How to put together a fancy Cheese Platter

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I went to a specialty cheese store and I went a little crazy.... they let me try everything and I was able to put together this amazing combination!

1. Tavoliere delle Puglie w/ hot pepper jam
2. French creamy herbed cheese
3. Boucheron w/ raw honey
4. (I don't know the name of this one, it's similar to a soft parmigiano reggiano) w/ apricot jam
5. Gorgonzola. I didn't pair it with anything this time, but I usually serve it with a selection of raw veggies (celery, carrots, peppers, fennel) or a selection of pears (soft ones, juicy ones, firm ones).

I served everything with a homemade Focaccia made from my Pizza Dough. A-mazing!

What to drink with this?

In Italy we often eat this as an appetizer, or if we are at a party we pick on it while we wait for dinner to be ready.

Because all the cheeses I chose are creamy or soft, you can choose amongst these different types of wines:

RED
Go with something that has a red fruit element:
Chianti, Sangiovese, Nero D'avola, Merlot

WHITE
Go with something that has a citrus element, dry, with good acidity, and maybe some sparkles!
Ribolla Gialla, Pinot Grigio, Prosecco Spumante, Franciacorta

If you want to serve the platter at the end of the meal, try it with a dessert wine like Passito di Pantelleria (the best ones are Ben Rye' and Kamma) or a Malvasia.

Enjoy!
Valentina
RealItalianKitchen

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Italian Fast Food: Tomato Salad Variation no 1.

What's the fastest and healthiest thing you can put on your plate?

A salad. With all those tomatoes laying around the house I decided to make this fast, simple delicious meal!

Ingredients for 2 people:
5 medium size plum tomatoes
1 mozzarella
a bunch of baby spinach
two spoons of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt

Cut the veggies in big chunks and put them in a bowl with the mozzarella cut in cubes and some baby spinach that you have ripped with your hands.
Add oil and salt. Eat with bread or crackers.

Enjoy!
Valentina
Real Italian Kitchen

Aperitivo/Dinner all'italiana (italian style)

This is actually some of my favorite food all put together on a cutting board. Because sometimes cooking is a drag. Because sometimes I just want a glass of wine after a long day at work. Because I don't want to use plates and forks but mostly I don't want to clean them up.






In Italy this wonderful invention is called Aperitivo: in theory it should only be a pre-dinner social meet up where you have a glass of wine and some snacks but in many parts of Italy this has turned into the Aperi-cena (meaning half aperitivo half dinner) because you can end up eating and drinking so much that you don't have to go have dinner.

Any selection of cured meats and cheeses would work, here's what was on my cutting board:

French Brie
Mozzarella (buy it locally because the imported ones loose their taste while traveling)
Prosciutto Crudo di Parma (remember that the end cut is always the sweetest most tender part)
Vermont Cheddar
Salame Felino

As vegetables I had:
Fresh seasonal salad with fennel, radish, mixed greens, peppers (with extra virgin olive oil, salt and balsamic vinaigre)
Tomato Salad (with just a little bit of extra virgin olive oil and salt)

A lot of bread.... a lot of your favorite red wine....

Enjoy!
Valentina
Real Italian Kitchen 

Seafood Salad - Summer's favorite

Seafood Salad - appetizer size

Today I would like to interest you in a wonderful warm dish that is served all over the coasts of Italy in the Summer Time.
The Seafood Salad is a bed of cold vegetables (and sometimes fruit) topped by simply cooked fresh seafood (shrimp, prawns, lobster, calamari, clams, muscles).

It's a little expensive, but the quality of the fish makes the salad, so don't go cheap on the fish choice, or your dish WILL suck. If you don't have a lot of money and would still like to enjoy such marvelous invention of culinary art, make it an appetizer and buy less fish.
I save it for special occasions. I like to pair it with a nice bottle of Champagne (Piper, Moet Chandon, Veuve Cliquot are the cheapest ones and they sell in the States for around $40) or a more affordable bottle of Vermentino, a wonderful italian wine peculiar of Toscana, Liguria. Actually at Wine and Spirits I recently saw for sale a Vermentino LUNAE, which is from the area where I'm from. I've visited their vineyard many times with my father (who's a sommelier) and I've always enjoyed their selections.

So, how to make a Seafood Salad. 

Raw vegetables cut in strips:
Carrots, celery, fennel, radish, tomatoes, peppers, mixed green. Pick and choose the ones you want to use or use all of them, for endless combinations.

Seafood:
shrimp, prawns, lobster, calamari, clams, muscles. The last time I made this I only chose shrimp and jumbo shrimp (carabineros) and it was amazing.

Cooking directions:
Shrimp, prawns, lobster, calamari: boil in salted water for no more then 5 minutes. If you overcook these things they get really tough. It's better to keep it undercooked, if it's fresh this stuff can be consumed raw, so you risk nothing.
Clams and muscles: cook in a large pan with a cup of water, cover with a lid until the clam inside is a more intense color (orange for muscles, light brown for clams).

Vinaigrette for 2 people:
3 table spoon of extra virgin olive oil
1 table spoon of lemon (freshly squeezed)
1 table spoon of orange juice (freshly squeezed)
1 tea spoon of mustard
salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with the veggies on the bottom, the fish nicely displayed on top and the vinaigrette on the side or right on top of the food.

Enjoy!
Valentina
Real Italian Kitchen