. Just a little...you want to know how much? Well just look at what you have made so far. How does it look? How much of that sweet shiny jam do you think it needs? That's exactly the amount you'll have to put...let's start following our instinct!!!!

Your involtino is ready to be rolled: when rolled the stuffing should be completely covered by the meat.
Put the hard part of the burrata on top of the involtino. The final touch is to wrap the whole thing with another slice of speck (that's what's going to fix the holes in the meat)... now into the oven!
Pre-heat the oven (356 fahreneit or 180 celsius).Prep the oven tray with some olive oil and salt. Place the involtino in the tray and roll it in the seasonings. Cook it for about half an hour. To add some flavour pour a bit of white wine or brandy in the oven tray (not on the meat!!) after about 15 minutes.
When ready, it must look moist and the slice of speck on the outside has to be crispy.
If it does great!! If it's not crispy just cook it a little bit more...if it's black you just burnt it!!!

Wine suggestion: Chianti Chianti Chianti!!! To tell the truth i didn't have Chianti when i had the involtino so i went for Pinot Nero which was not strong enough to match the richness of this meal

Music suggestion: Tony DeSare "Baby Dream your Dream". The rich flavours in this dish are enough to highten your senses and ignite your immagination.

Buon appetito!!!

P.S.:if you want you can add some cherry tomatoes in the tray and let them cook with the involtino. Don't cut them in half but leave them whole and sprinkle them with some table salt and miosten them with the oil.