Italian Kitchen Secrets

I was editing this recipe from my Italian blog for a contest and suddenly I thought I didn't post it here.

It's so simple and delicious I can't avoid to share it with you, it's 6 servings the size of an espresso cup as you see in the photo.

1 cup 1/4 fresh ricotta cheese (better if it's buffalo's ricotta but plain one is ok anyway)

1/2 cup white chocolate

3-4 ladyfingers or plain biscuits you can soak

1/2 cup espresso coffee

Melt chocolate bain-marie or into the microwave at very low temperature, with a beater beat ricotta cheese until fluffy then add melted chocolate while you're still beating.

Taste the cream, I think it's sweet enough but you can add a tablespoon or two of icing sugar to taste, always while beating.

beat until there are no lumps and the cream is smooth then soak biscuits divided in small pieces in cold coffee and put a piece in every cup.

With a spoon or better with a sac-a-poche pour the cream inside the cups.

You can store it in the fridge (1 day max.) or into the freezer (3 weeks max., remove them in advance from freezer before serving).

You can decorate with chocolate coffee beans and coffee powder or cocoa powder but just before serving.

I'm up to something on my Italian site: a "cupcakes project".

It's sort of challenge (with myself and contribution from friends and fans) to create twenty different cupcakes, each one to match one of the Regions of Italy for ingredients and traditions.

Probably you can't name many of these Regions, I can recall some of them to your memory: Tuscany, Lombardy, Liguria and Sicily are the most famous among foreigners I think.

I don't want to post all the cupcakes I'm going to make because it will be difficult for you to find all the ingredients but I made Sicilian ones thinking of Sicilian cannoli which are quite famous worldwide then I thought you would like to try them.

With this recipe you'll have 8 cupcakes.

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup almond flour

1 tbs Marsala wine (if you like)

1 egg

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1 ts baking powder

1/3 cup melted butter

1 pinch of salt

3 tbs candied orange

milk as needed to make the dough creamy

Frosting:

1+1/2 cup fresh ricotta cheese

1/3 cup icing sugar

1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

8 candied cherries

Finely chop the candied orange, mix all the dry ingredients then add egg, butter, Marsala and milk enough to make the dough creamy.

Fill the muffin pan and bake for 10-15 minutes at 350 F°.

Beat ricotta cheese with sugar with an elettric mixer untill fluffy then add chocolate chips and mix with a spoon.

If you want to use a sac-a-poche to spread the icing be sure to use a tip large enough to let the chocolate pass.

Yes I did the mistake if you're asking...

I had to cut the sac-a-poche and I had to use it without tip (you can see it from the photo...)

Add a candied cherry on top to decorate.

Time for a new recipe today!

A great treat for your mornings, lovely to see delicious to eat!

They're also light, no eggs, no butter!

2 cups all purpose flour

1 cup 1/2 sugar

1 cup 3/4 fresh ricotta cheese

baking powder

grated zeist from 1 organic lemon

1 pinch salt

milk and sugar to decorate

Knead all the ingredients till you have a smooth loaf, divide it in bites about 2 oz. each, roll to have a cilinder then fold in two and twist the two parts.

Put the braids on a baking pan then brush with some milk and sprinkle with granulated sugar.

Bake about 20-25 minutes at 340 F°.

Once cooled you can freeze the braids; when you need one just pick it up from freezer, wait 3-4 minutes then heat for a while in the oven.

They will be as good as just baked.

As promised I'm here with a recipe.

This is a pesto recipe: I've already posted the genovese one, now it's time for "pesto alla siciliana"!

It's a lovely and tasty recipe, very quick and good for the summer season, you just need good cherry tomatoes and fresh ricotta cheese.

As often happens there are many version of this recipe: some don't include ricotta cheese, some use almonds instead of pine kernels son don't be surprised if you find the same recipe around with different ingredients.

4 servings:

1 garlic clove

a bunch of fresh basil

2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 cup grated Parmesan

1/4 cup pine kernels

2/3 cup fresh ricotta cheese (cow or goat)

2 cups cherry tomatoes

salt and pepper to taste

Open tomatoes in half and squeeze them to remove juice and seeds, put them into the mixer cup.

Add washed and dried basil leaves, pine kernels, oil, the garlic clove, Parmesan, ricotta cheese and oil.

Close the blender lid and mix for a while: you can choose pesto's thickness, if you like it creamy mix a little bit longer, if you prefer to taste pieces mix just few seconds.

Taste it and add salt and pepper, you can preserve it into a glass holder for about two days in refrigerator.

Cook the pasta you prefer, drain it and save a little cooking water, mix pasta with pesto and add water as needed to whisk well.

This recipe comes from a cooking magazine I book every month: it's pocket, well organized and it's also have menus and shopping list for the whole month.

It's called "Cucina no problem", Mondadori ediction: maybe you can find it abroad, I see on the first pages foreign prices...

For this recipe you need:

a tureen plum cake shape

9 onces ricotta cheese

7 onces robiola cheese (or philadelphia or any similar creamy cheese)

4 courgettes

3 eggs

nutmeg

5 spoons of grated parmesan

1 garlic clove

butter

extravirgin olive oil

salt and pepper

Wash and clean courgettes, cut in thin slices, then stirfry them in a pan with oil and the garlic clove for about 3-4 minutes.

Keep off garlic and add salt and pepper.

Open eggs in a bowl, add ricotta cheese, robiola or philadelphia, 5 spoons of grated parmesan, a little grated nutmeg, salt and pepper.

Mix ingredients with a fork untill you have a smooth cream.

Pass butter on the tureen walls, cover bottom with the cream, then add half of the courgettes and another cream layer and finish with courgettes.

Cook putting the tureen in another saucepan with a little water ( it's called "bagnomaria" here in Italy) at medium heat in the owen for about 45 minutes.

Let it getting warm before serving, you can decorate with chopped mint leaves if you like or put ham or bacon between layers.

Light and healthy but tasty!!