9. Anatra All' Arancia

Well, now I tell you one of the main course Italian food. Anatra all Arancia is a timeless classic Italian food.

Anatra all Arancia or duck with orange may be primarily associated with France but it is also a very popular dish in Italy. Making them may seem a bit daunting at first but the result is worth the effort. Try making Anatra all Arancia for your next festive occasion.

Serves: 6

Ingredients:4 lb duck
3 oranges
2 oz butter
salt and pepper
1/4 pint stock
1 wineglass red wine
2 tablespoons redcurrant jelly
watercress (to garnish)

Ingredients for 1/2 pint demi-glace sauce:3 tablespoons oil
1 small onion (finely diced)
1 small carrot (finely diced)
1/2 stick of celery (finely diced)
1 tablespoon flour
1 pint brown stock
1 teaspoon tomato puree
1 button mushroom (finely chopped)
bouquet garni

Method:

1. Place the thinly pared rind of 1 orange inside the duck with a good nut of butter and seasoning.

2. Spread remaining butter over the breast.

3. Truss the duck and place it in a roasting tin with the stock.

4. Roast in a moderately hot oven at 400F (200C) or Gas Mark 6, for 15 minutes per lb and 15 minutes over, basting and turning the duck from time to time.

5. Meanwhile, prepare the oranges for the garnish.

6. Cut the oranges into segments, removing all the pith and membranes. Reserve any juice.

To prepare demi-glace sauce:

1. Heat a small pan.

2. Put in the oil.

3. Add the diced vegetables.

4. Cook together on a low heat until the vegetables are barely coloured.

5. Stir in the flour and cook slowly, stirring occasionally, until it is a russet-brown.

6. Draw pan aside.

7. Cool mixture a little, and add 3/4 pint of cold brown stock and the remaining ingredients.

8. Season and bring sauce to the boil, half cover the pan and cook sauce gently for 35 - 40 minutes, skimming it when necessary.

9. Add half the remaining stock to the pan, bring it to the boil and skim; simmer for 5 minutes. Repeat this process with the remaining stock, then strain sauce, return it to a clean pan and cook until syrupy.

10. Remove the duck from the roasting tin and keep hot on a serving dish.

11. Tip off the fat from the roasting tin, leave the sediment behind, then add wine and orange juice; boil up well.

12. Strain into demi-glace sauce, add redcurrant jelly and simmer until it is a syrupy consistency.

13. Adjust seasoning.

14. Spoon a little sauce over the duck.

15. Garnish duck with the watercress at one end and with orange segments at the other.

16. Serve the Anatra all Arancia hot.

17. Serve the remaining sauce separately.

8. Minestra

Minestra is a heart-warming soup that can be used for any occasion. Although, I have specified certain vegetables to be used, minestra can be made with just about any vegetable that you have lying around. Minestra should only be made with vegetables and not meat. Minestra is normally made without any pasta content but my family prefer to have thin pasta added. Therefore, I suggested using vermicelli type pasta.

Serves: 2-3

Ingredients:
1 carrot (thick slices)
1 onion (thick slices)
2 sticks of celery (thick slices)
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 1/2 pints of water
1 bayleaf
1 small leek
6 French beans
salt and pepper (to taste)
2 small potatoes (small chunks)
1 clove garlic (crushed)
2 tomatoes (skinned, de-seed, chopped)
tablespoon parsley (chopped)
Parmesan cheese (grated)
Vermicelli pasta (handful)

Method:

1. Heat the olive oil in a pan.

2. Put in the vegetables and fry until just turning colour; shake and stir occasionally.

3. Add water, bayleaf, leek and beans.

4. Season lightly and simmer for about 30-40 minutes.

5. Add potatoes and simmer for a further 20 minutes.

6. Add garlic, tomatoes, vermicelli pasta and parsley.

7. Simmer for a further 10 minutes.

8. Adjust the seasoning and serve.

Tip

1. More water can be added, if necessary, during the early stages of cooking if the soup seems too thick.

2. If serving the minestra the day after you make it, store it in the refrigerator and heat it at least slightly, as it loses some of its flavour when chilled.

3. Serve with freshly baked bread and a nice wine.

7. Zuppa Inglese (Traditional Italian Pudding)

Now, I will tell you about italian traditional food dessert - Zuppa Inglese.
Zuppa Inglese is a rather difficult one to make than tiramisu.
It is creamy and soft texture pudding.

Although Zuppa Inglese translates as "English soup" ,it has nothing to do with soup at all.

Zuppa Inglese is a delicious dessert made with savoiardi biscuits, liqueur, custard and/or blancmange.

If you cannot finish it all on the one sitting, it will keep quite well in the fridge for the next day.

Italian Region : Emilia-Romagna

Serves: 6

Ingredients:

1 packet of savoiardi biscuits

1 pint of custard
1 pint of strawberry blancmange (Use blancmange powder from the supermarkets)

2 cups of liqueur (Use mixture of white wine, whisky, martini, sherry or whatever your personal preference happens to be)

Method:

1. Make up custard as per manufacturer's instructions:

2. Add sugar (2 tablespoons) to milk.

3. Add custard mix.

4. Stir custard.

5. Make up strawberry blancmange as per manufacturer's instructions:

6. Stir the strawberry blancmange.

7. Pour the liqueur mix into a medium sized dish.

8. Allow both custard and blancmange to cool before using.

9. Spoon a layer of the strawberry blancmange onto the base of the dish.

10. Spread the strawberry blancmange over the base of the dish.

11. Quickly dip one side of the savoiardi biscuits in the liqueur.

12. Then, quickly dip the other side of the savoiardi biscuits in the liqueur.

13. Layer the soaked savoiardi biscuits on top of the strawberry blancmange.

14. Finished first biscuit layer.

15. Cover with a layer of custard.

16. Finished custard layer.

17. Start the next savoiardi biscuit layer of the zuppa inglese.

18. Finished second biscuit layer.

19. Spoon over the strawberry blancmange.

20. Finished second layer of zuppa inglese.

21. Start third biscuit layer.

22. Cover the third biscuit layer with custard.

23. Start the fourth layer of savoiardi biscuits.

24. Spoon strawberry blancmange over the fourth biscuit layer.

25. Start the fifth biscuit layer.

26. Cover final biscuit layer with custard layer.

27. Decorate top biscuits with drops of strawberry blancmange.

28. Place finished Zuppa Inglese overnight in the fridge or a cool room for it to set.

29. The finished zuppa inglese should be firm but moist.

30. When the zuppa inglese has set, you can slice it and serve.

Tip:

You do not have to stick to the flavours that I have outlined. You can use whichever flavoured blancmange or custard you prefer for this Zuppa Inglese recipe.

6. Ravioli

       

                                                                     

Ravioli is a good idea for you to have delicious treat with you any time. Not just a treat or snack, it's also can be added in your soup or other dishes.

Ravioli are the smaller version of the tortelli. They are made with a filling of ricotta cheese and spinach. Ravioli can also be made with a savoury mince. Ravioli can be served with either pasta sauce and a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese or quite plainly with butter, a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese.

Now lets see a snack from Italy that will make you in love in them..

Serves: 2

Ingredients for filling:
3/4 lb fresh spinach
2 oz ricotta cheese
ground nutmeg (pinch)
salt and pepper (to taste)

Method:

1. Boil spinach. Drain and dry.

2. Sieve spinach to a puree or chop very finely. Allow to cool.

3. Sieve cheese and mix in the spinach when cold.

4. Season well and add the ground nutmeg.

5. The mixture should be a firm puree.

Ingredients for pastry:
10 oz plain flour
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs (beaten)
3-4 tablespoons milk

Extras:

Pasta making machine
Pastry board

Method:

1. Sift the flour with salt on to a board.

2. Make a well in the centre.

3. Put in the oil, eggs and half the milk.

4. Start mixing in the oil, eggs and milk gradually, drawing in the flour, add the rest of the milk as it is needed.

5. Continue to work up the paste until it is smooth and firm, knead well, then cover with a cloth and leave for 20-30 minutes to get rid of any elasticity.

6. Cut pastry into smallish pieces ready to be put through the pasta machine.

7. Put the now firm pastry through the pasta making machine, starting at No.1 and finishing at No.6.

8. Roll out one piece, paper thin. Slide to one side.

9. Roll out the second piece as thinly.

10. Lay out the pastry on a lightly floured board.

11. Brush the second piece with water and spoon a little of the filling onto the pastry at regular intervals so that you end up with two rows of small egg sized mounds.

12. Lift the first piece of pastry on top and with a small ball of the pastry press down the top piece around each mound of filling.

13. Cut out in squares with a pastry wheel.

14. Repeat the above steps 7 -13 until you have finished using up all the pastry and filling.

15. Leave for 2-3 hours to dry a little, then cook.

Tips :

1. Simmer in stock or water for 15-20 minutes, drain and cover ravioli with a good tomato sauce; continuing to simmer gently until golden.

2. Serve the ravioli well dusted with grated Parmesan cheese for more tasty.

About the Italian Food

Actually, Italian food has different style of cooking. In many recipes of traditional food, Italian food has different ways to cook in different people, not like most food. It's unique I thought.
Now, let me explain about the unique of Italian traditional food.
What are the unique?

 

Many people knows most popular Italian food like spaghetti. People often that Italian cooking is all pretty much alike. However, those who travel through Italy notice differences in eating habits between cities, even those only a few miles apart. Not only does each region have its own style of Italian Food , but each community and each valley has a different way of Italian cooking as well.

Every town has a distinctive way of making sausage, special kinds of cheese and wine, and a local type of bread. If you ask people, even in the same area, how to make pasta sauce, they will all have different answers. Variations in the omnipresent pasta are another example of the multiplicity of Italian recipes: soft egg noodles in the north, hard-boiled spaghetti in the south, with every conceivable variation in size and shape.

 Perhaps no other country in the world has a cooking style so finely fragmented into different divisions. So why is Risotto typical of Milan, why did Tortellini originate in Bologna, and why is Pizza so popular in Naples? This is so for the same reason that Italy has only one unifying Italian language, yet hundreds of different spoken dialects.




Italy is a country of great variety, and Italian cooking is just another aspect of the diversity of Italian culture. This diversity in Italian food stems largely from peasant heritage and geographical differences. Italy is a peninsula separated from the rest of the continent by the highest chain of mountains in Europe. In addition, a long spine of mountains runs north to south down through this narrow country.

These geographic features create a myriad of environments with noticeable variations: fertile valleys, mountains covered with forests, cool foothills, naked rocks, Mediterranean coastlines, and arid plains. A great variety of different climates have also created innumerable unique geographical and historical areas.

But geographical fragmentation alone will not explain how the same country produced all of these: the rich, fat, baroque food of Bologna, based on butter, parmigiano, and meat; the light, tasty, spicy cooking of Naples, mainly based on olive oil, mozzarella, and seafood; the cuisine of Rome, rich in produce from the surrounding countryside; and the food of Sicily, full of North African influences.

The explanation is hidden in the past; the multitudes of food styles of Italy mainly result from its history. Divided for a long time into many duchies, princedoms, kingdoms, and states—often hostile to one another—political unification in Italy did not occur until 1861. Many populations in the past three thousand years have occupied Italian territory, and most of them contributed their own traditions.

Know signature of Italian food by its region

 

Italy is comprised of 20 regions, each known for its distinct culinary specialties.

With a population of almost 60 million and an area slightly larger than the state of Arizona, Italy is a diverse little nation boasting an equally diverse cuisine. The Italian food most Americans recognize — red-sauce specials like spaghetti with ragù — hails from the central region, but Italy's wide-ranging terrain and climate, long coastline, and neighboring countries have resulted in a delectable hodgepodge cuisine.
This boot-shaped country is comprised of 20 regions, each producing its own culinary treasures. Below, take a tantalizing peek inside the kitchen cultures of six well-known areas.




Lombardy
Capital city: Milan
Famous foods: risotto, osso bucco
In this northern Italian region just below Switzerland, rice and polenta are more popular than pasta, butter and lard beat out olive oil, and meat is eaten extensively. Dotted with picturesque lakes and hills, northern Italy is regarded as a paradise for cheese lovers, and Lombardy is the birthplace of such famous cheeses as firm Gran Padano, blue-veined Gorgonzola, soft, ripe Taleggio, tangy Provolone, and creamy Robiola.

Emilia-Romagna
Capital city: Bologna
Famous foods: Parmigiano Reggiano, tortellini, Bolognese sauce, balsamic vinegar of Modena
A vast, wealthy region located in northern Italy, Emilia-Romagna is rich in meats and super-eggy pasta. The craft of curing meat is held in high esteem here — Italy's best known meat product, prosciutto di Parma, is created in Emilia, as is the "king of cheeses," Parmigiano Reggiano.

Tuscany
Capital city: Florence
Famous foods: Pecorino cheese, steak alla fiorentina, Chianti wine
The ancestral home of the wealthy and influential Medici family, Tuscany produces some of Italy's finest olive oils, sheep's milk cheeses, and meat dishes. Bread, baked in giant, salt-free loaves, is king in this region, and locals incorporate it into numerous salads and soups, including ribollita (vegetable soup) and panzanella, a salad composed of crumbled bread, tomatoes, onions, and basil.

Lazio
Capital city: Rome
Famous foods: bruschetta, spaghetti alla carbonara, artichokes alla Roman
The region of Lazio, situated on the west coast of central Italy, is famous for fresh and dried pastas, superior artichokes and zucchini, and meltingly tender porchetta (whole roast pig). In this ancient region, you can nibble on artichokes cooked in garlic and herb oil before losing yourself in a plate of bucatini all amatriciana (hollow spaghetti with tomato, onions, and bacon) or spaghetti carbonara (a creamy pasta dish with egg, cheese, and black peppercorns).

Campania
Capital city: Naples
Famous foods: pizza, buffalo mozzarella, calzone, limoncello liqueur
Sunny Campania is characterized by its fertile volcanic soil, which affords lush produce like San Marzano tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, salad greens, figs, and lemons. The pizza we all know and love today is a descendant of the world's first pizzeria, which was born in Naples. When fresh mozzarella, sweet tomatoes, and a bread-loving culture combine, one delicious pie follows.

Sicily
Capital City: Palermo
Famous foods: caponata, veal Marsala
The largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily is located just off the "toe" of the boot that is mainland Italy. This region is home to Mount Etna and, therefore, rich volcanic soil, which produces an abundance of lemons, blood oranges, almonds, olives, and other fruit. Meat, including lamb, pork, veal, and rabbit, is common in central Sicily, where locals claim they invented the meatball, called polpetti. Pasta is usually topped with heady, spicy tomato sauce.

HTML Comment Box is loading comments...