Pumpkin Risotto with a drizzle of roasted pumpkin seed oil

Not 100% traditional since I tried to use long pepper instead of regular peppercorns, I was trying to get a more subtle pepper taste in the slice since I always remove peppercorns when I eat mortadella, but it was the same with long pepper.

Still even in Italy we got multiple types of mortadella not just traditional and pistachios are one big example of not traditional since the traditional recipe from bologna do not use them (but I still think mortadella with pistacchi is a lot better).

And everything else is on point, taste too so I think my recipe is fine.

My non-traditional recipe is this:

- 1.7 kg ground pork (lean part)

- 300 g pork lardons (you can use fresh pork belly, for example; if you have leftover lean part, chop it finely and blend it with the rest of the ground pork)

- 300 g sausage paste (preferably plain, without fennel or other ingredients). My supermarket sells it without casing, but you can also use it from pre-made sausages. In the past, I've seen that the basic spices used in sausage also work well in mortadella, and it's also a way to preserve it longer, since the sausage paste already contains some preservatives (so avoid buying nitrites/nitrates on purpose, which, after all, are of relatively little use in this cooked preparation, aside from the pink color). Note: in my previous test, I used 50%; from what I see, even much less is fine for maintaining the color.

- 40g salt

- 60g pistachios

- 2g ground pepper or nutmeg (I use ground pepper)

- 2g cinnamon

- 1 glass of white wine with a clove of garlic (in my case I had a garlic clove, but it's essentially the same; it's not used in the dough (you can reuse it in another dish), it adds flavor to the wine), and 1 star anise or 1 clove (I used star anise), which is also not used in the dough but just as a way to give the wine more flavor.

- In theory, there are 10 peppercorns, but I wouldn't use them. This time I tried using long pepper, but that was also a mistake; next time I won't use them at all.

Preparation

Create the pork lardons and boil them for 10 minutes in water with half a teaspoon of salt (not a precise measurement, I don't think in tablespoons, I usually give grams, when you see something else it just mean that no precise measurments is needed). Let them cool.

Blend the meat a little at a time with a splash of cold water from the refrigerator until it forms a paste. After blending everything (including any lean part from the fresh pork belly and the sausage paste, blended with a bit of ground pork to mix them properly), add salt, ground pepper, cinnamon, and wine and mix well. Then blend again in small doses (otherwise the blender will break down given the consistency); this time, you shouldn't need to add any more water. Keep in mind that with the quantities in question, even half a liter of cold water should be absorbed by the meat.

The cold water also helps prevent overheating while blending, so don't skimp on it.

Gradually add the pork lardons, pistachios, and, if you really want to, the peppercorns to the mixture, which has already been blended twice (obviously, these must remain whole, so don't re-blend after adding them).

Once all the meat has been blended, it's time to stuff it into the casing. You can do as I did this time and prepare a beef, pork, or synthetic casing, rehydrate it in water and a tablespoon of wine vinegar (the casing is usually sold dry or vacuum-packed in brine, but it still needs to be rehydrated). I used a beef casing.

Or you can do as I did last time, using a casing made of parchment paper, then covered with foil, it works fine but the esternal part of your mortadella will not be protected by oxidation at all so expect a grey color instead of the casing color on the outside.

Tie your casing well (not like I did, as I'm not good at tying it evenly), then bake it (fan off) very slowly at 80°C, until the thermometer probe reads 70°C at the core.

The casing may or may not brown depending on how you cook it. Traditionally, dry ovens are used, but I find it easier to add a drop of boiling water to the bottom so that any juices don't make a mess on the bottom of the oven... in theory, you can also cook sous vide... with mortadella, the only important thing is the core temperature, which is 70°C at the core.

In my case, it took 13 hours of cooking to reach this internal temperature.

Once cooked, the mortadella should be cooled as quickly as possible in a large container with cold water and ice or with cold running tap water, or whatever is most convenient for you. Then dry, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 1 day.

When cold, cut into slices as thinly as possible. If you added peppercorns or long pepper, congratulations! Now you'll have to remove it from each slice. XD (I'm kidding, if you like it, you did the right thing).

Alternatively, use it in cubes in pasta or other preparations. If it's your first time trying it, congratulations on becoming addicted to the mortadella god XD.

3 hour pomodoro. Cooked with fresh tomatoes, onions, garlic, celery and carrots. Simmered until liquid evaporated, then baked at 200C with a cartouche and lid to blend flavors. Steeped basil at end for 20 minutes. Strained onion, carrots, garlic and celery from the pomodoro sauce and immersion blended those extra veggies into a bruschetta spread.

What’s your go-to pasta sauce? 🍝 I’m team tomato sauce, but I’m curious what everyone else prefers.🍅🥫

I’ve wanted to make polenta for a while so made this inspired by northern Italy.

The polenta took a little trial and error. I reckon it was about 5:1 water to corn to keep a nice flowing texture. Lots of cheese and butter added.

The braising liquid was reduced quite heavily.

Overall pretty good, if a little messy.

Basil

Garlic

Pine nuts

Parmesan

Olive oil

Rigatoni

Scaloppine, risotto e pasta

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Hi all. I'm currently in the simmering phase of making my bolognese sauce. I'm following the instructions from a chef I took a bolognese making class with in Bologna.

I'm at this step:

After tomato paste add the vine (for 400gr. Meat 1 and 1/2 glass) and then the stock to cover the meat, add the bouquet garnì and cover with a lid. Change the heat with a smaller and keep cook on low heat (simmering) for about 2,5 hours

Currently 20min into the simmering phase, and I'm a bit confused. It says to cover with a lid and doesn't specify whether to fully or partially cover. Any suggestions? It's currently fully covered but if it stays fully covered the entire time, I don't see how the water (I used water instead of stock) is going to evaporate

Da 5 anni a questo mi piace sperimentare... Piatti semplici con un po' di fantasia.

I'm making Bolognese for the first time tomorrow. I took a cooking class in Bologna in July and got the recipe from the chef. One of the steps says this:

"add a little of olive oil, stir and check if the vegetable shines with the oil, if not add a little more oil and stir, repeat this until the vegetables shines and the bottom of pot still a bit wet of oil,"

I'm not an experienced cook, and was wondering if this "shine" is going to be something obvious visually? I don't want to add too much oil so I'm hoping this is pretty obvious... I'm not sure why the instructions didn't just mention the precise amount of oil to put... it do so for the meat and veggies....

Pasta cauliflower

Poi classico proprio non so che le uova le ho pastorizzate

First time making what was supposed to be cavatelli by hand (yes, I'm aware mine don't look the best, but they're still mine)...

Ignoring the shape of my pasta... what is the traditional way to cook them? is there a sauce or vegetables this pasta shape gets often paired with?

Out of all pasta dishes out there, vongole would be my favorite. Pinnacle of Southern Italian style.

Ingredients: spaghetti, fresh short-necked and manila clams, garlic, parsley, extra virgin olive oil, white wine, salt, pepper flakes

1. Wash clams with flowing water (sediments already removed with salt water)
2. Infuse olive oil with crushed garlic cloves and parsley stems. Add pepper flakes as garlic scent starts coming out
3. As garlic cloves turn golden brown, toss in clams and pour in a bit of wine, then close the pan with a cap at medium-high heat. Shake the pan a bit in-between
4. Remove clams as they're completely opened. Shuck the clams and leave a few for plating
5. Strain the clam broth and pour back into the pan: aqua di mare
6. Add chopped parsley leaves and stir nicely
7. Toss in pasta 2 minutes before al dente into aqua di mare, stir. Add some pasta water as needed
8. Add clams halfway through, then keep stirring
9. Remove from the heat and mantecare, adding raw olive oil
10. Plate the pasta and top some shelled clams left for plating

There are editions with toasted breadcrumbs (mollica), cherry tomatoes, and lemon zest included as well. Still great with those added. Even bottarga if you have one.