Food

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FOOD

HOW TO MAKE LASAGNE

Ingredients:

· 4 cups of tomato or meat sauce, your choice

· 1 - 1 1/2 pounds lasagna noodles

· 3 eggs

· 1 1/2 cups grated Parmesan cheese

· 32 oz. ricotta cheese

· 2 1/2 lb. Mozzarella cheese

· A pinch of dried oregano, thyme, and basil

· salt & pepper, to taste

· Olive oil to coat the pans

How To Make Lasagne At Home

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and if you are using standard lasagna noodles, bring a pot of water to boil to cook them.

In a large bowl, mix together the eggs, parmesan cheese, and ricotta cheese and season with salt, pepper, and spices.

Lightly coat the bottom of each pan with oil ( I like to use spray olive oil for this job) and then add a little sauce to coat the bottoms. This is especially important if you are using the no-boil noodles because the sauce will help them cook.

There are no hard and fast rules about the order you add ingredients, but it's basically adding a layer of pasta, some of the ricotta cheese mixture, more sauce, another layer of pasta, some mozzarella cheese, some more ricotta cheese mixture, more sauce and so on until you run out of ingredients.

The ingredients will settle a little bit when you bake the lasagna so build right to the top. Make sure you finish with sauce and if you have any left over, save it for when you are serving.

Cover each pan with some aluminum foil and bake for about 35 to 45 minutes until the center of the lasagna is hot, the cheese is melted, the edges are crisp, and your kitchen smells heavenly.

If you decide to eat the lasagna that day, make sure to let it sit for a least 15 minutes to let the flavors meld. Enjoy!

IN OUR LOCAL PASTA FACTORY....

HOW TO MAKE PASTA FOR LASAGNE

HOW TO MAKE TOMATO SAUCE

HOW TO MAKE LASAGNE

HOW TO MAKE GNOCCHI

What you will need· 4 (750g) desiree potatoes, unpeeled

· 1 1 / 3 cups (200g) plain flour, plus a little extra

· Potato ricer or mouli

· Salt

Step-by-step 1. Place potatoes in a saucepan. Cover with cold water and bring to the boil over high heat.

Cook for 20-25 minutes or until just tender when tested with a skewer (don't test too much as potatoes will become waterlogged). Drain well. Set aside until just cool enough to handle. While still hot, peel by hand and discard skins. Using a potato ricer or mouli (French rotary grater), puree potatoes into a bowl. Season to taste with salt. Cool slightly.

2 Add flour to potatoes then use your hands to knead briefly until a soft dough forms. If mixture is still sticky, add a little more flour (the amount of flour added is crucial - too much flour will make the cooked gnocchi heavy and tough, while too little flour will cause gnocchi to disintegrate during cooking). Turn dough on to a lightly floured surface.

3.Cut dough into 4 equal-sized pieces. Using your hands, gently roll each piece out to form a log about 2cm wide. Using a lightly floured knife, cut each log into 1.5cm-long pieces.

4. Roll each ball of gnocchi over the tines of a lightly-floured fork, pressing gently with your index finger or thumb underneath as you go, to form a dent in the back of each one and fork marks on the other side (this creates a textured surface, helping sauces to cling to cooked gnocchi).

5. Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil. Add 1/4 of the gnocchi. As they cook, gnocchi will rise to the surface of the water. Continue cooking gnocchi at the surface for about 10 seconds then remove with a large slotted spoon and drain well. Repeat with remaining gnocchi. Serve immediately, tossed together with your favourite sauce.

IN OUR LOCAL PASTA FACTORY...

TORTA AL TESTO

Torta al Testo is eaten throughout Umbria and its name comes from: Torta, meaning bread or pizza and Testo, the heavy disc on which the bread is cooked. In ancient times the testo was made from clay and placed over coals in the fireplace. Modern times have brought us the contemporary version made from iron and aluminum, and placed directly on the stovetop.

The Torta al Testo dates back to Etruscan times as a simple quick flat bread that did not need a long rising time

The Recipes

500g flour1 heaping teaspoon baking soda1 level teaspoon saltabout 350mL warm water

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl until a ball of dough is formed. If the dough is sticky add a little bit more flour. Knead the dough with your hands for about 5 minutes until it becomes a smooth ball. Let the dough rest in a warm place covered with a towel for about 40 minutes.

Roll dough into a disc.

Place directly onto preheated testo or griddle pan (without oil!). Prick with a fork and let cook over a medium-low heat until brown on one side. Flip and continue to cook on the other side. Let rest for a few minutes off the heat. Cut into wedges and fill each with either prosciutto, cheese or greens and sausage. Buon Appetito!

PIZZA Things You'll Need

· 1 1/4 c. warm water · 1 tsp. salt · vegetable oils or olive oil · 3 1/2 to 4 c. sifted flour · 2 packages dry yeasts · pizza pan or baking sheet · Vegetable Oils Or Olive Oil

· Pizza Pan Or Baking Sheet

• Instructions

1

Sprinkle the yeast into a medium bowl containing 1 1/4 cup warm water and stir until yeast dissolves.

2

Add 2 cups sifted flour and stir until blended.

3

Add another 1 1/2 to 2 cups flour and blend until too stiff to stir with a spoon.

4

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead it for 10 to 15 minutes until dough is smooth and elastic. (See "How to Knead Bread Dough" in the Related eHows.)

5

Place the dough in another bowl greased with a small amount of oil. Turn the dough once so that the top is oiled.

6

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and put it in a warm place for about 45 minutes--until the dough rises to about double its original size.

7

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F.

8

Dump the dough back onto the floured surface and punch it down, getting rid of any bubbles. Divide the dough in half and let it rest a few minutes.

9

Roll each half into a 12-inch circle, depending on your personal preference for how thick pizza crust should be. (It will puff slightly when baked.)

10

Transfer the dough to an oiled pizza pan or baking sheet, or, if you have a baking stone, to a cornmeal-sprinkled wooden pizza peel for transfer directly to the stone.

11

Add sauce, cheese and toppings as desired. If you like, brush exposed edges of the crust with olive oil.

12

Bake each pizza for 15 to 20 minutes, or until crust is nicely browned and cheese is melted.

ROCCIATA DI ASSISIThe Rocciata dates back to the ancient Umbri.

Its name comes from roots that mean ‘castle’ and ‘twisted’. Because of the similarity with the “strudel”, there may even have been some gastronomical influence of the Longobards who used to have their own duchy in this area during the High Middle Ages.

This is a cake that can be found throughout the year (excluding summer), but it is typical of autumn and until the month of January, in particular, prepared for the feast of Saints and the Dead (All Saints day).

Ingredients

For the Pastry250 g flour50g sugar4 egg yolksolive oil (suggested is about 5 tablespoons)a pinch of salt, tepid water added as needed

The filling0.5kg apples sliced thinly100g grape sultanas50g pine nuts and finely broken

walnut kernels & dark chocolate

chips, chocolate powder,

cinnamon.

Making it

Make a fine pastry with the flour, egg yolks, sugar, oil and salt.

Mix well with as much water as is necessary until a soft dough has been formed.

Roll into a very fine layer and place in the centre the apples, the sultanas, pine nuts, walnuts. chocolate chips, chocolate powder & cinnamon.

Roll the rest of the pastry over the contents to form a tube then shape the dough into a horse shoe crescent shape.