Christmas
Gubana
Who doesn’t like cakes? Well, Giulia and I like them a lot! Cakes are obviously not the healthiest foods of all, but, “as a nutritionist, I believe a balanced diet should also include some cheat foods every now and then… and —let’s be honest— Christmas is all about cheat foods!” said Giulia
Our choice for this Christmas was Gubana cake from Friuli Venezia Giulia, a region in the North-East of Italy. Bordering with Slovenia and Croatia, it is not that surprising that this cake has a lot in common with cakes from these countries.
In order to make a dessert less “bad for you” from a nutritional perspective you can easily cut down on the amount of sugar you put into it — usually, if I’m baking for a party, I use 1/3 less sugar compare to original recipes; and 1/2 less sugar (I also use honey) if the cake/biscuits I’m making are for my household. This is a quick effective suggestion that can make a massive impact on your health if you eat sweet foods regularly.
Also, to slow down the absorption of sugars from your digestive tract, adding fibre to your cake is a very smart move!
Fresh or dried fruit and nuts such as almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts and pine nuts are a great source of fibre! And this is what we did, we researched and picked a traditional Italian dessert that would have a good amount of nuts and raisins in the recipe.
Nuts also contain a number of vitamin and minerals such as phosphorus, magnesium, calcium, vitamin E and K, so don’t be afraid of adding them to your Christmassy cake!
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 30-40 minutes
Total Time: 1.30 minutes
INGREDIENTS
FOR THE DOUGH
350 g strong bread flour
150 ml milk
80 g sugar
10g instant yeast
1 medium egg
70g butter, melted
Finely grated zest of one lemon
1 vanilla bean, split and scraped of seeds
FOR THE FILLING
150 grams raisins
70 ml marsala wine
20 ml honey
40 g peeled almonds
40 g walnuts
30 g hazelnuts
20 g pinenuts
10 g butter
1 lemon zest
2g ground cinnamon
1 egg yolk for brushing
INSTRUCTIONS
To start soak the raisins in the marsala wine and set aside.
For the dough bring the butter outside the fridge to soften. Then in a large bowl or a mixer, if you have one, combine all the dry ingredients together except the salt. Add the egg and the butter, and keep mixing with your hands until everything is well incorporated. Pour in the milk a little at the time and keep kneading until you reach the right consistency. The dough should be smooth, firm but soft and elastic.
Cover the bowl with a cloth and set aside to rise in a warm place.
For the filling preheat the oven to 150 ºC and roast the almonds for 10minutes or until they become lightly coloured.
Blend the raisins in a food processor with the marsala wine, lemon zest, honey, sugar and ground cinnamon.
On a chopping board, crush the nuts lightly and add them to the filling mix.
Take a circular baking tray of about 18cm in diameter. Spread a little bit of butter all around the inside with your hands and lightly dust some flour with a fine sieve. This is to avoid the dough from sticking into the tin while cooking. A good trick I discovered some time ago is to use rice flour instead of wheat flour.
Now scatter some flour on a large flat surface where you will roll the dough with a rolling pin. The aim is to create a rectangular shape. Our rectangle was about a 48x25cm and about 4mm thick. With a knife or spatula spread the filling over the dough, leaving a small border all around.
Roll the dough up along the longest edge, you will obtain a long cylinder.
Then roll the cylinder around itself into a spiral shape and place in the baking tray.
Let rise in a warm place for about 2-3 hours or until it is doubled in size.
Brush with an egg yolk over the top and bake at 180 ºC for 30-40 min.
To check if the cake is ready, I suggest using a long skewer to poke the cake. If it comes out clean then it means your cake is ready.
The Sardinian Kitchen
Fregola with clams
I am really excited to post my second recipe from “The Sardinian Kitchen” series that I have recently created and tested for you.
When I think about food for celebration from home, I think about seafood. Now more than ever as it is not that easy to find good fresh seafood and also so expensive in London. So eating clams is really a treat reserved to special occasions.
Make sure you place the clams in a bowl with water as soon as you can. This will allow the clams to open and clean from any sand they might have.
Fregola is a special type of Sardinian pasta made with semolina flour and water. You can buy it online or if you have a deli near you then they might have it. If you want to prepare everything from scratch then follow my previous recipe for Fregola.
Feel free to write if you have any questions or to let me know how you get on!
INGREDIENTS
500g fresh clams
20ml olive oil
1 garlic clove
10g parsley
1 chilli
100ml white wine
400g plum peeled tomatoes
1 tsp salt
150g fregola
A bunch of fresh parsley to serve.
INSTRUCTIONS
The first thing to do as soon as you buy the clams, is to place them in water for a couple of hours. This is done to help the clams release all the sand. Also if there are any open clams, lightly tap them to the side of the sink. If they do not close, discard them.
Now peel the garlic clove and chop it really finely. Slice the parsley in a half along the long side. If you are not a big fan of spicy food, remove it from the recipe.
In a large pan heat up the oil with the garlic, parsley and chilli for 2 minutes. In the meantime, drain the clams and rinse them under the tap.
Add them into the pan. Bring the flames to a medium heat and place the lid on.
Shake the pan a few times to help the clams to open. Mine started to open after just 4 minutes and were all open within 6 minutes.
If you find any stubborn clams that do not want to open, then wait an extra minute for them to open. Avoid opening them with a knife but just discard them instead if they stay closed.
Now add in the white wine and wait for it to be completely evaporated.
Add in the fregola and 200ml of boiling water.
Cook for 5 minutes then add in the tomato sauce and season to taste.
My advice is to follow the instructions on the package to have a rough idea of the cooking times of your fregola. Although as timings on packages are not always accurate, by tasting it you will make sure that it is perfectly cooked. Mine was ready in about 20 minutes.
Sprinkle some fresh parsley on the top before serving.
Buon appetito!
Tortellini in brodo
On Christmas Day many Italian families will start their lunch with a “light” primo piatto. Tortellini (cappelletti, agnolotti…) are a common example of festive primo. They essentially are fresh pasta ravioli stuffed with a meat-base filling and served in a beef or chicken broth. But tortellini aren’t ‘tortellini’ in all areas of the Boot, they rather have different names and slightly different ripieno (filling) according to the city where they are made.
For our “healthier” Christmas menu, Giulia and I used the traditional recipe from Bologna which has a filling of meat, Parma ham, Parmesan cheese, etc… We only made two small changes to this filling while keeping its traditional flavour pretty much intact — we basically reduced the amount of cured meat used, and added a hint of fibre by adding sautéed Belgian endive.
As you may know, cured meat such as ham and sausage contains a number of preservatives which are not beneficial to our body. On the other hand, the fibre found in fruit and vegetable improves our digestion and helps us feeling fuller.
The main variation to this recipe, was to use beef bone broth instead of regular broth. This slow cooked food has an ancient tradition in our cuisine. Bone broth has also gained more and more visibility in the health industry over the past years due to its numerous properties, so Jennifer and I agreed to serve our tortellini with bone broth.
Drinking bone broth regularly can have a positive impact on our digestive system, skin appearance and joints health — the long cooking process of the bones releases collagen and amino acids such as glycine or arginine into the liquid, making bone broth a cheap and nutritious anti-inflammatory food.
The procedure is quite long although it is not too difficult. It is one of those recipes that brings families together to share the arduous task of preparing a large quantity of small tortellini.
The recipe can be easily converted into a vegetarian one, just by changing the filling to a ricotta and spinach and using a vegetable broth instead of a bone broth.
They can be stored for months in the freezer easily.
Prep Time: 3 hours
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 3h 20 minutes
Serves 4 (about 120 tortellini)
INGREDIENTS
2L BONE BROTH
750g Beef bones
1 Onion
1tbs apple cider vinegar
2 celery sticks
2 Carrots
a bunch of rosemary
1tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
3 liters water
FOR THE PASTA DOUGH
110g 00 flour
1 egg (50g)
2g salt
TORTELLINI FILLING
20g butter
1/2 onion, finely chopped (70g)
50g minced beef
50g minced pork
40g Parma ham
40g Belgian endive, finely chopped
20g grated parmesan
a sprinkle of nutmeg
1tsp salt
2 twists ground pepper
1litre bone broth
INSTRUCTIONS
For the broth. Start by washing all the vegetables, then cut the onions in a half and peel the carrots.
Place all the ingredients in a large pot covered with water. Bring to the boil and simmer for 3 hours. The broth can be stored in the fridge for 5 days or in the freezer for 3-4 months.For the pasta dough place the flour in a large bowl put the flour into a mound. Make a hole in the middle and into it put in the saffron, water and salt. Mix it all together vigorously with your hands for about 7-8 minutes and knead until it forms a dough.
Put it into a container, cover with cling film and let it rest for about 30 minutes.
For the filling, start by melting the butter in a pan, add in the finely chopped onion, then add in your minced beef and minced pork. Cook for 5-10 minutes or until it is fully cooked or lightly coloured. Spoon in the finely chopped chicory and cooked for 1 minute further. Sprinkle some nutmeg, black pepper and salt.
Now add in the grated parmesan and grind everything in a food processor until you obtain a smooth cream. Cut the Parma ham into really small pieces and add in to the mix. Blend everything together one more time.
Now start the preparation for the tortellini.
On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the pasta dough with a pasta machine.
Split the dough into four equal parts. On a lightly floured surface, roll each one through a pasta machine, beginning on the thickest setting and working your way down to the thinnest.
If you don’t have a pasta machine, you can use a rolling pin to roll the dough as thin
as possible.
With a pasta cutter, cut squares of approximately 5cm side.
Place about half a tsp of filling in the centre of each square.
Fold each square in a half to form a triangle. Press the edges firmly.
Mix the remaining egg yolk with some water. Brush each dough circle with this egg wash.
Fill each circle with a teaspoon of the ricotta filling.
Fold each circle into a semicircle, press the edges of the semicircle firmly. Refine the edges with a pasta cutter again to make the tortellini triangles all of the same size.
Now, bring the pointed ends together and press firmly to close them into a ring.
Set aside on a plate previously dusted with flour. Avoid stacking them all one above the other cause they might stick together.
In a pan bring the broth to a boil again and cook the tortellini in the broth. They are ready when they start to float.
“The food of the Gods”
Polenta cakes with mushrooms sauce and kale
Once I read that the ancient Romans believed mushrooms were the “food of the Gods” and I think most of us (Italians) still see mushrooms in the same way.
The properties contained in mushrooms are slightly different depending on each variety. For this recipes we used chestnut mushrooms which are rich in vitamin K —an essential nutrient to ensure healthy blood and bones—B vitamins and minerals such as copper and selenium. These succulent vegetables are also an amazing source of antioxidants and immune-boosting compounds such as beta-glucans.
“What I have realised during over three decades of dinner parties and, particularly, Christmas parties is that we all often start binging on appetizers and starters—high-calorie foods, made with refined ingredients and almost zero fibre— to find ourselves feeling full before the main meal even arrives on the table. For this reason, I like to inspire my guests with low-calorie vegan or vegetarian starters, and to share with you the recipes I tried.” says Giulia
Polenta is a delicious food, typical from Italy. In my region, Sardinia, people used to eat polenta as a primo, often served with a tomato sauce. In Lombardia instead, Giulia said “there is no party without polenta, but this corn-flour pudding gets generally served as a side dish (contorno), together with roasted or stewed meat.” Since polenta is very light, gluten-free and has a delicate flavour that works well with pretty much everything Giulia and I decided to use it as a base for our Christmas starters.
The combination of vegetables we used as topping also has the traditional flavours of Italy. However you could potentially use other veggies if you don’t like mushrooms or cavolo nero.
Cavolo Nero, also known as Tuscan Kale, is just an Italian variety of kale, but with dark green-blue leaves —here the adjective “nero” which means black.
Kale belongs to the cruciferous vegetable family, known for its high amounts of phytonutrients which help promoting detoxification and protecting against cell-aging. Like most leafy green vegetable, kale is also high in beta-carotene, vitamin C, vitamin K and minerals, especially manganese.
These polenta cakes are perfect served as a starter either for Christmas or NYE.
They are really easy to make, provided that you buy the instant polenta, or the task will become way longer.
For a more luxurious version you can use Porcini mushroom which have a stronger taste.
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes
Serves 2
INGREDIENTS
POLENTA
200g Instant polenta
800ml vegetable stock
1 tsp salt
MUSHROOM SAUCE
200G chestnut mushrooms
1-2 cloves garlic
15g butter
30ml red wine
100g tomato sauce
a few leaves of kale (Cavolo nero)
100ml water
5g butter
1/2 lemon squeezed
TO SERVE
a bunch of parsley
INSTRUCTIONS
For the polenta I recommend using Instant polenta unless you want to spend your day cooking. For best results follow the instructions on the package. I used De Cecco polenta for mine (This is not a sponsored post). It just needs about 8 minutes to be ready.
The procedure is more or less the same for every polenta though, it consists in boiling your vegetable stock in a large pot, add in some salt to your liking.
Then remove the pot from the stove and pour in the polenta slowly into the water while stirring.
After you poured it all in, bring back the pot on the stove and cook at low heat stirring continuously for about 8 minutes or until the water is fully absorbed.
Take a large flat tray and pour in your polenta. It should form a layer about 1 inch thick. Leave to cool down.
In the meantime we can work at our mushroom’s sauce.
First thing clean your mushrooms using the tip of the knife to scrape the stalk a tiny bit and use a kitchen towel to clean the top of the mushroom.
Slice your mushroom into small pieces.
In a small pan heat up the butter and when it is melted add in the garlic cloves. Cook for 2-5 minutes or until they have some colour. Add in your mushrooms previously cut, add half a glass of water and cook with the lid on for about 10-15 minutes at low heat. Your mushrooms are ready when they are soft.
Spoon in your tomato sauce and cook at low heat for another 10minutes. Season to taste. Sprinkle some parsley on the top.
Now we will quickly prep the kale that will form a base for our mushroom sauce to seat on top of the polenta. Wash the kale, then on a chopping board shred it into 1 inch wide strips.
Bring to the boil 100ml of water with salt, add in the butter and lemon juice and cook your kale for about 5 minutes or until tender. Drain it well and set aside.
Cut the polenta into circles with a cookie cutter or squares if you prefer.
Heat up a pan and heat-up the polenta for about 2 minutes per side.
Place the circles on a serving tray. Then place some of the kale leaves on top of each one and spoon in some your mushroom sauce.
The polenta cakes are now ready, they are also delicious served at room temperature.