ITALIAN DISHES

                                                      MINESTRONE

A delightful Italian soup.

 

Ingredients:

2 cups coarsely chopped onions

1 cup chopped celery

1 cup chopped parsley

¼ cup olive oil

2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced

5 cups beef broth

2 cups, skinned, deseeded, and chopped tomatoes

1 cup tomato sauce

2 tbsp fresh chopped basil

Salt and pepper to taste

750 g (1 ½ lb) veal cut into bite-sized pieces

1 ½ cups sliced courgettes

1 cup uncooked spaghetti, broken into small  pieces

 

In a saucepan, sauté the onions, celery, and parsley in olive oil until tender,  Add the garlic and cook 1 minute longer.  Pour in the broth, tomatoes and tomato sauce, carrots, basil, salt, and pepper, and bring to a boil.

 

In a large frying pan sauté the meat in olive oil until no longer pink and transfer to a plate.  Then pour off all but 2 tbsp of olive oil from the pot and reduce the heat to medium, and add the meat with its juices and simmer until the meat is tender, approximately 2 ½ hours. 

 

Skim the liquid for impurities and strain it through a fine sieve over the meat.  Cover and refrigerate overnight.

 

About 2 hours before you wish to serve, spoon any fat from the surface of the soup and discard.  Then heat the soup to a simmer and drop in the spaghetti and boil for 12 minutes or until “al dente”.

 

Serve the minestrone sprinkled with Parmesan.   

 

 

                                                    PASTA CON FAGIOLI

1 tbsp olive oil

2 stalks celery, threaded and chopped

3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced

2 tbsp chopped parsley

1 tsp Italian seasoning

½ tsp crushed red pepper

Salt to taste

Olive oil

435 ml (14.5 fl oz) chicken broth

2 medium tomatoes, halved, deseeded, grated, skins discarded

160 g (8 oz) tinned tomato sauce

½ cup uncooked spinach pasta

450 g (15 oz) tinned cannellini beans with their liquid

Grated Parmesan

 

Sauté celery, onion, garlic, Italian seasoning, red pepper flakes, and salt in hot olive oil, until onions are translucent, about 5 minutes.  Stir in the chicken broth, tomatoes, and tomato sauce and simmer for 20 minutes.

 

Add pasta and cook for 10 minutes until it is tender.  Add the undrained beans and heat through.  Serve sprinkled with Parmesan.

A friend brought osso buco for our bridge lunch, which we all thoroughly enjoyed.                 

 

                                                     OSSO BUCO

6 large pieces of veal

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

3 tbsp olive oil

1 large carrot, scraped and chopped

1 leek, white part only, trimmed and chopped

1 celery stalk, threaded and chopped

1 onion, peeled and grated

3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced

1 tbsp finely grated lemon zest

½ tsp crushed red pepper

3 tomatoes, halved, deseeded, grated, skins discarded

 

2 rosemary sprigs

5 thyme sprigs

2 bay leaves

 

1 cup white wine

4 cups chicken stock

Grated lemon zest

Chopped parsley

 

Season the meat and refrigerate overnight.  Preheat oven to 180 C (350 F). Remove the meat from the fridge and sauté 3 pieces of meat in olive oil and cook for 8 minutes, turning occasionally until brown and place on a plate.  Then repeat the same procedure with the remaining meat.

 

Add the carrots, celery, onion, and garlic to the pan and simmer in olive oil for 3 minutes, stirring constantly.  Pour in the wine and stock and cook until the liquid reduces by half.  Add the tomato, rosemary, thyme, and bay leaves and return the meat to the pan and bring to a boil, and place in the oven and roast for 1 ½ hour until the meat is tender discarding the herbs.  

 

Serve the meat and vegetables garnished with grated lemon zest and chopped parsley. 

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