Monthly Archive for agosto, 2017

Gnocchi di patate

Published by Lucina, on 13 agosto 2017 in English Recipes and Primi. 0 Comments
gnocchi di patate

gnocchi di patate

These little potato dumplings are a classic in Italian cuisine. You cook them by dropping into a pan of salted, boiling water. Then when they raise to the surface (which means they are ready) you drain them and dress them with any sauce you like. I made a cream and gorgonzola sauce, tossed the gnocchi in it and then blasted them under a hot grill to achieve an au gratin effect. You can buy these ready made in supermarkets (and by the way, English people never know how to pronounce the word right) but they are not a patch on the homemade variety, which are light and fluffy. I used the recipe from the “Cucchiaio d’argento” recipe book. It worked really well. I still remember the first time I made gnocchi many many years ago when I ended up with a mixture that resembled wallpaper paste. It ended up in the bin, of course. But not these little babies which I will make again for sure as they were gorgeous! Continue reading ‘Gnocchi di patate’

Focaccia genovese

Published by Lucina, on 5 agosto 2017 in bread and English Recipes. 0 Comments
focaccia genovese

focaccia genovese

I LOVE focaccia, me! For the people who don’t know what it is: it’s a flat bread made with LOADS of olive oil which originates from the Liguria region in Italy. When I was a child I used to go there for my holidays and basically overdosed on this bread. Oh my word! It was utterly delicious! I have never tasted one as nice ever since. There are different types out there, as it is often the case. You can make it plain, add olives, onions, tomatoes, rosemary…your choice. I have tried and tried to make one, using different recipes, flours, sour dough, you name it. HOWEVER I have never been 100% satisfied with the results. Until yesterday, that is,  when I finally made one I was happy with: nice and soft on the inside, lovely and crunchy on the outside. I know now where I have gone wrong all this time. I was basically trying to use a bread recipe and adapt it. WRONG! The focaccia dough is much wetter then bread’s. Also you are better off using 00 type of flour (I ordered mine on Amazon, in the end). I mainly used the recipe from the website Giallo zafferano, albeit I adapted it slightly. Continue reading ‘Focaccia genovese’