Nonna Ida's Style Rovelline Lucchesi

Rovelline is a traditional dish of the old farmers food.

This version is a little different from the original version as this one has Mirepoix (celery,carrot and onions) and it's missing garlic instead.

Ingredients for 4 people :

4 not too thick slices of Veal

150g  Carrot

200g Onion

150g Celery

3 Tablespoon of Chopped Tomato
A handfull of Capers
1 Egg

00 Flour
Breadcrumbs
Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper

Preparation :

First of all take the slices of veal and add some salt  then cover them with flour and deep them into the egg and finally coat in the breadcrums.

Fry them into the olive oil (or if you preferer in the Clarified Butter - but in tuscany we use olive oil !)

Once they are ready put them aside for now and in a frying pan put the mirepoix with some olive oil,when it's golden add the chopped tomato and capers.

Now put the veal in the sauce you prepared adding a glass of water and let it steam.

Serve with the sauce on top and...Buon Appetito !

Christian's Back !

This evening Christian De Sica came back to visit us at my restaurant and this time he did not come alone....he brought his friend Paolo Conticini , co-star with christian in many movies in their career...one of the latest is "The Clan" which has been filmed in Las Vegas. Thank yours for coming!!

Gocce d'oro (Golden tears)

 This one of my favourite dish for christmas....it's a grandmother's recipe that always reminds me my childhood.
Merry merry xmas to all my readers !!! Have a happy new year as well and remember...Love,Peace and....Food ! :-9

Ingredients :

150g Lasagne
70g Ham
30g Grated parmesan cheese
1/2 lt. Besciamelle Sauce
10g of dried porcini mushrooms
1/4 of a Onion
3/4 leaves of calamint

Procedure :

Before starting out put the dried mushrooms into a bowl with lukewarm water for about half an hour.
Saute the onion into a pan and when it's golden add the mushrooms and the calamint with a pinch of salt.
Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water for about 3 minutes,then when it's ready prepare a ovendish with some besciamelle sauce inside and do a first layer by putting the pasta on the sauce,then cover with ham and mushrooms and then start again with besciamelle sauce and the previous ingredients until the ovendish is filled up,the last layer should be ended with besciamelle sauce and then a generous sprinkle of parmesan cheese.

Put in the oven at 180° for about 30 minutes.


Buon Appetito !

Nonna Ida's Stewed Artichockes

Since when i was a child,when i was roaming around the restaurant kitchen,this is one of my favourite recipes.
This is a very tasty plate and for me it's also full of good memories so i'm really glad to post it here for you all.

Ingredients for 6 people :

6 Artichockes
80gr. of Tuscan Rolled Pancetta
8 Leaves of Calamint
4 Sloves of Garlic
4 Spoons of Fresh Chopped Tomatoes
1 Onion
4 Spoons of Extravirgin Olive Oil
Water
Salt and Pepper

Preparation :

Clean the artichockes first,take one artichoke at a time and cut the stem off leaving up about 10cm from the flower head then remove any of the hard leaves around the stem that are not edible and then remove the pointed tops using a sharp knife.
Once you've cleaned them it's time for the stuffing....use the pancetta,the garlic,the leave of --- ,salt and pepper and ground them all finely.
Help yourself with a proper tool (i use a wooden spoon) and open the hearth of the artichockes to be able to fill them with the stuffing you did before.
Take the stuffed artichockes and cut their stems then put them all (with the cutted stems) into a pan and add tomato,olive oil and then put water in the pan until it's fully covered with it.
Let all cook on low fire until all the water it's gone,then serve it !

Enjoy !

I was a guest star in a cooking show "Aspettando il Tg"