KaoutarCooking? Quite an art, especially when it comes to varying flavors, enhancing tastes, adapting dishes to avoid monotony and so that your palate never gets bored. However, it is not always easy to think outside the box, to innovate, to test to spice up your plate, to have all the Italian products you need to be the chef you are !. However, a few tips are enough to spice up dishes, flavor a tomato salad, or pasta! Building on the Italian gastronomy!
Pasta
By the habit of eating them, we forget that they are Italian! And yet, it is a staple of our closets! Are the children hungry? In a hurry and no time to cook? Come on, hop, you heat some water in a saucepan, you unsheathe the spaghetti, it’s cooked in 10 minutes. And here’s a complete meal with grated cheese and butter. Not only does pasta fill you up, it’s comforting after a hard day’s work. You can also serve them with a Bolognese sauce to enhance the taste and travel to Italy just by staying at home. In addition, you can vary the pleasures: penne rigate, twists, macaroni, cannelloni … so many ways to escape through the taste buds. Ah pasta, a whole culture.
Pizza
Like pasta, it saves you the day in the event of a serious food crisis and starving children. It is advisable to always have a frozen pizza to thaw and reheat for difficult times. Obviously, nothing beats a good Italian pizza made with real tomato sauce, mushrooms, and crispy dough. But you can go for frozen baked pizzas which are also very good.
Basil
It is essential to enhance your dishes! Certainly, fresh, it is even better with its inimitable scent that smells of Italy. A few chopped leaves on tomatoes or a plate of pasta are enough to transform these dishes into taste delicacies. If you are not lucky enough to have it in your garden, you can find it in freeze-dried form or in the form of fresh leaves in sachets in supermarkets. Basil enhances your dishes and avoids the use of fat.
Parmigiano Reggiano
It is essential to accompany your pasta. Italians do not consume shredded cheese, but Parmesan! Indeed, Parmesan has a particular taste, a fruity and slightly spicy flavor. Cheese in Italy is a whole gastronomic tradition. King of Italian cheeses, Parmesan is made from cow’s milk of the reggiana breed, it is a cooked, non-pressed cheese, which adorns many preparations: lasagna, macaroni gratins, gratin dauphinoise…. Parmesan is suitable for all sauces. You can even get started with making Parmesan tiles.
Mozzarella
Like Parmesan, mozzarella should feature prominently in the Italian products you need to have. The mozzarella also called by the sweet Italian name mozzarella di Bufala Campana because of its manufacture with buffalo milk can be eaten plain, raw or cooked and is part of the composition of many dishes. It is delicious with a tomato salad and is a wonderful addition to pizzas. In addition to its taste qualities, mozzarella has health benefits in terms of nutritional intake. Zucchini stuffed with mozzarella, spaghetti with mozzarella, so many ways to enjoy it.
Bolognese sauce
Its name alone evokes Italy! What would a pasta dish be without the Bolognese sauce, this sauce made from tomatoes, meat and herbs! You can make it yourself according to Italian recipes or simply buy it in jars to have a small stock at home. Children love it. Bolognese sauce can accompany your recipes such as stews, lasagna, potatoes.
Espresso
The espresso? What else? Of course, you don’t have Georges Clooney in your kitchen. But that does not prevent you from having the necessary machine to be able to offer yourself from time to time small short, very full-bodied coffees with a strong aroma. And enjoy the charms of Italy. The Italian term espresso refers to extraction by pressure, which is what characterizes the subtle aroma of this coffee. An espresso is drunk after meals to digest and help you cope. There are now different scents that you find in capsules.
The Grissini
They have the scent of Italy, these breadsticks to enjoy as an aperitif, to eat plain or to dip in tuna or sardine rillettes, to serve with antipasti. A delight! These small dry sticks from Turin date back to the 15th century and were used to replace bread for those who could not stand it. You can garnish them with small seeds or simply accompany them with a slice of ham that you wrap around. A little water, yeast, flour, and butter, and you’re done. Buon appetito!
The torrone
To enhance your Italian meal, you can’t miss the torrone for dessert, an Italian nougat characterized by its fondant, soft texture and almonds. It is composed of a subtle alchemy of egg white, which gives it its lightness, honey, and egg. The torrone means “big tower” in reference to its origins: The first nougat was created in the 15th century during the wedding of a nobleman. The pastry chefs then offered him a very large nougat in the shape of a tower! The torrone is strongly linked to the party. A delicacy that you will not be able to resist.
Arborio rice
Want to eat a good risotto? To succeed in this specialty, you will need to use a special Italian rice called Arborio. This variety owes its name to the town of Arborio where it was bred. It is a short and rounded grain rice, which will allow you to successfully prepare all kinds of risotto: coppa, fish, vegetables. Renowned for its absorption capacity, it is this which gives this creamy taste to risotto. It is a refined dish that takes on the taste of all other foods. To enjoy with basil!
The prosciutto
That’s good ! Children love it. However, there are different types of hams and not all are of the same quality. Prefer hams cut from your butcher rather than rather fatty vacuum-packed ham. The must in this area? Parma ham, which owes its inimitable taste to the fact that the animal is fed with Parmesan! Prosciutto is subject to strict specifications! To enjoy with a very sweet melon. A delight. You can enjoy it as an aperitif on a board.
