Tag: italy

Cacio e Pepe

21 August 2025

It takes only four ingredients to create an international culinary incident: a classic Italian recipe, a well-known British food website, Parmesan cheese and butter. What happened? BBC Good Food published a recipe for a quick and easy lunch meal, called Cacio e Pepe, with Spaghetti, Butter, Black Pepper and Parmesan Cheese. Claudio Pica, president of the Fiepet Confesercenti Roma (an association representing restaurants in Italy) couldn’t disagree more and expressed his astonishment in several letters, including one to the UK Ambassador.

Cacio e Pepe is a traditional, Italian classic, typical for the Lazio region, made with Tonnarelli or Spaghetti, Water, Salt, Pecorino Romano and Black Pepper. No cream, no butter, no olive oil, no Parmesan cheese. And it may seem simple to prepare, but serving Cacio e Pepe requires skills, passion and experience, according to Claudio Pica.

The incident made us think of Sophia Loren adding cream to her Spaghetti Carbonara and Jamie Oliver putting chorizo on his Pizza. Don’t mess with Italian traditions!

Now that we agree on the ingredients, we need to understand how to prepare the dish. The heart of the dish is a sauce made with pasta water and pecorino. We found various ways of making this sauce, ranging from adding pepper and grated cheese to the pasta just before serving (no sauce, just sticky pasta) to a scientific one whereby the sauce is made au bain marie (complicated).

We think the main points of the recipe are:

  • Use less water than usual, because you need starchy water to create the sauce
  • Use less salt in the pasta water because the Pecorino cheese is rather salty
  • The Pecorino must be relatively young, older cheese may make the sauce lumpy
  • The Pecorino must be very finely grated

We humbly present our version of this delicious Italian classic dish.

Wine Pairing

We enjoyed a glass of Pima Luna Frascati with our Cacio e Pepe. This is a white wine from the Lazio region, or to be more precise: from the hills overlooking Rome. The wine is made by wine maker Mauro Merz with malvasia bianca di candia and trebbiano grapes. It’s a light and refreshing wine with hints of green apple and citrus. Notes of slightly bitter almond on the finish. Its freshness matched very well with the creamy Cacio e Pepe. The aroma of the wine comes with a hint of butter, which is a nice connection to the Pecorino.

What You Need
  • 130 grams of Spaghetti
  • 70 grams of Pecorino cheese
  • 2 grams of Black Pepper
  • 1 litre of Water
What You Do
  1. Heat the water in a large pan and add the spaghetti
  2. Warm your plates (50 °C or 120 °F)
  3. Cook the spaghetti for a few minutes. Our spaghetti needed 11 minutes in total; we cooked it for 7 minutes in the pan.
  4. Crush the peppercorns
  5. Roast them in a pan over medium heat until they become very aromatic
  6. Reduce heat and wait for the spaghetti to be somewhat cooked
  7. Add some pasta water to the pan with the toasted pepper
  8. Increase the heat
  9. Transfer the pasta to the pan and combine
  10. Add a large spoon of pasta water to the pan
  11. Leave to cook
  12. Repeat steps 10 and 11 until the pasta is al dente. At this moment the pan should be nearly dry
  13. In parallel add some pasta water to the finely grated pecorino and make a smooth paste
  14. When the pasta is al dente remove the pan from the heat
  15. Allow to cool for perhaps one minute
  16. Quickly add the paste and combine everything in the pan
  17. Add pasta water to reach the right consistency
  18. Serve immediately on warm plates
  19. No need to add pepper or cheese
PS

The Good Food website mentioned they would be happy to post the original recipe. We looked for it, but couldn’t find it. We did however find a recipe for Cacio e Pepe with Gnocchi (and butter and Parmesan cheese, obviously).
Perhaps another letter to the Ambassador? Or one to the Prime Minister?

Cacio e Pepe ©cadwu

How to Make a Roulade (Part 1)

10 July 2025

Butterflying meat is a technique that allows you to turn a thicker piece of meat (for instance pork tenderloin or turkey breast) into a piece that you can use to make a roulade, without damaging the texture. The first step is to slice the meat lengthwise, but not through and through. The second and third step are a bit more challenging: take your knife and half the meat, again lengthwise, from the centre to the right and then from the centre to the left. Basically, you have now quartered the meat but it still in one piece. Difficult? This helpful video shows you how to do it.
Some instructions stop after the first step and use a meat hammer to flatten the meat. Nice, but the result is not even close to the real thing.

Once the pork tenderloin is butterflied, it’s time to add the filling, on the outside. Sounds odd, but our butcher was right, if you fry the roulade inside-out, you get a much better result.

We have made pork tenderloin roulades with various fillings. This recipe is for a Mediterranean approach. You could also go for a spicy mixture with red pepper paste, garlic, onion, ginger and soy sauce.

Wine Pairing

In general both red and white wine can go very well with a roulade of pork tenderloin. It all depends on the filling. In case of this Mediterranean filling, we would suggest a more robust wine, for instance Syrah. This is a full-bodied red wine with medium to high levels of tannin. It has fruity flavors and a slightly peppery finish.
In case of a filling with red pepper paste, garlic, ginger and soy sauce you could pair the roulade with a more spicy red wine, for instance Zinfandel, or with a white wine with a touch of sweetness (Riesling, perhaps Viognier).

What You Need
  • Pork Tenderloin
  • Black garlic
  • Sage
  • Black Olives
  • Rosemary
  • Fennel Seed
  • Pancetta
  • Black Pepper
What You Do
  1. Butterfly the meat
  2. Devein and chop the sage
  3. Halve the black olives
  4. Crush the fennel seeds
  5. Make a mixture of black garlic, sage, black olives, rosemary, fennel seed and black pepper. It should be a powerful mixture
  6. Spread the mixture over the meat. Keep the edges free.
  7. Cover with slices of pancetta. 
  8. Roll up the meat
  9. Tie with kitchen twine
  10. Tightly wrap in plastic foil and transfer to the refrigerator for at least 2 hours
  11. Remove the roulade from the refrigerator and allow to rest at room temperature for 30 – 60 minutes
  12. Preheat your oven to 160 °C or 320 °F
  13. Fry in the oven until the internal temperature is between 65 °C and 75 °C, or 145 °F and 165 °F (pink and well-done respectively)
  14. Transfer to your worktop, wrap in aluminium foil and allow to rest for 10 minutes
  15. Slice and serve on a warm plate, for instance with green peas, or pommes dauphinois, or a salad or ratatouille. Just think about the filling and be inspired!
Roulade with Green Peas ©cadwu
Roulade in Pan ©cadwu
butterflying meat allows you to create a roulade
Roulade with Bok Choy ©cadwu

Pasta with Duck

5 June 2025

A few weeks ago we enjoyed Pappardelle al Ragù d’Anatra at restaurant Rigatoni in Haarlem. We loved the combination of pasta and duck so we decided to look into this Italian classic. We found a recipe in La Scienza in Cucina e l’Arte di Mangiar Bene by Pellegrino Artusi, published in 1891. His recipe (number 272) combines a whole duck with celery stalk, parsley, carrot and onion. When everything is nicely cooked, he removes the duck from the pan, passes the sauce through a sieve, removes the duck fat and adds some butter. The duck is served with Pappardelle and Parmesan cheese. The vegetables are served separately.

We decided to use orecchiette and fresh duck leg. Orecchiette is a pasta typical for the very south of Italy whereas Pappardelle al Ragù d’Anatra is typical for Venice. Using orecchiette is probably not-done from an Italian point of view, but we simply love the way it combines with this duck-based sauce.

Wine Pairing

The restaurant served the dish with a glass of Corvina, which we think was an excellent choice. The wine is made in the Veneto region, not far from Venice, with 100% corvina grapes. In general, we suggest a light to medium bodied, unoaked, red wine with aromas of red fruit. Its taste should be pleasant and warm with good acidity. A red wine that should be served slightly chilled.

What You Need
  • Duck leg
  • Olive Oil
  • Carrot
  • Celery stalk
  • Onion
  • Bay Leaf
  • White wine
  • Tomatoes
  • Stock
  • Orecchiette
  • Black Pepper
What You Do
  1. Start by preparing the duck.
  2. Preheat the oven to 150 °C or 300 °F
  3. Heat a skillet and fry both sides of the leg until golden.
  4. Transfer the duck to the oven for one hour, skin on top
  5. After an hour, check if the duck is well done and moist
  6. Let cool
  7. Remove the skin from the meat and the meat from the bones
  8. Very coarsely chop (or pull) the meat.
  9. Set the skin aside
  10. Chop onion, finely chop carrot, thinly slice the celery stalk
  11. Heat a large pan, add olive oil and gently fry onion, carrot and celery.
  12. After 5 minutes add the duck meat and the bay leaf
  13. Add a splash of white wine and allow to evaporate
  14. Add the tomatoes (if using fresh tomatoes, then peeled and deseeded)
  15. Add stock
  16. Cook for 60 minutes
  17. Add more stock if required
  18. In parallel
    • Cook the orecchiette al dente
    • Heat a small skillet
    • Add some olive oil
    • Slice small squares of the skin of the duck
    • Fry these until crispy
    • Add some black pepper and Parmesan cheese to the ragù
  19. Serve the pasta with the sauce and decorate with the crispy duck skin and grated Parmesan cheese
PS
  • You can skip steps 1 to 6 by using Confit of Duck. We tried it, even though we assumed it would be too salty or its flavour not suitable. But we were wrong, it worked very well.
  • Some recipes use breast of duck, which we think is too lean for a ragù.
Orecchiette al Ragù d’Anatra ©cadwu
Pasta with Duck ©cadwu

Pear Pie with Frangipane

29 May 2025

Juicy, sweet ripe pears, frangipane and a crunchy crust, what more can you ask for! This very tasty pear pie is not difficult to make. The only challenge is finding ripe pears. The juicer the better!

Frangipane is a classic from the French pâtisserie and was first mentioned in 1652 by François Pierre (de) La Varenne. His recipe for Tourte de Franchipanne describes a crust made with puff pastry and a filling with what we would call crème pâtissière, enriched with crushed pistachios and almonds.
In her book Tarte Tatin, Ginette Mathiot includes a recipe for Strawberry Frangipane. Same approach, but with crushed almonds only.

The current Larousse Gastronomique takes a different approach by beating sugar and butter until creamy (beurre pommade in French), then adding the eggs, one at a time, and the almond flour. No cooking required. Our approach is fairly similar, we combine soft butter, sugar and almond flour and then add the beaten egg.

Obviously, the recipe provided by Varenne is for a rich sauce whereas the second method is about making a paste, which is very suitable for a Pear Pie.

What You Need
  • For the Crust
    • 50 grams of White Caster Sugar
    • 100 grams of soft Unsalted Butter
    • ½ Egg (beaten)
    • 1 gram of Salt
    • 150 grams of All Purpose Flour
    • Cold Water (optinal)
  • For the Frangipane
    • 50 grams of Almond Flour
    • 40 grams of Sugar
    • 40 grams of Unsalted Butter (room temperature)
    • One Egg
    • Lemon Zest (optional)
  • For the Filling
    • 4 Ripe Pears (Williams, Bartlett, Conference)
  • For the Coating
    • Apricot Jam
    • Water
What You Do
  1. Start by making the dough
  2. Combine sugar and butter. Use a hand mixer with kneading hooks
  3. When mixed, add halve of the beaten egg
  4. Combine salt and flour
  5. Pass through a sieve and add to the mixture
  6. (optional) add some baking powder if you want a crispier crust)
  7. Use the kneading hooks to mix
  8. If the dough is too dry, add some cold water
  9. It’s ready when the pastry comes together in a ball that doesn’t stick to the surface
  10. When done, remove from the bowl and wrap in foil. Store in the refrigerator for at least two hours. The dough freezes well, so it’s a great idea to make a bit extra
  11. Now make the frangipane
  12. Combine almond flour, sugar and butter. Beat until fluffy
  13. Add the beaten egg
  14. Mix
  15. (optional) Add lemon zest
  16. Transfer to the refrigerator
  17. Preheat the oven to 180 °C or 355 °F
  18. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface and use it to line a 16 cm (6 in) tin. Best is 2 millimetres
  19. Transfer to the refrigerator and leave for 30 minutes
  20. Prick the pastry with a fork, to prevent air bubbles forming during baking
  21. Add the frangipane to the pastry case and spread evenly
  22. Peel and slice the pears, add on top of the frangipane
  23. Transfer to the oven for 30 – 40 minutes or until golden
  24. Use a fork to combine apricot jam and water, ratio 4:1
  25. Warm the apricot mixture
  26. When the pie is still warm, coat with the apricot mixture
PS
  • We made the crust with pâte sucrée, or sweet shortcrust pastry. The result is a flaky, crumbly crust. You could also use (ready-made) puff pastry or pate sablée. Adding a few grams of baking powder is an option when you want a lighter, crispier crust.
  • When we first saw a recipe for frangipane with pistachios, we wondered if that would be a good idea. Now that we have read the 1652 recipe, we will definitely give it a try.
Pear Pie ©cadwu
Pear Pie ©cadwu

Zucchini with Taleggio

15 May 2025

Zucchini, or courgette, is a favourite summer vegetable. Just think about sliced Trombetta’s, or Stuffed Flowers, or a combination with Farfalle and Fennel. Recently we bought beautiful round zucchinis, ideal to stuff and serve as a side dish. We’ve made these many times, with herbs like rosemary, thyme, oregano and Parmesan cheese. Tasty and not difficult to make. However, we think there’s room for improvement. How would it taste if we would use a richer, fatter, more aromatic cheese? We looked in the fridge. Perhaps Appenzeller? Or a traditional Dutch cheese? We decided to use Tallegio, a semi-soft cheese from Italy made from raw cow milk, with a mild taste. It melts easily, which makes it very suitable for this dish and for instance crostini.

Wine Pairing

The zucchini will be a great accompaniment with grilled lamb or chicken. You could also combine the zucchini with pasta or rice, making for a vegetarian meal.
We decided to drink a glass of red wine from the Douro region, produced by Quinta do Crasto. The wine is made from traditional Douro red grape varieties: tinta roriz, touriga nacional, tinta barroca and touriga franca. The wine is fresh, fruity and very pleasant. Its colour is deep ruby and the wine has aromas of ripe red fruit.
In general, we suggest a red wine with flavours and aromas of red fruit and with light tannins.

What You Need
  • 2 round Zucchinis
  • One Garlic Clove
  • Thyme
  • Black Pepper
  • Taleggio
  • Olive Oil
What You Do
  1. Remove the top of the zucchinis
  2. Preheat your oven to 180 °C or 355 °F
  3. Use a teaspoon to remove the inside of the zucchini, also of the cap. Be careful not to damage the skin of the zucchini
  4. Use a knife to chop the ‘meat’
  5. Add olive oil to a pan
  6. When warm, add the meat and fry/glaze for a few minutes
  7. Finely chop the garlic and add to the pan
  8. Finely chop the thyme
  9. Add thyme and black pepper. Mix and leave on low/medium heat for a few minutes
  10. Let cool
  11. Fill the bottom half of the zucchini with the mixture
  12. Add a slice of taleggio
  13. Fill the zucchini with the mixture
  14. Add a second slice of taleggio on top
  15. Transfer the stuffed zucchinis and the tops to the oven and fry for 15 minutes or until golden
  16. Serve with the top on the zucchini
PS

The winemaker, Quinta Do Crasto, provides excellent background information. Interesting to read about the weather, the harvest, the production and the timing.

Zucchini with Taleggio ©cadwu
Zucchini with Taleggio ©cadwu

Tourtes de Blettes Sucrée

20 February 2025

A sweet pie with vegetables, Parmesan cheese and black pepper? It does sound a bit odd but actually the pie is very tasty and the savoury ingredients support the sweet character of the pie.
The pie is made with Blette, also known as Swiss Chard, Leaf Beet, Silver Beet, Spinach Beet, Bietola (Italy), Bléa (France), Acelga (Spain), Krautsteil (Germany, Switzerland) and Snijbiet (the Netherlands). Once a popular vegetable, it can be hard to find or expensive. When preparing a savoury Tourte de Blettes we used Water Spinach (also known as Kang Koen or Ong Choy) which is a very popular vegetable in Asia. The leaves have lots of structure and the (hollow) stems are tasty and crunchy. 

As you would expect with a classic pie like this, recipes vary, Very often the tourte is made with sweet shortcrust pastry (butter, eggs, sugar and sometimes orange blossom water). The filling contains chard, Parmesan cheese, sugar, eau de vie, raisins, eggs, apples and pine nuts. We’re not keen on using pine nuts, so we didn’t add these to our filling. We thought it would be nice to add the orange blossom aroma to the filling, not to the pastry.

What You Need (Pastry)
  • 50 grams of White Caster Sugar
  • 100 grams of soft Unsalted Butter
  • ½ Egg (beaten)
  • 1 gram of Salt
  • 150 grams of All Purpose Flour
  • Cold Water (if the pastry is dry)
What You Do

Adding egg to the dough makes its flavour richer and easier to handle when lining the baking tin. Start by combining the sugar and the butter. Use a hand mixer with kneading hooks. When mixed, add halve of the beaten egg. Combine salt and flour. Pass through a sieve and add to the mixture. Use the kneading hooks to mix. When done, remove from the bowl and wrap in foil. Store in the refrigerator for at least two hours. The dough freezes well, so it’s a great idea to make a bit extra.

What You Need (Filling)
  • 500 grams of Chard
  • Handful of Raisins
  • 25 grams of Parmesan Cheese
  • 50 grams of Sugar
  • 1 or 2 teaspoons of Orange Blossom Water
  • Black Pepper
  • 1 Egg
  • Olive Oil
  • ½ Sour Apple (Bramley, Goudrenet)
What You Do
  1. Wash the chard, remove and discard the stems.
  2. Coarsely slice the leaves.
  3. Whisk the egg.
  4. Soak the raisins for 15 minutes in water (or rum). Pat dry.
  5. Peel and slice the apple into small cubes.
  6. Combine chard, raisins, grated cheese, sugar, orange blossom water, black pepper and a splash of olive oil. Be generous with the black pepper and the cheese. Mix.
  7. Add the beaten egg and mix.
  8. Divide the pastry in two.
  9. Line a baking tin with the pastry, prick holes in the pastry using a fork (docking).
  10. Add the filling, sprinkle with apple cubes, top with the remaining pastry and close.
  11. Prick holes in the pastry. Or apply the method of Cornish pasty, as we did.
  12. Bake in the oven at 180 °C or 355 °F for 30 minutes.
  13. Allow to rest on an oven rack.
  14. Best to be enjoyed the next day, so you must be a little patient.
  15. Dust with icing sugar.
PS

We must admit we took a short cut by using readymade Pâte Brisée. This is shortcrust pastry, without sugar. Perhaps it’s a good idea to reduce the amount of sugar in the pastry or skip it all together!

Slice of Tourte de Blettes Sucrée ©cadwu
Tourte de Blettes Sucrée ©cadwu

Together: Our Community Cookbook

23 December 2024

Food is much more than just food, it’s about culture, about being with friends, family, about learning from other cultures, about talking and sharing memories, about emotions, about special days and celebrations. It brings people together and enhances our understanding of others.

We take part in Jo Stacy’s BKD Cookbook Club and this month the focus is on Christmas recipes for us all to make and share. Our choice is a recipe for a Casserole from Together: Our Community Cookbook.

The book is written by a group of residents, gathering in the aftermath of the Grenfell Tower tragedy in London to cook food for their families, friends and neighbours. They began using the kitchen at the Al-Manaar Muslim Cultural Heritage Centre and used the kitchen for two days per week, preparing food and eating together. Gradually more local women began to join in, embracing the community and supporting their neighbours. This was the beginning of the Hubb Community Kitchen (‘hubb’ meaning ‘love’ in Arabic).
In 2018 the group published Together: Our Community Cookbook with 50 simple and tasty recipes from the Middle East, North Africa, Europe and other countries.
Food that brings people together, food you prepare for your loved ones.

The book features mouthwatering recipes including Shakshouka (Algeria), Potato Fritters with Cilantro (India), Spicy Peanut Dip (Uganda), Green Rice (Iraq), Fennel and Orange Salad (Italy) and many more.

Food that helped restore hope and provided a sense of home.

Casserole

We decided to prepare Tepsi Baytinijan. To quote Intlak Alsaiegh, the author of this recipe: “Tepsi translates as ‘casserole’ and this is a traditional Persian dish of meatballs in tomato sauce with eggplant. It’s quite rich. You could make it with less oil, I suppose, but then it wouldn’t be so traditional—or taste so good.”

The dish is indeed a rich, tasty combination of small meat balls (ground beef, garlic, curry powder), fried egg plant, fried potatoes, onion, green pepper, tomatoes, tomato paste and tamarind paste, served with basmati rice or crusted bread.
The detailed recipe can be found in Together: Our Community Cookbook or on Food52.

Together: Our Community Cookbook is dear to us, because it shows us that food can unite people. Preparing food from this book will bring you closer to the hope and strength of the Grenfell community.

The book is available via the usual channels and your local bookstore. A portion of the proceeds from the sales will help the Hubb Community Kitchen to strengthen lives and communities through cooking.

We wish you Happy Holidays and a Wonderful 2025!
Mr. Cook and Mr. Drink

Together: Our Community Cookbook
Persian Casserole ©cadwu
Persian Casserole before Baking ©cadwu

Roasted Bell Peppers

18 July 2024

The recipe of Peperoni alla Piemontese goes back to 1954 when Elizabeth David published it in her (third) book Italian Food. The dish is a true classic. Super simple, tasty, uplifting and a tribute to summer.  The recipe as published by Elizabeth David was popularised by Delia Smith in her TV series and her book Summer Collection, published in 1993. A helpful video is available via her website.
Bell peppers are popular in Piemonte and it seems they were originally prepared with anchovies and parsley only. It was probably Elizabeth David who came up with the idea to add tomatoes. Later others added tuna, which we think takes away the lightness of the dish. Another option is to replace the anchovies with black olives, making it a vegetarian dish.
We prefer using sweet long bell peppers. They combine very well with the flavour of the tomatoes and the juices. Delia Smith uses quartered, peeled tomatoes which helps to brings the flavours and textures together. Our alternative is a bit more work: we use tomato confit. The tomatoes are very tasty with hints of garlic, rosemary and thyme.

Wine Pairing

Enjoy the roasted peppers with a crisp white wine or rosé. If you want to spend some money, then buy a bottle of white Piemonte wine, made with the arneis grape. The wine is made in the Roero area close to the village of Canale. A wine with a bright, intense yellow colour, present aromas of ripe fruit (especially apples), very fragrant. The taste is delicate and fruity with good acidity and a long finish.

What You Need
  • 2 Sweet Bell Peppers
  • 8 Tomato Confit
  • 4 Anchovies
  • 1 Clove of Garlic
  • Black Pepper (optional)
  • Olive Oil
What You Do

Preheat your oven to 180 °C or 350 °F. Halve the bell peppers lengthwise. Slice the garlic. Chop the anchovies. Use a shallow baking dish. Add 2 tomatoes, some garlic, some anchovies and a generous amount of olive oil (and/or cooking juices of the confit) to each halved bell pepper. Transfer to the oven. The peppers will be ready in 30+ minutes. Enjoy with crusted bread. No need to serve with basil!

Roasted Bell Peppers ©cadwu
Bell Peppers Ready for the Oven ©cadwu

Panna Cotta with Agar

18 April 2024

A few days ago Suzanne’s Mom wrote about Piper McAloon. At 17 she became Pastry Chef at Foglia, an award-winning plant-based restaurant located in Bristol, Rhode Island. A truly inspiring story!
When asked what she is making right now, she mentioned Panna Cotta. At Foglia she makes a gluten-free version with agar. Which was something we wanted to do for a long time. We love Panna Cotta, but using gelatine (made from animals from the meat industry) is far from ideal. Agar is made from the cell walls of red algae. Popular throughout Asia and fortunately also available where we live.
We served our Panna Cotta with a coulis of red berries. Very tasty, but was it a real Panna Cotta? It didn’t seem as creamy as the version with gelatine. The texture was certainly different. The version with gelatine was smoother and firmer; more how we think panna cotta should feel in your mouth. We were happy with the result, but we’re not sure if we will use agar next time we’re preparing Panna Cotta. To be continued!

What You Need (for 4)
  • 500 ml fresh Cream
  • 1,5 grams of Agar (powder)
  • 1 Vanilla Bean
  • 30 grams of Sugar
What You Do
  1. Add the agar, the seeds of the vanilla bean and the sugar to the cream
  2. Mix very well, the agar must to be completely dissolved
  3. Bring to the boil on slow/medium heat
  4. Stir frequently
  5. Keep close to boiling for 1 or 2 minutes
  6. Continue stirring
  7. Transfer to a water bath with cold water
  8. Cool the liquid somewhat before filling the forms. This is where you need to be careful. Gelatine gels at a lower temperature than agar. You need to transfer the mixture when it’s relatively warm
  9. Use silicone molds; they work very well panna cotta
  10. Let cool and then store in the refrigerator
  11. Don’t forget to seal with cling foil, otherwise your panna cotta will absorb aromas from other food in the refrigerator. 
PS
  1. Cook the red berries in some water for perhaps 5 to 10 minutes
  2. Transfer to a sieve and use the back of a spoon to squeeze out the liquid
  3. Add sugar and lemon juice to taste
  4. Reduce the liquid somewhat
  5. Let cool
  6. Alternatively you could also start by blending the berries. This makes squeezing out the liquid easier plus you will get a richer taste and some bitterness.
Agar Agar

Caponata

4 April 2024

This very tasty dish originates from Sicily and is a mixture of chopped and fried vegetables. Eggplant (Aubergine), Tomatoes, Celery, rRed Onion and Green Olives are the main ingredients. The vegetables are prepared and served in an agrodolce sauce, so sweet and sour. Although we’re not keen on using sugar in a salad, in this case the combination of sugar and vinegar is perfect.
Perhaps the ingredients make you think of Ratatouille. Caponata and Ratatouille are very different dishes. Capanota is about fried vegetables, about crunchy celery, about sweet and sour.

Food and Wine Pairing

We served our Caponata with a roulade of pork with sage, rosemary, pancetta, black olives and black garlic. A dish we enjoyed with a glass of Barbera del Monferrato 2022, produced by Livio Pavese. In general, we suggest a full-bodied red wine with perhaps a touch of oak. Some acidity to balance the caponata and dark fruit (plums, blueberries).

The next day we served the Caponata with a roulade of chicken with pancetta, Parmesan Cheese and sage. A dish we enjoyed with a glass of Spätburgunder from the Pfalz area in Germany. In general, we suggest a medium bodied red wine with aromas of red fruit. Medium tannins and balanced acidity. Its taste dry, aromatic, fruity, juicy with a touch of strawberry.

You could also add some canned tuna (in olive oil) and serve the Caponata with crusted bread as a starter, perhaps accompanied with charcuterie and a glass of Crémant or Prosecco.

What you Need (recipe for 4)
  • 2 Aubergines
  • 400 grams excellent ripe Tomatoes
  • 10 Green Olives
  • Capers
  • 30 grams Tomato Puree
  • 4 cloves of Garlic
  • 4 small Red Onions
  • 3 stalks Celery
  • Tablespoon of Caster Sugar
  • Tablespoon of White Wine Vinegar
  • Black Pepper.
What You Do

Best to prepare Caponata one day ahead.

  1. Wash the vegetables.
  2. Slice the eggplant lengthwise in 8 and then in chunks. Drizzle with salt and mix. Put the chunks in a sieve and let rest above a bowl for one or two hours.
  3. Coarsely chop the onion.
  4. Quarter the tomatoes. Remove the internal hard bits and the pits and put these aside. Slice the outer part of the tomato lengthwise in three.
  5. Roughly cut the remainder of the tomatoes, add to a sieve and use the back of a spoon to capture the juices.
  6. Coarsely chop the garlic.
  7. Halve the olives.
  8. Use a knife to peel the back of the celery stalks, or ribs. Slice.
  9. Combine the tomato puree, black pepper, the caster sugar, the vinegar and the tomato juice.
  10. Set your oven to 140 °C or 285 °F.
  11. Discard the liquid of the eggplants, wash of the salt, dry with kitchen paper and fry the chunks in a generous amount of olive oil until golden.
  12. Transfer to a baking tray in your oven.
  13. Fry the onions and the celery until somewhat translucent. Add these to the baking tray.
  14. Now add the olives, the capers, the garlic, the tomato mixture and the tomatoes. Mix. Perhaps add a splash of water.
  15. Cover the baking tray with aluminium foil.
  16. After 20 minutes it’s time to mix the vegetables. Check if you need to add extra water.
  17. After another 20 minutes, remove and discard the foil, mix and increase the temperature to 160 °C or320 °F.
  18. Now you need to keep an eye on the mixture. It may take 10 to 20 minutes for the liquid to somewhat evaporate, but you don’t want the dish to become dry.
  19. When ready, let cool and transfer to the refrigerator.
Caponata ©cadwu
Caponata in Baking Tray ©cadwu
Caponata ©cadwu