The Cookbook » Italian

Minestrone Soup

Catrina — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 19:12:05 +0000

There are two schools of thought when it comes to the origins of Minestrone. One school asserts the the recipe was conceived during the the 1600s and 1700s while the other claims ascendancy from pre-Roman times. Whoever is right, what is sure is that there is no fixed set of ingredients, although there are common themes. Typically a Minestrone will contain an assortment of beans, a spectrum of fresh vegetables, a meat of some sort (ham, soup bones, or even a pigs trotter), together with herbs like thyme and rosemary.

Minestrone Soup, garnished with Italian Parsley, served on the balcony.

Here is the full shopping list…

Ingredients (6 serves)

200 grams dried bean minestrone soup mix
one thick (10 mm) slice of smoked ham, diced
half a cabbage, finely sliced
1 leek, sliced into 10mm rounds
1 large brown onion, finely chopped
2 zucchinis, sliced (10 mm rounds)
2 celery stalks, diced
2 bay leaves
3 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 liter of chicken stock
1 teaspoon of chopped rosemary
1 teaspoon of chopped thyme leaves
2 tablespoons of tomato paste
salt and pepper to season
fresh Italian parsley and grated parmesan cheese for garnish

Putting it all together is reasonably straightforward. We add the pre-soaked beans to a couple of liters of boiling water water and let that boil on a moderate heat for an hour. Then we scoop out about half the beans from the mixture and mash them into a puree, add the meat, parsley, rosemary, thyme and tomato paste, and the pureed beans to the liquid and simmer for another 20 minuets before adding the remaining vegetables and stock. Simmer on a low heat for a further hour to hour and a half and serve.

Method

Soak beans overnight (eight hours), drain and set aside.
Bring two liters of water to the boil in a large pot.
Add beans and a little olive oil and boil over a moderate heat for 1 hour.
Remove half of the beans, puree (crush to a paste) and return the puree to the pot.
Add the meat, parsley, rosemary, thyme, bay leaves, crushed garlic and tomato paste and boil over a medium heat for another 20 minutes (note: if you using soup bones you will want to keep things on the heat for longer – possibly up to an hour by which time the any meat left on the bones is falling away from the bone).
Add the chicken stock and remaining vegetables and simmer for another 1 to 1.5 hours.

Garnish with fresh Italian parsley, serve alongside a bowl of fresh grated parmesan cheese and enjoy.

Mozzarella Veal with Roast Tomato Salad

Rebecca — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 08:50:39 +0000

Tender veal steak rolls stuffed with melting mozzarella cheese, wrapped in prosciutto, served on a bed of rocket, garnished with Italian parsley and shaved parmesan, surrounded by a cluster of baked cherry tomatoes.

Mozzarella Veal wrapped in Prosciutto served with Roast Tomato Salad

This meal is relatively simple to prepare. The three principle elements are (1) the salad base, (2) baked cherry tomatoes, and lastly (3) the stuffed veal rolls. Preparing the rolls can be done well in advance and this is where most of the time is – so it’s an excellent recipe for those occasions when you want to serve a meal that is visually exciting and tasty, but at the same time you want to keep your time in the kitchen down to a minimum. Preparing the veal for a couple of people takes about 30 min. and can be set aside in a refrigerator the day before. The remaining elements are trivial – baking the tomatoes requires practically no preparation, and the salad is about as simple as you can get – all up 5-10 min. kitchen duty and a total elapsed time of about 20-30 min. between start to delivery on the table.

Ingredients (2 serves)

The Salad
- 50g rocket leaves
- a handful of Italian parsley
- a handful of fresh basil leaves
- 250g cherry tomatoes
- 50g parmesan cheese (shaved)
- vinaigrette or salad dressing
Mozzarella Veal
- 250g veal schnitzel steaks (4)
- 6-8 slices of prosciutto
- 100g mozzarella cheese (6-8 slices)
- 50g butter and a couple tablespoons of olive oil
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- a sprinkling of sage
- 4 fresh basil leaves

Preparing the stuffed veal rolls.

Method

tenderize the veal
season with salt and pepper
place slices of mozzarella cheese at one end (see above illustration)
sprinkle a little sage over the mozarella
place a fresh basil leaf on top
fold the other end of the veal over on top of the other
roll the folded veal into a cylinder and wrap with one or two slices of prosciutto
set aside and repeat the process for each veal streak
preheat oven to 180 degrees, place tomatoes into a baking dish lined with baking paper
bake tomatoes in oven for 20-25 min.
prepare salad by mixing the rocket and basil dressed with the vinaigrette
place salad in the center of the plates in preparation
heat oil and butter in a hot frying pan, add the veal rolls and cook for 4-6 minutes turning frequently, remove and arrange two rolls per plate over the salad
serve roasted tomatoes around the salad and veal rolls
garnish with sprigs of Italian parsley and shaved parmesan

Putting it all together.

Pasta with Baby Broccoli and a Ricotta, Spinach Sauce

Anna Maria Luisa — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 07:30:05 +0000

This dish is a family favorite – a combination of pasta with a ricotta, spinach and pecorino stir-through sauce, served with steamed baby broccoli tips dressed with butter, garlic and olive oil, accompanied with freshly grated parmesan cheese.

Preparation and cooking time: 15 minutes.

The finished dish, pasta with broccoli.

For this dish I prepared a dressing for the broccoli using a small bowl (about 50 mls. in size) and combined a heaped teaspoon of butter (or margarine), one crushed garlic clove, a sprinkle of chopped chives, and a dribble of olive oil. Using the teaspoon I folded the mixture together until smooth. Once the broccoli is ready to serve, pour the mixture over it and toss lightly to distribute evenly.

I’m using an off-the-shelf stir though pasta sauce. In this particular example its Kraft Foods Ricotta, Spinach and Pecorino Sauce available in most supermarkets. When the pasta was cooked, I simply mixed in two heaped tablespoons of the sauce, stirred it though to get a good distribution, and then shared the pasta out on the the plates. After that, just add the dressed brocolli and your ready to serve.

Starting with the broccoli pictured below I cut off the thick stems, leaving just the broccoli flowers on the little stems. I steamed these for about 7 minutes before adding the dressing (see above). Fortunately we have one of those great spaghetti cooker things with a container for the pasta and a steamer above which makes cooking this meal a breeze.

Some pasta.

Fresh baby brocolli and garlic.

Ingredients (2 serves)

1-2 cloves of garlic
tsp of butter or margarine
a dribble of olive oil
a sprinkle of chopped chives
180-240 grams pasta
100 grams baby broccoli
Ricotta, Spinach and Pecorino stir-through sauce (Kraft Foods)
1/4 cup of grated parmesan cheese

Method

put on the pasta
prepare broccoli dressing by mixing together the butter, crushed garlic cloves, chives and olive oil – set aside
about 7 or 8 minutes before the pasta is done, start steaming the broccoli and preheat two of three tablespoons of the stir-though source
when the pasta and broccoli are done, drain the pasta and mix though the preheated sauce, and pour the prepared dressing over the broccoli
serve the pasta into the individual plates and garnish with the dressed broccoli
serve with grated parmesan cheese in a side dish

Lasagna

Anna Maria Luisa — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 14:24:18 +0000

Garfield once said (while paraphrasing Will Rogers) “I never met a Lasagna I didn’t like.” This particular Lasagna is easy to prepare and tastes great. It’s basically a combination of meat base (mince meat, chopped onions, and garlic) combined with a jar of tomato based spaghetti sauce, a little oregano, layered in with grated cheese between sheets of lasagna, and topped with a Carbonara sauce and more cheese.

Ingredients (3 serves)

2 tbsp cooking oil
1 medium onion, chopped
300g minced beef
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 packet of lasagna sheets
1 jar of a tomato based spaghetti sauce (for example I used a 375g jar of Bolognese Sauce)
450g Carbonara sauce
1 cups of grated cheese for the layers
1/2 cups of grated cheese for the top

Method

start preheating the oven for 180 C
heat oil in frying pan
add onion and garlic and cook for about 5 min.
add mince meat and oregino, mix together and cook for a further 15 min. or so until the mince meat has browned
add the tomato-based sauce to the mix and stir though
let the mixture simmer for a further 10 or 15 minutes stirring occasionally (note: the mixture should be semi-liquid but if your combination looks too dry just add a little water or tomato juice
prepare the lasagna dish by coating the sides and base with butter or margarine
spread about 1/4 of the Carbonara sauce over the bottom of the dish
cover with the first layer of Lasagna sheets
spread 1/4 of the meat sauce mixture over the Lasagna sheets then sprinkle 1/4 of the cheese over the top, then layer over more Lasagna sheets
repeat the previous step another three times (bringing the total number of layers to 4)
pour the remaining Carbonara sauce over the top, spreading the mixture evenly
sprinkle the 1/2 cup of grated cheese over the top
place in the oven and cook for 40 min. at 180 C

Linguine, Baked Tomatoes and Basil

Anna Maria Luisa — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 09:24:12 +0000

Tomatoes baked in balsamic vinegar and brown sugar, served over linguine, and garnished with fresh basil. The tomatoes are baked whole with the balsamic vinegar and brown sugar for about an hour or more until soft, then quartered and the combination of sweetened vinegar and tomatoes are poured over the linguine. The dish is finalized by mixing in fresh basil leaves and finely sliced chili. Add a little parmesan cheese and you have something that your taste buds will not forget any time soon.

Ingredients (2 serves)

The Pasta
- 180-200 grams of linguine
The Sauce
- 4 medium sized fine ripened tomatoes
- 150-200 mills of Balsamic Vinegar
- 2 heaped teaspoons of brown sugar
- 1 red chili seeds removed and finely chopped
The Garnish
- one cup of fresh basil leaves
- 1/4 cup of grated parmesan cheese

Method

preheat oven to 180C
line a small baking dish with baking paper and place tomatoes in the dish
mix together the balsamic vinegar and brown sugar and pour over tomatoes
cook tomatoes in oven until soft (60-90 minutes)
prepare linguine (following directions, probably about 10 min.)
remove baked tomatoes from oven and quarter the tomatoes in the dish
place cooked linguine into a serving dish, add the tomatoes and juice from the baking dish and the fresh basil leaves
serve with the grated parmesan cheese

Source: Personal experience.

Warm Meatball Pesto Salad

Zino — Sun, 11 May 2008 18:57:00 +0000

This is one of those wonderful salads – fresh rocket, light and flavor filled meatballs, zucchini, squash, basil, parmesan cheese, dressed with a basil, parmesan and cashew dip.

There are a couple of interesting aspects to this dish – firstly, the meatballs are really light and a joy to the palette, and this is largely because of the addition of bacon and onion. The bacon adds more oil to cooking process and the onion adds more liquid withing the meatball itself. Then we have the salad – and just plain rocket can be a touch aggressive but the addition of a health level of basil combined with the parmesan cheese seems to bring everything together.

The ingredients detail a main-course scenario for 4 serves, but you could just as easily prepare this as an entre for 6 or 8. As to the selection of veal or lean-beef, I’ve done both and public opinion leans towards the veal – it just a little lighter – but the beef variation is really good too.

Ingredients (4 serves)

The Salad
- 2 small zucchinis, thickly sliced
- 500 grams of yellow squash – trimmed and quartered
- 1 large red capsicum, chopped
- 100 grams baby rocket leaves
- 1 cup of fresh basil leaves
- 150 gram tub of chunky basil with cashew and parmesan dip
- 1/4 cup of shaved parmesan cheese
The Meatballs
- 1 onion finely chopped
- 1 clove of garlic, crushed
- 2 or 3 bacon rashers, finely chopped
- 500 grams of minced veal (or lean beef)
- 1/2 Cup of grated parmesan cheese
- salt and pepper (about half a teaspoon of each for me)

Method

heat the onion, garlic and bacon in a large frying pan over a high heat until the onion is soft then set aside in a bowl and allow to cool for about 10 min.
combine the onion, garlic and bacon mixture with the veal and grated parmesan, season with salt and pepper and mix thoroughly
roll heaped teaspoons of the mixture into balls (about the size of a ping-pong ball)
brown meatballs over a medium heat using a couple of teaspoons of vegetable oil, turn occasionally (should be cooked though in about 8-12 min.) then remove the meatballs
after cleaning the frying pan, add another couple of teaspoons of oil and over a high heat cook the zucchini, squash and capsicum until just tender (about 5 or 6 min.)
combine the meatballs, vegetables, rocket and basil in a large serving bowl
garnish with the combined dip and water and the shaved parmesan cheese

Source: Derived from an article published in New Idea under the title ‘Little Italy’ (date of publication unknown).

Tuscan Meatballs

Anna Maria Luisa — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 13:16:23 +0000

Classic Italian spaghetti and meatballs in a recipe that is easy to prepare.

Ingredients (4 serves)

800g beef mince
1 egg
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
1/2 teaspoon each of salt and pepper
2 cloves of garlic
1 tablespoon of vegetable oil
1 x 400 gram can of chopped tomatoes
1 pkt. Tuscan Meatball Recipe Base (Masterfoods)
1 red chili, seeds removed and finely sliced
1 teaspoon of parsley flakes
shaved parmesan cheese (garnish)
some fresh Italian parsley springs for garnish (optional)

Method

combine the mince, parsley, egg and breadcrumbs
using small spoonfuls of the mixture, make up golf-ball sized meatballs
using the oil in a frying pan, brown the meatballs turning frequently until cooked though
add tomatoes, crushed garlic, chili, and recipe mix, season with salt and pepper, and bring to a simmer
cook on low for a further 15-20 min. while preparing the spaghetti
serve meatballs and sauce over spaghetti
garnish with the shaved parmesan and parsley sprigs

Source: Originally based on the directions on the back of the Masterfoods recipe base and enhanced over time with additions of garlic and chili.