Okras cooked in olive oil

OKRAS COOKED IN OLIVE OIL

Ingredients

1200 gr. fresh or frozen okras (the fresh ones taste better)

200 g. of olive oil

4 large dry onions

6 cloves garlic

1 kg potatoes

Salt to taste

5 large ripe tomatoes

Half a square cm of red hot chili pepper

Instructions

Peel the potatoes and put them in a bowl with water.

The water should cover the potatoes to avoid browning.

Wash thoroughly the okras and cut their stalk.

Peel the onions and garlic.

Put oil in a pot place it over medium heat.

Cut the onion into thin slices and garlic into small pieces.

Put the onion slices and garlic pieces into the pot.

Sauté them until their color becomes dark beige.

Rinse the potatoes and cut them into pieces in the size of a walnut. 

Pour the potatoes in the pot with the onions and stir.

Reduce the heat to low. If the maximum of the switch is 6 turn it on 2.

Leave the potatoes to sauté for 10 minutes, but stir frequently to prevent sticking.

Pour into the pot the okras. Stir them so all of them absorb olive oil.

Add a pinch of salt and the small piece of red hot chili pepper.

 Let the food to cook slowly. From time to time shake the pot back and forth to prevent sticking.

When the okras are half done, it is time to add the tomatoes.

Scour tomatoes and cut their stalk.

Cut each tomato into 6 pieces and puree them in a blender.

Pour the mashed tomatoes over the okra.

Move the pot from left to right so the tomato puree goes underneath the okras.

You want the okras to cook properly and yet remain whole.

Do not stir okras with a ladle because they pulped.

Leave them to boil for the time needed to soften.

When they are done remove the pot from the heat.

Leave the food to cool slightly before serving.                                 

                                                                                                                                                                  

Lasagna with spinach and mushrooms

LASAGNA WITH SPINACH AND MUSHROOMS

Ingredients

500 g. lasagna Barilla’ Co  (Lasagne all 'Uovo, Bolognesi)
or any other lasagna

500 g. oyster mushrooms or Porto Belo
1/2 bunch dill
1200 g. fresh spinach
90 g. of olive oil
2 medium dry onions
5 cloves of garlic
350 g. of whipping cream 35% fat
350 g. of soft unsalted cheese

230 g. of Parmesan cheese

Instructions

Stuffing

Clean the spinach. Cut the root and the yellow outer leaves.

Rinse the remaining spinach leaves in a large bowl with plenty of water.

Then change the water of the bowl, put clean and wash again.

Repeat this at least 4 times. 

Leave the clean spinach aside for later use.

Scour dill and rinse it thoroughly.
Leave it aside for later use.
Put the oil in a medium size pot.
Place the pot over moderate heat.
Peel the onions and garlic.

Mince them and pour them into the pot.
Cook them stirring oftenly until they become soft and light beige in color .
Rinsed mushrooms and cut them into thin slices.
Pour the mushrooms into the pot to cook them.
Stir them often.
Add the washed spinach and stir.
Leave the spinach to sauté until it softens and its volume reduces.
Pour in the spinach 300 g. of cream and stir.
Let the cream and the spinach to boil 6-7 minutes.
Rub with your hands the soft unsalted cheese in the pot with the spinach and stir.
Leave them to boil for 3 more min.
Cut the dill over the spinach and stir.
Let them to boil for two minutes.
Grate the Parmesan.
Pour half of the Parmesan over the spinach and stir.
Turn off the heat and leave the pot with the stuffing on.

Lasagna

Pour into one large nonstick skillet water, until it reaches 3 cm height.
Place the skillet over high heat and wait for the water to boil.
Each of the lasagna has dimensions 17CH9 centimeters.
Put two lasagna into the boiling water.

You should care that the two lasagna stay away from each other to avoid sticking.
The lasagna are dry like spaghetti.
Leave them in the water to boil for 4 minutes, to soften a bit.

Use the softened lasagna to make a layer in an ovenproof dish and that will be the base of your dish.

Use a Pyrex glass with dimensions 24CH36CH6 centimeters.
Brush the Pyrex well with margarine.
With a slotted ladle take one of the two lasagna that are boiling in the pot, off of the boiling water.

Leave it to drain a bit and place it on the bottom of the baking dish.
Then take the second one and place it next to the precedent.

 Put two more lasagna in the boiling water away from each other.
After four minutes take the third one and place it next to the previous two.
The fourth from the lasagna is not whole needed because does not fit in the Pyrex. 
So take it out of water, cut it with kitchen scissors as required to fit on the bottom of the baking dish.
Use the remains of the fourth piece of lasagna to cover some small parts of the Pyrex bottom that are uncovered.
Spread evenly over the lasagna half of the stuffing.

Place another layer of lasagna over the stuffing. Work as before.

Spread evenly the rest of the stuffing over the second layer of lasagna.
Cover the second layer of stuffing with a third layer of lasagna.
The lasagna you use to cover the stuffing should be boiled for 12min instead of four.

This lasagna’s that are on top must be very soft and must have more moisture.That is the reason that they need 12 min cooking. 
Over these lasagna pour 50g whipping cream. Spread with a brush the cream over the lasagna. The cream helps them to keep their moisture.
Over the cream sprinkle the remaining Parmesan cheese.
Cover the baking dish with foil and put it in the oven on the first rack from the bottom.
Bake at 180 C degrees for 30 minutes.
After this time uncover the food and look at it.
If the cheese has melted and the top has light brown color, it is ready.
Remove the Pyrex from the oven and leave it to cool.

If it is hot, you won’t be able to cut it into portions.

Chicken with linguinis in the oven

CHICKEN WITH LINGUIINIS IN THE OVEN

Ingredients

1 chicken 1.5-2 kilos

200 g. whipping cream 30% fat

500 g. Linguini’s Barilla’s co

300 g. Feta cheese or any other white cheese

3 large eggs

3 dry onions

5 cloves garlic

Salt, pepper, oregano, savory

1 TB coriander grains

1 TB black pepper grains

1 rosemary sprig

 500 g. unsalted soft cheese

300 g. mushrooms

2 TB of olive oil for brushing the meat

100 g. Gruyere cheese

Instructions

Overnight wash the chicken and open it in the middle.

Cut the chicken into four pieces.

Remove the skin from all pieces.

Put salt, pepper, oregano and savory on each one of them.

Brush carefully all the pieces around with oil.

Put the chicken in a pan and wrap it around with plastic wrap.

Keep overnight the chicken in the refrigerator.

The next day put in a pot 4 liters of water.

Place the pot over high heat.

Peel the onions and garlic.

Wash them and chop them.

Wait until the water boils.

Pour the chopped onions and garlic into the pot.

Put the coriander grains and pepper grains into the pot.

Add a sprig of rosemary.

Let these ingredients to boil for five minutes.

Put the the chicken in the pot.

Leave the heat high until it boils.

Once the water starts boiling, lower the heat to medium.

Leave the chicken to boil until soft. 1.5 hours is enough for this.

Turn of the heat.Remove the pot from the heat and leave it aside.

With a slotted ladle take out the chicken and put it in a pan.

Leave it there to cool a bit, to clean it.

Strain in a metallic strainer the meat broth.

Measure four large cups broth and put it in another pot.

Keep the left over broth aside.

Place the pot with the 4 cups broth over high heat until it boils.

As soon as it boils, reduce heat to medium.

Rub with your hands the Feta cheese and pour it into the pot.

Pour into the broth the 100 grams of cream and stir.
Add the chopped mushrooms and leave all of it to boil 3 minutes.

Add the Linguini’s and stir.

Let the Linguini cook until they are almost cooked.

In the mean time scour the chicken from the bones, fat and tendons.

Cut the meat of the breasts and legs into small pieces.

Throw into the linguini’s the pieces of the meat.

If the broth was not enough and the Linguini’s became thick as they cooked, add 1 cup broth or even more into them.

Use one Pyrex glass with dimensions 24CH36CH6 centimeters.

Spread evenly the linguini’s in the Pyrex.

Put the eggs into a bowl.

Put a pinch of salt in the bowl and beat them.

Add the cream into the eggs and beat again.

Rub with your hands the soft unsalted cheese in the bowl with the eggs.

Beat with a whisk the mixture until it is homogenous.

Spread this mixture of cheese and eggs evenly over the linguini.

Grate the gruyere cheese.

Sprinkle it on the surface of the food.

Place the baking dish on the middle rack of the oven and bake at 180 C degrees for 15 minutes.

The food is ready when its surface takes beige color.

Remove the Pyrex class from the oven.

You can’t cut this food when it is hot.

Leave it to cool and then cut it into portions.