Gremolata

 

Goes well with fish or veal or pork.

Preparation You'll need: A medium bowl
Ingredients (for 2 persons) 8 cloves of Garlic 6 table spoons Italian parsley 3-4 wholefood lemons 4 Tbsp. pignolia, or alternatively 40 g Cashews 3 Tbsp. capers 9-10 Tbsp. good olive oil
Roast the pignolia First step is to roast the pignolia in the pan until they turn brown.
Preparing the Gremolata Peel and press the garlic, chop the parsley (6 Tbsp. needed). Zest 3-4 lemons (you'll need 15 to 20 g zest). Mix everything (roasted pignolia, parsley, lemons zests, garlic, olive oil, capers) in a small bowl. Around 5 minutes before the main dish is done, add the gremolata. Either put it into the pot or pan, or separately in a bowl into the oven.

Rosemary potatoes with tomatoes

Preparation time around 1 hour

This goes well to all kinds of fish or meat.

Preparation You'll need: A casserole dish A pan
Ingredients (for 2 persons) 8 to 10 small potatoes (ca. 400 to 450g) 1 medium-sized onion 2 to 3 cloves of garlic (just if you're not having another side dish with garlic) 1 to 2 twigs rosemary 10 black olives 8 to 10 small tomatoes (ca. 400 to 450g) Coarse black pepper, salt
Preparation Peel the potatoes and quarter them lengthwise. Cut the onions into large cubes. Put both together with some simple olive oil in a large pan fry them until they are brownish (about 5 minutes) - in the meantime peel the tomatoes (only if they are big tomatoes with thick skin) and cut them into small pieces, put them on the side. Coarsely chop rosemary needles (and garlic, if desired) and place in the oven dish. As soon as the potatoes and onions are ready, put them into the oven dish, season with salt and pepper, mix well and bake at 180℃ approx. 45 to 50 minutes into the oven. After 10 minutes, add the tomatoes, salt and pepper again and mix everything well. After another 30 minutes, add the olives and mix well again. Keep an eye on the mixture, it should last another 5-15 minutes, depending on how you want it baked.

Pork Tenderloin au Gratin

 

Suggested side dishes: Pasta (with the sauce obtained during cooking or a little butter), Farmer-Ratatouille and/or Greek Flatbread

Preparation You'll need: A pan A casserole dish
Ingredients (for 2 persons) 400 g pork tenderloin approx. 100 g Mozzarella (the soft kind, not that dry stuff) 4 pieces of semi-dried Tomatoes in oil. 2-3 Tbsp. Pesto 1 small onion (to fry in the pan after the meat; goes into the sauce. I would only recommend that when there's no onion with the side dish) Olive oil Salt and pepper
Preparation Dice 100 g Mozzarella and cut 4 pieces of semi-dried tomatoes into small pieces. If wanted, cut a small onion into thin stripes. Cut the tenderloin lenghtwise in half and flatten the meat a bit with your hand. Heat up normal olive oil in pan and quick fry on high heat the meat (on just one side). Fry until underside is dark brown. Remove from pan and set aside. Now fry, if you want, the onion stripes on medium to high heat. If you fry onion stripes, do so until they are dark brown. Set the pan aside, don't clean, we need that stuff later on :-) In the meantime heat up the oven to 170℃ and continue with the meat: Place the two pieces of meat, with the fried side down, into the casserole dish. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, spread 2 or 3 Tbsp Pesto on top and add the mozzarella and tomato pieces. Bake in oven for 35 to 45 minutes. As soon as the topping on the meat has browned to the desired colour, remove the oven dish from the oven, carefully place the two pieces of meat on a plate and return them to the oven when it has been turned off. Also pre-heat a small bowl for the sauce in the oven. Tip the sauce that has collected in the oven dish into the pan and bring to the boil briefly. Stir well and season lightly with salt and pepper. Then pour the sauce into the preheated bowl and place on the dining table for self-service. This sauce goes particularly well with pasta or pita bread. Add the garnish to the meat and serve.

Farmer Ratatouille

 

A simple and tasty side dish to many of my recipes.
A much more elaborate version (it's worth the effort, but should remain something special), would be Confit Byaldi. Known from the wonderful animation "Ratatouille".

Preparation You'll need: Large pan with lid or a medium pot with lid
Ingredients (for two persons) 150-180 g Courgette 150-180 g Aubergine 1 small onion 1 small red bell-pepper (around 150 g) 200-250 g tomatoes Herbs: 2-3 stems of basil 1 small twig (or ½ tsp.) Thymian 1 small twig (or ½ tsp.) Rosmarin 1 small twig (or ½ tsp.) Oregano 1-2 cloves of garlic 2 EL tomato puree 75 ml broth (chicken or vegetables) Good olive oil Salt and pepper
Step 1 Rougly dice the onion, clean bell-pepper and remove the seeds and white wands, cut into smaller pieces. Put aside together.
Step 2 Clean and cut into smaller pieces 150 to 180 g of Aubergine and Courgette, 250 g of Tomatoes. Chop 1 or 2 cloves of garlic, put all this together into a larger plate or bowl. Furthermore clean the herbs (Thyme, rosemary and oregano; ½ tsp. each and 2 or 3 stems of basil), pluck the leaves and chop them a bit. Add together with 2 Tbsp. tomato purée to the veggies.
Preparation Heat up some good olive oil in pan. Add plate #1 and sauté for 5 minutes on medium heat. Add plate #2, mix and sauté for another minute or two. Add 75 mL broth, season with salt and pepper and let it simmer for 15 minutes, covered with lid. Then check, how much liquid is there and let it simmer uncovered for another 10 to 15 minutes until almost all liquid is gone. Finally stir again and season to taste.