Mini cake with semolina, ricotta cheese and dark chocolate!!!

For the Italian version click here!!!
Today I have no much to say....the last few days have been quite sad for my country, Italy. Everything seams to be worthless after what happened over the last weekend.
I'll just leave you this quick and delicious recipe to give a bit of sweetness to these bitter days...

MINI CAKE WITH SEMOLINA, RICOTTA CHEESE AND DARK CHOCOLATE

INGREDIENTS:

• 150g ricotta cheese
• 50g semolina
• 250 ml milk
• 50g sugar
• 1 egg
• 70g dark chocolate
• 1 knob of butter
• Lemon zest
• Vanilla essence

Heat up the milk with the lemon zest and leave in infusion for 20 minutes. Discard the lemon zest and bring the milk with the butter to the boil. Add slowly the semolina and whisk continuously. Allow to cool completely. 

In a bowl beat the eggs and sugar. Then combine with an electric whisker the sieved ricotta with the cold semolina. Add the ricotta mixture to the eggs, mix well then add the vanilla essence and chopped dark chocolate. Pour cake mixture in the cake mould and bake in a warm oven at 170ºC for 30/40 minutes. 

This doses are for a mini cake, about 12 cm in diametre. I used the mini cake mould from Pavoni idea

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Spaghetti with asparagus cream!!!

For the Italian version click here!!!
Good morning everyone! Today another pasta dish with one of my favourite spring vegetables... Asparagus!!! I still had a bit of clotted cream left from the Madeleines and I've decided to make a nice sauce for the pasta. Quick and easy....but delicious!!!!

SPAGHETTI WITH ASPARAGUS CREAM

INGREDIENTS FOR 2:

• 160g pasta ( I used FiberPasta)
• Asparagus
• 50g clotted cream
• 1 shallot 
• 1/2 glass white wine
• A drizzle of extra virgin olive oil ( I used Dante extra virgin olive oil 100% Italian)
• Salt

Bring a large pan of water to the boil. Clean and remove the hard stalks. Cut the tips and place them aside. Cook the rest of the asparagus in boiling water (the same where you would cook the pasta) for a few minutes. Chop finely the shallot, chop the cooked asparagus and fry them in a drizzle of olive oil. After a few minutes add the white wine and cook until the alcohol evaporates. Continue cooking for 2 minutes. Blend the asparagus with the clotted cream, if necessary add some pasta cooking water. 

While preparing the cream cook the pasta in the salted boiling water, 2 minutes before the end of cooking add the asparagus tips. Toss the pasta with the asparagus cream. Decorate with the asparagus tips and some grated parmesan cheese. Serve immediately!

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Madeleines with clotted cream and strawberries!!!

Ceramics and table cloth from GreenGate, Madeleines moulds from Pavoni Idea

For the Italian version click here!!!
Last week I was home alone and I was craving for something sweet but i didn't have any butter and was feeling very lazy so I didn't want to go out to buy some.
Searching ingredients in the fridge I realized I had some Devon Clotted cream...Can I use clotted cream instead of butter??? Why not??? Definitely we can...this Madeleines are delicious!!! I used the Pavoni Idea mould...and to me they look quite pretty, what do you think???

MADELEINES WITH DEVON CLOTTED CREAM   AND STRAWBERRIES

INGREDIENTS FOR 9 MADELEINES

• 50g Devon clotted cream
• 60g plain flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• vanilla essence
• 1 egg
• 50g sugar
• 1 drop of milk
• A pinch af salt

Beat the egg with the sugar, a pinch of salt and a drop of milk. Add the clotted cream and continue beating until mixture is smooth. Add the sieved flour, baking powder and vanilla essence.

Mix gently with a spatula. Pour mixture into moulds and chill for 30 minutes. 

Bake in a preheated oven at 180ºC for 20 minutes. 

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Baguette with poolish, autolysis and 33 hours fermentation!!!

For the Italian version click here!!!

I'm really proud of the outcome of this bread..... crispy crust...soft inside. I have to say quite good as a Parisian baguette!!!! It takes time to make it but it's very easy and especially it is worth to try!!! I took the suggestion from this amazing website http://www.wildyeastblog.com/

BAGUETTE WITH POOLISH, AUTOLYSIS AND 33 HOURS FERMENTATION

INGREDIENTS for 2 Baguettes

• 250g strong flour (I used Canadian flour)
• 100g poolish/ starter (made with 60g flour +60g water+ 1 tsp dehydrated sourdough starter)
• 210g very cold water
• 50g rice flour 
• 1 teaspoon salt

Mix flour, rice flour and cold water. Cover and autolyse for 12 hours.

Prepare the poolish or starter mixing the flour, water and 1 teaspoon of dehydrated sourdough starter. Cover and leave to rest for 12 hours.

After this time combine the dough with the starter and add the teaspoon of salt.

Due to the high hydration it's quite easy to mix even if you don't have a kneading machine ( but as always now I used my Clatronic KM3323).

Allow to rest at room temperature for 2 or 3 hours. Every 30 minutes stretch and fold to give strength to the dough. Cover the bowl with cling film and leave to rest in the fridge for 24 hours. Mine was rising a bit too much so i left it in the fridge for about 18 hours. Leave to rise at room temperature for 1 or 2 hours. Divide the dough into two equal parts, give the typical baguette shape and leave to rise for another hour. 

Preheat the oven at 220ºC with a pan of hot water. Score the baguettes and bake them for 20/25 minutes until golden and crisp. 

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Pasta with calamari

Plates from Churchill chinaware 

For the Italian version click here!!!
Today a simple recipe taken from a pasta book recipe. 


INGREDIENTS:
350g pasta (I used FiberPasta)
400g squid
2 courgette
1/2 glass of white wine
cherry tomatoes
extra virgin olive oil
chilly pepper
oregano
salt and pepper

Wash and clean the squids. Cut the body into rings then saute’ them with the heads in a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil for 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, add the white wine. Dice the courgettes, cut the cherry tomatoes into four and add them to the calamari. Cover the pan with the lid and allow to cook for 10 minutes. Cook the pasta in salted boiling water until “al dente”. Drain the pasta and toss with the calamari and vegetables. 

Sprinkle with oregano and chopped chilly peppers. 

Note: I add also some mussels to enjoy the sea flavour even more, but you could add even 300g of scampi. Or if you particularly like the combination with vegetables you can choose them following the season: heart chokes and green pees in spring, aubergine in summer, pumpkin in autumn. 

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