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Ali con i Peperoni e Bruschetta

So much flavour in a very simple dish made with a very few ingredients.

The secret? A very few ingredients 🙂

We love chicken POLLO /POH-LOH/ but we prefer to eat it on the bone and wings are one of the most flavourful part and fantastic for this delicious recipe.

PEPERONI /PEH-PEH-ROH-NEE/ not to be confused with PEPPERONI the sausage you put on pizza, except when you are in Italy of course, because if you ask for a Pepperoni pizza you’ll get a pizza with peppers on top. Yes! Peppers, beautiful peppers… red, yellow, orange!

So far we only have two ingredients: wings and peppers…..wait! that’s exactly what this dish is called!! The truth is that you don’t need to add anything else a part from 4 tablespoons of olive oil and a good pinch of salt.

To accompany the wings I would recommend a beautiful BRUSCHETTA AL POMODORO …. correctly pronounced /BROO-SKEH-TAH/

A little trick for you to master the best Italian pronunciation is remembering that the letters “C” and “H” together sound the opposite to English, CH = /K/ just like in the word CHIANTI (which I am sure you are familiar with)

So…are you ready? SIETE PRONTI?

🙂

Ingredients:

A packet of chicken wings (roughly 12 wings, halved as they will cook quicker)

3 peppers, red / yellow / orange (sliced quite chunky)

NOT green peppers 

Olive oil, 4 tbs

Salt

One large non-stick pan with lid

A punnet of cherry tomatoes 🍅 (diced)

Garlic  (finely chopped )

Fresh Basil 🌿 (finely chopped)

Bread ( baguette 🥖or any type of bread available 🍞)

Put a large non-stick pan on a medium heat, pour the olive oil in and add the wings. Add the salt, cover with the lid and cook for 10 minutes. Add the peppers and keep cooking for another 10 minutes, stirring every now and again. Add a little more salt if needed. Cook until the wings are golden and the peppers are soft.

In a bowl mix the tomatoes, garlic, basil, olive oil and salt. Let it marinade for 5 minutes before serving on slices of bread

BUON APPETITO, SONO SICURA CHE VI PIACERÀ 🙂

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Polpette al Sugo – Meatballs in Red Sauce

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Polpette = Meatballs = Italian Comfort Food 🙂

Nonna and Mamma used to make Meatballs all the time and I can still remember the excitement about dinner time!

In a cold day I used to love coming home from school to find one of my favourite dishes, Pasta and Meatballs in a rich tomato sauce…. awww it tasted amazing!!!

Today I am making this dish for my family and I hope I can inspire your family too!

#BringNonnaBack and Bring Families Together ❤️

Serves 4/6 people

 

Ingredients for the Polpette-Meatballs

250g beef Mince, good quality
250g pork mince
1 egg
100g bread crumbs
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
handful of parsley, finely chopped
l pinch of salt
sunflower oil for frying

Preparation
In a large bowl place the mince and add the egg, parsley, garlic, salt and bread crumbs. Mix all together with a fork or with your hand making sure you combine all the ingredients. If the mix feels too wet you can add some more bread crumbs, if it feels too dry add a splash of milk. Once the mix is smooth you can start rolling it into small balls, size of a 10p coin. I tent to make them a bit small as it’s easier for the children to eat them all in one go!

Option 1: Heat some sunflower oil in a large pan (filling all the bottom of the pan )and place 6/8 meatballs at the time. Cook them for 4/5 minutes, keep stirring them until golden. Prepare a large dish with some kitchen roll on the side and once the meatballs are ready to come out the pan, drain them and place them on the  kitchen roll to rest and to lose some of the oil. Add a pinch of salt. Keep doing the same until you have cooked all the meatballs.
Option 2: Preheat the oven at 200 degrees, place the meatballs on a flat oven tray and put the in the oven for 25 minutes until golden.

For the Sugo-Sauce

Ingredients
Half of a medium white onion, finely chopped
800/900g of plain tomato Passata (You can find passata in any good supermarket, it’s in a carton or in a bottle)
A handful of fresh basil, roughly chopped
Olive oil, 2 tbs
Salt, a pinch
Sugar, a pinch (to lower the acidity of the tomatoes)
Preparation

Heat a large pan, add the olive oil and the onion. Simmer the onion only for a few minutes untill golden, don’t cook it for too long as it can easily burn.
Add the passata, the salt and sugar and cover with a lid.
PLAN B: if you haven’t got any passata 2 tins of chopped or plum tomatoes will do! Blend them first if possible and pour them into the oil, follow the instructions as before
Turn the heat down and let it cook for 10 minutes, stirring it every now and again.
Finally add your basil and let the sauce embrace the leaves… your Sugo is ready!
Place the meatballs into the sauce, make sure they are all covered, put the lid on and  keep cooking the sauce and the meatballs for another 10 minutes on a low heat.
Enjoy your Polpette with some fresh bread or pasta. Buon Apettito!

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Uova al pomodoro….simply delicious

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Eggs, eggs, delicious eggs!! This is my family’s favourite “hot snack” EVER and a Mid-week Meal Savior! Why? quick, simple and delicious. I would make this for lunch as an alternative to a sandwich or wrap. You only need a non stick pan with a lid.

Serving 4

Ingredients

4 eggs

1 tin of chopped or plum tomatoes

2 spring onions, finely chopped or one large

basil, handful

salt, a good pinch

olive oil, 2 tbsp

a loaf of fresh bread (your favorite type)

Preparation

Put the olive oil in the pan and add the spring onion and the basil, simmer on a low heat for 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes and gently stir with a spoon (if using plum tomatoes break them up with a spoon). Add the salt and cook with the lid on for 5/8 minutes. Crack the eggs open and gently place them on the tomatoes. Add some salt on the eggs and cook without the lid for 5 minutes or until your eggs are cooked but the yolk is still runny. If you like your eggs quite firm put the lid on while cooking. Serve on a plate and enjoy with some bread for dipping. Pronto!!!!!

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Pane Facile anzi Facilissimo!

I love bread, of course I do…. I am Italian!!!!!

Making your own bread is fun and it’s even better when with the same dough you can make a lovely crusty ciabatta, focaccia, olive bread, sun dried tomato bread and even pizza!

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Ingredients 

500g strong white flour

300ml warm water

7g dry yeast

salt,1 pinch

olive oil,1 tbsp

Preparation

Put the flour into a large mixing bowl and add the salt. Gently mix with a fork. Pour half of the water into another mixing bowl and add the yeast. Thoroughly dissolve the yeast in the water until the water turns into a brownish colour. Pour some of the “brownish” water into the flour and with a fork or your fingers mix it all in. Continue to add water a little at a time ( you will have to add the other half of the water), combining well until you have picked up all the flour from the sides of the bowl. Add the olive oil. Once it is all combined, knead until you have a silky, smooth, elastic dough. Kneading: Push the dough out in one direction with the heel of your hand, then fold it back on itself. Turn the dough by 90 degrees and repeat. Kneading in this way stretches the gluten and makes the dough elastic. Do this for about 4 or 5 minutes until the dough is smooth and stretchy. Work quickly so that the mixture doesn’t stick to your hands – if it does get too sticky you can add a little flour to your hands. Now your dough needs to rest. Place it into a large bowl (you can use the same one you used for the flour), cover the bowl with a damp tea towel, this will avoid the dough once is proven to stick to the tea towel. Set it aside to prove (somewhere warm), this should take 1 hour and the dough should double in size. Now your dough is ready! Cut it in two halves or leave it whole depending on the size of your bread.

For a  crusty loaf: use a large, sharp knife to make shallow cuts (about 1cm/½ in deep) across the top of the loaf to create a diamond pattern. Put the loaf into the middle of the oven and bake for 30 minutes at 220C/200C (fan oven).

The loaf is cooked when it’s risen and golden. To check, take it out of the oven and tap it gently underneath, it should sound hollow. Place on a wire rack to cool.

For a ciabatta type: stretch a piece of dough lengthways and place it on a baking tray. Bake for 25 minutes at 200C/220C (fan oven), or until the loaf is golden brown and sounds hollow when tapped on the base. Cool on a wire rack.

For olive bread : Chop a handful of olives and push them inside the dough (after it has proven). Combine the olives with the dough and make sure they are inside and they don’t stick out. Dust the dough with some flour and bake for 30 minutes at 220C/200C (fan oven), or until the bread is golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.