Recipes

Sea bass and king prawns al cartoccio with herbs and green pepper

Posted on Wednesday 28th of July 2010 under Food and Drink | Recipes

This morning, my fishmonger had a great surprise for me: extra fresh wild sea bass (In Italian spigola or branzino).

Finding wild sea bass and sea bream is not that easy, most people buy farmed fish which is definitely less expensive, but the taste of wild sea bass is just at a different level: a concentrate, intense, yet delicate, taste of the sea.

"Sapi ri mari" ( it tastes like the sea), my grandfather Giovanni always said when he was happy with the fish we had prepared for him. So perhaps, as he suggested, buy it once, but go for the top quality option.

Making cous-cous for a great summer salad

Posted on Monday 19th of July 2010 under Food and Drink | Recipes

Yesterday, ho "incocciato" cous-cous. "Incocciare" is the Sicilian word indicating the art of making cous-cous typical of North Africa and the Western part of Sicily.
It is not easy and it takes practice, but the result is so much better than the pre-cooked packages you find at the supermarket! Fluffy and tasteful, I could simply have it on its own.

The ingredients are very simple, just "semola", which is semolina made from durum wheat (careful, this is not semolina flour, the one we call "semola rimacinata di grano duro"), salted water and extra-virgin olive oil.

Saffron maltagliati octopus salad

Posted on Wednesday 16th of June 2010 under Food and Drink | Recipes

"Are you crazy? Are you kneading dough today?" my friend asked.

Well, she was right, today it is very humid, not the ideal day for making fresh pasta;)! But then again, that is what came to my mind for tonight's welcome summer party and it had to be done.

I made saffron "maltagliati", literary meaning "badly cut" pasta, due to their irregualr shape.

For the pasta I mixed 200 gr flour, 200mg saffron, water and salt. I placed the dough in the fridge for about 30 minutes, then rolled it out and cut the maltagliati.

Happy Birthday with a Sicilian Tomato cake

Posted on Saturday 05th of June 2010 under About loveSicily | Food and Drink | Recipes

Even this season, our cookery courses are giving us the chance to meet very interesting people. It is always a pleasure to introduce our guests to the culinary wonders of Sicily and the many other great things the island has to offer.
With many of them, we keep in touch even years after they have visited our school and this is simply fantastic. This said, this post should not come as a surprise to you.

Turbanti ri Spatulidda: scabbard fish turbans with wild fennel

Posted on Tuesday 27th of April 2010 under Cookery Course News | Food and Drink | Recipes

I love this fish called "spatulidda" in Sicilian, "pesce sciabola" in Italian, "scabbard fish" in English. I like it simply grilled, baked in a parcel with herbs or "in umido", but the recipe below with bread crumbs, cheese and herbs is one of my favourites. We prepared this recipe in our latest cookery courses and it proved very succefful with guests too. It is simple but requires top quality ingredients, especially good extra virgin olive oil, fresh fish and herbs and great tomatoes. It is also very versitile and can be adapted to other kinds of fish.