How To Make Choux Pastry - Real Italian Kitchen

Pasta Choux - Choux Pastry

I have always been afraid to fail at making choux pastry for years, but I learned that if you follow the recipe to the letter and wait for proper rest times, you can’t miss! 

Ingredients for about 40 shells: 

200 ml water (3/4 cup plus 1tbsp)

100 gr butter (1/2 cup)

a pinch of salt

1 spoon of sugar (omit this if you’re making savory choux) 

130 gr flour, sifted (1 1/3 cup)

4 eggs

Step by Step: 

(you can watch the video up there for, you visual learners!)

1. In a non stick pot heat up the water, butter, sugar and salt, till the butter is completely melted. 

2. Add the flour and stir well, cook until the dough comes off the walls of the pot

3. Add the eggs one by one. DON’T ADD THE NEXT ONE UNTIL THE PREVIOUS ONE HAS BEEN FULLY INCORPORATE OR MISFORTUNE WILL FALL UPON YOU! I’m joking, just blend it well though. 

The result should be a nice sticky dough. Watch the video to see how sticky. 

4. Fill a pastry bag (sac a poche in french and also italian) and push all the dough towards the tip. If you don’t have a pastry bag you can use two spoons. Make walnut size dough mountains, at least one inch apart. 

5. Bake the shells at 220 C/ 425 F for the first 15 minutes (this will brown them) and then turn the oven to 190 C/ 375 F and finish baking for 10 min (this will dry them out. Let them cool on a cooling rack. 

6. Fill with your favorite custard, in the video I show you how to make a quick and easy pastry cream, but you could also check out this other recipe: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XT8gOFi9OvM

Thanks for following the Real Italian Kitchen, please subscribe to the YouTube Channel or to my mailing list if you enjoyed this post, 

Valentina

RealItalianKitchen

Traditional Italian Frittata with TECHEF Frittata pan

Follow the step by step in the video to create a quick and easy meal that's going to please everybody in the family!



Frittata is traditionally something you prepare with leftover bits and pieces you have in the fridge. Today for me it was:



Red Peppers

Onions

Spinach

Cheddar Cheese

and of course 4 Eggs



You could cook it in a regular pan, but if you find yourself making this particular dish often like I do, you'll love the TECHEF frittata pan. I hate flipping the frittata so much in fact that I had to transition to baked frittata. The TECHEF pan makes life easy, it has a nice little handle that you hold on to and that helps you flip the pan, so you can cook your Frittata on both sides.



If I may point out one small fault of the pan is that it's too small,  it fits max 4 eggs, so it can feed max 2 people. But I do like how practical it is and I'm going to buy one for my Nonna for Christmas, she loves making Frittatas and I think she will love the flippable pan.



Enjoy the video and if you decide to acquire the TECHEF pan let me know  how it works out for you!



Valentina

RealItalianKitchen

How to make Frittata with Zucchini and Potatoes

A simple frittata can really get you all set for a great light lunch or dinner! Or breakfast... I guess...!

I hope you enjoy this video as much as I enjoyed making it and eating my grandma's Frittata!

 Valentina and Mimmi'
Real Italian Kitchen

Home made Strawberry Sorbet with Kitchen aid Ice Cream Maker Attachment - Real Italian Kitchen

I couldn't be more thrilled about my purchase of the ice cream maker attachment for my Kitchen Aid.
I found it on Amazon for a fair price and I couldn't resist, I love Gelato and I'm never satisfied with the one you buy at the grocery store!

I bought it with my own money, this blog and the video are not sponsored by Kitchen Aid, so you can rest assure that my review is honest! 

A FEW TIPS...!
- The attachment comes with a manual, make sure you read the instructions before you start the process!
- Practice mounting the attachment on the Kitchen Aid, for me it wasn't easy and the instructions on the manual are not clear.
- Keep the bowl in the freezer overnight
- Any ice cream maker recipe will work, but you might want to start with small doses, the ice cream tends to grow a lot while it churns.

Utensils:

Obviously you need a Kitchen Aid with the whip attachment and the ice cream attachment
A bowl with a spout or a silicon measuring cup or a tall container with a spout.
A plastic spatula (don't scrape the ice cream churner with metal..!)

Ingredients for the Strawberry Sorbet (Sorbetto alla Fragola)

200ml or 1 cup of water
250gr or 2 cups of strawberries 
150gr or 1+1/2 cup sugar
The juice of 1 lemon and 1 orange
1 egg white, whipped

All my ingredients were organic. It made a difference.

CLIC HERE AND Watch the video for step by step instruction!


Enjoy!

Valentina
Real Italian Kitchen

How to make short bread cookies with heavy cream - Ricetta per le Macine della Mulino Bianco

I say screw Barilla after the statements made against gay people, I do not support them anymore. I've never liked their pasta anyway. DeCecco is so much better!!

Here are the ingredients to make Macine

500gr Flour - Farina
200gr Butter - Burro
150gr Sugar - Zucchero
50gr Potato Starch (you can buy it at www.SuperMarketItaly.com) - Fecola di Patate
16gr Baking Powder - Lievito per dolci
Salt - Sale qb
Vanilla Extract - Estratto di Vaniglia o vanillina

Watch the video for the step by step instructions

Enjoy!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vm2xudOF2g0&feature=youtu.be

How to make Tomato Sauce from Fresh Tomatoes - Pasta with Fresh Tomatoes...

Enjoy!

Valentina
RealItalianKitchen

Homemade Body Scrub w/Shea Butter and Salt

I've always wanted to try to make my own body scrub but never tried cause I thought it would be too rough for my skin.


The salt/shea combination is perfect though. The salt scrubs and dries out the skin while the shea butter nourishes it and makes it soft, glowing and smooth.

Recommended if: you have oily/combination type skin.
Avoid if: you have thin, sensitive skin.
When to use it: once a week,
How to use it: rub on body BEFORE the shower or bath. Insist on tougher areas, like knees and elbows. Because the shea is very greasy (duh, it's a butter), I usually rinse it off with my regular body soap after I'm done.
Rinse the shower with all purpose cleaner after use to avoid slipping all over the place.

Where to buy the unrefined shea butter?
I bought 1 pund for less then $5 from Coastal Scents and I've had it for over a year. I use it alone as a lip balm, hand and cuticle lotion, it's good for sunburns, ingrown hair, some people use it to style curly hair.

Ingredients for 1 month supply:

1/2 cup shea butter
1/3 cup fine salt
a few drops of your favorite essential oil (if you're not allergic, I am therefore I don't add any)

1. Melt the butter in the microwave, if you don't have one use the bagno maria technique
2. Mix in the salt and essential oil.

READY!

Let me know if this works for you, the kind of skin you have, if you enjoyed the experience. I really liked this better then anything I ever bought at the store!

Enjoy!
Valentina
Real Italian Kitchen

Never throw away your leftovers again!

After big eating holidays or just big meals I have to deal with leftovers. People die of hunger around the world and I really don't feel like throwing things away.

Here's a list of all the things you can do with your leftover meats and veggies!

Carcass of Turkey or Chicken:

Clean the meat off the bones with wet hands (I promise it will help). Put that aside.
Throw the bones in a large pot with 2 carrots, 2 celery sticks and 1 large onion and cover with cold water. Boil till the carrots are cooked. You'll have the most amazing broth to use for other recipes to come. If you jar it while it's warm and then put it in the fridge it will vacuum seal. For "How to Sterilize your jars" see the tutorial.

Meats and Fish:

The italian solution to getting rid of your leftover meats is Polpette, a delicious fried meatball filled with bechamel sauce, eggs and parmigiano. You can mix all sorts of different meat together (turkey, ham, steak, chicken, ground beef) and actually the more varied the better the taste. Don't mix meat with fish though, make the fish ones separately from the meat ones. Here's the video tutorial for Polpette. 

Vegetables:

If you had some simple vegetables on your table (and by simple I mean steamed, sautéed or baked without any sort of casserole topping) you can make a Frittata: cut all the veggies up into small pieces, beat some eggs in them, parmigiano, salt, fry in a little bit of olive oil and serve. 

The alternative is adding a couple of spoons of bechamel to that too, put it in an 8 inch pan (21cm of diameter) and bake it at 350 F (180 C) for 45 minutes. Delicious. We call that Torta Salata (salty cake... yeah.... not a good translation) and it looks like a quiche without the crust. 

Mash Potatoes:

Yet again, the italian answer is "Fry it!!". 

Add an egg to the mash, pan them in bread crumbs and fry them in vegetable oil. I think in the States those things are called Tater tots? In italian they're called Crocchette and they are amazing!! 

Enjoy your leftovers!!

Valentina

Real Italian Kitchen

How to make Italian Style Grilled Vegetables

Last night I had a dream I was Woody Allen's chef and I was making him Grilled Vegetables for Memorial Day... 

I'm always very happy to go to barbecues and find a side of vegetables. Salads are fine, but you need a fork to eat that. Grilled vegetables can be eaten with you hands and are a great addition to a burger. They also make a great side if you're having steak or fish.

For 2 people: 1 Zucchini, 1 Eggplant, 1 Pepper

What's good on the grill? 
Peppers
Eggplant
Zucchini
Yellow Squash
Onions
Tomatoes
Asparagus

For 2 people:
1 Zucchini
1 small Eggplant
1 Pepper
(see picture)





Prepare the vegetables
1. Rinse all the veggies.

2. Peppers: cut them in half, cut out the seeds inside and the white lining of the vegetable. Cut in even strips.
Zucchini: cut in long strips, a little on the thick side especially if they're going on an outdoor grill.
Eggplant: you can eat the skin but I like mine pealed. Cut "circles" out of it (like the picture) or cut through the length of it if it's a thin eggplant.
Tomatoes and Onions: start cutting circles from the "bottom"
Asparagus: leave it whole.

3. Season with oil and salt BEFORE they go on the grill.

Grill it!
Put it on the grill and once the griddle has made convincing marks on one side, turn them. On a medium hot grill about 5 minutes per side. Don't burn them.

Enjoy!
Valentina
Real Italian Kitchen

Minestrone Recipe- Authentic Italian Style - Winter seasonal vegetables

Yesterday I made an awesome Minestrone.
In the best spirit of the original recipe I used all the leftover vegetables that I had in the fridge!
The only vegetables that I tend not to put in Minestrone are peppers and eggplants because their taste is too strong and it would dominate over the other veggies.

I change the ingredients to my Minestrone with each change of season, according to which vegetables are available. Using seasonal vegetables is a cheaper and healthier way to go. I also make a tun of it and then freeze it for when I feel lazy and I don't want to cook! Minestrone makes a complete meal, especially if you add some protein to it like beans or lentils.

For 8 servings
Winter vegetable choices (because in Philadelphia PA right now is winter):
1 small Fennel
1 green or yellow squash
1/4 cabbage (any kind will do)
1 cup green beans
1/2 cup spinach
1/2 mushrooms
1 large potatoe
1 cup of lentils previously cooked and reduced to a cream
4/5 carrots
1onion
2 stalks of celery
Extra vergine olive oil
Salt

Put some olive oil in a large soup pot. Chop all the vegetables into even cubes, leave the leafy ones whole. Put everything in the pot with the oil. Cover with homemade broth or water. Adjust with salt. Cover and let it cook on medium to high heat for about 20 minutes.

Add some toasted rustic bread for your dose of carbs.

Buon Appetito. Writing this made me hungry, I think I'm actually going to go get myself a cup of my delicious Minestrone!

Valentina
www.youtube.com/realitaliankitchen

3 ways to cook Eggplant

Eggplants are one of my favorite vegetables. There are a couple of ways I like to cook them, I'll start from the heavy one and tell you the diet friendly version next!

Here's a recipe that my grandmother taught me, it comes from Napoli and it's called

1. Melanzane Fungitiello.

Ingredients for 2 people:

1 large eggplant

2 cloves of garlic

2 small hot peppers

1 large fresh tomato or 4 cherry tomatoes (diced)

2 spoons of tomato sauce or tomato paste

1 spoon of water

salt

and...

wait for it....

A LOT of extra virgin olive oil! 

Pour a generous serving of oil into the frying pan. Add the garlic, let it brown. 

Break the hot peppers and add them to the oil and garlic. 

Cut the eggplants in cubes and fry them in the pan with everything else. The eggplant is like a sponge, it will absorb all the oil but it will give it back later once it's cooked. 

Add the fresh tomatoes,  the tomato paste, the water.

Adjust with salt. 

Cover and let it cook for 6/10 minutes. 

Serve hot by itself, on a piece of toasted rustic bread, as a side, or with your favorite pasta. It's delicious. Plan on digesting it slowly...

2. Grilled Eggplant with Spicy Fresh Tomato Spread (diet friendly)

For 2 people:
1 eggplant sliced for grilling

about 7 cherry tomatoes 

a few leaves of basil

hot peppers

evo

salt

Put some salt and just a tiny bit of oil on the raw eggplants before grilling them. Cooking time about 5 min per side. Make sure the grill is really hot before you start cooking them otherwise they boil and they turn out disgusting...!

On the side prepare my special fresh tomato spread. 

Basically just throw the tomatoes, hot peppers, basil, oil and salt in a blender/mixer and turn it into a cream. 

Now that everything is ready lay the grilled eggplant on a plate and put a teaspoon of tomato sauce on each slice. mmm... delicious! 

The tomato spread puts a whole different spin on grilled vegetables, you're not gonna be able to eat them without it anymore! 

3. Eggplant Pizza (diet friendly)

For two people:

2 small eggplants, nice and firm

1 tomato

mozzarella

basil

oregano

evo

salt

Set the oven on HIGH. 

Cut the eggplants down the length. With a sharp knife cut squares into the pulp without breaking the leathery skin. Now push the eggplant in the opposite way of its natural shape. At this point thanks to all the cuts you've made you should be able to take it out of the "shell" and put it in a pan. 

Sear it in olive oil, a spoon of water and garlic. Add the tomatoes cut into cubes. Let it cook. Adjust with salt. Add basil. 

Put some olive oil in the shells and put them on a cookie sheet and in the oven until the pulp it's cooked. 

Take the shells out of the oven. Place a spoon of the seared eggplant back in it's shell, add the mozzarella on top and the oregano. 

Set the oven on BROIL and let the mozzarella brown. A-mazing! This seems like a difficult and long process but it's not. It takes longer to explain it then to do it. I hope you had the patience to read the whole thing...! 

Enjoy!! 

Valentina

RealItalianKitchen

Have a great day! 

How to make Authentic Italian Meat Sauce (Bolognese) - Ragout - REAL ITALIAN KITCHEN

Call it however you want, it is one of my favorite dishes!

I went to the farmers market and all the ingredients I bought were locally grown and locally raised. The difference in the result is not even funny. Best ragout I've ever made.

For 8 to 10 servings (I make a lot so I can freeze it and have it ready)
2 pounds ground beef
2/3 large mild italian sausage (it depends on your taste,I don't like it with a lot of sausage and I only put2)
1 large onion
3/4 carrots
3 stalks of celery
a big can of pealed tomatoes (12oz/800gr)
wine
olive oil
butter
salt
pepper
You can find the video on my cooking channel http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFNbaPiRBKw
To be honest, it's not one of my best shot videos because I was doing it by myself, but it's funny and it gives you a good idea of the different stages the meat has to go through.

-Put the vegetables in the food processor or mince it to small pieces. In a large pot put 4 table spoons of olive oil and 4 table spoons of butter, let it warm up and then throw the minced veggies in.

-Set the stove on low, add the meat and work it with a spoon so that it doesn't crumble up. Add the sausage and do the same thing, so that at the end you should have the meats well incorporated with the vegetables. Turn the heat up and cook the meat until it pulls the oil back out.

-Add white or red wine, set the heat on high and let the alcohol evaporate. Stir frequently.

-Add the tomato sauce

-Let everything cook over medium/low heat for 2 hours. Stir every 30 minutes.

Ragout is great with pasta, gnocchi, fresh tagliatelle, ravioli,  is the key ingredient in lasagna and it's a great way to feed some vegetables to picky eaters!!!

ENJOY!
Valentina
www.youtube.com/realitaliankitchen