Yum!

First tasted it at Molly and Enrico’s a couple of years ago and loved it. Enrico was kind enough to make a bowl of it for Florek’s birthday party and it was so popular I barely got to taste it. So I figured it was time to have a go at it myself. Luca Pappagallo was consulted, as was Enrico and this afternoon I made it. And I love it. And Florek loves it too.

I started with a large white onion, roughly chopped , a carrot and a celery stick, gently fried on olive oil, while in a small wok I had some oil heating up and some red and yellow peppers ready to fry. The chunks were not too small, as caponata must not turn into a mush, one needs to see what’s what. After the peppers the whole aubergine went into the oil, also cut into a medium sized chunks.

When the veggies were resting on kitchen towel, I added some passata to the onion and celery, seasoned with salt, added the veggies in, some dry oregano too. Green and dark olives, stoneless. And finally I increased the heat under the pan and added 2 tbsps of white wine vinegar and some sugar. Once the vinegar evaporated I checked the seasoning and it was ready to come off the heat. Final touch should be basil, but I had none and also toasted pine nuts, super delicious, added texture and nuttiness. My own sourdough completed the picture.

Brava Oluta! :-))

I’ve made a Sicilian dish for lunch today. Recipe from Pappagallo, for a change. 🙂 I always have an aubergine or two in the fridge since moving to Italia, I always have a few bottles of quality passata in the pantry, one thing I didn’t have was ricotta salata to be grated on top. I had to substitute it with Parmigiano Reggiano, but hopefully I get to try the real deal in Sicilia in 64 days- Izzie keeps count! 🙂

First job, before I unrolled my mat for pilates this morning was to slice the aubergines, sprinkle some salt on them and let them release some water. I gave them almost an hour to do so. Towel dried them and fried, in batches.

A quick and simple tomato sauce was spitting all over the cooker, pasta was cooked. Once the melanzane were ready, I roughly chopped them and added to the sauce. Adjusted the seasoning and we were ready to eat.

I am currently into 6th consecutive week of doing a 25-40 minute workouts 5 times a week. I’ve never in my life lasted that long. Not too sure what a plate of this delicious pasta with fried melanzane did to my efforts this morning, but it was a lovely lunch!

Again, from Pappagallo. 🙂

Not the lightest and healthiest of meals, but it’s not that often that I make a sauce like this, so hopefully we’ll live. Having said that, I should really repeat the blood tests, see if my cholesterol is any lower.

So, the dinner this evening was heavily inspired by Luca Pappagallo, but I made the sauce a bit differently and skipped fennel seeds and garlic. Gently sweated off half a small onion, then crumbled in 2 Tuscan sausages and cooked them until nicely brown. A good slosh of cream. Gorgonzola piccante, in small pieces, a generous handful. Black pepper and fresh sage. I ended up adding a little bit of cornflour mixed with water to thicken the sauce a bit. No salt was needed. Gnocchi went in, straight from the boiling water. A rich, filling, tasty plate of food. Served with lovely grilled asparagus, crunchy and delicious. I had to have some, as a week ago we have been cooked for by one of our friends, a competent cook, but he murdered his asparagus, it was mushy and desperate on the plate, I really don’t know what the hell happened there.

A few days ago I cooked one more thing from Luca’s book, easy, simple and delicious, next time I will serve it with a crunchy green salad like a veggie schnitzel. Aubergine splices, salted and left to release some water, platted dry after about 30 minutes. Tossed in flour, egg and breadcrumbs and fried. Excellent!

And finally a giant lemon I was given today by Anna. A real monster, I think I might make a lemon pound cake tomorrow and give her half.

I purchased 2 books by Luca Pappagallo, as it is nice to have the cookbooks on the shelf, not just internet for inspiration. And what a pleasure to flip through a beautiful recipe book with a cup of tea while making a shopping list for next day!

This was our lunch today. It was a busy and exciting morning, Florek has booked flights and hotel in Catania, where we’ll be holidaying in less than 3 months time. The top of my travel wish list is happening! We will take the trip towards the craters of Etna, a major thing on my bucket list, I was booking it while the tomato sauce was spitting all over the stove.

I had no anchovies, the mistake which I will fix this afternoon. Luca started his sauce by chucking some anchovy fillets onto the olive oil, some garlic, then passata. I added some fresh tomatoes and a chopped shallot, because why not indeed. Aubergines were roughly chopped and fried until deep golden, in a separate pan. When the tomato sauce was seasoned and happy looking, a bunch of green olives went in, then the melanzane, a bit of oregano and it was ready to welcome the pasta in, straight from the water, the only right way!

Delicious, will be made again, this time with anchovies and maybe a different pasta shapes, not spaghetti. 🙂

A recipe from Casa Pappagallo, a vlog which I turn to when I have no clue what to cook. Prior to a quick shopping trip this afternoon I watched a video where Luca made this dish, but with spaghetti. I used linguine, as Izzie was having ragu and I didn’t fancy 27 pots on the stove.

Dinner tonight was a delight; we are having some really bad weather lately, parts of Tuscany are flooded, the rain just doesn’t stop. All the schools were closed in Lucca today, it’s still raining heavily. At home however it smells of garlic and olives. It’s warm, it’s quiet, it’s dry. We’re so lucky to have this place.

I started cooking from gently frying some breadcrumbs on olive oil, till browned and crispy, a pangrattato, which was to add texture to the finished dish. While linguine were cooking, I chucked some minced garlic and several fillets of anchovies onto the olive oil. For science and research- the cats love anchovies! Some capers. A good handful of both green and black olives. From myself I added some quartered cherry tomatoes. A splash of water from the pasta made the sauce more runny and exciting. I removed the pasta from the water about 2 minutes before the end, to finish cooking in the sauce, which required no salt at all, virtually no seasoning with all the anchovies. That crispy pangrattato is a revelation, not just because of the taste, but the texture.

It’s been approved and enjoyed with some Sardinian vino. I’m hoping I get to see Sicilia this year. 🙂