ITALIAN DREAMS
Iknow I’ve been going on about my trip to Italy later in the year with a group of like-minded Italian food lovers. So in the meantime and in anticipation of my trip I keep coming up with Italian-inspired dishes to whet my palate and thought I should share these with you. The stuffed capsicums are great as a lunch dish served with a salad and some ciabatta. Check out how fab the panna cotta looks and give it a go too. Ciao.
Stuffed capsicums
Serves: 6 Prep time: 20 mins Cook time: 30 mins 6 capsicums (different colours) 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil 1 eggplant, cubed
2 cloves garlic, finely sliced 100g breadcrumbs
50g pinenuts
50g olives, chopped
20g capers, chopped
125g mozzarella, cubed 50g parmesan, grated
½ cup chopped Italian parsley Handful basil, torn
Preheat the oven to 180C.
Cut off the tops off the peppers, remove the seeds and white pith and place on a baking tray lined with baking paper.
Heat the olive oil in a fry pan, add the eggplant and cook cooked until golden, remove to a bowl and set aside.
Add the garlic and cook until soft, transfer the garlic and olive oil into the bowl with the eggplant.
Next add to the eggplant, the breadcrumbs, chopped olives, pine nuts, chopped capers, mozzarella, parmesan grated, parsley and basil. Combine and season with salt and pepper.
Divide filling between 6 peppers and roast for 25-30 mins.
Panna cotta with raspberry sauce
Serves: 6 Prep time: 40 mins 4 sheets gelatin, gold grade 250ml milk
250ml cream
3 Tbsp caster sugar
Zest of a lemon
250g fresh raspberries (or if out of season use thawed frozen ones)
Place the gelatin in a dish of cold water to soften; this should take about 5 minutes.
Pour the milk, cream and add the sugar to a saucepan, bring to the boil.
Remove from the heat and whisk in the soaked, drained gelatin (make sure you squeeze out all the excess water).
Pass through a fine sieve into a pouring jug.
Add lemon zest.
Set 6 glasses on their sides in a used egg carton and pour in equal amounts of the panna cotta mix so the mix will set on an angle.
Carefully transfer the carton to the fridge to set the mixture.
When ready to serve, puree the raspberries in a blender to a sauce consistency and carefully pour into the panna cotta glasses.