Italian Recipes

Traditional recipes from Italy reinterpreted in a new and creative way!

Focaccia alla Italiving

Ingredients

• 14 oz pizza flour
• 3.5 oz of semolina flour
• 2,18 gill water
• 1 packet of dry yeast (for 17.6 oz of flour)
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 tsp white sugar
• 4 tablespoons of best virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon yoghurt or quark
• 8 rosemary sprigs
• Coarse sea salt
• Olive oil to drizzle over the focaccia before putting it in the oven

Preparation

Put both types of flour in a large bowl and stir in salt and sugar.

Stir the yeast into 0,38 gill of slightly warm water until it has dissolved (the water must not be too warm, otherwise the yeast will die).

During this time, pluck 4 of the rosemary sprigs and chop the leaves very finely.

Preheat the oven to 122° F, then turn it off.

Let the yeast water stand for 5 minutes so that the fermentation process begins. Then make a well in the middle of the flour and pour the yeast water into it. Spread the flour over the water from the edge.

Now place the bowl in the warm oven for 10 minutes, which speeds up the fermentation process.

Then take the bowl out of the oven and add the remaining 1,8 gill of water (slightly lukewarm) as well as the chopped rosemary and the yoghurt or quark to the flour and stir everything well.

Once the dough has absorbed some of the water, knead the dough with your hands in the bowl until there is no dry flour left in the bowl and the dough feels very sticky. This is the right time to add the olive oil to the bowl.

The dough immediately becomes smooth again and no longer sticks.

Now knead the dough firmly for 15 minutes on the kitchen counter or on a large wooden board. You can also do this with a food processor and dough hook, but I prefer the manual method because it produces better results.

Then put the dough back into the bowl, cover it airtight with cling film (if necessary, place a plate on top of the film to weigh it down) and leave to rise in a warm place for at least 2 hours, or 4-6 hours if you like.

1 hour before baking, take the dough out of the bowl and shape it into a square on an oven tray lined with baking paper (do not roll it out so as not to squeeze the air out of the dough). The dough should be about 2 cm high. Cover with foil again and let it rest for another 45 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees, remove the foil from the dough, rub your fingers with olive oil and then use your fingertips to firmly press holes all over the dough. Then drizzle the dough with olive oil and sprinkle with coarse sea salt, halve the 4 rosemary sprigs again and spread them over the dough.

Then the most important thing!!! Spray the dough heavily with water and immediately put it in the oven on the middle level. Reduce the temperature to 430/460° F and bake for about 20-25 minutes until the focaccia has a nice brown color on the surface.

Take the focaccia out of the oven, immediately remove it from the baking paper, otherwise it will absorb moisture from the bottom, and let it cool down a little. Serve lukewarm.

You'll never make them any other way again! Have fun and Buon Appetito!!

 

Sea fish cevice alla Italiving

 

Ingredients

• 4 fillets of sea bass (ask your fishmonger for advice, it must be sea fish and it should be sushi quality)
• 1 ox heart tomatoes
• 4-5 small cocktail tomatoes (Datterini)
• 2 small red onions
• 2 sticks of celery
• 2 limes
• Half a bunch of coriander (fresh)
• Chili flakes (available from Turkish shops)
• 1 lemon
• Black pepper
• Sea salt
• White Balsamic Vinegar

Preparation

Wash the fillets, pat dry and cut into small pieces

Spread on a nice plate and season with chilli flakes and sea salt

Then squeeze the 2 limes and the lemon and spread evenly over the fish

Now put the fish with the plate in the fridge for 3-5 hours to rest and marinate

In the meantime, cut the tomatoes into small pieces and the onion into thin rings. Add thin slices of the chopped celery

Cover the whole thing until you take the fish out of the fridge 20 minutes before eating.

Spread the celery, onion and tomatoes over the fish and season with salt and black pepper, a dash of olive oil and a little white balsamic vinegar.

Finally, add the plucked coriander leaves on top, depending on your taste. If you don't like coriander at all, you can also use chives.

Have fun and Buon Appetito!

 

South Tyrolean mountain farmer’s bread  alla Italiving

 

 

Ingredients

• 17,6 oz of wholemeal rye flour
• 7,07 oz of wholemeal spelt flour
• 10,6 oz of wheat flour
• 2 packets of dry yeast (0,75 oz each)
• Sourdough powder for 35 oz dough (e.g. Alnatura)
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tsp White Balsamic Vinegar
• 1 tsp Nutmeg
• 5.8 gill water
• 2 tbsp salt
• 3.5 - 5.2 oz walnuts (medium to finely chopped – depending on taste)

or alternatively: 

• 22.9 oz of wholemeal rye flour
• 12.3 oz of wheat flour
• 2 packets of dry yeast (0,75 oz each)
• Sourdough powder for  35 oz dough (e.g. Alnatura)
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tsp White Balsamic Vinegar
• 1 tsp Nutmeg
• 5.8 gill water
• 2 tbsp salt
• 3.5 - 5.2 oz walnuts (medium to finely chopped – depending on taste)

 Preparation

Dissolve yeast in 3.63 gill of water (room temperature) and leave to stand for 10 minutes. Then add the sourdough powder, salt, olive oil, grated nutmeg and vinegar and stir well.

Put the flour in a large bowl (it should be at least twice the capacity, as the volume of the dough will at least double during the resting phase), make a large well in the middle and pour the 3.63 gill of liquid into it.

Then, using either a hand mixer or a food processor fitted with a dough hook, mix the dough on a medium setting and as soon as the first 3.63 gill have been absorbed, add the remaining 2.18 gill of water and the roughly chopped walnuts and then stir until a homogeneous dough is formed.

Dough with a high rye content is always a bit stickier and has to be.

Rub your hands with water or, better yet, olive oil and then knead the dough again for 1-2 minutes with the palms of your hands.

Finally, rub the surface of the dough ball with olive oil to prevent it from drying out.

Cover the bowl with cling film or a lid and let the dough rise in a warm place for 3-4 hours.

Then turn it out onto a baking tray dusted with a little flour or remove it from the bowl with a dough scraper, shape it into a ball again very quickly with oiled hands and leave to rise for another hour, again oiled and covered with cling film.

Dust the loaf with flour before baking.

Preheat the oven to 430° F with convection or 460° F top and bottom heat for 15 minutes and place a large fireproof dish on the bottom of the oven. After 15 minutes, place the bread in the oven on the second level and immediately pour about 10.743 gill of hot water from the tap into the heated dish (Caution! A lot of steam will be generated immediately). Close the oven door immediately and wait 10 minutes. Then open the oven door briefly to let the steam escape, close it again and do not open it again until the end of the baking time of 40-50 minutes.

Check the browning of the bread between 40 and 50 minutes and decide for yourself when it is brown enough for you.

You can check whether the bread is fully baked by tapping the bottom of the loaf. If it sounds hollow, the bread is ready.

After baking, let the bread cool down covered for a while so that the crust firms up.

We wish you lots of fun and a Buon Appetito!

 

South Tyrolean cheese napkin dumplings  alla Italiving

 

Ingredients for 4 people

• 7 rolls (at least 1 day old)
• 1.82 gill milk
• 10.6 oz of mixed cheese (e.g. Gouda, Emmental, Parmesan, Pecorino – be sure to use strong cheeses)
• 1 onion
• 0.91 oz of butter
• 3 eggs
• 2 tbsp chives
• 2 tbsp flat-leaf parsley
• 1 tsp salt
• Black pepper from the mill

Preparation

Cut the rolls into cubes of about 1,0 inch (better larger than smaller) and place them in a large bowl.

Heat the milk to lukewarm.

Melt the butter in a pan and fry the finely chopped onion until translucent.

Pour the milk and contents of the pan over the rolls, along with the chopped parsley and chives.

Flavour with salt and pepper.

Then add the cheese and the 3 eggs and mix well by hand for 2-3 minutes until a moist mass is formed.

Cover the mixture and let it rest for 10 minutes, then halve the dough. Turn each half out onto a prepared sheet of cling film and form into a roll (the roll should later fit into the existing water pot). Seal both ends of the film and then wrap the roll in aluminum foil again (this also prevents water from getting in).

Fill the pot generously with water and bring the water to the boil. Then reduce the heat (electric 4-5/gas 3-4) and let the roll sit in the water for 20 minutes. After 10 minutes, turn the roll once in the water.

Finally, take the roll out of the water, remove it from the foil, cut it into finger-width slices and serve immediately.

Goes great with meat, mushrooms or as an addition to a strong beef soup.

You can also fry the slices again in a pan, sprinkle with cheese again and serve with a nice mixed autumn salad.

Have fun and Buon Appetito!

 

Pizza alla Italving 

 

Ingredients

• 35.2 oz pizza flour
• or 17.6 oz of pizza flour and 17.6 oz of semolina (gives the pizza a nice yellow color)
• 4.36 gill water
• 2 packets of dry yeast (for 35.2 oz of flour)
• 1 tbsp salt
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tbsp yoghurt or quark

For the pizza sauce:

• 1 can of tomato pulp (14 oz capacity) for example from Mutti
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 pinch of salt
• Pepper (preferably freshly ground)
• Take Chilli Peppers
• 1 garlic clove
• 2 tsp dried oregano or fresh herbs

For the topping to bake

• Small balls of buffalo mozzarella
• Parmesan cheese or Pecorino or Gorgonzola (depending on preference)
• Salami, cooked ham, olives, ...

For the topping after the pizza comes out of the oven

• fresh rocket or basil
• raw ham
• all coverings that do not respond well to heat

Preparation

Put the flour in a large bowl and stir in the salt, sugar and yoghurt.

Stir the yeast into 4.36 gill of cold water until it has dissolved.

When preparing pizza dough, the water must be cold!

Let the yeast water stand for 5 minutes so that the fermentation process begins. Then make a well in the middle of the flour and pour the yeast water into it. 

Now knead the dough with your hands in the bowl until there is no dry flour left in the bowl (add a little water if the dough is too dry). This is the right time to take the dough out of the bowl and knead it with your hands for 10-15 minutes until it is smooth.

You can also do this with a food processor and dough hook, but I prefer the manual method because it gives a better result.

Then form the dough into a ball and rub the surface with olive oil. This prevents the surface of the dough from drying out. Put the dough back in the bowl, cover it airtight with cling film (if necessary, place a plate on top of the film to weigh it down) and leave to rise at room temperature for at least 2 hours.

Tip: To make the pizza more digestible, the fermentation process must last longer than 6 hours. I therefore make the dough the evening before or early in the morning of the day we want to bake the pizza.

1 hour before baking, take the dough out of the bowl and form it into a roll on a floured surface, divide it into 3-4 equal-sized pieces, form each into a ball and rub it with olive oil again. Cover with foil and leave to rise for another 45 minutes.

Preheat the oven to at least 460° F 20 minutes before baking (turn it up as high as possible, because the pizza oven is normally at 410° F). It's best to have a pizza stone that you can heat up. Otherwise, line the baking tray with baking paper or lightly flour it so that you can put the pizza on it in the oven after arranging it.

You can now shape the dough into a pizza either on the floured kitchen worktop, on a wooden board or on the metal plate of a springform cake pan.

Please NEVER roll out the dough, but shape it with floured fingers, because only then will it rise nicely in the oven!

Press the dough outwards from the middle into a circle. The thickness in the middle is up to you (thin for crispy, thicker for soft and more volume), but the pizza should have a nice edge on the outside so that the toppings don't run over the edge in the oven!

Tip: If you want to enjoy a lovely Italian evening with friends, arrange all the ingredients in small bowls. Then call your friends into the kitchen and everyone helps to create the individual toppings. That's pure La Doce Vita!

Now place the dough on the floured pizza peel or baking tray and spread with the tomato sauce, top with cheese and the ingredients of your choice and immediately place in the oven with the pizza peel or on the baking tray.

Tip: Don't make any pizza toppings in advance, otherwise it will get soggy and you'll never get it into the oven!

The pizza is ready when the cheese bubbles and the edges are lightly browned.

Remove the pizza from the oven, top with the remaining ingredients, cut into pieces and serve immediately!

You will never buy a ready-made pizza again! Buon Appetito!

  

Colomba - the Italian Easter Panettone  alla Italiving

 

 

Ingredients

Pre dough

• 2.11 oz of flour type 405 (but we use Italian Manitoba flour)
• 0.29 gill water (lukewarm)
• 1.06 oz of fresh yeast

Main dough

• 2.0 oz of flour (see above)
• 0.73 gill milk (lukewarm)
• 5 egg yolks (size M)
• Protein from 1 egg
• 2 x 3.5 oz of soft butter (each cut into small pieces)
• 1.75 oz of candied lemon
• 1.75 oz Orangeat
• Grated peel of 1 untreated lemon
• Grated peel of 1 untreated orange
• 0.9 oz of raisins (if you like)
• 3.5 oz of sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp Limoncello

For the glaze

• 0.21 oz butter
• 1.8 oz of whipped cream
• 3.5 oz of almond flakes

Form: You can order the appropriate paper form from Amazon, for example. They are available there in packs of 5 or 10.

Preparation

For a perfect Colomba, start preparing the evening before.

Dissolve the yeast in the lukewarm water and mix with the flour to make the pre-dough. Cover the pre-dough and let it rise for about 3 hours at room temperature.

Mix the lemon and orange peel with the limoncello and leave covered for 3 hours.

Knead the remaining flour with eggs, egg whites, salt, 3.5 oz of butter, candied lemon and orange peel, the lemon and orange peel and the lukewarm milk using the food processor (dough hook). Then work in the pre-dough in 3 sections and then knead for another 15 minutes at the same speed. The dough is perfect when it is smooth and no longer sticks to the bowl.

IMPORTANT! Form the dough into a ball (this gives the mass tension) and leave it in a sufficiently large bowl covered with foil in the fridge for at least 12 hours. The dough should then stand at room temperature for another 2 hours.

Then work the remaining 3.5 oz of butter into the dough using a food processor and let it rise again, covered, in a warm place for 2-3 hours until it has doubled in volume.

Now take the dough out of the bowl and divide it into 2 parts in a ratio of 2:1. Carefully pull (do not roll or knead) the larger part on a floured surface into a sausage shape that is approximately the diameter of the Colomba mold and place it in the mold as the body of the Easter dove. Halve the smaller part again and place each part in the mold as the wings.

Make sure that the dough fills the pan completely to the edge and is approximately the same height so that it rises evenly later in the oven.

Now preheat the oven to 370° F (fan oven 340° F).

Bake the Colomba for 15 minutes at this temperature.

In the meantime, bring the butter, cream, sugar and honey to the boil over medium heat and simmer for 2 minutes. Then stir in the flaked almonds.

Take the Colomba out of the oven and spread the almond glaze over it with a spoon. Then bake for another 30-40 minutes at 340° F (fan oven 320° F.

You can use a skewer to check whether the cake is baked through. Stick it into the middle of the Colomba and pull it out again. If no dough sticks to it, the Colomba is perfect.

Then let it rest for another 10 minutes with the oven turned off, then remove it from the oven and let it cool down.

Enjoy your meal. Have fun and Buon Appetito!