Tag Archives: almonds

Sommarfrukost i värmen

July 14, 2015

Här på Pantelleria har värmen slagit till ordentligt. Det är för varmt på mornarna för att äta en tung frukost. När jag var i Grekland för två veckor sedan fick jag yoghurt, med frukt, nötter och honung på mornarna. Jag som aldrig varit någon stor yoghurtätare har efter det trillat dit på den har kombinationen och forsatt med yoghurt varje morgon. Sicilien har inte ju tyvärr inte mycket till mjölkproduktskultur att skryta med så att tyvärr har vi inte lika god yoghurt, men om man köper den naturella med högst fetthalt lyckas man ändå få till det. Hemligheten är att torrosta nötterna och sedan hänger det frukten såklart. Nu plockar vi fikon, persikor och nektariner varje dag. Med det här receptet önskar jag er en bra start på dagen.

Yoghurt med sommarfrukt och rostade nötter
2 port

Ingredienser
10 st sötmandlar
6 valnötskärnor
1 stor söt persika
1 stort fikon
1 dl yoghurt ( helst riktig grekisk)
2 msk flytande honung

Gör så här
Torrosta nötterna i stekpanna på spisen och hacka dem grovt.
Skär frukten i bitar.
Ta fram två stora glas och varva alla ingredienserna.
Servera direkt!

Uva Passa and Passito Cake

December 4, 2013

This is the Pantescan variation of dried fruit cake, I can’t resist using our delicious uva passa , sun dried Zibibbo grapes (raisins) from this summer. Marinated in Passito di Pantelleria it brings out the essence of the island into this cake. Serve the cake as an Italian breakfast with coffee or as a winter dessert with a spoon of whipped cream or marscapone. The cake can keep at least a month if you can resist not eating it all up.

This is Zibibbo grapes drying in the sun, those became sweet delicious raisin now in my cake!

Uva Passa and Passito cake
Ingredients
9 Oz (250 grams) of seedless uva passa or other raisins
1/2 Cup (1.2 dl) Passito di Pantelleria or other sweet wine like Marsala or Port
1/4 Cup (0.6 dl) almond flakes
1.2 Lb (545 gram) of soft butter
5 Eggs
3 Cups (7.3 dl) all purpose flour sifted
2 Cups (4.8 dl) sugar

Method
Marinate the uva passa with the Passito allow them to marinate for at least 6 hours or overnight.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 C).
Toast the almonds in a tablespoon of butter in a skillet over low heat.
The almonds should be toasted to a golden, be careful not to burn them.
Whisk the eggs and sugar until white and fluffy.
Whipped butter to a fluffy and soft.

Combine in batches, the egg mixture with the sifted flour into the whipped butter. Add the uva passa (also add the left over Passito in to the batter) and almonds.
Pour the batter into parchment paper lined loaf baking pan .
Bake at 350 F degrees (175 C) for at least 90 minutes.
Check with a toothpick so that the cake is dry in the middle, if not continue baking and check every 10 minutes.

Let the cake cool down, wrap in foil and let rest until time to serve.

Blackberries for Igor

September 23, 2013

The season for blackberries in Pantelleria is long. It begins in early July and ends in early September. The berries ripen, dry up and are then scorched by August’s heat. As soon as the weather begins to cool a bit, after the middle of August, the bushes bloom again and in come new berries. During my morning walks in Ghirlanda I pick them and eat them as a breakfast on the go. Sometimes I bring a basket to fill because Igor, the dog who usually refuses both fruits and vegetables, ADORES blackberries. He munches them up in seconds wagging his tail the whole time. Then he looks up at me as if to say, “Thanks! Can I have some more?” and his mustache is all purple. Watching him so happy fills my heart. I just love this guy!

Once in a while I make a cobbler that’s not too bad either. Served with vanilla ice cream, it is basically heaven on a plate.

Blackberry Cobbler
Serves 8
The recipe fits a baking pan of 9.5 in (24 cm) in diameter.
Grease the baking pan with butter.

Ingredients
9 oz (250 grams) room temperature soft butter
1 Tablespoon bourbon vanilla sugar
1 pinch of sea salt
1/2 cup (1.2 dl) almonds roughly chopped
1 cup (2.4 dl) caster sugar
1.5 cup ( 3.6 dl) of flour
4 cups (1 lit) of black berries

Method
Mix all the ingredients for the dough using your hands.
Pour in the black berries in the baking pan and add the dough in dots or lumps around the berries
Bake at 400 degrees F (200C) for about 15 minutes.
Serve the cobbler with a good vanilla ice cream

Fennel bites with almond and cheese crust

September 11, 2013

There are four huge almond trees in the garden, and they provide us with an abundance of almonds. Beginning at the end of August into the first weeks of September this is the time to harvest. The following recipe is for a popular snack served Under the Almond Trees that includes ingredients that I could solely live on for a long time. Fennel, almonds, oregano and cheese! Treat yourself, family and friends by trying this simple recipe serve with a nice glass of red.

Fennel with almond and cheese crust
8-10 bites

Ingredients
1 pound (450 grams) fennel bulb slices
1/2 cup (1,2 dl) raw almonds
9 (oz) 250 gram of cheese that melts and browns well, I used a 50/50 combination of mozzarella and Parmesan cheese
Olive oil to saute fennel
Salt and pepper
1 teaspoon of Origano di Pantelleria (dried oregano)

Method
Set the oven at broil 530 F degrees (275 C).
Rinse and clean the fennel, cut slices about 0.3 inches (0.75 cm) thick.
In a saucepan saute the fennel in olive oil, salt and pepper.
They are cooked enough when the slices softens and produces a slightly golden.
Since the pieces will be different in size, they will have different cooking time, pay attention to remove the smaller pieces from the pan first.

Coarsely chop the almonds, in a bowl grate the cheeses and combine together with the almonds. Arrange fennel pieces on the baking sheet, give the portions enough space on the tray cover with cheese and almond mixture then into the oven fennel portions. Place baking pan in the oven 3/4 of the way not quite directly under the broiler in the oven for about 3-5 minutes. When golden brown remove tray from oven and sprinkle oregano on top allow to cool slightly to let the cheese set before serving.

Eggplant Pantesca

August 26, 2013

1 Reply

One of my favorite vegetables is eggplant, especially Pantescan eggplant harvested from our garden. This year we also had loads of tomatoes, so some of them are now sun dried. They are an explosion of flavor! We eat them like candy. Now and then I use them in cooking, as in this eggplant dish.

Eggplant Pantesca
Serves 4
24 oz (700 grams) of eggplant
10 pitted olives
6 sun dried tomato halves
20 almonds
7 oz (200 grams) mozzarella
1 cup olive oil
Salt and fresh grounded pepper

Cut the eggplant lengthwise about 4 pieces or into pieces that are a half inch (1.5 cm) thick.
Sprinkle a little salt on both sides and set aside for about 20 minutes to draw out the fluid.
Chop the olives, tomatoes, and almonds coarsely. Cut the mozzarella into small pieces.
Wipe the eggplant patties using a paper towel (so it becomes dry and excess salt disappears). Heat up a frying pan with plenty of olive oil.

Sauté the patties on both sides until golden and soft but without falling into pieces.
Pour more oil in the skillet when needed and season with black pepper.
Remove the patties and place them on a baking sheet.
Sprinkle the olives, sun dried tomatoes and almonds on top of the eggplant. Top with the mozzarella cheese and bake at 440 F (225 C) on the broiler setting for about 2-3 minutes.

Summer fruits

August 11, 2013

Summer is here with it’s all variety of delicious fruits like different types of plums, nectarines and peaches. Juicy and sweet straight from the trees in Favarotta, an area of agriculture here in Pantelleria. We eat the fruit for breakfast and make them into a juicy snack, to enjoy on the hot afternoons by the sea. I can not resist using these fruits in baking. One of may favorite desserts is the following delicious Peach and Almond blondie cake. Serve this cake with coffee and if you want, add a scoop of really good vanilla ice-cream and you have a scrumptious dessert.

Peach and Almond blondie
Makes 8-10 blondies
Cake tin size about 9 x 13 inches (25×35 cm)

Ingredients
9 oz (250 grams) of butter melted
4 eggs
2 1/3 cups (5.5 dl) granulated sugar
2 cup (256 grams) flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons vanilla sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon lemon zest
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
3-4 ripe peaches or nectarines
1 ounces (25 grams) almond paste
2 ounces (55 grams) coarsely chopped sweet almonds
1 Tablespoon sugar to sprinkle over at last moment

Method
Preheat the oven at 400 degrees ( 200 C)
Wash the fruit, cut in slices and remove the stone.

In a large bowl mix and whisk together the melted butter, sugar, eggs, flour, baking powder, vanilla sugar, lemon zest and lemon juice into a batter.

Line the bottom of the baking tin with parchment paper, pour in the batter. Next place slices of the peaches/nectarines in on the batter, sprinkle sugar over, grate almond paste grossly and finally sprinkle with almonds.

Bake at 400 degrees (200 C) for about 25-30 minutes.
Let cool down and cut in squares.

This recipe is also published in the Swedish magazine icakuriren summer issue 33/34

Zucchini flowers!

June 6, 2013

The delicacy of fried zucchini flowers: those who have eaten them before love them, and those who have yet to try them can’t wait to fall in love with them. At the moment our zucchini plants are blooming, so now is the time to really enjoy them.

Harvesting the flowers must be done in the early morning when they are freshly open. As the sun grows stronger they close. By mid morning they have twisted themselves closed, making it difficult to fill them. If you are not an early riser, of course you can just brush them off, dip them into batter and fry and eat with a good salt like artisanal unrefined salt from Sale Natura http://www.salemarinoartigianale.it/index.html, then it doesn’t matter if they’re closed. If you are like me, you will love filling them with some goodies like cheese, almonds, anchovies and oregano. Remember stuffing the flower is MUCH easier to complete when they are harvested while open.

Zucchini flowers with anchovies and oregano

Ingredients
20 large zucchini flowers
34-66 ounces (1 -2 liters ) of Extra Virgin olive oil ( frying medium)
(Make sure to choose a vessel /saucepan that has a thick bottom and sides that are high enough)
A baking sheet covered with paper towels or news paper for the flowers to drain upon after frying.
Tongs or a slotted spoon to turn the flowers over while frying and to remove them from the oil.
one clean dry pastry brush or brand new small soft paint brush

Filling
You can stuff the flowers with anything just make sure it doesn’t have a lot of liquid or oil in the content for the flower petal is very sensitive. Stuffed zucchini flowers is a great way to take leftovers and dress them up! Please omit the nuts from the filling below if you have nut allergies or if you are preparing the flowers to bring or serve at a gathering or party where you do not know if people are allergic to nuts.

30 raw almonds, coarsely chopped
1 good pinch pepperoncino (dried chile flakes)
7 ounces (200 grams) coarsely grated mozzarella
1.8 ounces ( 50 grams) coarsely grated Parmesan
20 basil leaves finely chiffonade (shredded)
2 pinches of dried oregano from Pantelleria
1 ounce (30 grams) of raw pine nuts
5 fillets of anchovies preserved in oil

Batter
5 Tablespoons all purpose flour (you can use a all purpose gluten free flour 1 to 1 exchange)
1/3 teaspoon baking soda or bicarbonate
10 Tablespoons soda water
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon white pepper

To serve
Salt flakes and fresh lemon wedges

Method
Using the pastry or clean paint brush clean the exterior of the flowers.
Optional: next you can gently take out the pistil using a tweezer or carefully use your hand.
Mix all ingredients for the filling together in a bowl excluding the anchovies
Separately cut the anchovies fillets each in 4 equally sized pieces.
Holding the flower gently, fill the inside using a small spoon or your fingers, work gently and careful for avoid the flowers you want the flower to remain intact. Only fill the flower 3/4 full.
With your finger make a little hole where you place the piece of anchovy.

Fold and close the petals gently. Finish with a twist of the petals to make a tight seal. Place aside on a tray. Repeat the process until all the flowers are filled and ready to fry.

Mix flour, bicarbonate and whisk together with the sodawater and olive oil until smooth (should have the consistence similar to a pancake batter). Let the batter rest while heating the oil. Pour your frying oil to heat. Brush the flowers one by one with the batter attempts to reinforce the closure of leaf and on top with a little batter. Fry the flower until golden, let drain shortly on paper towels.
Serve with salt flakes to sprinkle and some fresh lemon.

Carlo and Pino, having a break after working all day with making a new barbecue construction in the garden.

Lavender biscotti with chocolate

May 21, 2013

A few months months ago the lavender started to bloom here in Pantelleria. Hills become suddenly covered with blue lavender flowers. Their scent is so pure and soothing. I couldn’t resist picking a lot of these adorable flowers and made lavender sugar. It’s really a simple thing- you just mix sugar and lavender flowers, they can be fresh or dried. For every 3 1/2 ounces (100 gram) of sugar use 2 Tablespoons of lavender. Mix sugar and flowers and store in a large clean jar. Seal the jar and shake every couple of days, the sugar will be ready in a week. Mine has been waiting for months and this week I used some of it to make biscotti.

Lavender biscotti with chocolate

Ingredients:
1 cup of Almond raw (150 gram)
1 cup of lavender sugar (2,4 dl)
2 eggs
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 cup flour (4,8 dl)
1 dark chocolate bar of about 3 1/2 oz (100gr)

Method:
Chop the almond roughly, mix with the lavender sugar, salt and the egg. Mix the baking powder with the flour and stir in half of this with the batter. Cut the chocolate bar in rough chunks and mix in, then add the rest of the flour. Divide the dough in two halves and roll each half of the dough into a long shape for about 10 inches long (25 cm) and 2 inches (5 cm) wide.

Bake in the oven at 350 F (180 C) for a 15 -20 minutes on baking tray with baking paper. Cut the biscotti sideways and dry them in oven at 200 F (100 C) for about 60 minutes.

Let them stay overnight for drying on the baking tray or other, before you put them in a can or a box. Its important that they have dried properly before storing.

Almond panna cotta with uva passa and orange compote

February 15, 2013

4 Replies

Panna cotta literally means cooked heavy cream.
The main ingredients are cream sugar and gelatin, some recipes also include egg whites.
This dessert is originally from Northern Italy in the region of Piedmont (Piemonte), were back in the days people boiled the fish bones and getting collagen out of this process that was used as the first gelatin. Since I’m still fell inspired from the almondtree in flowering I’m making more almond milk and flavor the panna cotta that I want to serve for my dinner guest this evening. To accompany this panna cotta I’m making a fruit compote made with oranges from the tree and uva passa from this summers grape harvest. Uva passa is the sun dried Zibbio grape, that you make the Passito di Pantelleria sweet wine of. This beautiful dried grape is a regular sweet here in Pantelleria and is used as a raisin in cooking and baking . To be honest it’s actually the best bloody raisin I ever tasted… sun kissed sweet…. perfumed with a taste of nature from the volcanic soil of Pantelleria.

If you can’t get hold of these uva passa you can exchange the uva passa to other raisins or for example use dried plums or just ad more orange or other sweet citrus fruits.

Here comes a recipe for almond panna cotta with uva passa and orange compote

Wish you all a great weekend.
/ Anna

Almond panna cotta with uva passa and orange compote
Panna cotta
Serves 6

Ingredients:
2 gelatin sheets (bowl large enough to cover sheets with water)
1 cup (2.4 dl) almond milk
1.1/2 cup (3.6 dl) heavy cream
1/2 cup (64 grams) sugar
1 vanilla bean ( split lengthwise and seeded)

6 each ceramic ramekins or small coffee cups
1 table spoon of sunflower oil (for the ramekins)

Place gelatin sheets in a bowl and cover complete with cold water for 5-10 min minutes. Over medium size flame, in a sauce pan combine the cream, almond milk and sugar and heat until the sugar is dissolved. Lift the gelatin sheets from the water and stir into the hot cream until dissolved as well. Oil 6 ramekins or small coffee cups. Divide the panna cotta mixture evenly among each ramekin, set on a level shelf in the fridge,cover with plastic and let set for at least 3 hours.

Uva passa and orange compote
4 oranges
24 uva passa
1 cup (2.4 dl ) Passito di Pantelleria
1/2 cup (1.2 dl) sugar

Peel the oranges by cutting the skin off using a sharp kitchen knife.
Cut the oranges into medium sized chunks. Deseed the uva passa.

In a small but heavy sauce pan, pour the Passito di Pantelleria wine and sugar to boil. The sugar should dissolve and the liquid must reduce to half (on my gas stow this takes about 5 min). Stir constantly all the way to the bottom of the pan when it is boiling, so as to avoid burning the sugar. Add the fruit and set a side until serving.

When serving:
Run a sharp knife around the edges and flip on to serving plates.
Spoon up the compote cooled to room temperature around the panna cotta.

Almond trees in full bloom

February 5, 2013

The almond tree that this blog is named after is now in full bloom. Almond trees belong to the plum family and the almond is the core of the almond fruit that is a stone fruit. It is not actually a nut. Here in Pantelleria the almond trees are now covered with white/pink flowers. Almonds are an important ingredient in the Pantescan cuisine. I love to use almonds both in cooking and baking and, of course, just eating them plain. When the bloom period is over the trees develop their foliage. After that the fruit is at first green (see picture below) and has a soft shell similar to the peach. This skin will dry over the summer and fall off when the stone fruit is ready.
This is what looks like a nutshell. Inside you have the almond, which is the core. We harvested our almond trees in August, and we use them throughout the year. When the almonds are fresh they are juicy and not as sweet as the dry ones. In Sicily, almond milk is a popular drink and is often served at the bars together with small Sicilian assorted cookies.Almond milk
6 servings

Ingredients
2.1/2 cups (6 dl) whole peeled almonds
18 cups (2.8 liter) room temperature bottled water, you will need to 6 cups (14 dl) per soaking (2 times) 6 cups for blending.
3 tablespoons honey
Optional grounded cinnamon or vanilla seeds to taste

Method
Place almonds together in a large bowl that can accommodate both the almonds and the water so the almonds are covered by the water. Cover with plastic and allow them to soak 4 hours. Then change water and do the same procedure soaking for another 4 hours.
Drain and rinse almonds with fresh water using a colander.
Using a blender or food processor, mix the almonds with 6 cups bottled water, and add honey. Mix together using a blender or food processor (taste if you want it sweeter, add some more honey). Place the mixture back into the bowl and cover with plastic allowing it to rest for 2 hours. If you want, now is the time to add a little vanilla seeds or grounded cinnamon to taste.
Strain the almond milk through a cheesecloth or a strainer, serve well chilled.
Store the almond milk covered in the refrigerator. It has a possible shelf life 3-4 days when properly stored.