Posts in: 'Pasta'
Spinach and Ricotta Cannelloni
Posted: 09 December '09 by Niall
Spinach and ricotta canneloni
Here’s the recipe for one of our favourite Italian dishes: spinach and ricotta cannelloni (or is that “canneloni”?). Given that the recipe is suitable for vegetarians, it just shows you that bechamel with melted cheese can overcome all obstacles to enjoyment!
The recipe does take a little bit of effort – stuffing the pasta tubes with the spinach and ricotta mixture requires some patience – but it’s all worth it in the end. The canneloni is also great for mid-week dinners, as it invariably lasts for two nights, and tastes even better the next day.
The dish is great by itself, but we prefer a small rocket salad and warm ciabatta alongside.
You can see more photos hereImage 1Image 2Image 3Image 4Image 5Image 6Image 7Image 8
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 large onion, peeled and minced
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
- 2 pinches of dried oregano
- 2 pinches of dried basil
- 1 tbsp tomato purée
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 tbsp red wine
- 500g spinach
- 300g ricotta
- 1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes
- Freshly ground black pepper
- As many cannelloni tubes as will fill your oven dish
For the Napoli sauce
- 25g butter
- 25g flour
- 300ml milk
- Pinch of ground nutmeg
- 60g Cheddar cheese, grated
- 30g Parmesan cheese, grated
To finish:
- 60g Cheddar cheese, grated
- 10g Parmesan cheese, grated
You might also use: a piping bag to put the mixture into the cannelloni tubes.
Cooking Method
Cooking Method – Spinach and Ricotta
- Place a frying pan on a low heat and add some olive oil
- Place the spinach leaves in the pan and cook until they have wilted slightly
- Remove the leaves from the pan and drain in a colander, using the back of a spoon to press the leaves until most of the excess liquid has drained
- Chop the drained spinach leaves until they are quite fine
- Allow the spinach to cool
- Place the ricotta in a bowl and add the cooled spinach leaves, mixing thoroughly
- If you are using a piping bag, spoon the mixture into the bag and squeeze it down to form a continuous mass, ready for squeezing
- Taking your cannelloni tube either: squeeze the mixture into the tube until it is full; or using the back of a spoon, scoop the mixture up and place inside the tube
- Repeat this process until all of the cannelloni has been filled, placing each filled tube into the oven dish as they are finished
Cooking Method – Napoli Sauce:
- Pre-heat the oven to 225°C.
- Heat the olive oil in a hot pan and sweat the garlic and onion down until they are translucent.
- Add the basil, oregano, and black pepper and stir thoroughly.
- Add the wine and cook off the alcohol.
- Add the tomatoes and bay leaf, stirring well before leaving to simmer for a further 2-3 minutes.
- Finally add the tomato puree and allow some time on the heat to reduce the sauce (it needs to be relatively thick, without any excess liquid).
Cooking Method – Bechamel:
- In one saucepan. add the butter and place over a low heat.
- In a second saucepan, add the milk and nutmeg, warming the milk until it is just shy of boiling point.
- Reducing the heat completely When the butter has melted, add the flour and mix together, until you have a thick paste (similar to play-doh).
- Add a third of the milk to the play-doh, whisking to prevent any lumps forming – then add the rest of the milk a third at a time, whisking as you go. You want to get a smooth sauce.
- Allow the sauce to cook out for another minute before adding the Cheddar cheese. Stir and remove from the heat.
Cooking Method – Assembling the dish:
- Spoon the sauce over the filled cannelloni.
- Pour the bechamel on top of this, making sure that you cover the layer below.
- Sprinkle the remaining grated cheese and parmesan over the bechamel.
- Place the oven dish in the oven to bake for 30-35 minutes, or until golden brown.
Wine selection
There’s only one option for me here – a robust chianti compliments the rich, tomato-based cannelloni perfectly.
Categories: Featured Post > Italian Food > Main Course > Pasta > Recipes > Vegetables
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Gnocchi with blue cheese sauce and pancetta
Posted: 04 November '09 by Niall
Gnocchi with blue cheese sauce
After reading Sarah’s recipe for Gnocchi Piedmontaise, I had decided to make our own gnocchi, and was just waiting for the opportunity.
With plenty of left-over mashed potatoes from the previous night the time had come – and I was amazed how easy the process is – and how tasty the results! Seriously, the little gnocchi pillows are wonderfully light and make a delicious meal out of those potatoes which were destined to be thrown out.
Needless to say, Kelly loved this recipe – but I have the feeling that I could cover an old tyre in blue cheese sauce and Kelly would ask for seconds! But give it a go – you definitely won’t be disappointed.
You can see more photos hereImage 1Image 2Image 3Image 4Image 5
Serves 4
Ingredients:
For the Gnocchi:
- 150g warm mashed potato
- 1 egg yolk
- 15g unsalted butter
- 55g plain flour
- Maldon sea salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Fresh nutmeg, grated
For the blue cheese sauce:
- 2 tbsp of good quality olive oil
- 200ml of double cream
- 180g blue cheese (preferably gorgonzola)
- 100g fresh grated parmesan
- freshly ground pepper
To serve:
- Grated parmesan
- 2 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
- Some good quality olive oil to drizzle
- Thinly sliced pancetta (optional)
Method:
- Make your mashed potatoes – I’ll assume you know how to do this
- Warm the mashed potato, which can be prepared in advance, gently in a saucepan adding the butter once warmed enough to melt the butter. Once the butter has fully incorporated add the seasoning, a good couple of pinches of nutmeg and the egg yolk. Mix again well. Finally, fold in the flour using your hands to finish the mixing whilst taking care not to over-mix as this shall toughen the dough.
- Split the mixture into three batches and roll into finger thick long sausage shapes on a lightly floured surface. Cut into one inch long pieces and squeeze the middle to create bow-tie like shapes (this helps the middle of the dough to cook through properly).
- Bring a large pan of salted water to a simmer and poach the gnocchi in batches of 8-10 until each rises to the surface of the water. Remove and drain on a clean tea towel. Allow to cool, preferably in the fridge. The gnocchi can be frozen at this stage and pulled out in batches once required.
- Once required, heat a frying pan and add a dash of clarified butter. Gently fry the gnocchi until they are a pale golden colour, seasoning if required.
- Add the cream to a saucepan and bring to a simmer over a low heat
- Add your chopped blue cheese, a pinch of black pepper, a good glug of olive oil, and the parmesan and turn off the heat, mixing the ingredients
- Put some olive oil into another saucepan along with the chopped pancetta and place over a medium heat. When the pancetta has coloured and started to crisp, lower the heat and add the sliced garlic, sweating gently until the garlic becomes translucent
- Place the gnocchi onto your plate, scatter the pancetta and garlic on top, add the blue cheese sauce, dust with the grated parmesan and drizzle some olive oil on top
Buon appetito!
Other information:
Lots of people have trouble pronouncing “gnocchi” – but it’s not that difficult..
- The “gn” makes a “ny” sound with a silent “g”
- The “occh” is pronounced as a hard “k”, as in “ock”
- The “i” is an “ee” sound, as in “three”
Which gives you “nyockee”.
Gnocchi is the plural form of the word. The singular is “gnocco.” So you might order a plate of gnocchi and devour every gnocco on that plate.
Categories: Featured Post > Italian Food > Main Course > Pasta > Recipes
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Creamy Tomato Pasta
Posted: 06 October '09 by Ciara
As a big fan of pasta this is one of my favourite dishes to eat. It is really easy, quick to make and of course yummy! It can be made with chicken or fish but as i am not a big fan of fish i stick to the chicken every time. I also prefer it creamier in flavour than “tomatoey” but if you prefer the latter you can add 2 tins of chopped tomatoes instead of one or of course use less cream! You can also use shop bought herbs which work well with this recipe- I prefer the fresh herbs myself!
Serves 4
Ingredients:
- 6 chicken fillets cut into pieces
- 1 tablespoon of butter
- salt and pepper
- 1 tin of chopped tomatoes
- 500mls fresh cream / whipping cream
- 1/2 teaspoon fresh rosemary
- 3 teaspoons of sugar
- 1 teaspoon of ground chilli powder
- 1 teaspoon of chilli flakes
- 1 teaspoon of chopped parsley
- Parmesan
- fresh or dried pasta
Method:
Heat the butter in a saucepan until melted. Add chicken pieces and cook for 5 minutes or until cooked through. Add tin of tomatoes, sugar, salt, pepper and rosemary and cook for a further 5 minutes. Then add cream, chilli, chilli flakes and parsley, bring to the boil and allow to simmer for around 20 minutes.
10 minutes before this is cooked, cook the fresh pasta. Add sauce and serve with loads of parmesan and garlic bread! Enjoy
NOTE: I didn’t give an exact amount for the pasta as it depends on how much you like yourself! In our house 1 packet is enough for myself, the hubs and our 2 year old -we are quite greedy when it comes to pasta portions!
Photographs to follow
Categories: Chicken > Pasta > Recipes > Uncategorized
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Pasta and meatballs in a creamy tomato sauce
Posted: 02 October '09 by Niall
Pasta with meatballs in a creamy tomato sauce
Another mid-week favourite of ours, and another pasta dish – but the spaghetti with pork meatballs is more of a winter-warmer compared to the pasta and prawns.
You can see more photos hereImage 1Image 2Image 3Image 4
Serves 4
Ingredients
- 500g dried spaghetti (i.e. one packet)
- 500g of pomodorino tomatoes
- 150ml of double cream
- 6 tbsp olive oil
- 3 fat garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1 medium-hot red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
- A good handful of fresh basil, roughly chopped (again, don’t use the dried stuff!)
- 1/2lb of butchers sausages
- Parmesan to grate over the dish (entirely optional)
Method
- Using a pair off scissors (it’s far easier than a knife) split and remove the sausage casings, so you’re left with the sausage-meat ina bowl
- Add a couple of pinches of ground black pepper
- Using your hands, mix the pepper through the meat thoroughly
- Take a small portion of the sausage-meat, enough to make a meatball that will be about the size of gobstopper – and roll the meat between your palms to make a meatball. Don’t worry if it’s messy and the meatballs are a bit “rough” looking – we’ll fix that in the next step
- Wash your hands and rinse them again to keep them slightly damp – and re-roll all of the meatballs to make firmer, more rounded balls
- Place the frying pan on a low heat and add two tablespoons of olive oil, frying the meatballs in batches of 6 or so until they are golden or slightly browned on both sides
- As they finish cooking, place the browned meatballs in a separate bowl – and remove the frying pan from the heat
- Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil. Add the spaghetti and cook according to the packet instructions, until al dente
- Meanwhile, roughly chop the tomatoes into quarters
- Heat the oil in a pan over a low heat
- Add the garlic and red chillies and sweat gently until the garlic has become slightly translucent
- Add the tomatoes and increase the heat slightly, cooking gently – with the seeds included, the contents of the pan will look a little water-y. We’re going to leave the pan over the heat until the tomatoes have fully broken down and the liquid has reduced to form a thick, concentrated tomato “jam”
- Season to taste with salt and pepper
- Lower the heat under the tomatoes completely, add the chopped basil and then the cream, mixing both through the sauce
- Re-introduce the meatballs and make sure that they are well-coated in the sauce
- Drain the spaghetti well, return to the saucepan, and add the tomato mixture
- Toss together until the sauce is thoroughly mixed through the pasta, and serve
Wine Selection
A bit of a heartier, richer dish this time.. Something like a young Chianti will stand up to the cream and concentrated tomato flavours.
Other Information
- Use the best sausages you can get – none of the processed stuff though – anything made by your butcher is fine
- You could also substitute sage for the basil – but be careful how much you use – it’s a very strong herb, and needs to be used sparingly
- It’s important not to add too many meatballs into the pan when browning them – they hold a bit of fat, and too much liquid will make the meatballs stew rather than fry
Categories: Featured Post > Italian Food > Main Course > Pasta > Pork > Recipes > Uncategorized
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Spaghetti with Prawns and Chilli
Posted: 28 September '09 by Niall
Spaghetti and prawns
This easy pasta supper is probably the meal that’s made most often in our house, and is great for during the week when you’re not in the mood to spend too long in the kitchen after a long day at work.
Also known as “picchi-pacchi spaghetti with prawns and chilli”, the dish is a Sicilian specialty (the further south you go in Italy, the most prevalent the chilli becomes in the local dishes).
You can see more photos hereImage 1Image 2Image 3Image 4Image 5Image 6
Serves 4
Ingredients
- 500g dried spaghetti (i.e. one packet)
- 250g of pomodorino tomatoes
- 4 tbsp olive oil (and some more the drizzle over the finished dish)
- 3 fat garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 2 medium-hot red chillies, deseeded and finely chopped
- A good handful of fresh basil, roughly chopped (don’t use the dried stuff!)
- 350g uncooked and peeled king prawns
- Parmesan to grate over the dish (entirely optional)
Method
- Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil. Add the spaghetti and cook according to the packet instructions, until al dente
- Pre-heat the oven to 150 degrees
- Take each prawn and run a sharp knife down the back of the prawn, removing any black “thread” that is there and opening the prawn up
- Drizzle some olive oil on a roasting dish and place your prawns on the dish, sprinkling them with a little black pepper
- Gently roast the prawns in the oven until their flesh has turned pink – it’s important not to overcook the prawns at this point otherwise you’ll be left with a dry, tough prawns that really aren’t that pleasant to eat
- Meanwhile, working over the sink, gently squeeze and burst the tomatoes to rid them of most of their seeds, then roughly chop
- Shortly before the spaghetti is ready, heat the oil in a pan over a low heat
- Add the garlic and red chillies and sweat gently until the garlic has become slightly translucent
- Add the tomatoes and increase the heat slightly, cooking gently for 30 seconds until heated through and just starting to break down
- Season to taste with salt and pepper
- Drain the spaghetti well and return to the pan. Add the tomato mixture, prawns and chopped basil
- Toss together until the sauce is thoroughly mixed through the pasta, and plate up
- Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle over the grated parmesan cheese, and serve
Wine Selection
The dish is light and full of seafood-sweetness and zingy tomato, and deserves a similarly light, zesty accompaniment – a citrus-y Pinot Grigio would be perfect.
Other Information
“Picchi-pacchi” simply means a fresh, raw or barely cooked sauce.
We ALWAYS have a good Parmesan to grate over this dish, even though a true Italian would blanch if you suggested add Parmesan to a seafood dish.
Categories: Featured Post > Italian Food > Main Course > Pasta > Recipes > Seafood
