Archive

ITALIAN RECIPES

Spring used to mean Eggs

Onion Frittata

Ingredients:

6 eggs
3 small white onions
3/4 cup whole milk (you can use lowfat if you must)
1 heaping tablespoon flour
1 tablespoon grated Parmigiano
A walnut-sized piece of butter
Olive oil, Salt and pepper

Preparation:

Peel and slice the onions, and heat them in a skillet with a little oil until they wilt, without letting them brown. When they are cooked and translucent, remove them from the flames.
Lightly beat the eggs in a bowl, then slowly stir in the milk, the flour, and the cheese. Add the onions, mix well, and season everything with salt and pepper.

Heat the butter in a skillet (10 inch or so), and when it begins to crackle and brown stir in the egg mixture. Cook one side, then flip the frittata and cook the other side too.
This can be served hot or cold and if served as part of a meal will suffice for 4, with a tossed salad and a bottle of Soave. One can also slice it more finely and serve it as an antipasto.
A wine? White, perhaps a Sauvignon Blanc from Friuli's Collio.
Serves 4-6.

Eggs with Tomatoes

Ingredients:

8 eggs
1 pound (500 g) sun-ripened plum tomatoes, or a 1-pound can (drained weight) tomatoes
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced, or 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
Salt and pepper to taste
Lightly toasted crusty bread

Preparation:

Begin by blanching, peeling, seeding, draining, and chopping the tomatoes.
Heat the olive oil in an oven-proof skillet, and simmer the chopped tomatoes for about 20 minutes over a gentle flame, seasoning them with the garlic powder, salt, and pepper.
If you are instead using canned tomatoes, simmer them just long enough to concentrate the juices some.

While the tomatoes are cooking, preheat your oven to 360 F (180 C). Using the back of a spoon, make 8 shallow depressions in the tomatoes, and carefully crack the eggs into them.

Transfer the skillet to your oven, and cook just until the egg whites have set, about 3-5 minutes. The yolks should still be runny. Serve at once, with lightly toasted crusty bread to mop up the yolk and the tomatoes.
Serves 4.

Savory Pie with Peppers, Capers and Tuna

Ingredients:

7 eggs
2 large red bell peppers
1/8 pound day-old bread, crust stripped away
1/4 pound (100 g) tuna canned in oil, drained and crumbled
A tablespoon of minced herbs, made using parsley, salted capers, and chives
10 green olives, pitted and chopped
1 tablespoon freshly grated Parmigiano
4 tablespoons milk
Olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:

Stem the peppers, seed them, remove the ribs, and cut them into strips that will like flat.
Run them under the broiler, skin side up, until the skins have blistered; once they have, put them in a bowl, cover them, and let them sit for a few minutes, which will allow the steam they give off to further loosen the skins.

Remove the skins, running the peppers under cool water if necessary, dry the strips, and cut them into strips about 1/4 inch (1/2 cm) wide.
Preheat your oven to 360 F (180 C)
Lightly beat the eggs with the milk, and stir in the cheese. Crumble and stir in the bread, followed by the tuna, the herbs, the peppers, and the olives. Check seasoning, and give it a healthy grind of pepper from your peppermill.

Grease a non-stick mould that's 6-8 inches in diameter with 3 tablespoons of oil and turn the mixture into it; tap the mold sharply against your work surface to dislodge any air bubbles there may be within the mixture.
Bake the pie for about 25 minutes, or until it has firmed up and the surface is golden and crusty.

Remove the pie from the pan, let it rest for a few minutes, slice it into thin wedges, and serve it, if you wish, over a bed of chives and capers.
I'd serve this as an antipasto or at a party, with a crisp white wine.
Serves 6.

Bread and Apple Sformato

Ingredients:

3 eggs
1 1/8 pounds (500 g) renette apples
14 ounces (350 g) thinly sliced bread, crust stripped away and discarded
4 ounces (100 g) raisins, soaked in warm water
4 ounces (100 g) blanched almonds
1 pint (500 ml) milk
A pinch of powdered cinnamon
The grated zest of a half a lemon
3/4 cup (150 g) sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Butter and some breadcrumbs for greasing and dusting the mold

Preparation:

Set a pot with almost all of the milk and two thirds of the sugar on the fire and bring it to a boil. Lay the slices of bread out in a large, fairly deep plate, and pour the boiling milk over them.

Peel, core, and finely slice the apples. Toast the almonds gently in the oven and break them up into pieces. Butter a ring mold well, dust it with bread crumbs, and line it with a layer of bread.
Put down a layer of apples over the bread, followed by some of the raisins, squeezed dry, and some of the almonds. Continue alternating layers until all is used up, and seal everything with a last bread layer.

Preheat your oven to 380 F (190 C).
Beat the eggs with the remaining milk and sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, and lemon zest. Slowly pour the mixture over the sformato, taking care that it is absorbed uniformly. Bake the sformato for about an hour. Unmold it onto a serving platter and serve it at once, with zabaione.
Serves 4-6.

Buon appetito!

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