Pasta with fried zucchini ("Pasta chi cucuzzeddi fritti")

Pasta with "cucuzzeddi fritti" is a popular dish in Sicily, probably because the zucchini are grown and grow luxuriantly throughout the island . You'll never find, in fact, a Sicilian fruit and vegetables stand that does not sell these vegetables !!!! The recipe is very simple to implement and economical. There aren't big variations, you can use either long or short pasta and season it with the Parmesan or salted ricotta cheese, as required by the original recipe.

First wash the zucchini, remove the beginning and end but not the peel, then cut into slices not too thin. Now place them in a colander and sprinkle with salt. So zucchini will eliminate their bitter taste. After about half an hour wash the slices quickly and dry them thoroughly with paper towels, to avoid dangerous splashes of oil when fry them. Meanwhile, put on fire a large non-stick pan with extra virgin olive oil and a clove of garlic, which will eliminate just golden. When the oil is hot place your zucchini and let them fry a little at a time. Remove them from the pan only when they are golden brown and place on a plate lined with paper towel to wipe the excess oil. The original recipe envisages to save the oil in which you fry the zucchini to season pasta, but if you prefer a lighter version of this dish you can use other extra virgin olive oil.

Pun on fire a pot with water and salt to cook pasta (you can use both the short pasta or that long, according to your taste). When the pasta is ready, drain and add to zucchini and oil (the oil in which you have fried zucchini ora other olive oil, as you prefer). Finally add the fresh basil, if you can find it, and grated cheese: Parmesan cheese for a milder taste, or salted ricotta, as required by tradition, for a more intense flavor .



I recommend to accompany this first course with a good dry white wine . This recipe is very simple to realize  and ideal for our vegetarian friends, but also for our vegan friends, if you do not have to use the grated cheese. In this case I recommend to add freshly ground black pepper.

Doses for 4 people:

- 500/1 lb  grams of pasta (short or long, as you prefer)
- 3 medium zucchini
- extra virgin olive oil (3/4 tablespoons)
- salt (4 teaspoons to salt zucchini; 2 tablespons for pasta)
- grated Parmesan or salted ricotta (3 teaspoons)
- fresh basil (big leaves quality)
- 1 clove of garlic
- ground black pepper (teaspoons)

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Panelle

Famous all over over the world, "panelle" are an absolutely typical dish of Palermo where, usually, are consumed in paper cone or in a sandwich and for this can be considered a classic example of Sicilian street food.

Simple and economic to prepare, needs, in fact, only chickpea flour for the dough and oil to frying. The only known variant concerns the form to be given to these pancakes: the classical rectangular or the more modern round.

In a pot with 1,5 liters of cold water pour a little bit a time the chickpea flour, salt and fresh ground black pepper. Mix everything very carefully to avoid lumps. When the flour is dissolved completely, place the pot on low heat, add the chopped fresh parsley and continue stirring so that the flour does not stick to the pot. Let cook until the cream has a thick consistency but still soft, about 15-20 minutes. Now pour the mixture on a wooden cutting board, formed a top layer of about 2-3 mm and let cool for about 2 hours. When the mixture is cold and coagulated cut it with a washer and form rectangles (you decide the size). If you prefer the round shape, pour the mixture on the  down of small  saucers.

Now place on the flame a non-stick pan with extra virgin olive oil (3 tablespoons). When the oil is hot, fry the panelle, a few at time so that they don't overlap each other, and remove them after a few minutes, just golden. Place them on a plate lined with paper towels to wipe the excess oil. Bring on the table piping hot and with a dash of lemon. Alternatively you can consume them in a sandwich, accordin the custom of Palermo.


A nice idea and tasty for a appetizer with friends, it can be to prepare mini panelle to serve with a spritz. If, instead, you want to taste the panelle as a secound course I recommend to accompany them with a good fresh white wine, slightly sparkling. If you prefer you can enjoy them while drinking a light beer ora a red, with a more bitter flavor. In additionm the panelle are ideal dish that you can prepare for our celiac friends.

Doses:

- 500 grams/1 lb of chickpea flour
- 1,5 liters of cold water
- chopped fresh parsley
- extra virgin olive oil (3 tablespoons)
- salt (5 tablespoons)
- fresh ground black pepper (2 tablespoons)
- 1 lemon

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Fried sardines ("Sarde allinguate")

Fried sardines , in Sicilian dialect " allinguate " probably because once open and clean take the form of a tongue , are an original dish of the Palermo area that, however, today it is prepared from housewives of the whole island .
Th fundamental ingredient of this recipe are the sardines, strictly fresh, which are very tasty and extremely rich in valuable nutritional  values as the rest of the family of blue fish which they belong. easy to prepare and economic (that never hurts !!!), this dish will catch you for its particular taste, a sort of bittersweet due to the pickling, enclosed in a crisp and very light frying.



First, in a bowl prepare a mixture made of vinegar (2 tablespoons) and water (1 tablespoon), then clean the sardines. Remove the heads, open them in half lengtwise, deprive of thorns and entrails. Wash them carefully and pat dry with paper towels. Now place them in the bowl with the mixture of vinegar and water and let them marinate for about ten minutes. At this point, put on the fire a very large frying pan with oil (4 tablespoons) and let it warm up. Meanwhile, prepare a plate with flour (you can use flour 00 or 0, if you prefer a crispy fried) and floured sardines on both sides. Fry them in the pan over high heat and few at  time, so it does not from overlapping each other. When they are golden brown, remove from pan and place on a plate lined with paper towels, so as to remove excess oil. Season with salt, sqeeze of lemon and serve piping hot.

I suggest you to accompany this dish with a white and sparkling wine.

Doses for 4 people:

- 700 grams/1 lb 8 oz of sardines
- 6/7 tablespoons of flour (00 or 0, if you prefer a crispier fry. I use flour 0)
- 2 glasses of wine vinegar (white wine or red, if, like me, you prefer a intense and more sweet  taste
- 1 glass of water
- 1 lemon
- oil (4 tablespoons)
- salt (1 tablespoon)

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Pasta with broad beans and ricotta cheese

The pasta with broad beans and ricotta cheese is probably one of the most typical dishes of Sicily. Triumph of simplicity, this pasta is in fact prepared with two ingredients that never miss in the kitchens of the Sicilian housewives: broad beans, those small and more tender, and fresh ewe's ricotta cheese, that is used in particular in the area of Agrigento. For you to really get the delicate and refined taste that is born from the meeting of these two ingredients, I recommend you to use broad beans and ricotta, both fresh. Some recipes prescribe to fry the broad beans in a pan, but in the version that I propose  they are prepared in a pot, so as to affect as little as possible their flavor and let them tender. For the preparation of this dish you can use both of the short pasta, which that long. To you and your palate free choice.

Shell the broad beans from the pod and their interior husk. In a pot, add the shelled braod beans, the shallot cut vey thin, salt, fresh ground black pepper (1 teaspoon), oil (1 tablespoon) and 1 glass of water. Let cook for about 20 minues over a low flame. In the meantime, put on the fire the water for the pasta and cook it. Lay down the ewe's ricotta in a soup-tureen and add two spoons of cooking water to dilute the consistence of the ricotta cheese. When the pasta is ready, drain it, pour into the soup-tureen, add the broad beans and fresh ground black pepper (2 teaspoons). Mix the all for well, but with extreme care not to break the broad beans. Now bright to the table and serve it.

I suggest to accompany this dish with a very mild taste with a good white wine dry but fuit.

Doses for 4 people:

- 1 kilogram/2 lb 3 oz of fresh broad beans, small and tender
- 300 grams/ 11 oz of fresh ewe's ricotta cheese
- 400 grams/14 oz of pasta (long or short at your convenience)
- 1 shallot
- 1 tablespoon oil
- salt (for the pasta, about 2/3 tablespoons)
- fresh groun black pepper (3 teaspoons)

Cuccìa

The cuccìa is a Sicilian typical dessert that is prepared on the occasion of the party of Saint Lucy (December 13) during which, according to the tradition, in the Island nobody eats pasta and bread . It's a dessert  really simple to make, however wheat must be soaked for three days before cooking and the water should be changed every 24 hours. This step is fundamental otherwise the grain will remain too hard. There are versions that  prescribe the use of chocolate or cream of milk, but one that I present below is the original recipe made with Ewe's ricotta.



After the grain has been in soak for three days, proceed to cook it in a pot with water and salt (1 spoon and a half). The cooking of the grain will last for several hours, about 6-8, and must happen on a low flame. Alternatively, to shorten the time you can cook the grain in a pressure cooker (in this case the cooking will last about 40-50 minutes). When the grains is ready, remove from the fire and and leave it the whole night in the pot covered by a tea towel. The day later drain it and then dry it well with a tea towel

At this point, start to prepare the ricotta, that must assume the consistence of a cream. Mix together the ricotta with the sugar until the mixture seems like a smooth cream (if you want you can use an electric mixer). Now add the drops of chocolate, the candied fruit cut into small pieces and the cooked grain, stirring delicacy until everything is well amalgamated. Finish garnishing the surface with a sprinkling of cinnamon powder and some candied fruit, such as cherries. Let stand the cake in the fridge for 20-30 minutes before serving. If you prefer, you can serve cuccìa to your friends in single little cup.

I suggest you to accompany this dessert with the Sicilian sweet liqueurs like Malvasia, Passito, Zibibbo or, for those who prefer a contrasting taste, a dry prosecco.

Doses for 500 grams/1 lb 2 oz of grain:

- 500 grams/1 lb 2 oz of grain (to shorten the times of soaking and cooking, you can use the already cooked grain, but the final taste will be not the same)
- 800 grams/2 lb of Ewe's ricotta
- 400 grams/1 lb granulated sugar
- 100 grams/4 oz of drops of chocolate
- 100 grams/4 oz of candied fruit (cedar, orange, pumpkin and cherries to garnishing)
- cinnamon powder (about 5 teaspoon)
- salt (1 and a half sppon)

Pasta with sardines ("Pasta chi sardi")

Pasta with sardines ("Pasta chi sardi"), combination of strong and contrasting flavors, is one of the most famous Sicilian dishes in the World, that will surprise you for its unique and extraordinary taste. There are several versions of this recipe prepared with absolutely typical ingredients of the Sicilian territory as sweet fennel or ingredients which are entered for centuries in the island cuisine as pine nuts, imported at the time of Arab domination. Some of this recipes provide, for example, to bake pasta for few minutes before finishing the cooking, or, instead, to add tomato sauce, as is customary in the Agrigento area. I present you the version that is prepared in Palermo, where the pasta with sardines is considered one of the most traditional dishes and cooked for the feast of Santa Rosalia and St. Joseph (now called Father's Day).

First of all clean the sweet fennel, taking care to remove the toughest sprigs, rinse it quickly and put to boil in a pot with plentiful salt water for 20 minutes. Once cooked, remove the fennel from the pot but don't throw its cooking water, reserve it aside because you will need later. Dry fennel with blotting paper and cut into pieces.





Meanwhile clean the sardines. Remove heads, tails, plugs, bowels and, finally, open them in half lenghtwise. Rinse carefully them, dry with blotting paper, then, cut into small pieces (but not too small) and store. Now slice thinly the onion  and brown it in a big pan with two spoons of extravirgin oil, add the anchovy fillets and let them "melt" until they become a sort of sauce creamy. At this point add the sardines and fry everything for about 3-4 minutes.

In the frying pan add the grape passolina, the pine nuits, the sweet fennel, 4 teaspoons of salt and 2 teaspoons of fresh ground black pepper. Take care to mix this seasoning with delicacy and, if it seems necessary, add 1 tablespoon of the sweet fennel cooking water, that you have held aside. Let cook for about 15 minutes. In the meantime, put on the gas the pot with remained fennel cooking water (if it's necessary add more water) in which you will cook the bucatini. In another pan, pour 1 tablespoon of extravirgin olive oil and add the bread-crumbs, let toats it until it is golden brown, but attention not to make it burn.

When pasta will be cooked drain it well, then pour into the pan with the seasoning and mix everything gently, keeping the gas flame to a minimum. After plating  pasta, sprinkle each portion with abundant bread-crumbs and bring on the table.





I suggest you to accompany the pasta with sardines with a vintage and flavored white wine, well frozen.

Doses for four people:

- 500 grams/1 lb of bucatini pasta
- 500 grams/1 lb of sweet fennel (if you don't find it, you can use the green part of fennel but the final taste will be not the same)
- 500 grams/1 lb of fresch sarde (sarde are also known as sardines)
- 50 grams/2 oz of grape passolina (I suggest you to don't use rainsins or grape sultana because are too sweet)
- 50 grams/2 oz of pine nuts
- 3 salted anchovies
- 1 white onion
- bread-crumbs (3/4 tablespoons)
- extravirgin olive oil
- salt
- fresh ground black pepper

"Ghiotta" of Stockfish (Piscistoccu a gghjiotta)

The "ghiotta" of stockfish, in Messina dialect told  "Piscistoccu a gghjiotta", is one of the most famous dishes of the coast of the city. It is a very simple and genuine dish, it can be considered one course meal and in the past, after the Second World War, was often prepared during the week because it was considered a "poor food" (stockfish was the cheapest fish). Today the "ghiotta" of stockfish is known throught the world as typical dish of the city which overlooks the Sicilian Strait, and for this reason it is inserted in the menus of many restaurants, even the most refined.

Buy the "Pescestocco" (in Italy Stockfish is told Pesce Stocco, in Messina the two words are written united) already soaked and deprived it of thorns and bones; in Sicily people buy it from "piscistuccaru". Wash the stockfish before cooking ande dry carefully with plotting paper. Fry the stockfish, for a few minutes, with extra vergin oil in a no stick pan.

In an other pan with high base (the Sicilian housewives used earthenware pots) fry the onion, finely chopped, with plenty of olive oil (2 spoons). Add tomatoes (no peeled and already cut), salt and ground black pepper. Cook for about 5 minutes. Add the potatoes previously peeled and sliced. Cook the sauce with potatoes for about 20 minutes. 

United sauce with potatoes and the stockfish already fried. Pour half aglass of white wine and let evaporate. Add the desalined capers, pitted olives, chopped parsley and red hot pepper cut into rounds. Cook over a low fire for about 45 minutes, stirring off and on with great delicacy and adding some water, preferably hot, just enought to cook the fish better. I suggest you monitor the amount of the sauce: if it's necessary still add some water or, if the sauce becomes too liquid, let restrict it prolonging the cooking time. Finally adjust the food with salt and ground black pepper if need be. 

At this point the "Ghiotta", which can easily be prepared also for our celiac friends, is ready and you can bring on the table with a good full- bodied red wine and homemade bread.

Doses for 6 people:

- 1 kilograms of stockfish (it is dried cod)
- 1 kilograms of potatoes (about 10, peeled and cut for long in thick slices)
- 1 red onion (cut thinly)
- 200 grams /7 oz of  green olives in brine pitted
- 100 grams/ 3¾  oz of capers (already washed)
- 15 Piccadilly tomatoes (no peeled and cut in four parts)
- half glass of white wine
- chopped parsley (about 2 spoons)
- 1 red chilli pepper (cut into rounds)
- half glass of extra olive oli
- salt (about 1½ spoon, but adjust according to your taste)
- ground black pepper (about 3 teaspoons, but adjust according to your taste)

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