FAMigiana

Sorry about the punny title: this is my take on a classic Italian recipe called parmigiana, an oven dish with layered aubergines. (Yes, I am rather partial to aubergines, and they are the only vegetables that I feel have to be cooked – in a rich sauce – until they are totally mushy.) Unlike the traditional version, which at least in some recipes adds a layer of béchamel sauce, and also, in at least one instance a thin layer of ham, this one is really just vegetables and one can even leave out the grated cheese on top if this needs to be vegan.

What you need

·       4 medium-sized aubergines cut into thin slices

·       seasalt for rubbing the aubergines

·       1 tblsp tandoori masala (more if you like a hot dish)

·       2 good-sized onions, finely chopped

·       2 – 5 cloves of garlic in thin slices

·       1 tblsp cinnamon powder

·       2 veggie stock cubes, crumbled

·       150 ml red wine or Marsala

·       500 ml of passata or chopped tomatoes

·       2 tblsp honey

·       2 tblsp vine vinegar

·       olive oil for frying

·       generous grated cheese (I like pecorino romano possibly with the same amount of parmesan added)

What you do

1.     Cut the aubergines length-wise into thin slices, salt the cut generously with sea salt and leave to sit for 60 minutes. In the meantime prepare the sauce:

2.     Sauté the onions and the garlic, add the tandoori and keep stirring until the onions are soft, add the stock cubes and cinnamon, then the wine or Marsala.

3.     Stir in the passata, add the vinegar and the honey. Leave to simmer on a small flame. Make sure the mixture is not salty.

4.     Rinse the aubergines well and pat them dry, then fry them in olive oil in single layers until they are golden brown. Some say one should remove olive oil after the frying but I think that would be waste of good olive oil.

5.     Place the aubergines and the sauce in layers in an ovenproof dish. At the end you may want to deglaze the frying pan with a bit of wine, which can be added to the liquid

6.     Cover generously with the grated cheese and bake at 175° for at least 30 minutes or until crispy brown on top, then reduce the heat to 120° (perhaps cover with silver foil) for another 10 to 15 minutes.

You can serve this with fresh bread or as I did, with some cooked buckwheat. (Per person 60 gr of whole buckwheat, 100 ml vegetable stock, brought to the boil and then left to steep for 15 minutes beside the stove or on a tiny flame). Alternatives would be pasta, risotto or tabbouleh.

Walnut Pesto

This is a quick-fix cold pesto that works very well with almost any kind of pasta. If the ingredients are at hand it can easily be made in the time it takes to get the pasta al dente.

It has a very strong nutty flavour. If too dry, add a bit of pasta water before serving.

 

 

What you need

• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 3 – 5 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 200 g walnuts, soaked in boiling water for 5 – 10 minutes, then drained
• 100 g pecorino romano, grated (not in the picture), parmesan if you don’t like sheep’s cheese
• 50 – 100 ml olive oil
• 100 ml fresh cream or double cream (if watching the pounds, single cream may do…)
• salt and pepper to season
• optionally: some finely pounded chilli pepper to taste

What you do

• Grind the nuts and mix with the pecorino.
• Blend with the liquid ingredients and, if necessary, some pasta water, to the desired consistency.
• Mix with ready pasta and serve with more grated pecorino or parmesan.

My Flämechüeche (fam-Chüeche ?)

 This is my take on a kind of Alsatian pizza dish (minus tomatoes) called Flämechüeche, which is made with bacon on top. As we sometimes eat fish but usually no meat, I came up with an alternative topping, smoked salmon. The rest, the crème fraîche and the pecorino romano, which is reminiscent of pizza pugliese, came about  because the combination of onions and something with an acidic flavour (usually lemon juice) goes well with smoked fish.

If you have the dough ready, this is a really quick dish.

What you need

• 150 ml crème fraîche
• 80-90 g coarsely grated pecorino romano
• 1 larghish onion (about 120g), chopped or sliced
• 2+ cloves of garlic, pressed
• if necessary a little salt, pepper, perhaps some cheese mix or cajun spice for a bit of punch
• 500 g Italian-style bread (recipe below; also check out the remarks)
• 200 g smoked salmon cut into strips (Alternatively use the same amount of smoked bacon).

What you do

1. Mix all ingredients, the crème fraîche, the pecorino, the onion and the garlic and season if necessary.
2. Roll out 500 g dough to about 35 x 45 cm.
3. 
4. Spread the cheese etc. mix evenly all the way out to the edges of the dough. (If using bacon, about 200g, put it on now.) 
5. Bake in a preheated oven at 200° until the topping is lightly browned.
6. Take out and cover with the strips of salmon, then serve immediately.

Italian-style bread (can be used for pizza or bread rolls)

1 kg flour (See below)

1 tblsp sea salt

4 tblsp olive oil

1 cube fresh yest (42 gr)

ca 450 ml warm water.

For the bread I usually use about half spelt and half flour but it is also possible to use all wheat or all spelt. The amount of liquid differs because spelt absorbs liquid differently from wheat. Although I prefer whole meal most of the time, this bread becomes lighter if you use white flour.

The recipe makes about 3 pounds of dough. What I do not use up right away I usually cut into lumps of 250 g, flatten a bit and freeze with a piece of baking paper between the flattened lumps to prevent the dough from sticking together. This defrosts in next to no time and works great for a quick pizza or a quick F(l)amechueche...