Spinach - ricotta beads

Ingredients:

for the beads:

1/2 kg or 1,1 pounds cleaned spinach
1/2 kg or 1,1 pounds fresh ricotta
200 gr or 7 ounces grated parmigiano
2 eggs
170 gr or 6 ounces plain flour
salt, pepper, nutmeg to taste


for the sauce:

1/2 cup mountain butter
5-7 leaves sage


Preparation:

Cook, squeeze and mince the spinach, add the ricotta, eggs, parmigiano, salt, pepper and nutmeg: mix well all the ingredients.

Add flour to the mix untill dense, consolidated.
Prepare beads of the size of a quarter and roll them in flour, place them over oven paper.

In a capacious soup pot bring water to boil, add a half hand full of cooking salt and put the beads in.

Fry the butter with the sage in a saucepan untill golden brown.

As soon as the beads bob up, a couple of minutes, drain them and place on a serving plate, cover with the butter sage sauce and sprinkle with parmigiano.


Buon appetito

Mozzarella di bufala and date tomatoes

Linguine alla carbonara

Ingredients:

6,3 ounces or 180 grams of linguine

1 vacuum packed bacon (sliced)

2 egg yolks

1/2 red onion

2 table spoons of extra virgin olive oil

3 table spoons milk or cream

1 handfull cooking sea salt

Parmigiano or Pecorino and black pepper to taste

Preparation:

Fill a deep saucepan with water and set it on high heat with cover on.

while the water boils, chopp finely the red onion, save 4 slices of bacon and chopp coarsely the rest of the bacon. In a wide saucepan over medium heat, add the extra virgin olive oil and cook the onions for 5 minutes then add the chopped bacon and keep cooking untill crispy. In another saucepan sauté or in the microwave toast the remaining 4 slices of bacon, we will use this for decorating the plate.

Once the water boils add a handfull of cooking seasalt and the linguine. Linguine usually cooks between 10 and 13 minutes depending on the brand of pasta you like. Check always the cooking time on the package but the most important thing you have to do is, reaching the cooking time, taste the doneness and the saltiness of the pasta every once and then.

In the meantime in a mixing bowl stirr together the egg yolks, Parmigiano or Pecorino, the milk or cream and black pepper.

By this time the onions and the bacon should be crispy, let them cool and rest in the saucepan. Heat from now on is not needed.

Once the linguine are done, drain and put the pasta in the wide saucepan with onions and bacon and stirr well. Then add the yolks mix and gently stirr untill nicely blended.

Use 2 forks to place the linguine on the plate, sprinkle some black pepper and garnish with the  bacon slices.

Buon appetito.

Green peppercorn sauce

Ingredients:
1 table spoon of green peppercorns (preserved)
2 tea spoons of original grain mustard (Maille à l'Ancienne)
2 tea spoons white onions minced
1 table spoon cooking cream
1 table spoon of strong french mustard


Serves 3 burgers

Preparation:
Grind the green peppercorns with the onions in a mixer untilll very fine, add the french and grain mustard, the cooking cream and stirr well untill all blended.

Green peppercorn-scamorza burger

This is a great and easy variation of a normal bacon cheeseburger, it is called green peppercorn - scamorza burger.

A good mix of spices and smoked tastes, you will love it!!!

I have added cherry wood on my brace to give extra flavour to this simple recipe, you'll be surprised on how the combination of these ingedients will blend perfectly together.

Treat the patties as for a normal hamburger (see previous post), but add 1 1/2 table spoons of preserved green peppercorns in the mix.

Once the burghers are done, add on each patty slices of smoked scamorza cheese and let it melt.

Place some lattuce leaves on the bottom of each bun, set the burger on it and distribute on the scamorza cheese the green peppercorn sauce.

 Finish with a couple of slices of crispy bacon on top.

Buon appetito