The market was alive with commotion as the fruttivendoli :: fruit & vegetable vendors yelled out prices of their fresh produce. I took a paper ticket from the little red machine that orderly tamed the mobs of people that crowded around the plump artichokes, sun kissed oranges and leafy vegetables. As I waited for my number to be called out, my eyes roamed across the multitude of plastic containers piled high with bright colored fruits and vegetables stopping at last on a bunch of green grass.
“Che cos’è?” :: “What is it?” I asked an elderly woman standing next to me while pointing to the grassy vegetable.
“Agretti,” the woman replied. Also known in English as Salsola Soda or Opposite-Leaved Saltwort. (Agretti is pronounced as “Ah, gret, tee”)
The elderly woman continued to recount :: raccontare a simple recipe.
“First you chop of the roots, wash them well then boil them for about five to ten minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water to keep the Agretti green then mix with lemon juice and olive oil.”
“Sounds delicious,” I thought to myself. “I have to try it.”
When I returned home, my curiosity :: curiosità got the best of me and at 10:00a.m. I was already in the kitchen cooking up this new and intriguing vegetable.
While some women :: donne get their high off of buying the latest pair of Jimmy Choo shoes, for me, I indulge in exotic produce. Is that lame or cool? I’m really not sure…
Agretti is also known as barba di frate, which can be translated to monks beard in English. What a weird name :: nome. Although when picked, they do resemble a bushy beard and monks typically did have vegetable gardens so I can presume where the name derived from.
In less then 15 minutes the bright green dish was ready. Talk about a great side for entertaining guests. As you may have already noticed :: notato, I speak often about recipes for large groups. One of my favorite things to do is host fuss-free dinner parties with high quality food.
Agretti is great served on a small dish or under a bed of fish like in my Striped Red Mullet recipe to give a dash of elegance :: eleganza.
What does agretti taste like? Certainty not like grass :: erba. I would say it greatly resembles the sharpness of spinach and when mixed with lemon and extra virgin olive oil it is quite refreshing.
If you need help getting your kids :: bambini to eat their vegetables, just add a face to a fork and let them create different hairstyles.
You don’t have to tell them that agretti is a super healthy vegetable that is full of vitamin A, iron and calcium. Who would have thought that eating your vegetables could be so much fun :: divertente!
*If your kids are young, attach the face to the stem of the fork so there is no risk that they eat the paper.
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Bring a large pot of water to boil, add the course salt then the agretti. Cook for 5-10 minutes or until tender. Drain then combine with lemon juice and olive oil. Serve warm or cold.
Plump roasted tomatoes stuffed with flavourful millet is the perfect meal for eating light or for those following a gluten-free or vegetarian diet.
The preparation of this savoury dish is simple :: semplice. Select 6 fresh and firm tomatoes.
Chop :: tagliare off the tops.
Carve out the tomato pulp and place it in a small saucepan :: casseruola.
Put the tomato cups and tops in a baking dish :: pirofila and bake for 20 minutes at 375°C (190°C).
Add 1/2 cup parsley, 1/2 cup millet, salt and pepper to the saucepan and fill with enough water so it is 3/4 full. Simmer for 15 minutes or until the millet :: miglio is soft. Drain or set the liquid aside. I preserve the millet-tomato water and eat it as soup, add it as a base to cooking vegetables or use it as the liquid for boiling pasta to infuse more flavor.
Add 1 cup Asiago cheese to the drained millet mixture. Mix :: mescolare well then divide among the tomato cups.
Bake for 30-40 minutes or until the tomatoes are wilted and soft but still hold their shape :: forma.
Millet is an important cereal grain that is consumed around the world :: mondo and boasts many nutritional benefits. It is gluten free, high in protein and fiber and is a great energy source.
With a sweet nutty flavor, Millet combines especially well with parsley and tomatoes to produce a flavorful meal that can be whipped up in less than an hour, and with hands on time of only about 15 minutes so you can relax :: rilassarsi and watch an episode of the Big Bang Theory or enjoy an appetizer with friends.
These stuffed tomatoes are great to make ahead for dinner or for entertaining guests. Just store in the fridge and reheat in the oven until warm. You can easily eat these as a main course or serve them as a side dish :: contorno.
Plump roasted tomatoes stuffed with flavourful millet is the perfect meal for eating light or for those following a gluten-free or vegetarian diet.
Serves: 3-6
Ingredients
6 medium sized tomatoes
½ cup chopped fresh parsley, chopped
½ cup millet, uncooked and rinsed
½ tablespoon coarse salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 cup shredded Asiago
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C)
Rinse the tomatoes and cut of the tops. Scoop out the tomato flesh, chop into pieces then place in a small saucepan.
Put the hollowed out tomatoes in a baking dish. Arrange the tops along side and bake for 20 minutes.
In the meantime, add the parsley, millet, salt and pepper to the saucepan and fill with water until the pan is ¾ full. Bring to a boil over medium high then reduce to a simmer and cook for 15-20 minutes or until the millet is soft.
Strain the millet tomato mixture. Take the tomatoes out of the oven and divide the mixture among them. Bake for another 30-40 minutes or until the tomatoes are wilted and soft.
Notes
These are great to make ahead. After having cooked the tomatoes, just store in the fridge and bake until warm.
Fried calamari rings are a popular and much loved appetizer in the United States, yet when you want to eat lighter definitely try out a healthier Italian version that is stuffed with herbs and simmered in a fragrant tomato sauce.
It wasn’t until moving to Italy that I ate stuffed calamari. In reality, up until five :: cinque years ago I didn’t even know what whole squid looked like, I just knew that the fried ring variety found on the appetizer list in many restaurants was pretty dang good. Little did I know that I was missing out on a multitude of other delicious variations scarcely found in the states (at least in WA state and in the restaurants I frequented).
In Italy, squid and octopus dishes are abundant. From grilled to baked or boiled to stewed, you can find a multitude of varied recipes that are easy :: facile to make and healthy to eat.
I’ve read in a number of recipes that calamari must either be cooked on high heat for less than 2 minutes or more than 1 hour and that any amount of time in between will yield a chewy meal. I followed the instructions my Italian fish monger gave me, and would like to add that the 20 minute cook time in the red sauce :: sugoproduced a perfectly cooked squid that was neither gooey nor rubbery, but tender and firm.
Some people chop the tail into tiny pieces :: pezzettini, cook it for 5 minutes then add it to the stuffing mixture. I, however, attached it with toothpicks to the whole calamari, as the long tentacles add a gourmet appeal to the plated presentation.
This recipe is for two as an appetizer but can easily be turned into a meal by doubling or tripling the portions. Whole calamari is a relatively inexpensive :: economico fish to buy and since the recipe calls for a minimal list of ingredients, it is an affordable seafood dish for entertaining guests (or a hungry husband like Mr. Italicano!)
A healthy Italian calamari recipe that is stuffed with herbs and simmered in a fragrant tomato sauce. Perfect as an appetizer or main course.
Serves: 2
Ingredients
For the stuffing:
¼ cup bread crumbs
¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper, to taste
2 whole calamari, cleaned with tail set aside
For the sauce:
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
½ small onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, peeled and smashed
1 cup tomato purée
¼ teaspoon dried oregano
Salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
For the stuffing:
In a small bowl, combine the bread crumbs, parsley, olive oil, salt and pepper. Stir until combined then divide the mixture and stuff the calamari leaving a little room at the top.
Close each calamari with a toothpick. Then take another toothpick and attach the tail to each calamari.
For the sauce:
In a medium skillet over low heat, add the olive oil, heat for 1 minute then add the onion and garlic. Cook for about 10 minutes or until the onion is translucent, stir often.
Remove the garlic then add the tomato purée, salt, pepper and calamari. Simmer for 15-20 until the calamari is white and firm and the sauce has thickened. Serve warm.
Valentine’s Day is fast approaching, why not make a sweet dessert that will surely win over your loved one’s heart? Here’s a spin on the classic chocolate chip cookie, only much, much bigger and layered with gooey salted caramel.
I’ve made this recipe for Mr. Italicano once before, and although he typically doesn’t like desserts :: dolci (besides cheesecake and gelato) he raved about this one. The chewy chocolate chip cookie dough layered with salted caramel sauce creates a heavenly combination that even a person without a sweet tooth will love.
This dessert is super easy to make and you may not even have to go to the grocery store :: supermercato. Most of the ingredients you will already find in your pantry. Got to love convenience.
Gorgeous presentation is another benefit of this salted caramel cookie dough cake. Just look at the photo::foto. Does that not look elegant and hard to make? Like I said, it’s ridiculously easy. We’ll keep that secret safe here though and you can just collect the compliments on your delicious and “difficult” work.
I used a round springform cake pan, if you have a heart::cuore shaped one it would be even more fitting for the sweet day.
You can also get festive with the colors by substituting the brown chocolate chips::gocce di cioccolato with their colored counterpart or throw some sprinkles on top.
Here’s a spin on the classic chocolate chip cookie, only much much bigger and layered with gooey salted caramel.
Serves: 16-20 slices
Ingredients
For the Salted Caramel Topping:
1 cup granulated sugar
6 tablespoons (85g) butter
½ cup (120ml) heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract or seeds from half of a vanilla bean
½ teaspoon coarse salt
For the Cookie Dough Cake:
2¼ cups (281g) flour
½ teaspoon (4g) baking soda
¼ (2g)teaspoon salt
¾ cup (170g) butter, melted
1 cup (238g) firmly packed brown sugar
½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
3 large pasteurized eggs
2 teaspoons (10ml) vanilla extract
1 cup (182g) semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
For the Salted Caramel Sauce:
Evenly add the sugar to a medium saucepan and heat over medium heat, whisking continually as the sugar begins to melt. The sugar will form clumps but keep whisking as they will eventually melt into a deep amber colored liquid.
Slowly add the butter and be super careful in this step as the liquid will ferociously begin to boil up. Continue to whisk together until the butter is completely melted.
Drizzle in the heavy cream. Be careful in this step as well as the mixture will also bubble up. Whisk until thickens enough to coat the back of spoon, about 2-3 minutes.
Stir in the salt and vanilla.
For the Cookie Dough Cake:
Preheat oven to 325°F (160°C).
Line a 9 x 2½ inch springform pan with aluminum foil then spray with nonstick cooking spray or butter.
In a medium bowl, mix together flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
In a large bowl, combine the butter and sugars then add the eggs and vanilla. Mix well.
Add the flour mixture and mix until just combined.
Stir in the chocolate chips.
Spread ½ of the batter in the prepared pan followed by the caramel sauce, distributing to all corners and edges.
Spread the remaining batter over the caramel layer.
Bake for 40-50 minutes. The top should be golden. Cool on a rack for at least 30 minutes then carefully remove the aluminum foil and transfer to a cake plate.
Want to put together an easy, yet elegant looking meal for Valentine’s Day? Try out this recipe for striped red mullet, a delicate white fish that is stewed with juicy red tomatoes, tangy capers and salty black olives; it’s an Italian specialty.
Striped red mullet :: triglia di scoglio is found in the Mediterranean and Black Seas as well as the eastern North Atlantic Ocean. It has been considered a delicacy since antiquity, especially among the ancient Romans. If you are not able to find striped red mullet in your local grocery store you can also substitute it with red snapper.
I have never cooked with striped red mullet and the vibrant :: vibrante red and yellowish scales enticed me to try something new. The fish monger was all too kind to supply me with a typical Italian recipe called “Triglia alla livornese.” Triglia, as you can imagine, means striped red mullet; “alla Livornese”, on the other hand, basically means Livorno style. (Livorno is a port city on the Ligurian sea.)
While the fish monger scaled the striped red mullet, he quickly told me the ingredients for this beloved dish. Unfortunately, he was extremely quick at his job and finished before I could ask him the quantities :: le dosi. Seeing a long line behind me, I didn’t want to bother him so the recipe you find below may not be true Livorno style, but dare I say the presentation is more beautiful following my recipe while the taste is equally delicious.
While doing a little researchon the traditional recipe, it appears that this dish is mostly served with the whole fish (instead of fillets), topped with green olives (not black) and covered with purèed tomatoes (not whole). Feel free to try out the more traditional method, although I usually prefer eating fillets of fish since it’s much less work to eat and I liked the presentation :: presentazione with the tomato pieces as you can still see the fish underneath.
Capers :: capperi are commonly used in Mediterranean dishes as they are native to the area. In this recipe they add a nice tangy burst of flavor.
When making seafood dishes, I like to use few ingredients :: ingredienti to keep it healthier and quicker to prepare. Just like my Italian baked sardine and easy blood orange sole recipes, this dish was on the tablein under 30 minutes.
I hope you enjoy this recipe:: ricetta, and I look forward to hearing what you think!
Want to put together a easy yet fancy looking meal for Valentine’s Day or any special occasion? Try out this recipe for striped red mullet, a delicate white fish that is stewed with juicy red tomatoes, tangy capers and salty black olives; it’s an Italian specialty.
Serves: 2
Ingredients
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 small onion
1 glove garlic
2 cups datterini or grape tomatoes
6 fillets of Striped Red mullet, deboned (or Snapper if you aren’t able to find striped red mullet)
2 tablespoons capers
½ cup black olives, finely chopped
Instructions
Heat the olive oil in a pan over medium heat then add the onions and garlic. Sautè them until they’ve softened and have turned slightly brown.
Add the tomatoes and cook for 10 minutes.
Add the striped red mullet fillets and cook until the meat is white and flakes away, about 5-10 minutes.
Add the capers and black olives, reduce the heat to low and continue cooking for 5 minutes. Serve warm.
