Posted on 06/28/2018 4:06:28 PM PDT by Jamestown1630
I’ve become very interested in Italy lately, and am especially drawn toward the Sorrento Peninsula/Amalfi Coast area. Searching for recipes from the region – and continuing in the interest of finding ways to use all of those squashes that are beginning to burgeon in your gardens - I found a recipe for Spaghetti alla Nerano. This is a pasta dish that comes from the fishing village of the same name, and uses fried zucchini.
I found the recipe on a beautiful website dedicated to Italian cooking: ‘Memorie di Angelina’. Frank Fariello has done an amazing job with this blog, which is dedicated to his grandmother and his memories of her home cooking. He is passionate about his subject, and writes beautifully and thoughtfully about it:
http://memoriediangelina.com/2017/09/09/spaghetti-alla-nerano/
(While you’re there, check out his recipe for Frico, a crispy potato-cheese wonderfulness.)
I happened to find a neat way of cutting a hard-boiled egg, in case you are presenting them in a Chef’s Salad or some other dish This type of garnish cut is apparently called a ‘Van Dyke’ (after he of the beard style?) and there are a couple of ways to do it.
Here, YouTuber 'cheekyricho cooking' uses a knife:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUGJGhwZAY0
And DaveHax of 'Egg Life Hacks' uses a drinking straw:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XxrgwjRBCQ
If I could, I would go to Sorrento just to visit Terrerosse, the ceramics studio of Alessandro Ottone and his wife Enrica Cerchia. They don’t appear to have an online shop, but they do have a YouTube channel full of beautiful videos mixing magical scenes of the rugged coastline of their home with some of their work in ceramics. The way that Alessandro celebrates the sea creatures and natural environment of Sorrento – tender but not sentimental - is very moving to me. I can only imagine the satisfaction that comes from possessing talent like this and being able to devote one’s working life to it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0odXD6M1Ww&index=16&list=PL4rRCviH_yjBaNKMnSIFEldN_NHUFpE0D
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What first led me to become interested in this area of Italy was a YouTube channel, ‘ProWalks’, which features walking tours of several of the towns in the region. Among the videos of the resort towns, this YouTuber also has interesting tours of the ruins of Herculaneum and Pompeii. The definition of the video makes you feel as if you are actually there – and cause me to think that very realistic VR “vacations” are not too far away for us.
Some of the tours are quite long, but they are fascinating and relaxing to watch, if you are interested and have the time:
-JT
This month: Italy! in food and virtual journeys – and a nifty way to present a hard-boiled egg!
-JT
Sorry, all; that last link DOES go to ProWalks; but looks like it’s a repeat of a TerreRosse link. Don’t know how that happened...mysteries of (my incompetence at) HTML, I guess :-(
By the way: the mice and cheese appetizer comes from the ‘Key Ingredient’ website:
https://www.keyingredient.com/recipes/2909585032/mice-cheese-appetizer/
(I might use tiny capers or something else edible for the eyes, though...)
throw in the spaghetti. Cook until very al dente.
"Very al dente"... So that means on the al chewy side? Or the al mushy side?
LOL!
I think it probably means on the ‘more chewy’ side ;-)
The Amalfi coast - looking forward to seeing that little slice of beauty some day.
The baby chicks are deviled eggs with black olive eyes and carrot beaks. I think peppercorns or capers might result in dental emergencies.
In my deviled eggs I hide a sliver of anchovy at the bottom (unless my wife is eating them).
CHOCOLATE AND COFFEE SEMIFREDDO
The quintessential Italian ice cream dessert “half-cold” -- partially frozen ice cream. Texture is softer, more mousse-like;freezer overnight. For pronto ice cream a semifreddo is a go-to. Great for entertaining – a cinch to make, can do ahead-doesn't need accompaniments. This one's a fave. Coffee and chocolate and the added crunch of Snickers caramel peanuts really makes it pop.
ING – Serves 4 -6 egg 4 egg yolks ½ cup sugar 1 ¼ cups cream tablespoon instant coffee powder
tb coffee or chocolate liqueur (optional) 2 Snicker’s bars (r use Mars bars or Toblerone) Grated dark chocolate
or chocolate sprinkles to garnish.
METHOD Line loaf tin w/ saran. Put the coffee, liqueur (if using), egg, egg yolks and sugar in a heat proof bowl and mix to dissolve. Beat the mixture over a saucepan of gently simmering water until it is pale and thick. You can use a hand held electric whisk if you like.
In a separate bowl, whip cream thick. Gently fold in the egg/sugar mixture. Add chopped chocolate bars; mix/ combine. Pour into loaf pan, and cover carefully with saran. Freezer at least 2-3 hours.
FINAL When ready to serve, turn out on server just prior to serving as semifreddo melts quickly.
SERVE garnished w/ chocolate shavings, nuts, chocolate chunks, sprinkles or chocolate coffee beans.
I’m in love with this hotel:
https://www.caesar-augustus.com/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIy5qni8T32wIVz8DACh37gQKEEAAYAiAAEgLuifD_BwE
My husband said that the eggs ought to be deviled, too.
I assume the eyes are specks of black olives - how are they attached?
(Capers are soft, they don’t have hard seeds or anything.)
The black olives are cut into small bits and just pushed into the deviled yoke filling. I suppose you could get hoity-toity and use caviar for the eyes. (I haven’t ever tried that)
I always thought capers were crunchy like peppercorns or cloves. (I guess I haven’t ever tried capers either;)
Capers are pickled nasturtium buds, and they are soft. I cook a number of Italian dishes with them.
Capers are very common in Mediterranean cooking; they have a kind of ‘resinous’ taste; goes good with lots of fish, and I’ve used them in deviled eggs, too.
They make a great little relish when fried, lightly floured or not:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHM9PWYT4WY
https://www.joyofkosher.com/recipes/fried-capers/
(I was thinking that a little of the leftover deviled egg would make a good ‘glue’ for the eyes on those egg critters.)
To the tooth. More chewy, less flabby. It is more delicious that way. And DeCecco if you can afford it.
Nasturtium (sounds yummy? Not!) is part of the watercress family whereas capers are the pickled immature flower buds of Capparis spinosa, the caper bush. What did people do before the internet?
So, I looked them up and it seems I have eaten them before in a bean salad sort of dish and did not realize they were not a bean. I learned that 100 grams (almost 4 oz. which I think is a lot) has 23 calories and 2,348 mg of Sodium. I’m swelling up just reading about them!
www.geniuskitchen.com/recipe/best-scungilli-salad-265431
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