Sicilian Cooking class 21st April

Spumante & Wines :

Spumante – Tenuta del Abate

Wines : Valle dell’Acate . Zagara white wine Grillo Grape & Cersuolo di Vittoria Doc Classico Red

Panelle – Typical Palermo Street food

Panelle (or panella di ceci) are Sicilian fritters made from gram flour and other ingredients. They are a popular street food in Palermo and are often eaten between slices of bread or on a roll, like a sandwich.

Panelle at Villa Britannia

Panelle are believed to be of Arabic origin. They are called panella or paneddi in Sicilian.

Ingredients :

500 g Gram flour – Farina di ceci

1 &1/2 litres of water

parsley

salt

In the pan add the ingredients together and over a low – medium heat mix and stir gently and after 10 minutes you will see that the mixture is reaching a dense texture .

Place the mixture in a flat , squared container at least 4-5 cms high and add in the fridge until it is firm .

Once the mixture has reached a firm consistency , cut into slices.

In a pan place a large quantity of peanut oil and let it reach the highest of temperatures. Slowly add the sliced panelle and fry , turning them round until they are golden and crisp.

Once fried add a pinch of salt and sprinkle of lemon .

the classic way would be to eat them with bread.

Caponata x 10 people

Caponata (Sicilian: capunata) is a Sicilian eggplant (aubergine) dish consisting of a cooked vegetable salad made from chopped fried eggplant and celery seasoned with sweetened vinegar, with capers in a sweet and sour sauce.^[1]

Numerous local variations of the ingredients exist with some versions adding olives, carrots and green bell peppers, and others adding potatoes, or pine nuts and raisins.

2 onions – roughly chopped

1 celery – chopped in large slices (include leaves )

1/2 kg San marzano or Piccadilly tomatoes cuts into small cubes

4 eggplants – chopped in cubes of around 2cm diameter

5 peppers.- chopped i squares of 2 cm diameter

100 g of white olives chopped and deseeded

50 g of salted capers- rinse them before use

basil just the leaves

salt

pepper

2 teaspoons of sugar

3 tables spoons of vinegar

handful of basil chopped

olive oil

peanut oil

Preparing the eggplants

Take most of the skin off with a peeler and cut 3 of the aubergines into cubes of around 2-3 cms .

Add a generous amount of salt to all the eggplant and place in a drainer and let them drain for around 1.30 -2 hours . (This will take all the bitterness out and water from the eggplant , meaning they will absorb less fat ) .

Preparing the base of the Caponata

in a frying plan add a large lug of olive oil and add the onions and celery and gently fry , adding a few table spoons of water once and while so it stays nice and soft . Add the tomatoes , capers and olives and slowing continue frying for around 5 minutes , then dd the sugar and vinegar and gently mix together . Turn off .

Fry the peppers and all aubergines separately in pan with a large quantity of hot peanut oil gently fry until the aubergines are golden and soft and the peppers the same .

Once finished add the eggplants and peppers to the caponata base and on a low heat stir and add the large handful or basil .

The caponata is done.

“Maccheroni di Casa ” with pesto alla Trappanese

Pesto ingredients 4 – 6 people

100 gr of Almonds

50 g of Basil (only leaves )

1 garlic clove

San Marzano Tomatoes (without skin)

A large quantity of olive (this is a personal choice )

salt and Pepper

( mix in a food processor and taste for the correct balance )

Pasta for 4 -6 people

Long thin metal skewers . called ferro, a metal spike . . However, a thin wooden skewer works as a substitute too.

1/2 kg of semola flour

a lug of olive oil

250 ml of water

a large pinch salt

Preparing the pasta

On a clean surface add all the flour and add the pinch of salt . With your hands create a hole in the middle .

in the hole gently add the water and with your hand slow mix the flour into water . continue adding the water , until you get a nice firm dough. kneed the dough together , stretching it for about 10 minutes

now cover the dough and let it rest for minimum an hour .

Once the pasta has rested , we can start making the maccheroni .

Cut small pieces of the pasta dough and place the skewer on top .

The trick, so to speak, is to apply enough pressure on the piece of dough so that it flattens and spreads around the ferro as you roll it, but not so much as to make it stick to the ferro. At the end of the process, you want to be able to slide the maccheroni from the ferro without misshaping it (if that happens, you can always re-roll the dough and try again).

It helps to flour the skewer often. I have two of them at hand: while I am using one, the other is inside the flour bag. When the first one becomes a bit sticky, I put it in the flour and take up the other.

Cook the maccheroni in salted boiling water for around 8 – 10 minutes

Involtini sword fish

400 g sword fish cut and Finely sliced .

250 g breadcrumbs : ( 8 slices of white bread grated into crumbs – pinch of salt and pepper – pinch of oregano – 20 g parmesan – hand full parsley and a hand full basil