Some recipes

Panadas filled with what you like (meat, vegetables, cheese, eggs…): mix the flour, lard, salt and enough warm water to make a dough. Knead well and when ready roll into a sheet about 5mm thick. From the dough make fifteen 8cm and fifteen 4cm diameter circles (or as many as you can). Put a large spoonful of filling in the centre of each of the larger circles, fold the edges up around the filling, and seal the balls with the smaller discs. Crimp the dough to make sure the pieces stick together.  Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Put the Panadas on greaseproof paper and bake for 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and brush with beaten egg. Serve hot or cold.

Pesce al forno al sale (Salt baked fish): Ingredients 2 medium sized bream (or similar) cleaned and gutted, 1kg salt, 1 lemon (quartered) – Cut two pieces of foil large enough to make separate parcels for the fish. On each piece spread 250 g of salt patting gently until evenly spread and big enough to lay the fish on top. Place the fish on top of the salt and cover with the remaining salt again patting gently until the salt is relatively smooth and compact. Close each parcel making sure the fish and salt are completely covered. Pre-heat the oven to 160 degrees. Place the fish parcels on a baking tray and cook for approximately 25 minutes. When done, gently open the parcels, break off the top layer of salt, lift the fish out and serve. Use the lemon to garnish.

Melanzane al forno (Baked aubergines): Ingredients:  4 medium aubergines, ½ cup extra virgin olive oil, 4 cloves of garlic, bunch of basil, salt, freshly ground black pepper. Preparation: Wash and dry the aubergines. Place them in a baking dish lightly brushed with oil and cook in a preheated oven at 180 degrees for about 30 minutes. In the meantime peel and finely chop the garlic. Wash and dry the basil and loosely chop. Remove the aubergines from the oven, cut them in half lengthwise and score the flesh with a sharp knife making a crisscross pattern. In a small bowl mix the remaining oil with the basil, garlic, pinch of salt and freshly ground pepper. Drizzle over the aubergines. Arrange on a serving dish and serve hot or warm.

Biancomangiare (dessert on spoon): Serves 6-8 Ingredients: 1 litre of milk, 200 g of sugar, 100 g corn starch, 1 lemon. Preparation: Dissolve the corn starch in a cup of milk. In a pan gently heat and stir the rest of the milk, the sugar and lemon zest (peeled but not grated yellow skin of the lemon). Add the corn starch and milk mixture to the pan and keep heating on a gentle flame while stirring. Continue until the mixture becomes dense. Remove from the heat and take out the lemon zest. Pour into wet moulds (cupcake size and splashed with cold water). Leave to cool down and serve.

Seadas: Serves 8 Ingredients: 1 kg flour, 250 g “strutto” (creamy pork fat at room temperature), 100 g sugar, 2 eggs, zest of 1 lemon, honey, zest of 1 orange – For the filling: 1 kg of fresh pecorino cheese, juice and zest of 1 lemon. Preparation: Sift the flour into a bowl, make a hole in the middle and add a pinch of salt. Add the egg, diced “strutto” (you can use butter if you prefer) and lemon zest. Knead for at least 10 minutes until you get a smooth, firm dough. Set aside to rest for 20 minutes. Coarsely grate the cheese and mix with the lemon juice and zest. Roll out the dough into a 2.5mm thick sheet and cut circles of 8 cm in diameter. Place a spoon of the mixture in the middle of a circle, brush the edges with egg and cover with another circle, pressing the edges firmly together. Fry the Seadas in a good amount of olive oil and then drain on kitchen paper. Heat the honey with the orange zest until it’s nice and runny, pour onto the Seadas and enjoy.

Pardulas: Serves 4 Ingredients: 200g of semolina (farina di semola), 200 g of flour, 500 g of fresh ricotta, 150 g of sugar, 50 g of “strutto” (creamy pork fat), 3 eggs, zest of 1 lemon, zest of 1 orange, 1 sachet of saffron (0.15 g), a pinch of salt. Preparation: Knead the semolina with the flour and diced strutto, add a pinch of salt and use some warm water to make the process easier. Keep kneading until the dough becomes compact and smooth. Shape the dough into a ball and cover with a cloth. Rest for at least 30 minutes. Prepare the filling. In a bowl mix the fresh ricotta with the eggs, sugar, saffron, orange and lemon zest. Roll out the dough making a thin pastry and cut out 6-8 cm diameter discs. Once all the discs are ready (as many as can be obtained from all the dough) put one and a half tablespoons of filling on each and then lift the borders of the pastry pinching it in 5 different points (basically you need to obtain stars shapes). Adjust the amount and shape of the filling with a spoon. Preheat the oven to 170 degrees. Place the pardulas on a baking tray covered with greaseproof paper, brush with egg and bake for half an hour. When ready sprinkle with castor sugar and serve.