Your next meal is a great and rewarding thing to look forward to especially when you have something left over in the cupboard. After all the celebrations of Christmas have ended and we vow never to eat so much food again, we find ourselves . . . looking to start all over again!
PASTICCIO DI LASAGNE AL FORNO
(Mess of baked lasagne)
Serves Four People
Ingredients
200 g minced beef
100ml Tomato passata with basil
150 g Grated Cheddar cheese
1 small mozzarella
I small onion finely chopped
1 large stick of celery as above
I glass of white wine
2 garlic cloves
300 ml béchamel sauce
5 easy cook lasagne sheets
15ml olive oil
20g butter
Salt and pepper
Mushrooms (optional)
Preparation
- Preheat the oven to 180ºC
- In a non-stick pan, heat the oil and butter until hot
- Add the onions, garlic, and celery until golden brown
- Add the minced beef, making sure it is well separated with no big lumps
- Cook for 30 minutes then add the wine and reduce
- Add the passata and seasoning and cook for a further 20 min
- Grease a suitable oven dish and place the béchamel, lasagne sheets, the ragu, and sliced mozzarella
- Repeat until full
- Cook for 35 minutes
- Serve with crusty rolls grated parmesan
SAUMON EN CROUTE
(Crusted salmon)
Serves Four People
Ingredients
600g Salmon fillet, skinned and deboned
2 heads of fennel, washed and finely sliced
75g of shallots, finely sliced
25g butter
20 ml olive oil
2 rolls of puff pastry
I egg, beaten
Salt and pepper
Preparation
1. Pre-heat the oven to 190ºC
2. In a non-stick saucepan, heat the oil and butter
3. Place the shallots and fry until golden brown
4. Add the fennel and stir it for 5 minutes, season, then reduce the heat and simmer for half an hour In the meantime
1. Wash and dry the salmon, then set it aside
2. On a clean floured table, roll out the two lots of puff pastry and on one, place the salmon in the centre and season it
3. When the fennel is well cooked, leave to cool down
4. Place an even layer of fennel on the salmon, pressing it down lightly to form a cushion
5. Add a drop of milk to the beaten egg and brush the pastry around the salmon
6. Place the second sheet of pastry on top and press firmly around the salmon with a fork
7. Brush the egg/milk mixture on the second sheet and trim any excess. (Don’t throw these pieces away as you can use them to make decorative items to place on the salmon).
8. Place the salmon on a tray and cook for 50 minutes
9. After 50 min, leave the salmon to cool for 10 minutes
10. Serve with small buttered boiled potatoes and carrots
ARANCE RIPIENE
(Stuffed Oranges)
Serves Four People
Ingredients
4 Oranges
100g Orange sorbet
100g high quality orange marmalade
40g of peeled and roasted almonds, finely chopped
30g soft brown sugar
Preparation
1. Cut 20mm off the top of the oranges and set aside
2. Very carefully with a grapefruit knife, scoop out as much of the inside of the orange as you can, leaving the shelled rind. Set aside.
3. In a liquidiser, place the orange pulp with the marmalade, almonds, and sugar, and mix thoroughly
4. Combine with the sorbet and place in the freezer until soft and frozen.
5. Fill the orange shells with the soft frozen mixture and return them to the freezer for half an hour
6. Serve by placing the top of the oranges you have cut off as a lid
Buon Appetito Giovanni Fontebasso
