Peppers and basil pate

 Peppers and basil pate

Peppers and basil pate is a homemade sauce that packs the flavor of summer in a jar. An easy recipe to make in the summer time and then enjoy this fragrant cream on bread and croutons. 

INGREDIENTS

• 2 red peppers
• 1 yellow bell pepper
• 1/2 red onion
• 1 garlic clove
• 30 g of pine nuts
• 1 tuft of fresh basil
• 2 slices of wholemeal bread
• salt

extra virgin olive oil

Peppers and basil pâté is a simple preparation, perfect to accompany tasty bread croutons or as a quick condiment for a tasty pasta dish. An ideal recipe to preserve the scents of summer for a long time and that can be packaged and given as a gift as a thought "home made" that will certainly be appreciated.

Peppers are a seasonal vegetable in the summer months: colorful and versatile, they are very loved and give many tasty preparations, for example discover our 30 easy and tasty recipes with peppers that you will love immediately.

If you like creamy textures do not miss our 10 sauces, mousses and creams to spread with summer ingredients: they are easy to make, to enrich canapés, croutons and bruschetta. But also for fillings and to flavor salads and cold dishes. 

To prepare the peppers and basil paté, wash, dry and cut the peppers in half. Remove seeds and inner filaments. Cut the flaps into cubes for even cooking. Transfer them to a non-stick skillet. Add the thinly sliced onion and chopped garlic clove. Cover and grill - without fat - over high heat for a few minutes, stirring occasionally.

Season with salt and add a splash of oil. Continue cooking without the lid until the vegetables are soft but still al dente. When the cooking liquid is quite dry, turn off the heat and let cool. In the meantime, toast the pine nuts for a few minutes on another non-stick pan. Transfer everything to a kitchen mixer and blend. Correct for salt. Add a generous splash of oil, a sprig of basil and the bread slices. Blend again until thick.

Transfer the pate to a bowl and incorporate the toasted pine nuts. Spread the paté inside one or more perfectly clean and dry jars and cover the surface with oil. The bell pepper paté will keep in the refrigerator for up to a week. Serve the paté on slices of warm bread, freshly toasted.

Peach, stracciatella and culatello salad

 Peach, stracciatella and culatello salad

A recipe that deviates from the usual combinations and guarantees a surprising and delicious result. The salad of peaches, stracciatella and culatello is perfect for a light and complete lunch break. Lively flavors in a combination that will win you over.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 peaches
• stracciatella
• sliced culatello
• extra virgin olive oil
• salt
• pepper
• a few basil leaves

An easy, quick recipe and an unusual combination, ready in 5 minutes. For the salad of peaches, stracciatella and culatello you can use yellow peaches, removing the peel, or nectarines, both are perfect and, if you want, you can replace the culatello with raw ham. A few quality ingredients to bring to the table a unique dish with a surprising flavor. You can serve this dish as a salad but also on toasted whole-wheat bread croutons to add crunchiness to the whole.

In summer, when fruit gives its tastiest products, the combination with cheese, sausages, fish and vegetables is a winner, as in the Mozzarella and Fruit Salad or in one of the 8 fruit appetizers we have suggested. Pairings that may seem daring but once experienced will win you over, if you love the classic ham and melon have you ever tried to combine ham with pineapple? A real surprise!

Wash, peel and chop the peaches into chunks. Transfer them to a large serving dish and start composing your peach, stracciatella and culatello salad by adding the stracciatella. 

Add the slices of culatello and a few basil leaves. 

Season with salt, pepper and oil to taste. The peach, stracciatella and culatello salad is ready. 

Exotic rice salad

 Exotic rice salad

Exotic rice salad is perfect for a summer lunch or dinner. Fresh, light, thirst-quenching and colorful, this unique dish features lots of fresh fruit. An easy recipe to try right away!

INGREDIENTS

• 300 g of Carnaroli rice
• 3 slices of fresh pineapple
• 300 g of precooked shrimps
• 1 papaya
• ½ melon
• 2 tablespoons of lemon juice
• 1 avocado
• extra virgin olive oil
• salt
• pepper

Rice salad is the ultimate summer dish. Simple to prepare, you can customize it with an infinite number of ingredients, as in this exotic rice salad, which not only recalls the summer, but makes us imagine we are catapulted into a tropical beach. An easy recipe and at the same time creative, thanks to the fresh mix of shrimp, pineapple, papaya, avocado and melon. 

For less classic combinations, in fact, rice can be combined with shellfish and fruit as in rice salad, shrimp and green apples or mix with meat and spices as in rice salad and chicken with ginger and saffron.

In any case, in order for a rice salad to be successful, the secret is one: rice grains must have a good consistency even after cooking and they must not stick together. There are many varieties that have these characteristics: for this dish we have chosen a white rice, such as Carnaroli, but Venus rice is also an excellent alternative, as in Venus rice salad. 

The first thing to do to prepare the exotic rice salad is to cook the rice. Boil it in abundant boiling salted water for the time indicated on the package. Drain it al dente and place it on a clean cloth to cool. In the meantime, take care of the fruit: peel and remove the seeds and filaments from the melon and papaya and cut the pulp into chunks.

Cut the pineapple into chunks and season with a little freshly ground pepper. Peel the avocado, cut the flesh into cubes, put it in a bowl and season with a tablespoon of oil, a tablespoon of lemon juice, a pinch of salt and a pinch of pepper. When the rice is cold, transfer it to a serving plate (or salad bowl).

Compose the exotic rice salad by adding the shrimp first. Drizzle with three tablespoons of oil and the remaining lemon juice and toss. Then add the fruit: pineapple, papaya, melon and avocado and toss again. The exotic rice salad is ready to serve. 

Genoese Pesto

 Genoese Pesto

Pesto alla Genovese is the most famous sauce of Ligurian cooking. The original recipe calls for the use of seven ingredients, including Genovese basil DOP, garlic of Vessalico and taggiasco oil, the quantities should be established "by eye", according to the experience of the cook.

INGREDIENTS

• Vessalico garlic with the soul removed
• Pine nuts
• Small leaf Genovese DOP basil
• Taggiasco oil
• Salt
• Sardinian fiore pecorino cheese
• Parmesan cheese seasoned 24 months

There is no perfect recipe for Pesto alla Genovese. There is a rule about the type and quality of ingredients and there is good pesto, where good depends, as always, on the taste of the person who prepares and tastes it. We asked Roberto Panizza, a true Genoese and ambassador of pesto in the world, to reveal us some secrets, which we will show you. In the meantime, pay attention to the tools: the mortar is made of marble and the pestle is made of wood, a compact wood like pear wood. Pay attention to the sequence of ingredients and to the basic rule: prepare pesto by hand and not in a blender. 

Also keep in mind that the dosage of ingredients has changed over time: in the past they used much more garlic, whereas today the quantity has been greatly reduced. Many people consume pesto without garlic, but for this preparation it is necessary: it represents the spicy part in a recipe which otherwise would be mainly sweet.

The most important rule of pesto is to never heat it! Pesto must be used cold, diluted with a little cooking water if needed. 

Pesto is good with everything, even on bread. If I had to suggest a pasta format, I would prefer trofie, which wins over everything, but gnocchi and testaroli also make their mark.

You can use pesto to make many tasty recipes. For example, Lasagna with pesto or Trofie with cuttlefish in basil pesto, and finally pasta salads, such as Cold Pasta with cherry tomatoes, pesto and mozzarella.

A final tip: remember to finish the pesto recipe by giving it another turn in a mortar, to better blend the parmesan and oil with the other ingredients. Once ready, you can store the pesto alla genovese in the refrigerator, in a hermetically sealed glass jar, for up to 5 days.

To prepare the pesto alla Genovese, start by crushing the pine nuts and the Vessalico garlic in a mortar. Pound them together to create a floury mixture. 

Add the basil, removing the leaves one by one from the stem and placing them in the mortar along with the garlic and pine nut mixture. Add a pinch of salt, taking care not to overdo it: the parmesan and pecorino, which you will add later, are already very tasty.

Begin to pound: when the leaves are bruised, continue to work them with the mortar using a rotary motion. Change direction of rotation every so often until a cream is formed. 

Add the Parmesan cheese aged 24 months and the pecorino fiore sardo. Add the taggiasco oil and mix with a spoon.

Pound the mixture with the pestle to obtain a homogeneous sauce, adding more oil. Your pesto alla genovese is ready to season pasta, lasagna and gnocchi, as you like.