Tag Archives: home made

Skrei with Pea Risotto

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* paid partnerhsip with Picard Norge / AD

Picard Norge to the rescue in a time crunch

I mostly make my food from scratch. But I am very lucky to have the time to do so. Many, or most, of us are very busy and can’t always make dinners that take 4 hours. Or even 1 hour. That’s why I am so glad that Picard Norge opened a store near my house. So far I’ve only encountered high quality frozen foods, and it can be a very good alternative when there are not enough hours in a day.

What You Need

  • Skrei (or cod)
  • Risotto
  • Peas (cooked)
  • Parmesan (as much as you’d like)
  • Vegetable stock (optional)
  • White wine (also optional)

What You Do

Risotto

  1. I use vegetable stock and white wine for this risotto, but you can prepare it however you like. I used 2dl risotto rise, 2dl vegetable stock and 2dl white wine. Pour rice and the wine into a pot, then bubble and stir until completely absorbed. Continue cooking like this, adding a ladleful of stock at a time, and stirring continuously until the rice is tender and has a good consistency – this will take 20-30 mins.
  2. Add the cooked peas to the risotto. I used frozen peas from Picard Norge. With cooked frozen peas I suggest adding them in earlier than if they are not frozen.
  3. A few minutes before the risotti is ready, add in the parmesan. The risotto should have a creamy texture.

Skrei (or cod)

  1. I used the frozen cod filets from Picard Norge. There are multiple ways to prepare this, just follow the directions on the box. I chose to boil it without defrosting. If you have time, I would recommend defrosting and then either frying it in a pan or baking it in the oven.

Wine Pairing

When pairing wine with cod there are many good options. But since I am Piemonte Girl, I have to go with Barbera!

A “simple” Barbera, like the one from Giovanni Corino or Diego Morra goes very well with cod. You can also go for a Barbera Superiore, like the one from Cavallotto or Chiara Boschis.

Linguine Pasta alla Vongole

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In honor of Linguine Day, I’ve prepared a recipe for you: Pasta alla Vongole. There are quite a few variations of this recipe, but this one uses Linguine and Cockle (instead of Vongole).

What You Need

  • 1 kg small clams (Vongole or Cockle)
  • 1/2 a bunch parsley
  • 4 cloves of garlic
  • 250 ml white wine
  • 400 g dried pasta (spaghetti or linguine)
  • olive oil
  • fresh chilly

How To Make It

  1. Boil water in a pot. At the same time, put some olive oil in another pan and heat it up. Slice the garlic and add them to the oil. This should sit for a while.
  2. Slice the parsley stalk and roughly chop the leaves. Get your wine ready.
  3. Add the pasta to the boiling water. You’ll want to cook it al dente.
  4. About 5 minutes before the pasta is ready, add the parsley stalks and finely chopped chilly to the pan with garlic. Stir for a little, then add in the wine and the clams.
  5. The clams should start to open. You can stir them a little to help the process. Get rid of any clams that do not open.
  6. (Optional). Put half the clams aside, and remove them from the shell. This can make the plate “less crowded”. Once the pasta is cooked al dente, add it to the pan with all the clams and sprinkle the parsley leaves on top. Toss & serve! You might want to serve with bread so your guests can dip it in the delicious sauce.

    Pro tip: timing is everything. You might not get it right the first time, but keep at it.

Recipe: Lasagne

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In need of a lasagne recipe? Look no further!

I know there are many types of lasagne, but this is my favorite so far. 

What you need:

  • Sauce (I use basic tomato sauce)
  • Fill (I like meat, but you can easily make it vegetarian)
  • Bechamel sauce
  • Pasta (home made or store bought)
  • Cheese 

First, let’s make the tomato sauce.

Ingredients:

  • 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 Spanish onion, cut into dice
  • 4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
  • 3 tbs fresh thyme 
  • 1/2 medium carrot, shredded
  • Two 28-ounce cans whole tomatoes

Follow these steps:

  1. Heat olive oil in a sauce pan. Add onion and garlic. Cook until soft. Add thyme and carrot, cook until the carrot is soft, about 5 minutes.
  2. Add tomatoes, with the juice, and bring to boil while stirring often. Lower the heat, simmer until thick as hot cereal, about 30 minutes.

You are now ready to make the lasagne

  1. Add the ingredients you want to the tomato sauce. I use sausage, chopped and cooked, with some salt and pepper. 
  2. Fill the pan with sauce at the bottom. Add a layer of the pasta, bechamel sauce and some cheese. Add another layer of sauce, topped with a layer of pasta and cheese. My pan usually only fits 2 layers. The final layer should be covered in cheese. 
  3. Cook in the oven until the cheese has melted, and is lightly golden brown. 

Piemontegirl Gingerbread Cookies

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I love gingerbread cookies. And it always puts me in the holiday mood when making them. This year, for the first time, I decided to try and make the dough from scratch. Turns out it is quite easy!

Here’s what you need:

  • 300g butter
  • 2 dl syrup 
  • 4 dl sugar
  • 1 ts cloves
  • 2 dl cream
  • 1 ts ginger
  • 4 ts cinnamon
  • 2 ts baking soda
  • 900g flour

Follow these easy steps to make the dough:

  1. Mix butter, syrup, sugar and cream in a pot. Heat up until it is all mixed. Remove from heat.
  2. When the mixture has cooled down a little, sift the spices, baking soda and most of the flour into the mixture. 
  3. Continue to add flour until the dough has a good consistency
  4. Set in the fridge to cool for a couple of hours. Remember to take the dough out a little while before cutting the cookies

I’ve been making quite a few treats this holiday season. Check out my Panettone recipe here.

Panettone & Moscato

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You know it’s the holiday season when Panettone decorates store windows, store displays and your instagram. I tried to make Panettone myself, and it turned out quite good, if I may say so myself. You can get the recipe here.

My sources tell me that for the holidays, a popular combination is Panettone & Moscato! Doesn’t sound half bad, right?

Gnocchi a la Piemontegirl

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Many years ago, I stood in the kitchen at Casa Vietti and watched Nonna make gnocchi. She told me the recipe, and showed me how to do it, but I never did. I recentky grew my own Sage plant and since I don’t really like sage, I decided that I would try to make Gnocchi for my dad, since he loves Gnocchi with butter and sage. Here’s how it went!

Recipe Gnocchi Ingredients

Ingredients:

  • 3 pounds(1360g) of potato
  • 2 cups (4.7dl) flour
  • 1 extra large egg
  • 1 pinch of salt

Recipe Gnocchi

Step #3

Directions:

  1. Boil potatoes. Peel them while they are still warm, and mash them (or put them through a vegetable mill, if you just happen to have one of those)
  2. Boil water in a pot (to boil the gnocchi)
  3. Make a well in the center of the mashed potatoes (like the picture above) and sprinkle all the flour over it. Place the egg and salt into the well, and start mixing it all together with a fork (similar to how you make pasta). Knead until dry
  4. Roll the dough into “sausages” and cut them into pieces, and roll them into balls (like the picture below)
  5. Once that is done, place it in the boiling water and let it boil for a few minutes (until they float). Take them out of the water (if you want, put them in an ice bath) and let them dry.

Recipe Gnocchi Piemontegirl

Step #4

Now, for the butter and sage: all you have to do is place a ton of butter and sage in a pan, melt the butter and stir in the sage. Place the gnocchi in the pan, mix it up and serve!

Recipe Gnocchi Burro e Salvie

The results were pretty good! There was some disagreement on how well they were cooked, but overall I would call my first attempt a success!! Let me know if you try it!

Recipe Gnocchi Butter and Sage

Piemontegirl makes (funny looking)Ravioli

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Ravioli – home made (clearly!)

A few weeks ago I posted a recipe on how to make pasta dough. Here is a recipe on how to use that dough to make Ravioli!

All you need is:

  • The dough
  • A pasta machine (or a rolling pin)
  • The filling you want

In this recipe I used 4 cheese filling using ricotta, parmesan, cream cheese and mozzarella. You just mix the 4 cheeses together in a bowl with an egg and voila you have the filling. Here is how to do it:

  1. Roll a piece of the dough through the pasta machine a few times on the largest setting. Between each time, fold the sheet once before you run it through again. Then, slowly, you reduce the opening when you put it through until you reach the lowest setting. Use flour as necessary so it doesn’t stick.
  2. Once it is as flat as possible, do the same to another piece of dough so you have 2 sheets of pasta dough.
  3. Use a brush to “paint” the sheets with egg (so that they will stick together).
  4. Put the filling in dots along the sheet of pasta dough with enough space in between so you can close them.
  5. Cover the sheet with the filling with the other sheet, press down around the filling to close it. Then you can use a knife or a ravioli cutter to cut out the ravioli.
  6. Boil them in water until they float.
  7. Optional: fry them quickly in a pan with butter and sage.

Mine don’t look very nice but they taste good! Another filling is ricotta and spinach (with an egg), also delicious!

My pasta machine is from Eataly and I LOVE it! Next step is to make tajarin or tagliatelle or something else cool. Stay tuned!

Bon apetit!

Fun Fact Friday: Elio Altare and his side project

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Elio Altare is more than just a wine maker

Elio Altare is known for his amazing wines, but what you may not know is that on the side he also makes salami! If you sneak away during one of the tours at the cellar you can find his salami hanging form the ceiling, waiting to be “harvested”. He doesn’t really  sell them, they are mostly for family and friends. He is a farmer, to the core, so these projects are never about the money.

Elio Altare

Photo by Torstein Harildstad

What is next for Elio Altare?

Elio has tons of energy and he puts all this energy into many “side” projects. Everytime I see him he has something new in the wings. Last I heard he was thinking about making bubbles. I wonder what it will be next time!

Fun Fact Friday

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2950-39

Photo by Torstein Harildstad

Elio Altare is known for his amazing wines, but what you may not have known is that on the side he also makes salami! If you sneak away during one of the tours at the cellar you can find his salami hanging form the ceiling, waiting to be “harvested”. Elio has tons of energy and he puts all this energy into many “side” projects. Everytime I see him he has something new in the wings. I wonder what it will be next time!