If you are having a dinner party and stuck for time or inspiration, then Veal Milanese is a simple dish. It won’t cause a sweat in the kitchen, but will definitely impress your friends.
If you don’t like the idea of cooking veal, then you can use an alternative such as chicken or pork, but really veal is the authentic ingredient and definitely the most delicious meat for this recipe. If you do enjoy veal, then you could also try Brian Turner’s rib of rose veal with honey and soy glaze.
3 sprigs of rosemary, discard the stalks and very finely chop the leaves
Handful of basil leaves, chopped very finely
50g butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 lemon, quartered to serve
salt and freshly ground black pepper
Handful of finely grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
You need to flatten the veal escalopes, so place them in clingfilm, and using a rolling pin, gently pound them, being careful not to tear the meat - it just needs to be a little thinner and stretched.
Crack the eggs into a dish and beat them lightly together with some salt and black pepper. Mix the finely chopped rosemary and basil into the breadcrumbs and spread on a plate. Now season the flour with salt and black pepper and spread on to another plate.
Dip each escalope, first into the flour, then the beaten egg and finally into the breadcrumbs, shaking off any excess breadcrumbs. Then place the escalopes onto a clean plate.
Heat half the butter and oil in a frying pan over a medium-high heat; when sizzling hot, add the escalopes to the pan. Cook them for 4-5 minutes on each side or till crisp and golden brown.
Sprinkle with a little salt and serve with the lemons to squeeze over, grated Parmesan and your choice of side dish.
Fried Calamari is a must-know for any aspiring Italian chef. I often serve mine alongside home-made chips, taking advantage of the already heated and ready-to-go deep fryer. Besides, that combination sort of gives a nod to the British classic fish and chips.
You may have noticed that most seafood platters are served with lemon wedges, which is interesting to me. The combination of the citric fruit and fish comes from the olden days when it was more difficult to keep fish fresh for a long time. As there wasn’t ice in those days, the product often developed an unpleasant odor after being stored or transported to a nearby city, the journey often taking a few days. Lemon was used to combat the smell of the less-than-fresh seafood. Others say that it was used like salt to help preserve the quality of the nutrients and avoid any bacterial problems.
But now that transportation and keeping our seafood fresh isn’t a problem, we still use lemon! My parents were against the use of lemon and claimed that it is an insult to the chef to use it. If you like the combination, you are free to eat it as you choose. However, maybe you could try it without and enjoy the flavours of the fish exactly as they should be savoured.
This recipe is a hearty favourite of mine. Pasta itself is filling, but with the breaded red meat and strong cheese, I recommend that you make this only when famished!
This is more of a lunch item as well. My wife and I prefer the Mediterranean diet, so we normally eat a substantial lunch and a lighter dinner. Eating a heavier lunch gives us the energy we need and allows time for proper digestion.
I lent this recipe to a friend of mine who wanted to show off his culinary skills. He proudly served it as dinner to his family. Later, his wife confided to us that although it was tasty, their young son suffered from fairly vivid nightmares all night. We all know that there are a number of things that can affect your dreams, but my personal suspicion is that it was the heavy meal right before bedtime.
I serve a side salad with lettuce and tomatoes, drizzled over with oil and vinegar. The lettuce aids in digesting the meat. You could also try this summer salad with pears and cheese. Or save that option for your light dinner before a peaceful night’s sleep.
With breaded red meat, pasta and cheese, I recommend this for when you are famished!
Ingredients
300g fettucine
2 veal cutlets
100g all-purpose flour
2 eggs
100g breadcrumbs
5 tablespoons olive oil
1 small yellow onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
120ml red wine
250ml passata
1 green onion, chopped
1 teaspoon basil
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon parsley
100g Parmesan cheese
2 slices Mozzarella cheese
Instructions
Wrap the cutlets in clingfilm and use a mallet to flatten them.
Beat the eggs in a small bowl, setting aside a separate bowl for flour and for the breadcrumbs.
Cover the cutlets in flour by dipping them in the corresponding bowl.
Next drench them in the beaten eggs and coat with breadcrumbs.
In a frying pan on medium-high heat, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil and brown the veal cutlets until golden on both sides. This should take 2-4 minutes on each side.
Remove the veal from the heat and cover with aluminum foil to keep warm.
Pour in 3 tablespoons of olive oil into the same frying pan to sweat the onions.
Once translucent, add the garlic for another minute.
Pour in the wine and let it evaporate for 2 minutes.
Stir in the passata, basil, oregano, parsley and almost all of the green onion, setting some aside for garnishing later. Let it all simmer together for 10 minutes or so. The sauce should begin to thicken and emit a pleasant aroma.
When almost to the perfect consistency of your liking, place the veal cutlets on top of the sauce, but spoon out a few tablespoons on top of the veal.
On top of that layer of sauce, equally distribute the Parmesan and Mozzarella cheeses.
Let this simmer for another 10 minutes on a low heat so that the veal is warmed up again and the cheese begins to melt.
During those 10 minutes, you can prepare the fettucine according to instructions on the packet.
On a plate, serve the fettucine, sauce and veal cutlets, garnished with the leftover green onion.
The delicious sweetness of ripe pumpkin combines deliciously with the crispy sage and Parmesan cheese to create this sublime dish from Northern Italy. Pumpkin and Sage Crisp Risotto is simple to prepare, and wonderfully filling, so you don’t need to think about side dishes.
If you can’t find fresh sage leaves, you can mix dried sage into the rice mixture. It’s not the same, but it still gives you the aromatic flavour that enhances the traditional pumpkin risotto. Other fantastic rice meals include this delicious asparagus risotto and my tempting game Pigeon Risotto.
As an accompaniment, I recommend a crisp Sauvignon Blanc, served ice cold.
The sweetness of the pumpkin combined with aromatic sage is divine.
Ingredients
400g ripe pumpkin, deseeded and cut into 1cm cubes
1 litre chicken or vegetable stock
200g risotto rice, preferably Arborio
1 small glass of white wine
50g butter
50g Parmesan, freshly grated, plus shavings to serve
8-10 sage leaves
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Olive oil
Instructions
Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a pan, add the pumpkin and cook gently until just softened, around 10 minutes.
Stir occasionally, making sure that the pumpkin doesn’t brown. When the pumpkin is tender, add the white wine and stir until it has evaporated.
Set aside one-third of the cooked pumpkin.
Put the rest of the pumpkin into a food processer and whiz until smooth. If necessary, add a touch of hot water to get the mixture moving.
If you are using a ready-made stock, you will need to heat it in a saucepan, keeping it at a gentle simmer. Or prepare your stock-cubes in boiling water and put to one side.
Next heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in a large saucepan and add the rice. Cook, stirring frequently, for one minute, to ensure that all the rice is coated in the olive oil.
Add a small amount of the hot stock, enough to cover the rice, and stir until it is almost all absorbed. Repeat until you only have a few ladles of stock left. Check the rice to see if it is ‘al dente’. If not, you can add more stock.
Aubergine Parmigiana or La Parmigiana Melanzane originates from the beautiful coastal province of Puglia, set in the heel of Italy. It’s a great way to serve up aubergines, layering them with tomato and cheese, almost like the classic lasagne, minus the pasta.
Serve with fresh garlic bread and a rocket salad. Perfect accompanied with a classic northern Italian red wine, such as Villa Casetta – Barbera d’Alba. Divino!
A delicious, warming aubergine dish layered with cheese and tomato
Ingredients
olive oil
1 garlic clove, thinly sliced
1 small onion, peeled and finely chopped
1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes, or 500g of fresh ripe tomatoes
1 cinnamon stick
4-5 leaves of shredded basil
2 medium aubergines
1 ball Buffalo Mozzarella, sliced
Splash of wine vinegar
Handful of Parmesan cheese
Handful of dried breadcrumbs
Pinch of dried oregano
Salt and ground black pepper
Instructions
Heat the oven to 180ºC.
If you use fresh tomatoes, which will be sweeter if they are in season, you first need to de-skin them. Prick the skins and put them in a pan of boiling water for 40-50 seconds. Spoon them out and drop them into a bowl of cold water. Leave for 30 seconds, then remove their skins. Cut up the flesh, removing the seeds.
Heat 2 tbsp oil in a large pan. Add the garlic, onion and dried oregano and gently cook for 7-8 minutes until the onion is soft and the garlic turns a golden brown.
Add the tomatoes and cinnamon and simmer for around 15 minutes until you have a thickened sauce. Season with the basil, wine vinegar, salt and pepper. Remove the cinnamon stick.
Whilst the tomato sauce is simmering, slice the aubergines lengthways about 1cm thick. Brush both sides with oil and a little salt. Pan fry or chargrill, turning a few times until tender. It's important to get the aubergine as tender as possible, so give it time, but don’t burn them! Put them to one side.
Now take an ovenproof dish and spoon a layer of the sauce in the bottom of the dish, cover with aubergine and then the Mozzarella. Repeat 3 or 4 times and finish with a thin layer of tomato sauce.
Sprinkle with Parmesan and breadcrumbs and bake for 30-40 minutes until the dish is bubbling and the Parmesan and breadcrumbs are golden brown.
Buon' giorno! Welcome to my Italian food blog.
I am Italian, and proud of it! Italy has so much going for it: with one foot quite literally in the beautiful Mediterranean, my
country’s climate and location give us an amazing cornucopia of ingredients, which is why our culture is steeped in a hearty
romantic culinary tradition. My wife and I love our food, so all my recipes are designed for two. If you're cooking for an average
sized modern family - perhaps not the traditional extended Italian family - just double the quantities.
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