italian cooking made easy

Ingredients for 3 people: 6 peppers friggitelli a little big 3 eggs 150 grams of pecorino romano 7-8 tomatoes pizzutello 1 red onion parsley basil extra virgin olive oil salt vinegar sugar Method: Beat the eggs with the cheese and parsley, stuffed peppers and fry for 7-8 minutes. In another pan, put oil, onion, chopped tomatoes and basil. Add salt and salt them for 4-5 minutes, take a splash of vinegar and a tablespoon of sugar, cook for another 4-5 minutes add the peppers previously fried. If you can prepare this dish a few hours before eating. Buon appetito

I used 4 bell peppers, 2 yellow and 2 red. 1 big white onion, 3 celery sticks and 2 garlic cloves. Futhermore; olive oil, bay leaf, rosemary and oregano, salt and pepper.  I chopped the vegetables in small pieces and put all the ingredients in a pan. The most important trick to get a really sweet and yummie peperonata is : THE WAY YOU COOK IT !!!!!!!!! Use the smallest flame or lowest temperarure you can get and let it simmer for 2 HOURS !!(closed pan with lid) Don't add water!  After 2 hours take off the lid and over higher flame let it cook until all the liquid  evaporates.  In this way the peperonata will get nice and creamy and very sweet! Buon appetito!

Another version of stuffed savoy cabbage. We stuffed with a mix of leftover boiled potatoes, garlic, grated parmesan cheese, salt and pepper. Close with a toothpick and cook 20 minutes in the oven at 180° C. Buon appetito!, Peter.

Last night i decided to do something different with savoy cabbage , so i bought some bacon (pancetta stufata in italian), some gorgonzola cheese, sesame seeds and some of those sweet, marmelade-like condimenti that are easy to make yourself, by mixing some marmelade, mustard and a little salt.  I boiled the cabbage leafs seperately for about 5 minutes. After this i let them cool and dried them with paper. Then i roasted the sesame seeds for about 3 minutes. I filled the leafs with some gorgonzola, 1 slice of bacon and 1/3 teaspoon of the sweet stuff. Rolled the leafs and closed with 2 tooth picks. Garnished with sesameseed and dried chives. Served cold. DELICIOUS!!! Peter

Time: 1 hour. Level: Easy. In Italy we call this recipe: "verza stufata" but in Venice it's called: "verze sofegae" For 4 persons take: - 2 small cabbages and slice as small as you can. - Add 1 sliced onion. - 1 clove garlic. - Olive oil. - Salt and pepper. The ingredients are rather simple, but the end result depends all on how you cook the cabbage!. Cook on a very low flame for 1 hour and try not to add any water, or at least very, very little. In this way the "verze sofegae" becomes very "creamy",and melt on your tongue, just the way we like it in Venice!. Buon appetito! Peter.

  An easy way to prepare zucchini.                     Time: 30  min                     Level: easy. -Slice the zucchini as thin as you can. -Slice an onion. -Crush garlic. -Grease oven pan with olive oil.  Lay out sliced zucchini and add on top:  -Onion. -Garlic. -Grated Parmesan or Pecorino cheese. -Salt and pepper. -Sesame seeds (optional, but very good)  Cook 30 min. or until golden brown in the   oven at 180° C. Buon Appetito!

Do you know this vegetable? I think that eggplant is known all over the world and every region on this planet has it's own recepies. I have never been a big fan of eggplant, until i tasted this recipe !! This is what we did: I sliced the eggplant. (as thin as possible) I put some olive oil on the bottom of an oven pan. I laid out the slices and covered with: -Thinly sliced onion -Sliced tomato -Garlic -A little chili -Origano -pars ley -Salt I covered once more with a little olive oil. I cooked in the oven at 180° C. for about 30 min. Garnish with fresh mint! Buon appetito

You need: - 1 Cauliflower. - 1 glass of milk. - 200 grms. gorgonzola, roquefort or        other blue cheese. - 1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds. - 1 white onion. - 1 teaspoon curry. - parsley. - salt and pepper. - 1 tbl. spoon olive oil. Slice the onion and cut the cauliflower into small pieces. Put all the ingredients in an oven pan and cook in the oven at 180° C. for 30 minutes, with oven fan on.  Delicious! Without oven fan cook 15 min. more. Buon Appetito.

Do you know this vegetable? Ironically speaking we could call Brussels sprouts a "children's nightmare". In countries like Holland or Germany they are usually steamed and served with a little nutmeg sprinkled on top. I would like to propose something a little more "Italian" : "Brussels sprouts with olive oil, garlic , origano and pistache." Clean the sprouts and cut them in half. Simmer in olive oil together with the garlic, a little chili, salt, origano and 10 pistache nuts for about 15 minutes,adding a little water if needed. Don't overcook, they are nice if they are still a bit crispy!!!

It's time for vegetables again!! This is my personal recipe for cauliflower. You need: - 1 cauliflower - 1 onion. - 1 pc. garlic. - 2 tbl.sp. olive oil. - salt /pepper. - some fennel seeds. - some origano. - 10 capers. - 2 cups of water. Cut the cauliflower in very fine slices. Don't use the central part of the cauliflower, just the outside. (flower) Add sliced onion and all the other ingredients together in a pan with some olive oil and 2 cups of water and simmer on low fire for about 15 minutes, with closed lid.  Don't overcook because cauliflower is very good when it's still a little crispy!! Buon appetito!!  

This is an easy one, and very,very tasty! (See our post " beet" from 12/03/2012) Potatoes and Beet. Preparation time: about 45 minutes. For  4 persons you need: - 3 chunks of beet or paksoy. (cut to pieces) - 3 big potatoes.( in small pieces) - 1 onion. (slices) - 1 pc. garlic. - 1 teacup olives. -  half a teacup olive oil. -  some origano - some chili pepper - some salt - 1 teacup of water. Pre - heat the oven to 180° Celsius.  Put half of the olive oil in a oven pan. Mix all the ingredients, except the water, and put everything in the pan. Add the other half of the oil evenly on top of the vegetables, and add a cup of water. Cook in the oven for 30 minutes, but take care to mix everything after about 15 minutes. Buon Appetito! 

A very common veggie in Italy. It's like small broccoli, but we use some of the smaller leafs too. The taste is a little stronger than ordinary broccoli. The italian name is "cime di rapa" It's very good with pasta. Use the broccoli-like parts and the smaller leafs and cut into small pieces. For 4 persons:  simmer 1 onion, garlic, some chili and salt in olive oil. After 3 minutes add the veggie (1 handful per person) and let it simmer for at least 20 min. Add 4 pcs. anchovy at the end.(last 5 minutes of cooking time)  If you are  vegetarian you can use capers instead of anchovy. Boil the pasta and when done, add it to the turnip and stir 2 minutes over high flame. Buon appetito!

Do you know this vegetable? Its called beet .(barbabietola or beta vulgaris)  In Italy you can buy it in every supermarket. It has a very delicate taste and many restaurants serve it. You can also use "Paksoy" (Chinese cabbage). I usually prepare it like this: I cut it in small pieces.  Olive oil in a pan, add the vegetable, garlic, origano, salt and pepper. chili pepper optional. some water. Let it simmer for about 20 minutes, if needed add some water. You can add some olives too, or capers. Very good!