Friday, May 25, 2018

Wholemeal fresh pasta - pasta fresca integrale



Wholemeal fresh pasta is delicious! I made it with Agnese and her son Antonio, they get the flour from a local mill, organic and all :-). First you need to pass it through a sieve.


Leave the bran behind, this will be for the chickens, they make the eggs for the pasta!


And this is Agnese's knife to cut tagliatelle and maltagliati.


Then you make the dough, usually for  each 500g of white flour I use five eggs, but for wholemeal pasta you need more, about six or seven eggs. Of course you can also mix wholemeal and white flour, in any case, the dough was done by machine and you can see if it is the case to add an extra egg or not, it all depends on the egg size and if the dough looks too dry. Once the dough is ready Agnese cuts it...


And then rolls it so it is ready to go through the pasta machine.


From the largest setting to the thinnest roll roll roll!





Then fold the rolled pasta and cut into tagliatelle







Now maltagliati: fold the rolled pasta and cut the corners, this is Arantxa doing it:




Maltagliati is great for soups, like pasta e fagioli, or with a simple clear broth. Wholemeal tagliatelle goes well with thick and flavoursome sauces.


I made it with a mushroom sauce (porcini, garlic, tomato and cream), amazing!

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Saturday, May 19, 2018

Frittata with flowers


Picking a few things from the garden, and the flowers are perfect for a frittata.

Mix eggs, salt, pepper, grated parmesan, fresh basil leaves and a little self raising flour and pour in a skillet greased with olive oil, arrange the cleaned flowers on top (zucchini flowers, impatiens, cornflowers), cover with a lid and cook on low until the base is golden, then tip and cook on the other side. Flip on a plate and enjoy!


Photos and recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Thursday, May 10, 2018

Coconut tofu and vegetables strips with Eastern herbs



I planted some ginger roots in my garden from a bought root that started sprouting and got a beautiful plant... but the flower looked like that of the wild ginger (a weed in New Zealand) and I was a bit worried... my neighbour told me that it is a good ginger, the flower is similar but it doesn't make the seeds that birds spread around the forest. Well, since I was worried I remove the plant (the flowers looked good in a vase anyway) and used the root to make gari (delicious, recipe here) and this tofu dish.

Very easy: just simmer some sliced tofu in a pot with coconut milk, vegetable stock, ginger, chili, lemon grass and a shallot. Add some celery, carrots and capsicum strips and simmer for a few more minutes, then turn the heat off and add some cucumber strips, fresh coriander, basil and Vietnamese mint and serve with Thai rice.

And now a few more subtropical delights from my garden: cherimoya (not ready yet) and bananas (the best bunch so far, shared with many friends!)



Had some flowers too, outdoors...


And indoors.


Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©


LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails