entertaining the italian way cooking class recipes
RECIPES
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Scamorza is a smoked mozzarella that is hung up to extract its liquid. It works fantastically in this dish as it doesn’t add the excess liquid mozzarella would. The result is a dish that is luxuriously rich and not watery. If you cannot find Scamorza then good quality buffalo Mozzarella is absolutely fine but we would recommend slicing it into thin slices and draining the slices in a colander with a little salt to remove some of the liquid. We like to use smoked scamorza for a little extra flavour. We bake our aubergines in the oven, but traditionally, they are deep fried so remember to be generous with the olive oil when baking them.
Family secrets: Mutti passata is amazing quality - the flesh of the tomatoes with no added stuff. Available in most supermarkets.
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Ingredients for 6 people:
4 large aubergines (or around 1.7kg)
250gr of grated scamorza cheese (or one ball)
700g of tomato passata
2 garlic cloves peeled and lightly smashed
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Grated Parmesan Cheese to sprinkle on top
A large Bunch of basil
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Method:
Turn your oven to 250°C.
Start by cutting the aubergines into 1cm thick circles. Generously drizzle olive oil onto a baking paper lined oven tray and lay your aubergine rounds on top in a single layer and drizzle more olive oil and salt on top.
Place your tray in the oven for about 30 minutes until the aubergine is cooked through and has a nice golden colour (you do not need to turn them).
Whilst the aubergines are cooking, prepare the tomato sauce: in a pot, add 3 tablespoons of olive oil along with 10 basil leaves and the 2 cloves of garlic. Turn onto a low/medium heat and fry until sizzling but not golden. Add the tomato passata and a sprinkle of salt and let the sauce cook over a low heat for about 20 minutes to slightly reduce the sauce and to infuse it with the basil and garlic.
Whilst the sauce is reducing and aubergine cooking, grate the scamorza cheese on the thicker setting of a cheese grater.
Pick your basil leaves off the stems, ripping larger leaves in half.
It is now time to assemble your parmigiana into the ovenproof dish:
Start with a thin layer of tomato sauce (this stops the aubergine sticking to the dish). You want enough to cover the dish but you still want to be able to see through it.
Top this with a single layer of aubergine (ensuring pieces are touching but not overlapping)
Then add a generous layer of the grated Scamorza.
And lastly a few leaves of basil and a sprinkle of salt.
Repeat until the dish is full, stopping with the last layer being just aubergine and tomato sauce.
Sprinkle the top with parmesan cheese and cook in the oven at 220°C for 25 minutes until the parmesan is melted and a nice golden brown. Allow to rest for ten minutes before serving.
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A delicious and easy chicken breast recipe cooked in the holy trinity of ingredients; wine, lemon & butter. This dish pairs perfectly with rice or with some grilled vegetables and a salsa verde. For this recipe you can either use chicken breast or if you are able to find mini chicken breast fillets then we really recommend using them as they are the most tender part of the chicken breast and as they are small you wont need to cut them in half.
Should you wish to make this in advance for a dinner party then follow all steps leaving the chicken to cool in the dish. Pop into a hot oven for 10 minutes to warm through before serving.
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Ingredients (serves 4 as a main course):
2-3 chicken breasts (450gr) or 3 chicken mini fillets per person
2-3 tbsp flour (enough to dust the chicken slices on both sides)
100gr butter
2-3 tbsp olive oil
200ml white wine
2 lemons, juiced
70gr of parsley, leaves removed from stems and finely chopped
Salt & pepper
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Slice the chicken breasts into broad 3mm thick escalopes (don’t worry if your slices are thicker, you can beat them down in the next step). If you are right-handed, lay them down on a board with the thicker end to the right. Laying your left hand flat on the breast, use the right to cut from right to left, making thin slices parallel to – and just under – your steadying hand. (Vice versa if you are left-handed.)
Beat each slice of chicken with the flat side of a meat hammer, getting it as thin as possible without breaking the pieces.
Season each slice of chicken with salt and pepper on both sides, and dust with flour on both sides, pressing down to make sure it sticks.
Heat a nonstick large pan (about 30cm diameter) over med-high heat. Add a tablespoon of olive oil and about 25gr of butter (make sure to put enough so that the whole base of the pan is covered in the melted butter/ olive oil)
When the butter melts and becomes really hot, place some of the slices of chicken, making sure to fill the pan but not overlapping the pieces of chicken. Cook the chicken slices for two minutes on each side until slightly golden brown, don’t worry if the chicken is not fully cooked yet.
Add 3 tbsp of white wine (important to do this first as the heat will evaporate the alcohol), 2 tbsp of lemon juice and 1 tbsp of chopped parsley. Let that cook for another minute, turning the chicken in the sauce. The amount of liquid you add will depend on how much chicken you are cooking at the same time but you want to make sure you are putting enough liquid so that you can create a bit of sauce to have with the chicken. The flour will also help to thicken the sauce.
Transfer the chicken to an oven dish pouring the excess sauce on top.
Place the pan back on the heat, add more butter and oil and repeat the process until all the chicken has been cooked.
Serve with a sprinkling of fresh parsley.
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Salsa Verde is a perfect sauce for many grilled meats, fish and vegetables. It can easily be adapted; adding mint, tarragon, basil or any other fresh herb to compliment a dish you have in mind.
Family secrets:
The more olive oil you put, the runnier it will be. For meats, we recommend keeping it denser and runnier for vegetables or fish
We dry grill the veggies (without oil) as the oil would burn and become bitter so we prefer to add it after.
Salsa Verde can be kept in an air-tight container in your fridge for up to 5 days.
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Ingredients for 6 people:
Salsa Verde:
Zest of ½ a lemon
1 big bunch of parsley
3 anchovies
A handful of washed capers
2 cloves of garlic
1 tbsp of vinegar
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper
Veggies (feel free to adapt to taste/what you have in the cupboard)
3 romano peppers
2 courgettes
2 tropea onions (shallots or red onions would also do)
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Place your veggies in a single layer on a hot griddle pan (avoid the temptation to move them around - they will naturally unstick once they begin to char). Once you have nice char lines, turn and allow the other side to char. Cook until softened and you can easily poke a fork through.
Finely chop all ingredients for the salsa verde and add at least ½ cup of extra virgin olive oil. Mix well, taste and rectify seasoning with more olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper if necessary.
Place your charred veggies on a serving platter and drizzle your salsa verde generously on top. A little sprinkle of salt to finish and you have a deliciously colourful antipasti.
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Tiramisu translates to ‘pull me up’ in Italian and was created in the countryside when families would be sleepy after long family lunches and so the coffee would revive everyone. Traditionally no alcohol is added to the recipe, however, if you did want to add alcohol then usually Marsala wine is added to the biscuits with the coffee.
Family Secrets
Folding rather than stirring the egg whites into the mascarpone mix will help keep the air in the mixture, resulting in a luxuriously light topping.
Amaretti biscuits can supplement the finger biscuits for a gluten free option.
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Ingredients (for 6 people):
400g mascarpone
4 tbsp sugar
4 eggs
150g finger biscuits (enough to cover bottom of the dish)
About 300ml strong coffee
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Method:
Lay the finger biscuits into a ceramic or tin dish of about 24cm x 21cm so that they cover the bottom completely without overlapping (breaking them to fit is absolutely fine)
Pour a tablespoon of coffee onto each biscuit, one at a time - Make sure your biscuits are mostly soft from the coffee but still a little crunchy in the middle. Make sure there is no excess coffee floating at the bottom of the dish.
Crack each egg separating the yolks into a large bowl with the mascarpone and the whites into another mixing bow (or kitchen aid bowl if you have one)l.
Whisk the egg whites (we’d advise using an electric whisk). Once the egg white has turned white and fluffy then add the sugar tablespoon by tablespoon whilst still whisking until your egg whites are super stiff and have a glossy texture which will happen after about 5minutes of whisking with the sugar.
Mix the mascarpone and egg yolks together until smooth using a whisk. We would recommend not using an electric whisk for this part as it can make your mascarpone too liquid, better to whisk by hand.
Gently fold the egg whites a third at a time into the mascarpone mixture using a spatula until the egg whites are all incorporated into the mix and there are no lumps of egg white. You should have a nice fluffy mousse texture.
Spread the mixture on top of the coffee soaked biscuits and place in the fridge to set until you are ready to eat (we’d advise 2 hours minimum).
Once set, dust the tiramisu with dark cocoa powder using a sieve and serve in generous portions.
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Family Secrets:
Scoring the skin of the fish will stop it from curling up when in the hot pan - this will help achieve the crispy skin that we’re looking for.
If preparing for a dinner party the fish can be fried skin side down first and then transferred to a baking paper lined tray skin side up and popped in a hot oven for 5 minutes once guests arrive to finish cooking and reheat.
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Ingredients for 6 people as a main course:
6 sea bass filets (each fillet should be about 130gr each with skin)
40gr of Parsley (with stems) picked and finely chopped
3 large garlic cloves finely chopped
600g of cherry tomatoes, halved
100gr black olives (we love Taggiasca but kalamata work well too)
50gr of capers
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
125ml of dry white wine
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Method:
Heat your oven to 180 degrees
Halve your cherry tomatoes and place them seed side up on a baking paper lined tray. Pour a generous drizzle of olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Put these in the oven for about 1 hour - if you are short of time you can turn the oven up but we are looking to slow roast the tomatoes so the edges begin to char and they appear almost sundried.
Prepare your filets by running your finger along each one, removing any bones as you go if needed. Then bake your sea bass filets skin side down spread out onto an oven tray with a drizzle of olive oil, salt and pepper and generous splash of white wine for about 15 minutes at 180 degrees until cooked through.
Whilst your tomatoes and sea bass is cooking, fry your garlic, parsley capers, olives and a sprinkle of chili in a pan with a very generous amount olive oil (enough to coat the bottom of your pan) and cook on a medium heat for about 10 minutes making sure to stir occasionally so that the garlic does not burn. Once everything smells delicious and fragrant add your white wine and turn down the heat to low and simmer for a further 15 minutes making sure the heat is low enough so that we do not evaporate all of the wine.
Once your fish is ready, shred the fish into your sauce without the skin and add your roasted tomatoes. Taste for seasoning and then cook your pasta until very al dente and finish your pasta in the pan with the sauce on medium heat with some pasta water until it is cooked. Serve with plenty of fresh parsley.
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This deliciously rich and nutty rice is the perfect accompaniment to chicken scallopini or fish. The rice requires about 45 mins of cooking time so make sure you allow enough time for this (can be cooked in advance and warmed in the oven)
Family Secrets;
Cooking the rice in a soffritto adds a depth of flavour with a hint of sweetness.
Soaking the rice in water for over 30mins before boiling will speed up the cooking.
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Ingredients (4 people as a side):
160g Black Venus Rice (we use Belazu)
1 small carrot
1 small onion
30g butter
Salt
Home made chicken stock (can be subbed for water if you do not have any available)
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Finely dice the carrot and onion or blend in a blender or nutribullet if you have one. The finer the better.
Melt 15g of butter and 1 tablespoon of olive oil on a low heat. Add the diced vegetables with a pinch of salt and cover with a lid. Cook until soft and starting to brown, stirring every now and again. (10-15 mins)
Add the rice to the soffritto and cover with water - start with 1 inch over the top of the rice (more can be added as the rice soaks it up) cover and ensure water is simmering.
Leave to boil stirring every 5-10mins to ensure it’s not burning on the bottom of the pan.
Taste the rice after 30mins and add more water if still too firm. Repeat this process until you have the desired texture (firm, with bite but not crunchy). This will take longer if you haven’t pre-soaked the rice.
Once the rice is cooked, turn up the heat and let any excess water evaporate.
Turn off the heat and melt in the remaining butter. Season to taste.
Serve immediately or place in a ceramic dish to heat in the oven later on.
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