Tag Archives: italian food

Recipe Baci di Dama

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Baci di Dama Step 1

Ever wanted to find those cookies you find at the breakfast buffet when you are in Piemonte? Well, look no further! Here is the recipe, so you can make Baci di Dama at home. Perfect for #WorldDessertDay

You’ll need:

  • 100g Hazelnuts
  • 100g Sugar
  • 100g Butter
  • 100g Flour
  • 100g Dark Chocolate

Baci di Dama Step 2

Here is how you do it:

  1. Crush the hazeluts until it becomes fairly smooth, but be careful so it doesn’t get oily
  2. Add in butter and sugar, mix together.
  3. Add flour little by little, start mixing it together with your hands. Add flour until the dough becomes quite firm
  4. Set aside in the fridge for about 1 hour (or more if you’d like)
  5. After about 1 hour, take the dough out and start forming little balls. You can choose the size, but they should we quite small
  6. Place the balls on a baking sheet, and bake them in the oven at about 180 degrees celcius until golden brown. Take them out of the oven to cool
  7. Meanwhile, melt the chocolate.
  8. Once the balls are cool, add a little chocolate in between two of them, and set aside to cool.
  9. and voila! You have made delicious Baci di Dama!

Baci di Dama Step 3Baci di Dama Step 4

New spot in Serralunga: Osteria Tre Case

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Osteria Tre case id officially on the list of new places to eat!

Osteria tre Case

I always get teased because I usually go to the same restaurants and eat the same things. This summer, I tried a new restaurant in Serralunga! Osteria Tre Case, located in the center of Serralunga, is a relatively new restaurant. And let me tell you: you should definitely try it!

On the menu you will find tajarin, ravioli, panna cotta and cheese from Castelmagno (and many more things). The food was very good, great wine list and wonderful staff – what else can you ask for? Oh, and it’s always fun when you order a wine and then the winemaker shows up! Herzu is my favorite!

Check out the website here. And as always I encourage you to make reservation, not just show up. Besides, a restaurant this good will fill up quickly! If you go, tell Veronica I say hi!

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

Insalata Russa in Oslo!!

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Guess what?!

You don’t have to go all the way to More e Macine to eat Insalata Russa! You can just stroll down a cozy street in Oslo and pop in at Bono! I am beyond excited! Since I am unable to make it myself (I have tried, and failed), I am happy that I can get in right here in my neighborhood!

Bono Logo

Bono is run by this wonderful Italian man from Piemonte! The place has a few tables, great food, good wine list and excellent service! You should definitely check it out if you are in Oslo! I’ll be heading back soon, that’s for sure!

Bono storw

There is also a little store with cheese, salumi, pesto and lots of other good stuff! I even found my favorite brand of robiola! Can you tell I am excited about this?!

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!

Piemontegirl makes Pasta Dough

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Piemontegirl loves pasta

Piemontegirl, that’s me! As you probably know, I love italian food. Especially pasta. Over the years I have had the pleasure of cooking with some local italian women, among those the mother of Elena Currado (Vietti) and the mother of Bruno (who runs Corte Gondina).  These women are amazing cooks, and it is so much fun to cook with them. All in italian of course, and sometimes also in piedmontese… The latter is hard for me to comprehend, so hand gestures and visual aids are needed.

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Anyway, to make pasta dough from scratch you need:

  • Eggs
  • Flour
  • Salt

And all you really need to do is pour the flour (and a touch of salt) into a bowl or right onto the counter, make a little valley where you put the egg and then slowly you mix it together until it becomes a solid dough. Then the fun part: You need to knead the dough for 10 minutes! Yes, you heard me. 10 minutes! Man, were my hands tired afterward. Not sure exactly why you have to knead for so long, but I always try to follow the recipe.

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Above you can see me, Piemontegirl, kneading the pasta dough. Once you are done kneading, place the dough in plastic and leave on the counter for about 30 minutes. Then you can make whatever pasta you want. My favorite is ravioli (recipe to come).

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Let me know if you try it! Or if you need help. Enjoy!

Weeds with Sausage Ragu

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IMG_0634

Ingredients:

  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 yellow onion
  • 4 sweet italian sausage links (or sausage of your choice)
  • 1/2 6 ounce can of tomato paste
  • 1/2 cup dry white wine
  • 1/2 cup whole milk
  • salt and pepper
  • Pasta — Strozzapreti or casarecce
  • Optional (recommended): thyme, preferably fresh

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Preparation:

  1. Soften onions in oil, about 6-8 minutes
  2. Add sausage, cook until brown, about 10 minutes
  3. Add paste, cook for about 5 minutes
  4. Add wine, boil down until absorbed
  5. Stir in milk, season with salt & pepper (and thyme)
  6. Reduce heat, cook for about 15 minutes
  7. Meanwhile, bring a pot of water to boil and cook the pasta

And voila, you got yourself some weeds with sausage, courtesy of Piemontegirl and Mario Batali.

Bon apetit!

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Salsiccia Ragu

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Piemontegirl will now teach you how to make a salsiccia ragu that’s similar to everyone’s favorite “bolognese” but is so much better that you will never eat Bolognese again. Just follow these easy steps. Of course ingredients are vital, but if you have those, you should be good to go! If Piemontegirl can do it, so can you!

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Ingredients:

  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 yellow onion
  • 4 sweet italian sausage links (or sausage of your choice)
  • 1/2 6 ounce can of tomato paste
  • 1/2 cup dry white wine
  • 1/2 cup whole milk
  • salt and pepper
  • Pasta — Strozzapreti or casarecce
  • Optional (recommended): thyme, preferably fresh

IMG_0642

Preparation:

  1. Soften onions in oil, about 6-8 minutes
  2. Add sausage, cook until brown, about 10 minutes
  3. Then, add paste, cook for about 5 minutes
  4. Add wine, boil down until absorbed
  5. Stir in milk, season with salt & pepper (and thyme)
  6. Reduce heat, cook for about 15 minutes
  7. Meanwhile, bring a pot of water to boil and cook the pasta

Bon apetit!

Piemontegirl

Orecchiette with Sausage & Rapini

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pasta

Ingredients:

1  broccoli head

1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus 4 tbsp

1/4 cup whole skinned almonds, toasted

5 cloves roasted garlic
Pinch of hot red pepper flakes

1/2 cup grated Parmigiano

3/4 pound fresh pork sausage

1 pound orecchiette

2 tbsp unsalted butter

Prepare an ice bath and set aside. Boil water in a  pot. Blanch the broccoli for 5 minutes . Remove broccoli from the boiling water and shock in the ice bath. When the broccoli  is cool, drain and pat dry with a paper towel and reserve.

In a medium pan, add two tablespoons olive oil and cook the broccoli until lightly browned. Meanwhile, place the almonds in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until coarsely chopped. Add the broccoli, garlic, hot red pepper flakes and half of the Parmigiano to the bowl of the food processor and season with salt and pepper. While the food processor is running, slowly drizzle in 1/3 cup olive oil until a smooth pesto has formed.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Meanwhile, in a large  pan, add two tbsp olive oil and heat until just short of smoking. Sear the sausage until golden brown on both sides. Then, using tongs, break the sausage into small pieces and lower the heat.

Place pasta in the boiling water and cook two minutes less than indicated by the package instructions. While the pasta is boiling, add 1/4 cup pasta water to pan with the sausage. Add the pesto and work into the sausage with tongs to form a sauce. When the pasta is al dente, add it directly to the sauce and toss vigorously. Add butter and the remaining Parmigiano, remove from heat, and toss to incorporate. Plate and serve immediately.

Recipe from Mario Batali