Pasta Salad

Preparation You'll need: A large bowl A large pot
Ingredients (for 2 persons) 125 g pasta (e. g. Fusilli, Rigatoni, Tortiglioni, Penne) ½ red bell pepper Some chives, or 2-3 spring onions (only stems and leaves) 1-2 Tomatoes (approx. 175 g) 10 cm cucumber 5 Tbsp liquid of a glass with gherkins Vegetable stock, around 2 to 3 litres, diluted, to cook the pasta in it 2 tsp spicy mustard Some ground pepper 90 g yoghurt 60 g Miracle Whip If there is no meat to go with it (the salad goes well with grilled meat), you could cut 50 g of poultry sausage into it.
Preparation Cook 125 g pasta in diluted vegetable stock. Chop ½ red pepper, approx. 175 g tomatoes, 2-3 spring onions or some chives and 10 cm cucumber into small pieces and add to the bowl. The pasta must be cold (quench), then you can also put it in the bowl. Now add 5 Tbsp cucumber water, 2 tsp mustard, 90 g yoghurt and 60 g Miracle Whip, stir and season with pepper. Stir well again. Chill in the refrigerator for at least half an hour (or overnight), then serve.

Rosa di Parma

 

The original recipe asks for beef fillet, but I took pork. I am surely going to try it with beef sooner or later, but right now I was looking for recipes with pork fillet and this is really tasty.
While looking at several recipes on the web I found two variations of Rosa di Parma (not regarding the kind of meat): One as I did in the recipe below, and one with Marsala and some red wine like Lambrusco. Quite possible that my recipe will change in the future ツ

Goes well with pasta

Preparation You'll need: A casserole dish A pan A small bowl
Ingredients (for 2 persons) Pork fillet, ca. 400 to 450 g You should ask your butcher to get that out of a piece, as large as possible, so that its diameter isn't so small. Pork fillets just aren't that big. With beef (as in the original recipe) it's easier. 4 leaves of Sage 3 cloves of garlic ½ twig rosemary ½ tea spoon salt ½ tea spoon black ground pepper 3 or 4 slices of Parma ham 50 g Parmesan Olive oil Kitchen twine
Preparation Finely chop the sage, garlic and rosemary. Give into a small bowl, together with salt and pepper. Mix well with 2 Tsp. olive oil, set aside. Cut the fillet in double butterfly cut, so that you can unfold it length wise: First one cut one third down, make sure you cut very deep, but without opening the meat on the opposite side. Turn the meat around so that you can cut it on the other side, this time two thirds down. With a thin pork fillet, this is a bit more difficult, which is why it's so important to get one with a rather large diameter, preferably without the thinner end pieces. Flatten the unfolded meat with your hands, cover with the Parma ham and spread the Parmesan over it, leaving a border of 1 or 2 centimetres. Carefully roll up the meat and tie with kitchen twine. Rub the meat with the herb mixture. Preheat the oven to 180℃. Heat olive oil in a pan on medium-high heat and fry the meat on all sides until brown, around 5 or 6 minutes. Put the meat into the oven and roast (covered) for around 25 to 30 minutes. In the meantime you can prepare for instance Pasta and tomato sauce. When done, remove the twine and cut the roast into 2 centimetre thick slices.

Ossobucco

Attention! Preparation time almost two hours!

Goes well with pasta, mashed potatoes or risotto

Preparation You'll need: A large pan or wok, with a lid, or the Tefal Astucio (if you've got one ;-)
Ingredients (for 2 persons) 2 thick (cross-cut) veal shanks (250-300 g each) 2 onions, medium sized 2 celery stalks 2 cloves of garlic 300 g carrots (around 2 large ones) 450 g tomatoes 500 mL veal fond 150 mL white wine Some thyme, rosmary, a bay leaf 1 organic lemon for 1 Tbsp. zest 1 organic orange for 1 Tbsp. zest 3 Tbsp. chopped parsley 3 Tbsp. regular olive oil Salt, pepper
Preparation Use a sharp knife to cut the skin in several places on meat, as it contracts during roasting. Press or dice one of the cloves of garlic, and dice the onions, celery stalks and carrots - Put everything together on the side. If necessary pluck thyme and rosemary and chop finely. Heat up 3 Tbsp. regular olive oil and sear the meat on both sides (position 3), until it is nicely brown. Then turn the heat down to position 2, add the pressed clove of garlic, the onions, celery stalks and carrots. Add salt and let it fry on medium heat (covered) for 10 minutes. In the meantime peel 450 g tomatoes, cut them small and prepare 400 mL veal fond and 150 mL white wine. After the 10 minutes add the tomatoes, together with ½ tsp. thyme, ½ tsp. rosmary and a bay leaf. Pour fond and wine. Add some salt and pepper and let it simmer for 75 minutes on medium heat (position 2, covered). 15 minutes before the time is over you can zest the lemon and the orange (7 to 9 g each), chop the parsley and the second clove of garlic. At the end, add the garlic, the zests, the chopped parsley. Stir and season with salt and pepper to your taste.

Ratatouille (Confit Byaldi)

(as in the film Ratatouille, the recipe is also called Confit Byaldi)

Important! This takes three to four hours to prepare!

Goes well with a chilled Rosé and some white bread or better Baguette, or certainly: Fougasse.

Preparation You'll need: A casserole dish A pan
Ingredients (for 2 to 3 persons) for the Piperade 1 red bell pepper and half a bell pepper each, in orange and yellow. All as large as possible, with thick walls (check weight!) 3 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil 2 cloves of garlic ½ onion 350 g tomatoes (around 4 pieces) 1 sprig of thyme (or rosemary if you want) Some flat-leaf parsley 1 small bay leaf Coarse salt for the veggies 1 green courgette 1 aubergine (rather long than thick ) 1 yellow squash (or yellow courgette) 7 large tomatoes Make sure to buy them all with around the same diameter. Especially the aubergine is often rather thick. 2 cloves of garlic 4 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil A sprig of thyme (or rosemary, if you like) Coarse salt and fresh ground pepper for the Vinaigrette 6 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil 6 Tbsp. balsamico Assorted fresh herbs (thyme, chervil, parsley, ...) Coarse salt and fresh groud pepper
Preparation of the Piperade Clean the bell peppers and remove the seeds. Place them in the oven (cut surface downwards, do not use baking paper, baking tray, middle shelf, ca. 270℃) and switch to grill. Grill the peppers until the skin turns black. Then take them out and put them on the side, so they can cool off. In the meantime press the garlic and dice the onion. Then saute both on low to medium heat in extra-virgin olive oil until they get soft, but not brown. Takes around 5 minutes. In the meantime peel the tomatoes - we only need the flesh and the juice, remove the seeds. Dice and add together with the juice to the onion as soon as the onion's done. Add the thyme or rosemary, the bay leaf and the parsley and let it simmer for around 5 to 10 minutes. By now the bell peppers should have cooled off - remove the skin and dice them. As soon as the tomato-onion mix is done add the peppers and let it simmer for a few minutes until the peppers get soft. Remove the herbs and season to taste with salt and pepper. Reserve 2 Tbsp. of mixture and spread the rest in the bottom of the casserole dish.
Preparation of the vegetables Preheat oven (130℃). Don't peel the tomatoes. Slice the veggies in thin slices (around 2 millimetres), and keep them in separate dishes. Now place the slices alternating in a spiral (or in rings), so that the slices overlap almost completely (see picture). Press the garlic and mix with thyme and olive oil, season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle over the veggie slices. Now place the oven dish (if necessary seal it tightly with aluminium foil) in the oven for two hours.
Preparation of the Vinaigrette Mix the herbs (e. g. thyme and parsley) with extra-virgin olive oil and balsamico (6 EL ea.) and the reserved piperade Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Final steps Check on the veggies after almost two hours and see if they are soft. When everything is done. Switch the oven to grill and place the Ratatouille back uncovered, until the slices start to get slightly brown. To serve take a strip of slices with a spatula and pile them into a little tower (see photo). Then add the vinaigrette and serve hot.

Spicy Lobster

Preparation You'll need: A small casserole dish A large casserole dish (large enough for the two stuffed shells) A large and a small bowl for mixing things A good kitchen knife to cut the lobster Lobster tongs
Ingredients 2 lobsters 1 slice of white bread 100 mL milk ½ egg, beaten (don't take more, or it will kill all the other flavours) 1 tsp mustard seeds ½ tsp salt ½ tsp cayenne pepper 1 tsp Tabasco Sauce 25 g breadcrumbs 15 g butter ½ tsp salt
Preparation First boil the lobsters in salted water (depending on condition, see package, or ask seller). Then rinse with cold water. Cut open the lobster, in each case so that the back shell remains, i.e. remove only the underside. Remove the head and claws. Remove the meat and dice it. Now put the lobster meat, 1 slice of toast (cut into small cubes), 100 mL milk, half of a beaten egg, 1 tsp crushed mustard seeds, ½ tsp salt, 1 tsp cayenne pepper and 1 tsp Tabasco and mix well. Now pour the mixture into an ovenproof dish and bake for 25 minutes at 180℃. Meanwhile, you can melt 15 g of butter and mix it with 25 g of breadcrumbs and one ½ teaspoon of salt. Afterwards fill the shells with the lobster mix and sprinkle the cracker mix over it. Place it again in the oven and bake it with top heat until the crumbs start to get brown. If you wish, you may add the head and the claws now, too. Finally place the shells each on a plate and add the head and the claws decoratively.

Atlantic Wolffish Provençal

 

Put baguette or Greek flatbread and fleur de sel at disposal on the table, they are perfect complements to the dish.

Preparation You'll need: A tajine or casserole dish Aluminium foil or well closing lid A medium sized pot
Ingredients (for 2 persons) Fillets of Atlantic wolffish, 300-400 g around 350 g hard cooking potatoes ½ red bell-pepper 100 g courgette if you're doing the recipe for more than just 2 or 3 persons, you might do the variation of taking two kinds of courgette, half green, half yellow. 350 to 400 g small tomatoes 20 black olives with pits 6 Tbsp. olive oil 3 Tbsp. lemon juice Salt, pepper, 1 Tbsp. Herbes de Provence
Preparation ChezTeddy Tip: Simple way to peel tomatoes Rinse them Keep skimmer in reach Bring in a medium sized pot enough water to boil Throw in all tomatoes at once and let them cook for 10 to 20 seconds (small or ripe ones shorter, large ones with thick peel or not so ripe ones a bit longer), don't pour water, get tomatoes out with the skimmer put in plate a short time to let the cool off Peel the tomatoes (see above ;-). Peel the potatoes, cut in thin slices, add ca. 1 tsp salt to the still hot water, bring to boil and let the potatoes simmer for 3 to 4 minutes. In the meantime you can easily remove the peel of the tomatoes. Then pour the water, set pot with the potato slices aside for a short time to cool off. Cut the bell-pepper in stripes and the courgette and tomatoes in thin slices. Cut the fillets in two pieces for each person (each around 80 to 90 grams). Pour a bit of the Olive oil (1-2 table spoons) into the tajine or casserole and then add the ingredients in layers. First the potato slices, then the courgette, fish fillets, tomatoes, bell-pepper in stripes and finally 20 olives. Season well with salt, pepper and Herbes de Provence (1 Tbsp), and sprinkle with the rest of the olive oil (4 to 5 Tbsp) and lemon juice (3 Tbsp). Finally cover the casserole (lid or aluminium foil) and finish cooking in the oven at ca. 170℃ for 40 to 50 minutes.

Pizza

 

Attention! The dough should be done several hours earlier!

Preparation You'll need: A Chamotte stone A bowl
Ingredients for the dough (for two persons, two pizzas) 270 g standard flour some durum semolina or Semola di Grano Duro ca. 6 to 8 g yeast (of a yeast cube) 130 to 140 mL water 3 Tbsp. olive oil 1 tsp. salt
Ingredients for the Pizzaiola (tomato sauce) 4-5 cloves of garlic 2 Tbsp. olive oil Tomatoes in pieces (around 400 g - canned or Tetra Pak) 1/2 to 1 tsp. salt 2 tsp. herb mix for Pizza Some ground white pepper
Preparation (dough) Give 270 g flour and 1 tsp. salt into a bowl and crumble the yeast over it. Add 130 to 140 mL water and 3 Tbsp. olive oil in several steps while kneading the dough. Keep kneading the dough for 10 to 15 minutes (a kitchen machine would be great, but one can do it by hand). Cover the dough with a wet cloth and set it for at least one hour (better two or three) aside.
Preparation (the Pizzaiola) Dice the cloves of garlic and and sauté in olive oil. Add the tomatoes in pieces. Add 2 tsp. Pizza herb mix, ½ to 1 tsp. salt and some pepper, mix well. Let it simmer for 5 to 10 minutes, stir from time to time. The sauce should reduce a bit, but shouldn't get too dry. You can keep the Pizzaiola in the fridge.
Preparation (finally, the Pizza) ---> At least one hour in advance: Put the pizza stone into the oven and heat it up at 300℃! When you want to start doing the Pizza, sprinkle the Semola on the counter and spread out the dough with your hands into a flat disc. Keep rubbing flour on your hands. When the dough is nicely flat spread the Pizzaiola on it (not too thick!) and the layer of Mozzarella cheese. Then the other toppings (ham, mushrooms, bell-pepper ...) and finally the Gruyere. Now put the Pizza on the the Pizza stone (watch out - HOT), the rest should be done by the hot stone. As soon as the top of the crust starts to get slightly brown, turn the oven to top grill so that it gets a nice crust. The pizza should be done after one or two minutes. If you want to do a second Pizza afterwards, keep the oven at 300℃ (convection, not top grill!) while you eat the first round.
A Calzone Since the Calzone is covered by a 'lid', it takes longer for the heat to get to the topping (Salami, ham, bell-pepper ...). It's therefore important to sauté the veggie part of the filling for a short time in a pan. Everything else is roughly the same, just one has to put the Pizzaiola and the 'toppings' just on one half of the dough, leaving a rim of naked dough (around 3 centimetres). I also prefer the 'lid' to be somewhat thinner than the other half. Carefully close the Calzone with the other half of the dough. It's very important to really close it completely - it has to be air-tight so that no liquid runs out, and the taste will be better, too. I prefer that half of the dough, that will be the cover, to be a bit thinner. After closing the Calzone, I brush olive oil or some rest of the Pizaiola on top of it, before it goes into the oven. Switch the oven off completely and let the heat from the stone work - it needs a bit more time than with a normal pizza, so that the heat can really go inside. When you see the top slowly turning brown, switch to top grill to give a final boost.

With 70 g ham, maybe olives, 3 medium champignons, and fresh onion rings. Cheese: 70 g Mozzarella and 20 g Gruyere

With 40 to 50 g ham and 2 slices of ananas (Hawaii style). 50 g Mozzarella and 30 g Gruyere

With 70 g ham, 3 artichoke hearts, pepperoncini and olives. Cheese: 70 g Mozzarella and 20 g Gruyere

And here the Calzone...

Gild-head bream in Herb Sauce

 

Goes very well for example with mashed potatoes.

Preparation You'll need: A casserole dish A blender
Ingredients (for 2 persons) Two gilt-head breams A bundle basil Some parsley 2-3 cloves of garlic 6 Tbsp olive oil 2 Tbsp sherry vinegar 2 bay leaves 200 mL fish stock Salt, pepper
Preparation Check that there is white wine in the fridge! Measure out 200 mL fish stock. Clean the gilt-head breams and dry them off. Preheat the oven to 180℃. Clean the basil and the parsley and shake them dry. Peel the cloves of garlic and press them. Slightly salt the insides of the fishes and put them together with the bay leaves in the casserole dish. Give the other ingredients (including a bit of salt and pepper) into the blender and cut them not too fine. Then pour the sauce to the fishes. Bake the fishes in the oven for 35 to 40 minutes.