The second day of Christmas - ravioli stuffing and more

On day 1 I am going to prepare the ravioli, but as I have planned a mushroom broth on day 2, we´ll be very efficient and prepare two things at a time. NB I won´t give you a recipe for pasta dough for there are millions to be found.

Base:

25 gr. of dried porcini

500 gr. of fresh, mixed mushrooms

Fresh thyme and sage

Soak the porcini in tepid water for half an hour and then squeeze them gently and dry them.

Don´t throw away the water, it will be used for the broth.

Clean the mushrooms with kitchen paper, remove the stems but don´t throw them away. Cut them into slices and pieces.

Divide the porcini and the mushrooms in two parts and put one part aside.

Ravioli-filling, day 1:

1 shallot, chopped into very small pieces

The first part of the mushrooms and porcini, chopped a little smaller

1 spoonfull of olive oil

salt, pepper

1 small glass of white wine

grated parmesan, ca. 2 spoons

Chop the thyme and sage really small.

Fry the shallot in the olive oil at moderate fire until it´s soft. Add the mushrooms and the herbs and fry them until they´re slightly brown. Add the wine, make it boil and then lower the fire. Let evaporate all liquids completely. Remove the pan from the fire. Then add salt and pepper and the grated parmesan, mix well and let it cool down.

Prepare the pasta dough (you can find recipes everywhere) and make the ravioli by putting a small spoon of the filling on it, cover it and cut it into regular pieces.

Mushroom broth, day 2:

1 carrot, chopped

1 onion or shallot, chopped

The second part of the mushrooms

2 shallots, chopped

1 garlic glove, pressed

Fresh twigs of rosemary, parsley, celery and the thyme and sage from the base

salt and pepper

olive oil

Use the stems you have put aside before. Make a bouquet garni from the other half of the thyme, sage, parsley, celery and rosemary. Put the stems, carrot, onion, the porcini water and the bouquet garni in a pan, add water (about 1 liter), salt and pepper. Make it boil, then lower the heat and let it simmer for at least half an hour. Pour the broth through a sieve.

Fry the onion and garlic in the olive oil at a moderate heat, until they´re light brown. Add the broth and make it boil again, the add the mushrooms. Lower the fire and let it cook for 10 more minutes.

You can add a broth cube, e.g. Porcini, but it´s not necessary.  

Fall and funghi - a few suggestions for mushrooms

I can no longer maintain to love only summer. In fact, I really love autumn. That is to say, when it´s still tolerable weather because rain and storms are not my cup of tea.

I can absolutely cheer up when I see the beautiful autumn colors like yellow, red and terra but the best thing of all is the autumn food.

I have already told you about my apples, pears and grapes, but I have not mentioned the mushrooms yet. It is too bad that I don´t know very much about them, because not only in Umbria it´s nature´s gift, you can find them in every country. Unfortunately, I have to jot down another warning: never go searching for mushrooms on your own, only and only go there with a professional guide.

Let us stick to the ones you can buy at the grocery´s. They may be less tasty, but they´re also less dirty. Always look on the bright side of life.

If you can find them, buy as many varieties as you can. You could also get some dried ones, porcini (cèpes) or funghi dal bosco (from the forest).

I will give you a few recipes, but you may want to try your own. I can not think of an ingredient that is so grateful to experiment with.

A few simple tricks to make your life beautiful:

• Don´t clean mushrooms with water. They release a lot of liquid themselves, so your dishes, especially those with sauces, may get too thin.
• Stuffed portobello´s (large chestnut mushrooms) are very nice as a vegetarian dish, filled with  mashed potatoe or rice and e.g. leek, tomato, peperoni, carrot and cheese they can serve as a complete meal.
• Chantarelles are summer mushrooms and taste very nice in a creamy soup
• When I speak of mixed mushrooms, I use the simple mushrooms, shiitakes, portobello, porcini, funghi dal bosco, oyster mushrooms and chestnut mushrooms. You can buy ready made packets in every supermarket.
  

  

  
  

Funghi dal forno (mushrooms from the oven)

250 gr. mixed mushrooms

salt, pepper

olive oil

fresh thyme leaves

fresh parsley

grated parmesan

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Clean the mushrooms with kitchen paper. Chop them into irregular pieces. If you use dried ones, soak them in lukewarm water for ten minutes and then squeeze them carefully and dry them with kitchen paper. Mix the mushrooms well.

Pour a little olive oil in an oven dish. Put the mushrooms in. Add salt, pepper and the thyme leaves.  

Season with the grated parmesan and leave it in the oven for ca. 15 minutes. Season with the parsley and serve it hot.

Variations:

• add some chopped tomato
• add some chopped onion or pressed garlic
• add some spring onion or litlle rings of leek

Funghi ripieni (Filled mushrooms)

12 big mushrooms

½ tomato, chopped into real tiny pieces

1 glove of garlic, pressed

salt, peper

fresh thyme leaves

2 spoons of grated parmesan

2 spoons of olive oil

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Clean the mushrooms with kitchen paper. Use a sharp knife and remove the stems and a litlle from the inside of the mushrooms. Don´t throw it away, you can make a broth from them (recipe below).

Mix the tomato, the garlic, salt and pepper, thyme and parmesan. Fill the mushrooms with it, using a teaspoon. Pour the olive oil in an ovendish, put the mushrooms in and leave them in the oven for about 15 minutes.

Variation and easy version:

You can make it much easier if you use a herb-cheese like paturain instead of the stuffing I used.

Brodo di funghi (mushroom-broth)

Use the stems of ca. 250 gr. mushrooms and make a bouquet garni from thyme, sage, parsley, celery and rosemary. Put all ingredients in a pan, add water, salt and pepper. Make it boil, then lower the heat and let it simmer for at least half an hour. Pour the broth through a sieve.

You can use this broth for risotto – or for all kinds of sauces or as a base for soup.

Lasagne con funghi

For the sauce:

olive oil

250 gr. mixed mushrooms (add some dried ones that you soaked and squeezed)

1 onion, chopped

1 glove of garlic, pressed

50 ml. mushroom-broth (see recipe above)

½ glass of white wine

salt, pepper

thyme or sage, chopped

bechamel – click here for the recipe or easy version, get a ready made one

300 gr. lasagne leaves

grated parmesan

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Clean the mushrooms with kitchen paper and cut them into small pieces or slices. Fry the onion, the garlic and mushrooms on a middle heat until they are light brown. Lower the fire, add the broth and the wine and turn up the fire. Make it boil, let boil for about 30 seconds and then lower the fire again. Let simmer for about 15 minutes.

Put two spoons of bechamel in an oven dish.

1. Add a layer of lasagne leaves
2. cover them with some bechamel
3. sprinkle with a few spoons of the mushroom-sauce
4. Cover with lasagne

Repeat 1 to 4 untill everything is used, end with lasagne. Cover with a thick layer of bechamel and dust with the grated parmesan.

Cover the dish with aluminium foil and leave it in the oven for about half an hour.

Variations:

• when you´re not a vegetarian, add some chicken or ham to the sauce
• add some tomato to the sauce

Sformato di funghi (creamy mushrooms)

250 gr. of mixed mushrooms

1 onion, chopped

2 gloves of garlic, press one and cut the other one in two.

salt, pepper and fresh or dried sage

½ glass of white wine

2 dl. bechamel – click here for the recipe or get a ready made one.

grated parmesan

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Clean the mushrooms with kitchen paper and cut them into not too small, irregular pieces. Fry the onion, garlic, sage and mushrooms on a middle heat until they are light brown. Add the wine, make it boil. Lower the heat and let simmer for some 15 minutes untill the liquids have evaporated. Add salt and pepper.

In the meantime, prepare the bechamel if you want to make your own. Mix the bechamel with grated parmesan.

Mix the bechamel with the mushroom-mixture. Rub a baking dish with the second garlic glove (you will not use the garlic anymore). Pour the mushroom-bchamel mix into the dish, dust it generously with parmesan and leave it in the oven for about 20 minutes, until the dish is slightly colored.

When served with bread (e.g. my treccia) and a green salad this is a complete meal.  

Pasta salad (2)

A recipe for a summer lunch that can easily be prepared in advance and taken away for a day at the beach or a picknick, or as a side dish at a barbecue. It is even better to prepare it a day early, so the taste of the dressing and the tuna will mix well with the pasta.

Just one warming: if you have a cat like my Pio, buy two cans of tuna, or don´t leave the can opened in the kitchen, or stand next to it until use. I only left the kitchen for two minutes, but he finished the job professionally.

Ingredients:

300 grams penne or another short pasta

1 tomato

150 gr. green beans

1 can of tuna on oil

4-5 spoons of olive oil extra vergine

1 spoon of lemon juice

salt, pepper

dried dill, optional

Cook the pasta al dente, pour and rinse it with cold water. Let it cool down.

Cut both ends from the green beans and cut them into pieces that have the same size as the pasta. Cook the beans in a little salted water until they´re soft but still a little crispy.

Cut the tomato into pieces.

Mix the pasta, the beans, the tomato and the tuna.

Make a dressing with the olive oil, the lemon juice, salt en pepper (and the dill if you wish). Mix well with the pasta and be careful not to crush the pasta.

Vegetarian varieties:

Replace the tuna by chopped tofu or vegetarian `minced meat.`

Another suggestion is to replace the tuna by baked mushrooms, quartered. In that case use a little more salt i

Pasta boscaiola

Typical for my blog recipes: another one that can be made in a simple or an extended version. The best thing about this dish is that it can be cooked in many ways, all tasty.

It is an autumn dish, but considering the weatherforecast for the coming up weekend you may be happy with this recipe.

Ingredients for the simple version:

• 3 spoons of olive oil extra vergine
• 2 sausages
• 250 grams of mushrooms (mixed)
• 1 onion
• 1 glass of dry white wine (I use Soave)
• fresh sage (or dried if you don´t owe a herbgarden)
• fresh thyme twigs (or dried)
• salt, pepper
• parmesan
• 300 gr. short pasta like pennette

Chop the onion. Clean the mushrooms with kitchen paper and cut them into slices.

Remove the skin from the sausages and cut the stuffing into pieces. Chop the sage. Leave the thyme as it is.

Heat the oil at middle heat. Fry the onion until light brown, add the mushrooms and fry them for a few minutes. Add the sausage stuffing and stir until light brown. Lower the heat, add the wine and turn up the heat again. Let it boil for a minute, then lower the heat.

Add the herbs, salt and pepper, cover the pan and let the sauce simmer at low heat.

Cook the pasta al dente and pour it.

Remove the thyme twigs from the sauce and mix the sauce with the pasta. Serve with grated parmesan.

For the extended version:

• The ingredients for the simple one, and/or:
• 50 grams pancetta or frying bacon, into small pieces
• 5 – 10 gr. dried porcini
• 100 g. cherrytomatos
• 10 black olives

Soak the porcini in lukewarm water for 10 minutes, squeeze them and cut them into pieces.

Follow the former recipe, but add the pancetta or bacon to the onions. Add the porcini with the mushrooms. Add the tomatos when adding the herbs. Don´t use salt then, the pancetta is sufficient.  

Add the olives right before serving.

For a vegetarian version:

Leave out the sausages and pancetta and use chopped tofu instead. If you like, you could marinate it for an hour in a mixture of olive oil, sage, oregano, salt and pepper.

Follow the recipe(s) as described.  

Pasta salad

This is a perfect salad for a summerday. It´s a perfect salad to take to the beach for lunch, or as a side dish for a barbecue.

And of course, like al my recipes, you can make it easier on yourself by using instant broth instead of making your own. Nobody likes to spend hours in a heated kitchen if not necessairy.

Ingredients:

If you want to prepare home made broth:

1 carrot, sliced

1 onion, sliced

parsley, chopped

celery leaves, chopped

4-5 peppercorns, crushed

salt

300 grams chicken breast

Or: use instant broth for 1 liter of water.

For the salad:

1 carrot

300 gr. Farfalle (butterfly pasta)

optional: 1 small can of pineapple chunks (keep 1 spoon of the juice then)

5 spoons of mayonaise

2 spoons of curry powder

Pour 1 liter of water in a pan, put all the ingredients for the broth, including the chicken breast, in it and make it boil. Lower the gas and leave it be for at least half an hour (check if the chicken breast is well done). Put the chicken breast aside.

Strain the broth.

Or: Make 1 liter of instant broth and cook the chicken breast in it until it´s done and put the breast aside.

Make the broth boil again, add the farfalle and cook them al dente in about 7 minutes. Pour an drinse them with cold water. Let them cool down.

Cut the carrot into small pieces. Cut the chicken breast into small pieces.

Mix the mayonaise with the curry powder. If you plan to use pineapple, add 1 spoon of pineapplejuice.

Mix the chicken, the carrot and (if you wish) the pineapplechunks with the mayonaisemix.

Stire the whole lot through the farfalle, mix really very well.

Serve the salad at room temperature.

Veggy lasagne

On request: This recipe is suitable for those who don´t want to spend more than half an hour in the kitchen, but also for those who like to take a little more trouble.

For each recipe I mention the extended version first and the easier one below. With each recipe you can decided for yourself whether you choose the homemade version or the fast one, they´re all exchangeable.

The recipe consists of three parts, bechamel, tomatosauce and the actual dish they´re meant for.

The basic recipe is vegetarian but I will mention some variations with meat as well.

I assume that you will use fresh lasagnesheets. If you use dried ones, follow the instructions for cooking them on the package.

4 persons: 500 g. lasagnesheets

parmesan cheese

Bechamel

homemade:

50 g. margarine

5 tablespoons of flour

0,5 l. milk

salt, pepper, nutmeg

Melt the margarine at low heat in a thick bottomed pan, be careful it won´t get too brown. Add the flour and stir quickly to get a smooth substance. Remove the pan from the fire, add a part of the milk an stir carefully to make sure there are no lumps left. Put the pan on the fire again, add the rest of the milk and stir until it starts boiling. Don´t let it boil any further. Add salt, pepper and the nutmeg.

Fast version:

i don´t know of anything faster than a ready for use package.

Tomatosauce

3 tablespoons of olive oil

1 onion, sliced

1 garlic glove, sliced

1 glass of red wine

1 kg. Red, well ripened tomatoes

2 tablespoons of tomato paste, when desired

salt, pepper

fresh oregano, chopped, about 3 tablespoons

Homemade:

Peel the tomatoes by carving them a little and then immersing them in boiling water. Cut them into very small pieces and allow them to drip off as much of their juices as possible.

Heat the olive oil and fry the onion a few minutes until they´re lightly browned. Add the garlic and fry gently for a few seconds. Add the wine and let boil for about one minute. Lower the heat.

Add the tomatoes, the tomato paste if you like, the salt, pepper and oregano, let it boil and then let it simmer, on low heat, for about one hour. The liquids must be evaporated as much as possible.

Fast version:

Replace the tomatoes by a jar of peeled tomatoes or passata di pomodoro.

Replace the fresh oregano by dried oregano, in that case use only one spoon.

Or, when you really want to be fast: have a jar of ready made sauce.

Suggestions:

Add some mushrooms to the onion

If you don´t want the vegetarian sauce, fry some mincemeat (250 gr.), ham or bacon with the onion.

The lasagne

Preheat the oven up to 180°C

Cover the bottom of a low, rectangular oven dish with 3 tablespoons of bechamel. Save some for the last layer.

Cover with one layer of lasagnesheets

Cover with a thin layer of bechamel.

Cover with a layer of tomatosauce

• if you don´t want the vegetarian version you could add sliced ham

Repeat 1 to 3 until everything is finished, end up with lasagnesheets.

Cover it with a thicker layer of bechamel and cover it wih grated parmesan.

Fast version: have a sachet of grated cheese.

Cover the dish with aluminium foil and leave it in the middle of the oven for half an hour, until the cheese has melted.