|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Maccu,
traditional soup - Maccu |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
Ingredients
for 4 servings
1 lb dried broad lima beans
10 1/2 oz. fresh noodles
extra virgin olive oil (gamish)
1 bay leaf,
salt, pepper |
|
It is a typical Sicilian
soup with fresh or dried broad lima
beans which are smashed
while cooking and become a
thick purèe. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Preparation
Soak the beans for one night; drain, transfer to a saucepan
with the bay leaf. Cover with water; add salt and cook at
moderate heat
for about 3 hours,
stirring from time to time with a wooden spatula and crushing
the beans. As soon as the beans are cooked, add
some more
water and the noodles and cook, stirring.
Sprinkle with a dash of pepper and a trickle of oil. Serve
warm.
Variation
"Maccu". according to the place, can be enriched with other ingredients:
yellow pumpkin in the area of Palermo; wild fennel in the
area of catania and
an onion and tomato sauce on the madonie mountains. A particularty rich version
of this soup, typical of the
area of Siracuse, is the " Maccu of St. Joseph",
prepared with assorted dry legumes (garbanzo beans, lentils, beans, dried
peas and
chestnuts), softened and cooked in a saucepan with chopped celery
and tomatoes. The soup, in all its variations, must be seasoned
at the
end with a trickle of fresh olive oil.
|
|
|
Garbanzo
beans soup
- Minestra di ceci |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
Ingredients
for 4 servings
1 lb garbanzo beans,
1 med. onion,
4 mature large tomatoes,
parsley 1 bu.,
1/2 cup extra
virgin olive oil,
Rosemary 1 sprig,
baking soda 1 pinch,
salt, pepper TT. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Preparation
Soak the garbanzo beans in water with a pinch of baking soda
for one night.
Standard bean cooking procedure. Sautè the chopped
onion,
rosemary and parsley in a saucepan with 2/3 of the oil; add the
chopped tomatoes and simmer a little. Add the well drained
garbanzo
beans and cover with water; add salt and cook on moderate heat
for a couple of hours.
At the end season the soup with a
trickle of raw oil and a dash
of ground black pepper.
Variation
Garbanzo beans soup in eastern Sicily in prepared without
the tomato and, often enriched with rice.
|
|
|
Sciusceddu - Sciusceddu |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
Ingredients
for 4 servings
3 cups chicken broth,
9 oz. ground veal,
14 oz. ricotta,
5 eggs.
parsley bu.,
grated parmesan
1 tbsp,
dried breadcrumbs 1/4 cup,
salt, pepper TT. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Preparation
Mix the minced veal with an egg, a handful of minced parsley,
a pinch of salt, a dash of pepper, 1 spoon of grated parmesan
and
some breadcrumbs.
Mix well, make balls as big as olives and put in a pot with the
boiling broth.
Separate the yolks from egg whites
and whisk the egg whites until
stiff.
Mix the yolks with the ricotta, the minced parsley, a handful
of grated Parmesan, and a pinch of
salt and pepper.
Transfer the broth and rissoles to a baking-pan, preferably oven
proof earthenware; add the egg whites to the
mixture of eggs
and ricotta. Spread over veal mixture and cover completely.
Bake in warm oven for about ten minutes and serve
immediately.
|
|
|
Zucchini
and linguine - Linguine con zucchine fritte |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
Ingredients
for 4 servings
14 oz. linguine,
2 green zucchini,
1 glass extra virgin olive oil,
parmesan (or pecorino) grated
1 clove of garlic,
salt, pepper TT. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Preparation
Wash and cut the zucchini; then sprinkle with salt. Brown the
crushed clove of garlic in a frying pan with oil; discard the
garlic and fry
the zucchini. Drip and keep warm in a dish. Boil
the pasta in salty water; strain al dente and season with the
same oil the
vegetables were fried in; dust with pepper and toss
in the zucchini.
|
|
|
Pasta
and Fish soup - Minestra di pasta con pesce |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
Ingredients
for 4 servings
7 oz. small pasta (stars, rings, osmarina, etc.),
2 lbs. assorted fish for soup,
1 medium
onion,
1 clove of garlic,
extra virgin olive oil,
1/2 stalk of celery,
1 spoon tomato paste,
fresh
parsley 1 bu.,
salt, pepper TT. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Preparation
Clean the fish thoroughly.
Sautè a crushed clove of garlic in a saucepan with 1/2
cup of oil; take out and add the shredded onion,
celery and parsley.
Dissolve the tomato concentrate in 6 1/4 cups of water and simmer
for a few minutes; add salt, pepper and the
fish and cook on
low heat for 10-15 minutes.
Take the fish out, clear of bones, flake and put back in the
casserole with the strained
broth.
Boil and add the small pasta. Add some minced parsley to garnish
and serve.
|
|
|
Cuscus - Cuscus |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
Ingredients
for 4 servings
1 lbs. semolina of durum wheat,
3 cloves of garlic,
fresh parsley 1 bu.,
1 big onion,
1 heart of
celery with leaves,
bay leaves,
2 lbs. of assorted fish for soup,
(among which scorpion fish,
ieces of eel and,
1/2 head of rouper),
extra virgin olive oil,
1 lbs. slices of grouper and dentex
fish,
14 oz. of scampi,
1 lbs. of mussels,
dry white wine,
2 spoons tomato paste,
2 oz. peeled
almonds,
salt, pepper TT.
|
|
|
The cuscus
is a specialty from Trapani, of Arabic origin. Unlike the African
cuscus, which features vegetables and mutton, the Sicilian
one
is with fish, though still maintaining the same base of superfine
flour kneaded (" incocciata") with water. There are
a number of
variations in the whole province, from the one with
cauliflower to that with pork meat or with snails.
Preparation
Sprinkle the semolina in a "mafaradda" (terracotta
bowl with flared sides) with a little salty water and knead
("incocciata") with a
slow and circular movement.
Transfer the semolina to a clean towel and let
dry, for at least a couple of hours.
Brown the shredded
onion, celery and parsley in
a saucepan with oil; add the concrentrated tomato
dissolved in abundant warm water, a pinch of salt,
a
dash of pepper and simmer for about ten minutes.
Add the fish and the finely chopped garlic and almons and cook.
As soon as the
semolina has dried up, trickle with
oil, coat well with both hands to absorb the seasonings,
flavor with minced garlic, onion and an
abundant
dusting of pepper.
Transfer all to the cuscusiera ( special saucepan
of earthenware with holes, replaceable with a colander
of the
same diameter of the pot on which it must be fitted),
in which will have put the bay leaves covering
the holes. Put the
colander on the pot with the fish soup and
seal the edges of the two containers, wrapping around a cloth
previously dampened and
rubbed in flour where the containers
meet to prevent the dispersion of steam.
Cook, partially covered, for about 1 hour.
Transfer the
cuscus to the "mafaradda"; trickle
with part of the broth strained from the soup ( in which
you have let the fish flake, to have a
thicker and
tastier broth) and let rest, for about 5 hours,
under a wool blanket. Boil the remaining soup and add the mussels
(first
open shells, boiling the mussels at high heat in another
saucepan) the prawns and the pieces of fish and
serve the soup with the
cuscus, straining a part of the broth,
which can be added according to taste.
|
|
|
Baked
Pasta - Anelletti al forno |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
Ingredients
for 6 servings
1 lbs. ring pasta,
9 oz. ground veal (or a mix of minced veal and pork),
3 cups tomato sauce,
1 medium onion,
1/2 carrot,
1/2 celery stalk,
1 1/2 oz. butter,
6 tablespoons extra virgin olive
oil,
basil,
3 1/2 oz. fresh caciocavallo,
2 oz. of grated parmesan,
7 oz. shelled peas,
2 spoons
tomato concentrate,
fresh parsley 1 bu.,
1 large eggplant,
seed oil,
3 boiled eggs,
1 small
glass of dry Marsala wine (or 1/2 glass of dry white
wine),
1/2 cup breadcrumbs,
sugar TT, salt, pepper TT. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Preparation
Brown the minced celery, carrot and 1/2 onion in a saucepan
with 1 tablespoon of butter and 2 tablespoons of oil; add the
minced
meat and brown.
Add some wine and the peas and simmer for a couple of minutes.
Dissolve the tomato concentrate in a cup of
warm water: add salt,
peppersprinkle with minced parsley and cook at low heat, for
about 40 minutes, stirring occasionally.
wash the eggplant; cut off its steam, slice, put in a colander
and sprinkle with coarse salt and let rest. After 1 hour rinse,
dry and fry
the eggplant in abundant seed oil; lay the slices
on paper towels to drain excess fat.
Brown the remaining onion, in a casserole with
oil; add the tomato
paste, a pinch of salt, a dash of pepper, a pinch of sugar and
a handful of leaves of basil. Mix and cook at
medium heat for
about twenty minutes.
In the meantime, cook the pasta in plenty of salty water; cook
al dente and drain, season
with the sauce and the grated parmesan
( leave 1 spoonful). Pour half of this mixture in a buttered
baking-pan sprinkled with
breadcrumbs; cover with the meat sauce.
Arrange in layers the eggplants, the sliced eggs and the diced
caciocavallo.
Cover with the
remaining pasta and sprinkle with the parmesan
and a handful of breadcrumbs.
Top with bits of butter and bake for about 1 hour.
Variation
In some areas of eastern Sicily baked pasta is enriched with bits
of salami or sausage, fresh tuma instead of caciocavallo and
meatballs
with peas in meat sauce instead of minced meat. Furthermore, a
type of flan ("gattò") is made with the same seasoning
of this
recipe in the whole island, with some local variations. Shortcrust
(with little sugar) filled with macaronis, used instead of rings,
seasoned
with meat sauce and flavored with some truffe makes, instead, the "timballo
(flan) of the monzù".
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
