Sauce 1 medium carrot 1 stork of celery 1 small onion 1 tbs garlic (or more if you are a garlic lover like me) 1 can lentils or about 1 ½ cups soy mince 1 tbs dried Italian herbs 1 tbs tomato purè 1 can tinned tomatoes 2 tsps miso
(Optional) 1 tbs liquid amino (I use maggi liquid seasoning) ½ tbs chilli ( I used West Indian chilli sauce) ¼ cup red wine
Method
Dice onion, celery and carrot + mince garlic
Put onion + garlic in a nonstick saucepan with aprox 2 tbs of water
Sweat of onion and garlic until soft (if things start to stick just add a little more water)
Add in the carrot and celery and cook down until tender (again if things stick just add a little water)
Stick in your mince/ drained lentils and give a mix around
Put in all the other ingredients apart from the tinned tomatoes and mix
Add tinned tomatoes and mix thoroughly then turn heat down and simmer for 30mins-1hr stirring occasionally
I served it with buckwheat penne, steamed kale, ½ an avocado and some nutritional yeast
Ciao! I have a question for you: what is something typically Italian for you? I mean, if I say Italy/Italian, what’s the first thing that comes to your mind?
(Please use stereotypes too, I don’t mind, is a genuine question. And ofc you can send your answer through asks on Anon if you aren’t comfortable)
The good parts of being home!!
Food wise my brain supposedly leans more Italian-American versus italo (as so I am told; makes sense because I’m IA.) My most beloved foods from home are ziti, asiago, roasted red pepper, manicotti, cannoli, and lasagna. Making time to just sit together and talk. Family to the point of bursting - including “adopting” kids’ friends as family - and the words (very sternly) “you are always welcome back.” Family elders.
Grazie for this!!
Yeah there’s a lot behind Italian families, lot of traditions, lot of habits to share… especially when elders are around. They are the real home, the glue of the family.
500 g rigatoni pasta 200 g pancetta (diced) 5 large cèpes (sliced, you can also use fresh or dried porcini) 2 small shallots (finely sliced) 2 garlic cloves (finely sliced, one for the sauce, one for the cèpes) 400 ml tomato passata 200 ml red wine (I used a very modest Bordeaux) 80 ml beef or chicken broth 1 tbsp plain flour Olive oil (for frying) 1 tbsp butter (for cèpes) 1 tbsp butter (for pasta) Salt and pepper (for seasoning) 1 pinch chilli powder Grated parmesan cheese (for topping) A bunch of parsley
1 double shot or 2 ounces espresso or extra strong coffee, cooled
1 ½ tablespoons brandy or dark rum
1-2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
chocolate shavings for garnish (optional)
Instructions
In a bowl, whisk egg yolks, sugar and half of the brandy. Whip fast to thicken. Then, spoon by spoon fold in mascarpone. Mixture should be a little softer than the consistency of mayonnaise. If mixture isn’t thick enough and comes out runny, use a hand blender with whipping blades to thicken.
On a small plate, mix espresso plus the rest of brandy. Quickly dip each side of the ladyfingers (do not completely soak), then add a layer to the bottom of your serving dish. Top with about 1/3 of mascarpone mixture, then repeat and top with the rest of the mixture.
Cover and rest in fridge for 4 hours or overnight. Sprinkle cocoa and chocolate shavings on top before serving.
A note on plating/serving: I made this dish on a small plate because my cream mixture always comes out pretty thick so it will stand on its own. Obviously feel free to use a traditional square pan to prepare your tiramisu in.
We have several recipes for pesto from the classic to ones made with garlic scapes, a Mexican-inspired version and even a hybrid of pesto and gremolata we call pestolata.Pesto 2.0 is our spicy version which includes one jalapeño for every cup of fresh basil and substitutes hazelnuts for pine nuts and feta cheese for traditional Parmigiano-Reggiano. We particularly like it with soba noodles and diced tomatoes (pictured above) though you can do so much with this crazy delicious summertime favorite.
Our recipe can easily be reduced but we like to make a lot of pesto while basil either A) grows abundantly in our garden and/or B) is inexpensive and available at the farmers’ market. We freeze what we don’t plan on using immediately. When we do this, however, we omit the cheese, adding it only when we defrost it and are ready to enjoy it.
• 8 cups packed fresh basil • 6 large garlic cloves • ½ cup hazelnuts • 4 jalapeño peppers, seeded • 2 cups olive oil • 2 teaspoons salt • 2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper • Juice of 2½ lemons (about 6 oz / 175 mL) • 2 cups crumbled feta cheese
Combine all the ingredients except for the cheese in a food processor and blend until a smooth paste forms. If using a blender you may need to use more lemon juice and/or oil. Fold in the cheese (if using) and serve over pasta, as a dip, or as a bruschetta topping.
Goat Cheese, Roasted Red Pepper, & Sun-dried Tomato Chicken Sandwich
This sandwich is easy and so delicious! I used leftover herb roasted chicken from dinner the other night. Start with everything French bread (toasted) spread with plain Goat cheese on the bottom, chopped sun dried tomatoes on the top, (the kind packed in olive oil), the cooked chicken, lots of sliced roasted red peppers, (char under the broiler, cover and steam, then peel and chop), mesclun greens, a drizzle with Balsamic vinegar de Modena (this stuff is delicious!) and garnish with peperoncini, and my favorite Castelvetrano olives. Yum!
Secret to the creamy texture? Bechamel sauce, veganized.
1 tbsp cooking oil + 1 tbsp flour (whole grain flour works! just add a little more) + 1 cup nondairy milk + 2 tbsp nutritional yeast for cheesy flavor
Stir fry some veggies and garlic first, then add 1 tsp seasoning or dry stock powder. After the veggies have browned slightly, add 0.5 cup nondairy milk and bechamel. Once heated through, add 1 cup cooked rice. Salt accordingly.
