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Sicilian Caponata: a sweet-and-sour summertime classic!

July 29, 2016 By very EATalian 4 Comments

Sicilian Caponata: a sweet-and-sour summertime classicIf you’re tired of serving the same ol’ potato salad at your summer barbeques or picnics, I’d like to suggest an excellent alternative which also happens to make GREAT leftovers: caponata, i.e. a lovely summer vegetable dish, combining wonderful Sicilian sweet-and-sour flavors.

In this recipe, eggplants are the stars of the show: they are cut in pieces, fried (or sauteed) and then cooked briefly together with a softened ensemble of onions, celery, fresh tomatoes, capers, olives, and raisins. The most important additions are a generous splash of good vinegar and a couple tablespoons of sugar — both enhancing the sweet and sour taste for which caponata is known (in Italian, we call it agrodolce). A sprinkle of chopped almonds or pine nuts add a nice bit of crunchiness to the dish. Needless to say, all ingredients must be fresh and of the best quality you can find.

In order for the eggplant pieces to retain their shape, you must salt them and leave them in a colander to drain for about 30 minutes; salt draws the bitterness and the excess liquid out of the eggplant, preserving some of its firmness during cooking….

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Filed Under: Appetizers, Side Dishes, Vegetarian Tagged With: antipasto, appetizer, caponata, crostini, eggplant, sicilian, side dish, snack, southern Italy, stew, summer, vegetables, vegeterian

Italian Hot Chocolate + Pumpkin Cookies

November 16, 2015 By very EATalian Leave a Comment

Italian Hot Chocolate + Pumpkin Cookies | Very EATalianPumpkin cookies | Very EATalianPumpkin cookies | Very EATalianMy mom’s hot chocolate has magical powers. When she makes it, everybody suddenly appears around the kitchen table. Seriously. It’s like the house is empty and all of the sudden it’s loud, festive, and crowded with cousins and aunts. I can’t blame them. I can’t resist its powerful attraction either — her hot chocolate is juuust perfect. It’s not too sweet and it’s thick enough to give you a mustache when you drink it too fast. (Ok, maybe that only happens to me.)…

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Filed Under: Desserts & Sweets, Drinks Tagged With: Chocolate, cookies, pumpkin, snack

Mini Jam Tarts

March 31, 2015 By very EATalian Leave a Comment

Mini Jam Tarts | veryEATalian-10
Mini Jam Tarts | veryEATalian-22These little tarts (crostatine in Italian) were one of my favorite afternoon snacks when I was a kid. Back then, my grandmother used to buy them from the grocery store and kept them in her pantry, right next to the paper napkins. When it was ora della merenda (“snack time”- around 4pm), I’d run next door and sneakingly grab one of them. I even remember further digging in the box to look for a little match box that contained a little surprise toy (Sorpresine del Mulino Bianco may sound familiar to whomever was a child in the 80s in Italy!). I spent so many afternoons playing with my brother and my cousins with a crostatina in one hand and one of those little toys in the other. Who needed videogames back then? Sure, we watched cartoons but we certainly spent a lot of time outside playing with simple things like those little toys…and we were happy kids!

When I recreated this childhood snack, I couldn’t help but smile while reminiscing about those times. These tarts are only made of short pastry dough and jam. Quite simple, isn’t it? Their small size and the beautiful lattice top make them look so adorable! I couldn’t stop taking photos of them and – ahem – you can tell I went a little overboard this time…

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Foto coppia 1
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MINI JAM TARTS – CROSTATINE ALLA MARMELLATA
Servings: Makes five 4.75″ tarts (8-10 people) | Prep time:  15 min (dough) + 25 min (tarts assembling) | Rest time:  30 min  | Bake time: 30 min

Recommended equipment: 4.75″ tart pans, rolling pin

INGREDIENTS
Short Pastry Dough
150 g (10 Tbsp + 2 tsp) unsalted butter
125 g (1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp) granulated sugar
1 large egg
250 g (2 cups) all-purpose flour
a dash of vanilla
a pinch of salt
vegetable oil for plastic wrap
a bit of sugar to sprinkle on top

Filling
13 oz jam (1 jar)

Egg wash
1 egg
1 Tbsp water or milk

INSTRUCTIONS
1. Cream butter with sugar using a stand mixer. Add salt, egg, and vanilla extract.
2. Sift flour and add it into the mixture. Once flour is incorporated, remove dough from mixing bowl and knead briefly until you obtain a smooth dough.
3. Wrap it in lightly oiled plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
4. Once the dough has rested, place it on a lightly floured surface and roll it out to a bit less than 1/8 inch (3mm). Add flour if too sticky. Cut dough in circles to fit into each tart pan, trimming the dough to cover the bottom and sides of the pan. Reserve excess dough for lattice top.
5. Heat oven to 350F.
6. Pour jam into dough-lined tart pans until half full.
7. Roll out remaining dough and cut into strips. Form a lattice top by following photo tutorial above. Trim even with the crust edge and pinch to seal.
8. Make egg wash by mixing 1 egg and 1 tablespoon of milk or water. Brush strips and crust edge with egg wash. Sprinkle a little sugar on top of egg-washed crust.
9. Bake for 30 minutes, or until crust is golden brown.

Buon appetito!

-Lisa

Filed Under: Breakfast, Desserts & Sweets Tagged With: crostata, dessert, jam, short pastry, snack, tart

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WELCOME!

WELCOME!

I'm Lisa and this is where I like to share Italian recipes and stories about my Italian family. If you'd like to learn more about me, head over to my About page.

[F O L L O W • M E • O N • B L O G L O V I N' ]

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