Pistachio Cookies [gluten free]

Whenever I go on holiday or for a short break, I prefer to go to a different destination each time. There are simply so many wonderful places to visit and there are only so few days of holiday.  But I have some exceptions from this rule and Rome is one of them. I love this city, I could walk there for hours every day and it really doesn’t matter to me that I have already seen some of the places there several times.

While we were wandering around Rome a few years ago, we came across a bakery. It was really small and not fancy at all but the biscuits on the display looked really appetizing and - as we checked later – they tasted divine.  We ended up going there almost every day, we also recommended it to everyone who was going to Rome. Oh, I didn’t mention this was also Julia Robert’s favorite cookie place when she was filming “Eat, Pray, Love” in Rome.

So whenever we went to the Eternal City, this little bakery was a staple point to visit, almost like Fountain di Trevi or the Colosseum.  And then last year we found out it was not there anymore. Supposedly it moved to a different location but we never found it… We have missed all their biscuits so much that I knew I would have to try to recreate at least the favorite one: pistachio cookies. I adapted the below formula from an Italian recipe for almond biscuits. They are probably not the same as the original recipe, but I can assure you they taste wonderfully of pistachios and Rome.  

INGREDIENTS (for approx. 25 cookies):

250g pistachio nuts,

150g icing sugar,

2 egg whites,

extra icing sugar for coating.

METHOD:

1. Process the pistachio nuts in a food processor until you get “pistachio flour”.
2. Add the icing sugar and stir.
3. Whisk the egg whites with the electric mixer till stiff.
4. Gradually add the egg whites into the pistachio and sugar mixture; stir till all ingredients are combined and you end up with a sticky dough.
5. Let the dough rest for 12 hours in a fridge.
6. Preheat an oven to 160 Celsius degrees.
7. Form small balls from the mixture (approx. walnut size), coat them in icing sugar, place on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper and flatten slightly.
8. Bake in the hot oven for 15 minutes, the cookies shouldn’t get golden so they remain soft inside.

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Bolognese Sauce [ragu]

Spaghetti Bolognese is probably the most popular pasta dish and, as such, it has lots of variations as everybody cooks it their own way. For a long time that was the case also for me but everything changed when an Italian lady taught me how to make it the real, Italian way. And the most important tips I learnt from her are:

1. you should use 3 times as many tomatoes as the amount of meat you are cooking your sauce with,
2. 3 quarters of a litre of dry red wine is not too much when you have half a kilogram of meat, and
3. cooking the ragu for at least 3 hours will ensure a rich, intense and wonderful flavor of the sauce.

I have used the below recipe for years now and don’t look for any improvements as it is already perfect. The only exception was when I wanted to make a vegetarian version of Bolognese recipe for the lasagna but even then I still based it on this one so it is equally delicious.

P.S. Since it takes 3 hours to cook this perfect Bolognese sauce, make loads of it and freeze some portions so they can be enjoyed later.

INGREDIENTS (for 8-10 portions):

1 onion, peeled,

1 carrot, peeled,

1 celery stalk,

2 garlic cloves, peeled,

2 tbsp olive oil,

250g minced beef,

250g minced pork,

4 tins (400g each) of tomatoes,

2 bay leaves,

0.5 tsp sugar,

750ml dry red wine,

salt and pepper.

METHOD:

1. Either very finely chop or process in a food processor the onion, carrot, celery stalk and garlic.
2. In a big heavy pot warm up the olive oil, add the chopped vegetables and fry on a medium heat stirring often for 3-5 minutes.
3. Increase the heat to high and add the two types of minced meat; fry stirring constantly till the meat is no longer pink.
4. Add all of the tomatoes, bay leaves, sugar, some salt and pepper (you will adjust the taste at the end so don’t add too much at this stage), and half a cup of wine; once everything starts to boil, decrease the temperature to low and cook for 3 hours.
5. During the cooking time stir the sauce at least every half an hour to break any bigger pieces of meat or tomatoes and to prevent it from sticking to the bottom of the pot. Each time you stir, add half a cup of the red wine till you have used all of it.
6. After the 3 hours of cooking check the seasoning. The sauce should be thick and without lumps of meat. If there are any, you can break them with a potato masher.
7. Serve the sauce with your choice of pasta cooked al dente (the best is not spaghetti but wider type like tagliatelle or pappardelle) and grated Parmesan cheese.

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