Easy Italian Recipes: Antipasti, First Courses, Second Courses & Desserts

Loli de Concini's Traditional Tuscany - Holiday Accommodation in Tuscany

Loli's Easy Italian Recipes

Italian Cooking is world famous for good reason, it is mouth-watering delicious, not least because of the excellent ingredients, most of which is local produce, but also for the simplicity of the recipes. Complicated sauces and hard-to-execute methods are not a characteristic of Italian cooking, but it is best described as good old-fashioned down home food.

I have collected some of my favourite recipes for you to try, so that you can have a taste of Italy that will make you feel like you are already here, or will remind you of past visits. The recipes are arranged into:

Antipasti
First Courses - Primi
Second Courses - Secondi
Desserts - Dolce

	Crostini with chicken liver (4 people) 350g of chicken liver Half onion 1 spoon of capers 2 anchovies filets 1 glass of white wine Broth 4 slices of Tuscan bread 4 spoons of extra virgin olive oil Salt Freshly ground pepper
Finely chop the onion and brown in a saucepan with oil. Add the cleaned chicken liver. Cook for 10 minutes moistening occasionally with white wine. Drain and chop finely and return to frypan. Rinse and clean anchovies, chop finely with capers and add to chicken livers. Continue cooking, stirring and moistening with a few tablespoons of broth. After 10 minutes, when the mixture is dense, add salt and pepper. Take off the heat, add 2 teaspoons of oil. Toast bread rounds, cut into 4 parts and spread the mixture evenly. Serve as antipasto.
	Spaghetti with pesto and almonds 350 gr. spaghetti 3 cloves of garlic 30 basil leaves 10 peeled almonds 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil 1 ripe tomato 100 gr. grated pecorino Salt and pepper
Put garlic, basil and the skinned seeded tomato in food-processor, mix to make the pesto. Add a little olive oil. Fry the almonds in boiling olive oil, then drain and chop finely. Add to the pesto and continue adding more oil, so that you obtain a smooth sauce. Add a little pepper. Cook the spaghetti, drain and mix with the pesto. Serve with grated pecorino cheese.
	Stuffed rabbit 1 large rabbit, cleaned, boned and flattened 2 eggs 6 tbsp grated pecorino or parmesan cheese ½ tsp grated nutmeg Several sprigs fresh thyme 8 fl oz/225 ml beef stock Olive oil Butter Coarse sea salt Pepper
Beat the eggs with the salt and pepper and cook in butter to make a thin omelette. Lay the rabbit out flat and put the omelette on it. Dot with butter and sprinkle on the pecorino, nutmeg and thyme. Roll the rabbit up and tie it carefully, having tucked the ends in. Rub plenty off pepper and coarse sea salt on the rabbit. Heat a few tablespoons of olive oil in a shallow flame-proof casserole and brown the rabbit on all sides in it. Reduce the heat and add the stock, cover. Continue cooking for ½ hours, adding more stock if necessary. When tender, remove the string and serve sliced very thinly in the pan juices with more fresh thyme snipped over the top.
	Sorbetto al vino (Red wine Sorbet Raspberries) 1 litre young red wine - preferably fizzy 7 oz/200g fresh raspberries - slightly crushed 5oz/150g sugar 5/6 fresh mint leaves ( and more for garnish)
Boil the sugar, mint leaves and wine together for 2 minutes or until the sugar is dissolved. Add to the raspberries and allow to sit for at least one hour, stirring occasionally. Remove the mint and put the mixture trough a food- processor. Freeze in an ice tray in the freezer (normal ice-making setting) for about 3 hours, stirring frequently until no more ice crystals form, serve with more mint leaves (dipped in sugar and water, then frozen) as a garnish.