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ITALIAN RECIPES

Healthy Recipes For Lent

Ravioli

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups (375 ml) ricotta
1 cup (50 g) grated Parmigiano
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups packed boiled spinach (1/2 pound of frozen spinach or a pound of stemmed cooked drained fresh spinach)
A pinch of nutmeg and an equal amount of pepper.
Flour (more for naked ravioli that stuffed ravioli)
Salt to taste
For the Pasta:
Either several sheets fresh store-bought pasta
OR
2 1/3 cups (280 g) flour
3 eggs
A pinch of salt

Preparation:

Pick the straightest edge of the sheet (trim it if necessary) and put heaping teaspoons of filling about an inch and a half apart and an inch and a half from the margin of the sheet.
Carefully fold the pasta over the filling and cut the strip of pasta and filling free from the sheet with a serrated pasta wheel. Tamp down the pasta around the balls of filling with your finger, pressing hard to make sure the pasta adheres so the ravioli won’t come apart while cooking, and cut the individual ravioli free.

Set the finished ravioli to dry on a lightly floured cloth and repeat the process, continuing till the stuffing is used up.
Cook the ravioli in lightly salted water till the pasta is al dente (about 5 minutes), then carefully remove them to a bowl with a slotted spoon or strainer. Serve the ravioli as a first course with a few leaves of fresh sage, melted butter, and grated cheese, or, if you want something more substantial, e.g. meat sauce or walnut sauce.
A wine? A white, and since this is Ligurian I would go with either a Vermentino or a Pigato.
Serves 4.

Mezze Maniche, and a Chunky Artichoke and Cheese Pasta Sauce

Ingredients:

14 ounces (350 g) mezze maniche or similar pasta
1/4 pound (100 g) fairly sharp Provolone cheese, diced
1/4 cup olive oil
4 fresh artichoke hearts, slivered and kept in acidulated water to keep them from discoloring
2 anchovy fillets, boned and rinsed
1 clove garlic, minced
Minced parsley
Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:

Set pasta water to boil; when it boils salt it and add the pasta.
When you dump the pasta into the water, heat the olive oil with the garlic and the anchovy fillets in a skillet, stirring them about to break up the anchovy fillets, and then add the sliced artichokes.

Reduce the heat to low and cook for about 5 minutes; check seasoning and keep warm until the pasta is just shy of al dente. Stir the diced provolone into the sauce, drain the pasta and transfer it to a bowl, season it with the sauce, dust with parsley to taste, and serve.
Serves 4.

Salt Roasted Salmon with Herbs

Ingredients:

A fresh salmon fillet weighing about 2 1/4 pounds (1 k)
2 pounds (1 k) koarse kosher salt (you won't need all of it)
2 egg whites (optional)
A finely sliced lemon, organically grown if possible
The grated zest of half of another organically grown lemon, yellow part only
A small bunch parsley, minced
A few sprigs wild fennel, minced (if you can't find it, don't use fennel seeds)
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary needles
Other chopped herbs you like (for example, a little fresh dill)

Preparation:

Select a fillet that is of uniform width and as uniform thickness as possible; the flesh should be compact and uniform salmon pink.
Come time to prepare your salmon, preheat your oven to 450 F (225 C).
Using a sharp, long-bladed knife, cut the salmon in half lengthwise to obtain two sheets (as it were) of salmon. Remove any spines you see with a pair of tweezers.

Next, sprinkle the chopped herbs uniformly over the lower sheet (the one with the skin) and place the upper sheet over it. Lay the lemon slices over the upper sheet to cover the meat.
Line a roasting pan large enough to comfortably contain the fish with oven parchment, and sprinkle a half-inch (1 cm) layer of salt over it. Carefully lay the fish on the salt, and sprinkle it with another half-inch layer of salt.

You can, if you want, moisten the salt you sprinkle over the fish, but it's not necessary to do so. You can also, if you want the crust to be firmer, beat 2 egg whites and combine them with the salt you put over the fish.

In any case, put the fish into the hot oven and roast it for about 30 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and bring it to the table: Break the crust with the backof a heavy knife before your guests (or guest) and remove the pieces to reveal the salmon fillet below.
In terms of accompaniments, I might go with a delicate tossed salad, or a little spinach, and bubbly. Definitely bubbly, and I'd probably think about either Franciacorta, or a sparkling Gavi, or a sparkling Lugana. Champagne will also work, if you must.
Serves 4.

Braised Savoy Cabbage

Ingredients:

2 1/4 pounds (1 k) Savoy Cabbage
A small onion, finely sliced
A clove of garlic
1 3/4 cups (400 ml) dry red wine
1/3 cup (60 g) unsalted butter
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 teaspoon vegetable extract (a crumbled vegetable bouillon cube will be fine)
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:

Free the cabbage leaves from the head, rinse them, drain them, and finely shred them. Slice the onion, and peel the garlic clove. Heat the butter in a broad deep sauce pot (terracotta would be nice), and add the sliced onions.
Crush the garlic clove over the pot using a garlic crusher to add the juice from the clove to the pot. When the onion has become translucent and is beginning to color, add the cabbage and the vegetable extract. Mix well, cover, and cook over a fairly brisk flame for 5 minutes.

While the cabbage is cooking, stir the tomato paste into the wine. Add the wine to the cabbage, cover, reduce the heat, and simmer 45 minutes; shortly before the time is up raise the flame some and uncover the pot to thicken the sauce.
Stir the Worcestershire sauce into the cabbage, season everything to taste with salt and pepper, and serve at once.
Serves 4.

Buon appetito!

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