È di nuovo quel periodo dell’anno, in cui gli americani festeggiano il giorno di Ringraziamento. Sono già impegnata in cucina a preparare il tacchino (tutti i 10.5 chili!) Sto preparando tutti i tradizionali contorni americani, come il ripieno fatto con la salvia, il purè di patate e sugo e le torte di zucca. Il giorno del Ringraziamento, dopo aver guardato la sfilata di Macy sulla TV, la mia famiglia si metterà a tavola per godersi un grande pasto. Tutti noi ci rendiamo quanto siamo fortunati per tutto quello che abbiamo, per essere in buona salute e per essere uniti ancora una volta, sotto lo stesso tetto.
It is that time of year again when American’s celebrate Thanksgiving. I am already busy in the kitchen prepping the turkey (all 23 pounds of it!) and making traditional American side dishes, like sage dressing, mashed potatoes and gravy and pumpkin pies. On Thanksgiving day after watching the Macy Day parade on TV, my family will sit down to a large meal and give thanks to all that we have, enjoying good health and for being re-united once again under the same roof.
Gli italiani, naturalmente, non festeggiano il Ringraziamento. Dopo tutto è una festa unicamente americana e di solito gli americani sono abbastanza tradizionali per quanto riguarda i piatti che si preparano. Ma, se volete prendere una pagina del libretto di cucina delle mie amiche Rhonda, Sara e Judy ecco un’idea per mettere un tocco italiano sulle tipiche pietanze americane. Tutte tre donne mi ha accompagnato a Lucca lo scorso settembre e hanno imparato tante belle cose nella cucina Toscana di Eva, uno degli insegnanti di Lucca Italian School.
Italians of course don’t celebrate Thanksgiving. It is, after all, a uniquely American Holiday and usually, Americans are quite traditional about the dishes they prepare. But, if you want to take a page out of my friends Rhonda, Sara, and Judy’s recipe books here is an idea to put an Italian twist on the typical American cuisine of the day! All three women came along with me to Lucca last September and they got some great ideas while cooking in the Tuscan Kitchen of Eva, one of the teachers from Lucca Italian School.
Quest’anno Rhonda, che abita in California e Judy e Sara che abitano in Kansas hanno deciso di farei ravioli in burro e salvia per le sue famiglia in base alle cose cha ha imparato durante il nostro programma “matta” di immersione nella lingua e cultura. Invece di un grande tacchino, Rhonda ha anche deciso di preparare un petto di tacchino nel modo italiano!
This year Rhonda, who lives in California, and Judy and Sara who live in Kansas all decided to make sage ravioli for their families based on the things they learned during our “Matta” Lucca Italian Language Immersion experience. Instead of a great big Turkey Rhonda also decided to prepare a breast of turkey following another one of Eva’s Italian recipes.
Ecco le ricette che mi piacerebbe condividere con voi come il mio modo di ringraziare tutti voi per seguire il blog “Matta” e di essere fedeli lettori. Voglio anche condividere alcune foto che Rhonda ha fatto mentre preparava i piatti per la sua famiglia quest’anno!
Here are the recipes I’d like to share with you as my way of thanking all of you for following the Matta blog and being such faithful readers. I am also sharing some of Rhonda’s pictures of the delicious meal she is preparing this year for her family!
Buon Ringraziamento! Happy Thanksgiving! Mangia! Mangia! A presto!
For more information about next year’s Lucca “Matta” Language Immersion Program click this link! Join me and others passionate about learning Italian and you too can learn to cook like an Italian!
Stuffed Turkey Roll with Rosemary and Sage
Ingredients
600 gr of turkey meat
120 gr Tuscan bacon
4 eggs
1 carrot
2 glasses of white wine
Extra virgin Olive Oil
Rosemary
Sage
Thyme
Marjoram
3 Cloves of Garlic
Olives
Salt
Black Pepper
Cook carrot in salted water. Chop thyme, marjoram, some leaves of sage, and rosemary.
Mix eggs with salt, black pepper, aromatic herbs. Cook as an omelet
Stretch meat, add flattened bacon and omelet on top. Put to a side of the meat the carrot and roll the meat and tie it with string. Put the meat in a pot with 6 spoons of oil and brown it using a high flame. Then pour wine over meat in the pan and cook until evaporating. Add meat broth, rosemary, sage, garlic, and olives. Cover the pot and cook slowly for about 40 minutes.
Ravioli Stuffed with Ricotta Cheese and Spinach
Ingredients for hand made pasta:
1/2 kg of white flour
5 eggs
Salt (big pinch)
1 teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil
Put the white flour on the table make a well in the middle and put in the eggs, oil, and salt. Work the flour and eggs into a dough until it is elastic (it needs to be worked hard for a pretty long time) Let it rest an hour wrapped in cling film, then roll out the dough with a rolling pin (or special pasta machine)
Ingredients for stuffing
200 gr spinach
500 gr ricotta cheese (soft white unsalted Italian cheese)
2 eggs
nutmeg
salt
black pepper
150 gr. Parmigiano cheese
Boil spinach, squeeze, and chop well. When cold mince and add all other ingredients, mixing everything well. Take the dough and roll it out with a rolling pin (or special pasta machine) Fill up the sheet of paper with the stuffing (a teaspoon every 3 cms) turn the dough to close the borders, press, and then cut with the special cutter. Put ravioli in boiling salted water for about ten minutes, drain and dress the pasta in butter and sage.
