I am going back to my roots with this dish. Once in a while, it feels good to go back to old and traditional ways of cooking even if it it can be time consuming. Cooking being therapeutic for me (like for most people who love cooking), when I am stressed, I cook, and the longer, the better. Sundays are perfect for these rituals.

I am in love with my new pasta cutting tool called chitarra. Eventhough it produces a different kind of music, it’s just wonderful lyrics to my ears. Due to its shape and strings it has the same name as the musical instrument guitar (chitarra in Italian means guitar) due it its strings. Spaghetti alla chitarra is my favorite pasta, anytime I am in Italy I buy it and eat them during a whole week. Those are a specialty from Abruzzi and the neighboring regions further South. Basically the strings of the chitarra are the cutting tool. You can either use the rolling pin or your hands to press the pasta sheet on the strings. The two particularities of this pasta is first, you need to have a pasta thickness, similar to the width of the guitar strings, second it’s an egg based pasta.

When using a chitarra, the texture of the pasta is really different, more rugged and thicker since the width of spaghetti is supposed to be the same size as the depth, basically you get square spaghetti.

Chitarra is available in the US at Sur La Table, so for those who are passionate about pasta and want to experiment old ways of making and cutting it, I suggest you try it out.

The dough has 80% farro (or spelt) that’s why you get a darker and golden color and the sauce is vegetarian. The traditional spaghetti alla chitarra from Abruzzi region is made out of a lamb ragù. Of course, you can use your creativity and taste as far as the sauce is concerned. I am still on some vegetarian funk lately, so this worked beautifully for me.

Ingredients for 4

For the pasta dough

• 100 g white flour
• 200 g farro flour
• 3 eggs
• water

For the sauce

• 6 medium size tomatoes on the vine, well ripe, peeled, seedless and chopped
• 1 carrot, peeled and sliced
• 2 zucchini, diced
• 1 small eggplant, diced
• 1/2 red bell pepper, diced
• 1/2 small yellow onion
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 2 tbs olive oil
• hot chili pepper (peperoncino)
• basil or oregano
• 4 tbs ricotta
• 1 tbs chopped olives (optional)
• salt and pepper

Preparation

For the pasta

In a working surface mix flours together, add eggs, and gradually incorporate flour. Add a little water if necessary (if dough is too hard) and knead for about 15-20 min to obtain a round and smooth ball. Wrap in a plastic film and let it rest for about 30 min.

In a flat surface (preferably wood, such as a spianatoia, the Italian flat wooden board to roll the pasta dough), using a large and not tapered rolling pin, roll dough to obtain a thin sheet. You can use a pasta machine if you have not mastered the art of rolling dough. The sheet should be thin but not overly thin, something like 2 mm thick.

When the sheet is ready, take chitarra to cut strings. Place sheet on top of strings and using the rolling pin, roll it from top to bottom of the pasta sheet. The spaghetti will fall into the chitarra, and you just have to remove them. Proceed until you have finished with the sheets.

For the sauce

In a pan, heat olive oil. Add onions and brown them. Add the rest of the vegetables, salt and pepper. Cover with lid and let cook until tender but still firm.

In another pot, heat olive oil. Add garlic and stir to get flavors out. Add oregano (or basil) and tomatoes, and cook until the tomatoes are starting to form a thick sauce (about 10-15 minutes). Add chili peppers, salt and pepper.

When the vegetables are cooked, add to the tomato sauce and mix well. If you decide to add olives, add at this point. Add extra olive oil.

Bring a pot of salted boiling water to a boil, add spaghetti. Cook for a few minutes, or until spaghetti come at the surface. Remove from stove and drain.

Place spaghetti in a large pasta dish, pour sauce on top. Serve in dishes with ricotta on top and sprinkle with either oregano or basil. Serve hot.

After the seafood month, I thought it was about time to celebrate springs, at least in California. The beauty about California is that they grow a lot of fruits and vegetables and you get quite a lot of different varieties so it’s easy to eat local and get a healthy diet but most of all varied. It’s been raining quite a lot but then clears up and it’s a sign that springs is on its way.

Unfortunately France has been devastated with a lot of storms and floods, but the area where my parents live has been less severely affected.

After a trip to my favorite store last weekend, to the other side of the Bay, I saw that many springs vegetables were starting to be on the shelves, among those, some beautiful fresh chick peas in their green pod.

It has been a while I haven’t seen fresh chick peas, I remember my grandparents in Italy would grow them in the garden and my mom would eat them raw with a little salt, the same way you could eat fresh raw fava bean. So of course, I had to buy some, and of course I had to buy a lot. So more chick pea dishes are coming this way. Fresh chick peas can be eaten like the dry kind, and cook as fast as peas, so if you over cook them, they’ll get mushy.

There is usually one or sometimes two peas in one pod, unlike peas or fava beans. They’re delicious raw and have a sweet flavor that are delightful in salads. Round baby carrots are very sweet and flavorful and their crunchiness is perfect on a spring salad like this one where all ingredients are raw.

I remembered this wonderful salad in Tel Aviv where they had cut the cucumbers as sticks and left it unpeeled, so that’s what my cucumbers look like.

The vinaigrette is simple, I wanted a fresh, light and fruity vinaigrette that would enhance the natural flavors of all the ingredients therefore avocado oil combined with pomegranate vinegar did accentuate that particular delicious flavor you get in raw vegetables.

Ingredients for 2

For the salad

• 1/2 frisée salad
• 1/2 cup fresh chick peas
• 6 round baby carrots, peeled
• 6 purple baby carrots, peeled
• 2 radishes, paper thin sliced
• 4 Persian cucumbers, cut in sticks
• 1/2 avocado, sliced
• 1 tbs sunflower seeds

For the vinaigrette

• 3 tbs avocado oil
• 1 tbs pomegranate vinegar
• 1 tbs mint, chopped
• 1 tsp scallions, chopped
• salt and pepper

Preparation

For the vinaigrette, mix all ingredients together and mix well.

In a mixing bowl toss salad with some vinaigrette. Divide the salad in each plate, add the rest of the vegetables. Add ricotta salata on top, sprinkle with sunflower seeds. Top with remaining vinaigrette.

After this Thanksgiving celebration, it’s good to go back to a healthier kind of cuisine. The turkey ended up so dry, due to a guest arriving over an hour late, and my new oven with circular heat that cooks three times faster than traditional oven. I think I am so done with the turkey anyway. Arriving 20 minutes late to a sit down dinner when food is served is fine, but one hour is somehow rude. Don’t you think? everyone has its “acceptable” time and for me 20 minutes is the limit. An unforeseen circumstance might also happen but that’s not something that happens on a regular basis.

Malfatti or Gnudi is a traditional Tuscan dish…I make them often but never think of posting them. It’s basically ravioli without dough called “gnudi” in Tuscan meaning “naked” or also “malfatti” meaning “not well made”, they’re either served with a gorgonzola sauce, a béchamel or tomato sauce and baked in the oven. I like it with a light and spicy tomato sauce, then you can just play around with them and see what you prefer. There is no meat just vegetables and cheese, so it’s quite a light dish.

I like traditional and rustic dishes like this one, because they’re peasant food and you cannot find them in the stores nor in restaurants, so it’s basically recipes you find only at people’s houses. Tuscan and Marchigiana cuisine are quite similar with slight variations since they’re two regions in Central Italy. Growing up on Marchigiana cuisine, Tuscan cuisine is not completely foreign to me. Even after living half of her life in France, my mom still cooks traditional Marchigiana cuisine and barely makes French food. She would make quiches or choucroute once in her while but that’s it. I guess no matter where you move, and for how long, you are still attached to what you are used to eating growing up.

I did not put the flour quantity, you need to add enough so that the spinach/ricotta mixture is no longer soft but still a little sticky. If you put too much flour, the ravioli will get heavy and chewy. You just have to play with the flour. It took me a few times before making them just right.

Ingredients about 20 ravioli

For the ravioli

• 1/2 lb ricotta
• about 1/2 lb fresh spinach
• 6 tbs parmigiano reggiano, grated (+ 2 for sprinkling on top)
• 2 eggs
• flour
• salt and pepper

For tomato sauce

• 4 large ripe tomatoes, peeled, seedless, crushed
• 2 garlic cloves
• 4 basil leaves
• chili powder
• 2 tbs olive oil
• salt and pepper

Preparation

For the sauce

Heat olive oil in a pot, add garlic, stir to get the flavor out, add basil, tomatoes, chili pepper, salt and pepper, and cook until the tomato is cooked for about 15 minutes.

For the ravioli

Cook spinach in a large pot of boiling and salted water for about 5-10 minutes, depending if you use baby spinach or regular ones. Drain, let them cool and remove excess water by squeezing with your hands. Chop them.

In a large mixing bowl, mix spinach, ricotta, parmesan, eggs, flour salt and pepper. At this point, you need to play with the flour, try getting a soft mixture not too sticky, but not too thick. It still needs to stick to your fingers a little bit.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.

Start making the gnudi. Add about 1 cup of flour to a plate, and start forming small balls with spinach/ricotta mixture the size of a big walnut. Coat them well with flour.

When water is boiling carefully, add gnudi to the water, it’s better to cook about 10 at one time, so they have enough water and space too cook. When gnudi come out at the surface, remove them, and drain. Proceed the same way for the second batch.

Place in a oven tray and pour some sauce on top, sprinkle with parmigiano and olive oil, then cook in a pre-heated oven at 375F for about 20 minutes or until the top turns golden brown. Serve hot.

I went for a little walk downtown today since my car did not run, the internet and the phone were completely dead, so I decided to take a day off rooming around the city. It had been a while I did not get the chance to do so and that was the perfect excuse for it. When technology decides to let you down, just go back to the basics.

You can feel the holiday spirit all over the city, all the Christmas colors are out, what an exciting feeling! Let’s not jump right onto Christmas since Thanksgiving is not here yet, it’s right across the corner and I haven’t yet decided what to serve for dinner. All the beautiful stemware and dinnerware in display makes me want to buy it all. I love a beautiful table for special occasions and was trying to find some special theme for Thursday night dinner.

In France, we serve turkey for Christmas, La dinde de Noël traditionally served with chestnuts. So that’s the way I will prepare my turkey, with chestnuts and with lots of vegetable side orders. I will call it “Thanksmas”.

We also serve many trendy appetizers like this one called verrines. They’re usually served in small glasses and in small quantities. Un Verre = A Glass. Verrines can be exotic, classics, sophisticated, it all depend on the ingredients. I bought beautiful golden beets and wanted to use the ricotta with them. Beet’s sweetness goes wonderfully well with soft cheeses such as goat cheese, ricotta, etc… You can add some sundried tomatoes on top of the ricotta or a crispy pancetta slice. It’s also delicious served with toasted country bread on the side, so you can spread some of the beet/ricotta mixture on top.

Ingredients for 4 verrines

For the beets

• 4 medium size golden beets, thinly diced
• 2 tbs sunflower seeds
• 1 tbs red onion, thinly chopped
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 1 tsp raspberry vinegar
• salt and pepper

For the ricotta

• 8 tbs ricotta
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 1 tsp chives, chopped
• 1 tsp parsley, chopped
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp olive oil
• salt and pepper

Preparation

Wash beets and cook them in water or steam them for about 30 minutes or until they’re cooked all the way through. When cooked let them cool and peel them. Cut them is small cubes (1/3 of an inch). In a container, add beats and all other ingredients. Set aside

In a bowl, mix ricotta with all the ingredients.

Using a small glass container, add 2-3 tbs beets (depending on the size of your glass). Place 2-3 tbs ricotta on top. sprinkle with fresh pepper and a little olive oil. Decorate with chives and a cherry tomato cut in half.

Eat with toasted country bread.

Again, one of those days where I made a trip to la Boulange to get some Brioche, among many other things…I keep forgetting that Whole Foods distribute it. We are so used to savory sandwiches that I wanted to use the best brioche in town for some sweet morning treat. If you have a little time in the morning for breakfast it’s delicious with a nice cup of coffee. I thought half of it would be enough and I have to admit that both pieces were not.

Usually brioche can be greasy, especially the one you buy at the store, it is indeed filled with butter. So you cannot eat it every day, or you might have to get a membership at the local gym and work your calories out! Sorry, I am indeed a fitness freak and seems like I am built with a calories counting machine inside my head. BUT that doesn’t mean that I don’t enjoy eating and that I eat fat-free stuff. You can really love wholesome and fabulous food that is still healthy and good for the mind and body. Anyway, la Boulange brioche is not that greasy, at least you don’t have shiny fingers after you finished eating it!

It is quince season, and using seasonal ingredients is really the best. So obviously, running into those quinces, I had no other option than buy them. In France, where I grew up, during fall we have tons of those and make jams with them. That quince jam is so delicious, it smells like a perfume and seriously, you just want to spread some on your neck.

You cannot eat quince raw like you would eat a pear. It needs to be cooked, so you can use them for making chutneys, or jams or just caramelize them in a pan.

For 2 people

• 4 slices of brioche (about 1.5 cm thick)
• 4 tbs ricotta
• 2 quinces, peeled and sliced
• vanilla powder
• 2 tbs honey
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tbs butter

Preparation

Cut brioche in four slices. Melt butter in a non-stick pan, add quince slices, sprinkle with a little sugar and brown both sides.

Grill brioche in a grill pan on both sides. Top one slice with 2 tbs ricotta, sprinkle with vanilla powder. Add honey and quince slices. Top with the other brioche slice.

]]> http://citronetvanille.com/blog/2009/11/its-quince-time-grilled-brioche-sandwich-with-ricotta-honey-and-caramelized-quince/feed/ 14 http://citronetvanille.com/blog/2009/10/apple-games-apple-ricotta-raisins-and-almond-butter-pancakes/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=apple-games-apple-ricotta-raisins-and-almond-butter-pancakes http://citronetvanille.com/blog/2009/10/apple-games-apple-ricotta-raisins-and-almond-butter-pancakes/#comments Sat, 31 Oct 2009 16:00:05 +0000 silvia http://www.citronetvanille.com/blog/?p=4713 Jeux de pommes – Galettes de pommes, ricotta et beurre d’amande

I started this little post a while ago and never managed to finish it, since I have a 30 minutes break in between this craziness move, I just wanted to finish it and move on.

Originally I wanted to make savory frittelle with the ricotta I had bought, something with capers and parsley, then I woke up one morning and had nothing to eat for breakfast (like this morning), and that is bad news. It rarely happens, I always make sure I have food for breakfast. No coffee for my Brikka, and no bread for my toaster. (so I had to use the Nespresso that I really don’t like, I have to admit that I am a coffee snob). As much as I have very light dinners, my breakfasts are quite substantial and I really need to eat in the morning. Usually, I don’t get grumpy if I am hungry, I just chew a gum and I can last a couple of hours….except in the morning. Les petit-dejeûners sont sacrés!! Breakfast are sacred!

When you have nothing to eat, then pancake is the solution…I think those are similar to pancakes in terms of texture and consistency even if technically they might not be pancakes (I don’t know I am not a pancake expert). They tend to be tender and soft…

The almond butter adds a little natural sweetness and nutty taste to it. As much as don’t care for peanut butter, I love almond butter.

Those pancakes are completely made with wholewheat flour and a quite healthy little morning treat, if you have nothing else to eat and don’t feel like going out for breakfast.

Ingredients for 10 pancakes

• 2 medium size fuji apples
• 4 tbs light brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tbs lemon juice
• 5 tbs ricotta
• 7 tbs wholewheat flour
• 1 tbs almond butter
• zest of one lemon
• 2 tbs golden raisins
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp vanilla powder
• 1 tsp baking powder

Preparation

In a mixing container, grate peeled apples, squeeze them in your hand to somehow remove extra juice, then add lemon juice to prevent them from browning. In another container, mix ricotta, eggs and sugar and beat until the mixture becomes smooth. Add lemon zest, almond butter and flour, vanilla extract and powder, raisins and baking powder.

In a non stick pan, place one large tbs of mixture and let it cook on one side, then turn on the other side when they turn golden brown. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve hot with a apple sauce on the side.

]]> http://citronetvanille.com/blog/2009/10/apple-games-apple-ricotta-raisins-and-almond-butter-pancakes/feed/ 15 http://citronetvanille.com/blog/2009/08/a-small-je-ne-sais-quoi-ricotta-cake-with-honey-raisins-candied-orange-and-spices/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=a-small-je-ne-sais-quoi-ricotta-cake-with-honey-raisins-candied-orange-and-spices http://citronetvanille.com/blog/2009/08/a-small-je-ne-sais-quoi-ricotta-cake-with-honey-raisins-candied-orange-and-spices/#comments Sat, 15 Aug 2009 17:15:47 +0000 silvia http://www.citronetvanille.com/blog/?p=3050 Un petit goût de pain d’épices  qui me plait bien – Gâteau de ricotta au miel, raisins secs, oranges confites et épices

This has been something that arrived out of the blue after a crazy wedding weekend…ricotta is an ingredient I like to put everywhere, and I love it particularly in desserts.

On my last trip to France, I bought a pain d’épices spices mix. I have wanted to make pain d’épices for a long time, it literally translates to “spiced bread” and is a wonderful and spicy cake from Alsace, my neighboring region. The base of the cake is honey and lots of spices, it has a dark brownish color, and is quite sweet. Kids love it. Even though you can find many variations to the cake, the city of Reims has its own, the city of Dijon as well. In Alsace you can find a Pain d’épices Museum that retraces the history of that cake with all the tools developed for its fabrication.

I would certainly not call this cake a pain d’épices, but it does have a few important ingredients that pain d’épice has such as the spices and the honey, so there is an after taste of pain d’épices. The spice mix I used is composed of star anise, cinnamon, cardamom and clove. Since I don’t like cinnamon that much, I did not add too much, but I know that Americans are very fond of that spice, so whoever likes it can add more if desired. For those who won’t have the spice mix available, I would just use the loose spices powder.

The ricotta made this cake very moist and soft and the spices are not overpowering, so it turned out really well. To be enjoyed with a nice hot cup of tea a bowl of fresh fruits or whatever you feel like having.

I added Mirabelle liquor which is something I brought from France, my dad makes it with our mirabelle plums he grows in his garden. You can find it I think in some specialty liquor store in the US. You can use other fruity liquor as well, such as calvados, Grand Marnier, etc…

Ingredients for 6

• 3 eggs
• 4 tbs honey
• 6 tbs light brown sugar
• 1 cup ricotta
• 1 cup white flour
• 1/3 cup quinoa flour
• 5 tbs vegetable oil
• 1 tbs dried cranberries
• 3 tbs golden raisins
• 2 tbs candied orange zests
• 2 tsp pain d’épices spices mix or (1/2 tps cinamon, 1/2 tsp cardamom, 1/2 tsp clove, 1/2 tsp star anise powder)
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• zest of half a lemon
• 1 tbs herbal liquor (I used Mirabelle, a liquor made out of plums)
• Powdered sugar to sprinkle on top

Preparation

In a mixing bowl, mix eggs, sugar, honey then add ricotta. Add oil. Mix well. Add liquor. Add flour and baking powder and baking soda. Mix well. Add spices, lemon zest, and dried fruits. Mix well to get a smooth consistency.

Bake in a non-stick deep dish, in a 375F pre-heated oven for about 45 minutes, check after 30 min. to see how the cakes comes along, and keep cooking or until the cake is cooked all the way through.

I really don’t like to throw food away…I had some leftover dough that I used to make the Tarpiz a few days ago and I thought it would be a shame to throw away that delicious and healthy dough, so I decided to make a tatin with it. Tatin in French refers to an upside down tart. The fruits or vegetables and first placed in the dish, then comes the dough that is placed on top. Usually people use either puff pastry or pâte brisée . In this case, I used the whole wheat and kamut dough, which is more similar to pizza dough and has a lot less fat in it. The thing is since it has some yeast in it, you need to make it thin or it will rise and get too thick.

Try to get really ripe, organic and meaty tomatoes. If you get regular tomatoes, they tend to be filled with water, and even after it’s cooked the tatin will be filled with water and soak its crust.

Ricotta salata, in Italian “salata” means “salty” (can be sometimes called “ricottone”) and it is basically regular ricotta to which salt has been added and has been left to dry for about one month.  The drying process made ricotta lose half of its water. This ricotta can also be grated like regular cheese.

I just put one slice of bacon, but you can put more if you like it, I didn’t want the smoked flavor to be too powering.

Ingredients for 4

• 6 medium tomatoes, skinless and seedless
• 2 tbs of ricotta salata
• 2 tbs goat cheese
• 2 tbs basil
• 1 slice of bacon, diced
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 tbs Dijon mustard
• 1 tbs balsamic vinegar
• salt and pepper

Preparation

First prepare the tomatoes. Remove the skin by putting them in boiling water for a few seconds. Cut in half and remove the seeds. Add salt and pepper and place in the oven at 400F for about 15 minutes to dry them out.

Oil a deep dish. Place tomatoes in the dish, the side that has been cut should be face down. Make sure to tighten them closely, not to leave any space between them. Add cheeses cut in slices on top of tomatoes. Add bacon (previously diced and cooked in a pan), add basil, garlic, salt and pepper.

Spread the dough using a rolling pin. Make it into a thin layer. Make sure to make a larger circle than the dish containing the tomatoes. Spread mustard on top of the dough and place the dough with mustard side down, facing the tomatoes. You need to push the extra dough down, all around the edge of the dish.

Place tatin in a preheated oven at 375F for about 30 minutes or until the crust is golden.

Before removing from the dish, wait about 30 seconds. Then unmold upside down and drizzle with balsamic vinegar.