There are a million ways you can make canneloni. The combination of fillings and sauces are up to your imagination! My mum used to cook up a beef canneloni with a tomato filling, and so I followed suit. Of course I experiment with other possibilities, but I consider this the classic recipe.
Some people use the tomato sauce on the bottom of the baking pan, placing the canneloni on top of the passata and then smothering it with cheese. Others place the canneloni in first and then pour the tomato on top. My personal preference is combining the two and using both as filling, while drizzling over a delicious buttery cheese sauce. And if you really like cheese, you could sprinkle some extra on top afterwards!
Canneloni is a bit like lasagne: there are a million options for combinations, and the ingredients are made separately and then combined in the oven. Try this fantastic vegetable lasagne, and you’ll see what I mean.
Next, pour 4 tablespoons of olive oil into a frying pan and sauté the onions and garlic for 2 minutes.
Add the ground beef and fry for about 5 minutes.
Next, pour in the passata, a pinch of salt, a couple twists of black pepper and the basil. Let it all simmer together between 15 and 20 minutes.
While the meat is simmering, you can prepare the topping and preheat the oven to 200ºC.
Melt butter in a saucepan. When completely melted, whisk in the flour for a minute or two. When completely dissolved, you can add the milk. This step should be done slowly and carefully so as to avoid lumps.
Add salt, pepper and nutmeg and simmer for five minutes, until the sauce has thickened.
Remove from the heat and add the Parmesan cheese and cherry tomatoes, stirring them all together.
Take the meat and tomato mixture, stuffing it inside the canneloni.
Gently place the canneloni side-by-side in a large baking dish, pouring the cheese sauce on top.
Bake for 20 minutes and serve piping hot. But be careful not to burn your mouth!
These pan-fried veal escalopes splashed with lemon are mouth-wateringly good. Veal Milanese reminds me of authentic trattoria cuisine from when I was a child growing up. The escalopes are best served with a small portion of spaghetti and a fresh Pomodorosauce, or sautéed potatoes and salad.
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.
A classic veal dish served with spaghetti Pomodoro or sautéed potatoes.
Ingredients
2 veal escalopes (about 100g each)
1 large egg
150g flour
150g white breadcrumbs
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.
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.
Add the pumpkin purée and cooked pumpkin, stir through the rice mixture and season to taste.
Stir in the butter and the grated Parmesan. Put to one side, covered to keep warm.
Finally heat a little olive oil in a small frying pan until hot. Fry the sage leaves for a few seconds until crispy and drain on kitchen paper.
Ladle the risotto onto warm plates. Drizzle with a little olive oil and top with the Parmesan shavings and sage leaves.
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.
Gnocchi are basically a kind of small, soft dumpling, which can be made from a variety of ingredients, including flour, semolina and potato, or numerous other combinations. Recently a friend of ours cooked us gnocchi made with chestnut flour, which was new to us, and very delicious. I’d like to try it myself some time soon. If and when I do, I’ll post it here.
Taleggio is a soft cheese named for the beautiful Val Taleggio in Lombardy. It is what is called ‘washed rind’ and ‘smear-ripened’. These terms refer to the maturation processes, and the result in this case is a pungent-smelling but pretty mild-tasting cheese, ideal for melting in dishes such as this.
Last time we ate this, we had one of our favourite super simple salads with it, consisting merely of watercress with Parmesan shavings, lightly drizzled in olive oil, with a slug of balsamic vinegar and a twist of pepper, and a freshly baked (from the supermarket, admittedly) white baguette. (For dessert, why not try this white chocolate mousse?)
Gnocchi are basically a kind of small, soft dumpling, which can be made from a variety of ingredients, including flour, semolina and potato, or numerous other combinations.
Ingredients
15g butter, cubed
60g pancetta, cubed
100ml double cream
3 or 4 sage leaves (cut length-wise into thin strips)
50g Taleggio cheese
2 tablespoons of Parmesan cheese, grated
1 teaspoon of fine flour
200g gnocchi
Salt and pepper
Instructions
In a heavy-bottomed frying pan, over a low heat, melt the butter. Add the pancetta and cook slowly, until beginning to caramelize (approx 10 minutes).
Add the cream and sage and stir together. Increase the heat, bringing the mixture to the boil, thicken and reduce for several minutes. Add the Taleggio and Parmesan, stirring them in, and then remove the pan from the heat. Once the cheese has melted, taste, and then season lightly with salt and pepper.
Cook the gnocchi as per the packet instructions. This is usually only a matter of some minutes, and waiting for the gnocchi to float to the water surface. Drain and return to the pan. Pour over the sauce and serve to warmed plates or bowls.
Pappardelle is a broader version of tagliatelle, usually about an inch (2.5/3 cm) wide. It’s a delicious form of pasta, and reputedly gets its name from the verb “pappare”, which translates as to ‘scoff’ or ‘gobble’ up. Very appropriate!
Porcini mushrooms, whose Italian name is derived from ‘piglet’, belong to the genus Boletus, and are unquestionably the emperor amongst fungi, at least as far as we in Italy are concerned. (In England, they are called ceps.)You could use other mushrooms in this dish, but why do that? This recipe is really all about the particular flavour of the porcini, which is a blend of creamy, meaty and nutty flavours, a literal taste of their symbiotic relationship with the wooded areas where they grow (at least the wild ones).
I also recommend my mushroom risotto. Delicious! (If I do say so myself!)
It doesn’t take much to modify this dish. You could add bacon, chicken, courgettes, or all three. Or some cream, or a little dry white wine. We enjoyed a version of this we once tried where we used a little leftover roast rabbit. A green leafy salad, some crusty bread, and a dry white wine will all complement this dish perfectly.
It’s a delicious form of pasta, and reputedly gets its name from the verb “pappare”, which translates as to ‘scoff’ or ‘gobble’ up.
Ingredients
3 tablespoons of olive oil
25g butter, cubed
1 clove of garlic, sliced paper-thin
I red chilli (fresh), deseeded and finely chopped
1 or 2 tablespoons of chopped parsley
The juice of ½ a lemon
200g porcini mushrooms, cleaned
200g papardelle pasta
50-100g Parmesan cheese shavings
Salt and pepper
Instructions
Start by making the sauce. After cleaning the porcini, slice them quite thinly (2 or 3 mm). Bring the oil in a heavy based frying pan up to a low heat, add the garlic and chilli, allowing them to infuse the oil, but being careful to ensure they don’t burn or get at all scorched.
Turn up the heat and add the mushrooms, cooking them until they are tender and have taken on some colour, caramelizing very slightly. Turn off the heat and add the butter, stirring it in as it melts. Add the parsley (set a little aside for garnishing) and lemon juice.
Now you can get on with the pasta. Cook the pasta in a large pan of lightly salted boiling water, until al dente. Reserve a cupful of the cooking liquid and drain the pasta.
Mix the pasta with the mushrooms and sauce, and return to a medium heat, adding the reserved cooking liquid. When it’s all combined, and the pasta is unctuously coated, serve onto warmed plates or bowls, adding salt and pepper to taste, generous amounts of Parmesan shavings and the remaining chopped parsley.
Do you ever make time to cook up a three course meal at home just to share some special time with your other half? It’s hard for all of us to make time for that, I know, but it’s something that Teresa and I like to prioritise. Because we find cooking relaxing and fun, some weekends find us together in the kitchen – glass of wine in hand, and conversation flowing, chopping knives doing their work in between sips of the red, or the white stuff. We can catch up on our week together this way.
On these days it’s a regular pleasure for us to put together a borlotti bean and tuna antipasto as a warm up to a plate of clam linguine (if we’re having a seafood night) followed by some home-made tiramisu. On these special nights, we lay a beautiful table, light a few candles, and get the music flowing. Ah, the simple pleasures of life.
A classic Italian dish known all around the world, there’s no need to wonder why lasagne is so popular… it’s simply delicious! This recipe assumes you have some ready-made Bolognese sauce to hand. So, if you need help with that, look back through my posts for my spaghetti Bolognese recipe, and use that.
This recipe also calls for béchamel sauce, delicious and creamy. You can buy it at the store, but as always, I prefer to make mine from scratch. So the first step in the recipe below explains the method of preparation for the sauce using bay leaf, milk, butter and nutmeg. That is the first part of the recipe, and you´ll want to start with that.
Now the fun bit: assembling your lasagne. I like to imagine I’m laying the strata of rocks and earth in an imaginary edible geological cross-section!
Have a piquant peppery green-leaf salad with your lasagne, a salad with a bit of bite! Oh, and don’t forget, a hearty and robust red wine is an essential accompaniment. I know I should probably recommend an Italian wine, but I love Chateaneuf du Pape, when I can afford it! And afterwards, you can savour this Negroni cocktail, another Italian favourite!
* Or you could roll out your pasta dough if you have some you’ve made yourself.
Instructions
To make the béchamel sauce, bring the milk to a simmer in a pan with the bay leaf in it. Take off the heat and stand for 15-20 minutes to infuse the milk with the flavour of the bay leaf. Melt the butter in another pan, over a low heat. Add the flour and stir.
Watch closely and monitor the heat. In a minute or two, the flour and butter mixture will have combined and ‘cooked’. Remove from the heat and slowly and gradually add the infused milk, having first strained it through a sieve to get rid of the bay leaf (and anything else that might make the sauce lumpy!), stirring all the while.
Once it’s all combined and you’re sure it’s mixed smoothly, return to the heat and gently simmer until it thickens, which should only take a minute or two. Add the grated nutmeg and season to taste with salt and pepper.
Next, get started on your pasta. I’m assuming the use of dried pasta sheets for this recipe. Cook them in batches in salted boiling water, until al dente, as usual.
As you take each batch out, drain off excess water, rinse in cold water to refresh, and lay on a kitchen towel or tea towel, to absorb any moisture.
While you’re doing this, you can reheat your Bolognese sauce in a pan or microwave.
In a suitably sized ovenproof dish, start with the Bolognese sauce: go for three layers - you should have the perfect amount of everything enabling you to divide the pasta, Bolognese and béchamel sauces in thirds. So on top of one-third of your meaty sauce, put one-third of the béchamel, then a layer of pasta. Repeat the process two more times, reserving a little béchamel for the top of the last layer of pasta, before finally sprinkling over the Parmesan. We sometimes add small amounts of Parmesan in each layer as well, over the béchamel sauce, for added cheesiness.
Bake at 220ºC until the top turns a beautiful golden brown, which should take 15-20 minutes, and then remove from the oven and let stand for about 5 minutes, before serving.
You might remember that I mentioned having a glut of sprouts on our allotment. Well, my wife Teresa loves pumpkins, and we grew quite a few last year. One of the recipes we enjoyed in the Autumn was this delicious pumpkin fusilli.
One of the reasons we love this recipe so much is the memories that it brings whenever we take a bite. We had a very enjoyable and memorable plateful of this on our honeymoon in Varenna, (Italy) by lake Como. Many people wondered why we chose to stay in Italy instead of traveling to a different country, as most newly-weds choose to do. However, we both love Italy so much, and often, we don’t take time to explore our own country. And I’m glad we did, because I had a lovely honeymoon and discovered one of our new favourite dishes!
Ingredients:
400g fusilli pasta
1 medium-sized pumpkin, or 350 ml pumpkin purée
2 cloves garlic
1 onion
350ml vegetable broth
60ml natural yoghurt
60g grated Parmesan cheese
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
Method:
Preheat the oven to 200ºC. Cut the pumpkin into eight equal pieces. Sprinkle a little olive oil on each chunk, and roast in the oven. Remove and allow to cool, before scooping the soft flesh out.
In a bowl, combine the pumpkin flesh with the Parmesan, nutmeg and other spices.
In a frying pan, sautée the onion and garlic until soft. Then add the pumpkin mixture, vegetable broth, butter and brown sugar. Stir well and simmer over a medium heat for 10 minutes.
Bring a pan of lightly-salted water to the boil, and toss in the fusilli pasta. The pasta should be ready in a matter of minutes.
In the pumpkin sauce, add the yoghurt to lighten up the dark orange colour.
Mix in the pasta so that it is completed coated with the sauce.
Serve immediately with salt, pepper and grated Parmesan on top.
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.
Gnocchi are basically a kind of small, soft dumpling, which can be made from a variety of ingredients, including flour, semolina and potato, or numerous other combinations. Recently a friend of ours cooked us gnocchi made with chestnut flour, which was new to us, and very delicious. I’d like to try it myself some time soon. If and when I do, I’ll post it here.
Pappardelle is a broader version of tagliatelle, usually about an inch (2.5/3 cm) wide. It’s a delicious form of pasta, and reputedly gets its name from the verb “pappare”, which translates as to ‘scoff’ or ‘gobble’ up. Very appropriate!
You might remember that I mentioned having a glut of sprouts on our allotment. Well, my wife Teresa loves pumpkins, and we grew quite a few last year. One of the recipes we enjoyed in the Autumn was this delicious pumpkin fusilli.
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