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Sautèed Bell Peppers- Final dish.jpg

Sautéed Bell Peppers with Onions and fresh Basil Recipe

July 20, 2021 by tina oblak in Adriatic Recipe, Appetizers, brunch, Canapés, Easy recipe, Finger food, healthy mael, Istrian cuisine, Istrian dish, Istrian food, Istrian gastronomy, main course, main dish, Nutritious dish, Rustic dish, Side Dishes, Slovenian cuisine, Slovenian food, Slovenian gastronomy, Small bites, Snacks, Starters, supper, Vegan, Vegetarian

This recipe is very easy, very tasty, you only need a few fresh ingredients and you have a perfect summer side dish to accompany meat or fish.

Peppers cooked this way are also fantastic served on bruschetta, can also be used as a sauce for pasta dishes, great base for risotto, or simply enjoyed on its own with a fresh crunchy bread. I also love using sautèed peppers as a topping on a pizza.

This dish can really be summed up as a simplicity at its best.

I simply adore peppers, I love them raw in salads, cooked, sautèed, grilled...

I have very vivid memories as a child going with my mother to the farmers market and seeing the vegetable and fruit stalls full of colourful peppers, it just looked so beautiful...

After buying the peppers, I would pick one and my mother would wash it under cold water in one of the Venetian looking fountains in the market, and I would just munch it raw during the trip back home.

As soon as the peppers were available fresh to buy at end of spring and during the summer, when they are in abundance, my mother would make this dish very often and here I am very happy to share it with you..

Ingredients

Serves 4

  • 6 mixed colour bell peppers, about 1kg (I used yellow, orange, green and red, you can use just one variety or a mixture of your preference)

  • 1-2 onions, about 200g (peeled and thinly sliced)

  • fresh basil, few leaves

  • sea salt

  • 4 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

  • chili, optional

Sautèed Bell Peppers 1.jpg

Method

Wash and dry the peppers, cut them in half, remove the seeds and the white filaments.

Cut the peppers into smaller pieces.

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Peel the onions and slice thinly.

Add the oil into a fairly large non stick pan.

Heat the oil and add the onions and a pinch of salt

Stew the onions over medium-low heat, for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onions become soft and translucent.

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Add the peppers, mix them well with the onions, add sea salt, fresh basil leaves and chilli if using.

Cover with the lid and cook the peppers on a medium-low heat anything between 30-50minutes, stirring occasionally.

The peppers, after this time, should be completely soft and all the water should be completely absorbed.

If the peppers are completely cooked but still quite watery, take the lid off and cook further for few minutes until all the water is completely absorbed.

Add few more fresh basil leaves and your peppers are ready to be enjoyed hot, warm, at room temperature or cold.

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Just a thought

Peppers cooked this way can be stored for about 2-3 days in the fridge in an airtight container.

Freezing this dish is not recommended.

You can add crashed garlic (1 or 2 cloves) if you wish and replace fresh basil for fresh flat leaf parsley or use both.

Wine suggestion

Friuli Colli Orientali Sauvignon DOC 2019 by Valentino Butussi, Colli Orientali, Friuli

July 20, 2021 /tina oblak
bell peppers, fresh basil, sautèed bell peppers, sautèed bell peppers with onions, sautèed bell peppers with frsh basil
Adriatic Recipe, Appetizers, brunch, Canapés, Easy recipe, Finger food, healthy mael, Istrian cuisine, Istrian dish, Istrian food, Istrian gastronomy, main course, main dish, Nutritious dish, Rustic dish, Side Dishes, Slovenian cuisine, Slovenian food, Slovenian gastronomy, Small bites, Snacks, Starters, supper, Vegan, Vegetarian
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Minestrone Primavera 10.jpg

Minestrone Primavera (Spring Vegetable Soup) recipe

Beams and Sardines
June 29, 2021 by tina oblak in Adriatic Recipe, Appetizers, brunch, dinner, Easy recipe, entrée course, healthy mael, Istrian cuisine, Istrian dish, Istrian food, Istrian gastronomy, main course, main dish, Nutritious dish, Rustic dish, Slovenian cuisine, Slovenian food, Slovenian gastronomy, Soups, Starters, supper, Vegetarian, Italian soups, Italian minestrone

This is a really lovely soup to make, it is delicious, comforting, easy to prepare, and it is a great choice for a light lunch or dinner. It will soon become one of your favourites as it is ideal for a rustic style meal or for a more elegant option dining.

What I love about this minestrone is that it is really uncomplicated to make and it looks so pretty with all the new vegetables, yes, spring in a plate and a real celebration of springtime.

This soup is Italian in origin and due to such a close geographical proximity of my homeland it became incredibly popular, it is prepared in almost every household on a weekly basis, and because of its healthy and nutritious properties it is a popular choice in nurseries, school canteens, restaurants and nursing homes.

It is also very common to blitz or puree this soup and use it as a baby food.

In Slovenia you can find it in the menus as Zelenjavna Mineštra and in Istrian dialect being referred to as Maneštra.

This spring vegetable soup is quite light but it is very common to turn it into a more substantial meal just by adding a bit of small shaped pasta or rice, barley, freshly cooked or tinned cannellini or other type of beans, chickpeas and similar.

Minestrone Primavera is one of those dishes that was created out of necessity, using what was available in the season. The idea behind this, is that you would go to the vegetable garden during the spring and early summer season and pick the vegetables that were ready to be used in cooking. And this is exactly what my both paternal and maternal grandfathers used to do.

As a alternative, if you do not have a vegetable patch, you can go to the farmers market, food stores or supermarket and pick up the spring vegetable that you like.

The beauty of Spring minestrone is that it can never taste exactly the same, as the selection of vegetables will slightly vary each time you cook it.

My mum would make this soup very frequently especially in the spring and early summer when there are fresh vegetables available in abundance.

There are also quite a lot of regional variations of this dish like Minestrone alla Genovese, a variant typical of Liguria (Italy), that commonly uses fresh basil pesto and a greater amount of fresh herbs.

What gives this humble minestrone a real boost in flavour is to put the end of a Parmiggiano Reggiano or Padano cheese rind into the soup rather than to throw it away. The rind is that part of the cheese that develops on the outside wheel as it ages and acts as a protective layer. When you are no longer able to grate the cheese, as you get to the crust that also becomes quite hard (i.e. the rind), you do not throw the crust away, use it in a soup to enrich it as it is packed full of flavour.

It just transforms the overall taste of the minestrone, as if just by magic, you have to trust me on this one! You will be amazed what an old rind of cheese can do!

Minestrone Primavera 11.jpg

This is a poor, peasant soup, my paternal nona shared with me that when she was young ingredients were scarce, and the word abundance was almost hardly ever used when it comes to food. It is quite emotional to think how incredibly clever and creative people were to use everything they could to give them fuller flavour with something that would normally end up in the bin or compost.

Here I will share a basic recipe for the minestrone, just how it has been made in my family for generations and it is just a guide, as there is no set recipe.

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Ingredients

Ingredients for soffritto (Italian in origin, it is a flavour base for many dishes, gently fried chopped onions, carrots and celery in olive oil)

  • 4 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

  • 1 medium onion, approx. 140g, finely chopped

  • 1 medium carrot (finely chopped), use 70g for soffritto and chop the rest of the carrot and use it in a soup together with the other vegetables

  • 1 celery stick (approx. 70g), finely chopped

Ideally, the onion, carrot and celery stick should be chopped quite finely when preparing soffritto. If you have a mini food processor, this is the time to use it.

The rest of the ingredients for the soup

  • courgette (approx. 100g), a handful, sliced and roughly chopped

  • 1 potato (approx 130g), peeled and cut into cubes

  • 4 runner beans, washed trimmed and sliced

  • 4 green asparagus, wash, trim off the wooden ends and finely slice the stalks leaving the tips whole

  • 4-5 radishes, washed and roughly chopped

  • 5 broad bean pods, podded

  • fresh sweet peas in pods (approx. 150g), remove the peas from the pods (frozen petits pois would do just fine, about a handful)

  • baby spinach, about a handful, chopped

  • 1 handful fresh flat leaf parsley, stalks included (that is where the flavour is), finely chopped

  • 3-4 fresh basil leaves, roughly chopped

  • 1 fresh sage leaf

  • 2l hot vegetable or chicken stock (using instant stock is perfectly fine). You can just simply use hot water if you do not have any type of stock in hand.

  • sea salt (to taste)

  • freshly ground black pepper (optional)

  • Parmiggiano Reggiano cheese rind (optional)

  • 80-100g small shaped pasta or broken up spaghetti

Method

Prepare all your vegetables as described in the Ingredients list above and put it aside.

Minestrone Primavera 12.jpg

Drizzle the oil in a casserole pan, add onions, carrots and celery and prepare the soffritto by gently and slowly frying the trio of vegetables for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally until soft.

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Add all the other vegetables and fry gently together with soffritto for few minutes.

Add all the herbs, stock and cheese rind, if using, and cook for about 40 minutes.

Taste and adjust the seasoning with sea salt and black pepper. If using cheese rind there might be no need for extra seasoning as the cheese rind is quite salty already.

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Halfway through cooking add barley, beans (already cooked or canned), rice or any other small shaped pasta you like, very traditional is to use ditalini shape pasta. It is also very common, especially when you realized you have not got any small shaped pasta or completely run out of it, to take a bit of spaghetti and break them up into smaller pieces.

I have lovely memories of my mother giving me this job when I was a child to keep me entertained.

I give this same job to my son today, to keep him entertained...

Serve it hot with freshly grated Parmiggiano Reggiano cheese and bruschetta of your choice.

Minestrone Primavera 9.jpg

Wine suggestion

Chardonnay DOC “Vigna Runc” 2019 by Il Carpino, Collio.

June 29, 2021 /tina oblak
Minestrone Primavera, spring vegetable soup, Nutritious soup, Healthy soup, Zelenjavna minestra, Zuppa primavera, Mixed vegetable soup, Mixed vegetable minestrone
Adriatic Recipe, Appetizers, brunch, dinner, Easy recipe, entrée course, healthy mael, Istrian cuisine, Istrian dish, Istrian food, Istrian gastronomy, main course, main dish, Nutritious dish, Rustic dish, Slovenian cuisine, Slovenian food, Slovenian gastronomy, Soups, Starters, supper, Vegetarian, Italian soups, Italian minestrone
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Rustic Sea Bream spread recipe

Beans and Sardines
June 15, 2021 by tina oblak in Adriatic Recipe, Appetizers, brunch, Canapés, dinner, Easy recipe, Finger food, Fish & Seefood, Healthy, healthy mael, Istrian dish, Istrian food, Istrian gastronomy, Nutritious dish, Rustic dish, Small bites, Snacks, spreads, Starters

This fish spread is creamy and full of flavour and could not be simpler and quicker to make. It is rustic and informal, fantastic as a dinner party starter or as light lunch, it brings people together at the table as it is a real sharing dish and a real success every time I make it.

You can prepare this spread any time of the year but on a hot sunny day it feels somehow a bit of a treat.

Back home it is very popular starter and commonly used as a part of a selection of cold fish based starters.

This spread, like many other dishes, was created out of necessity with the left over baked fish. The fish was cleaned and the three most basic ingredients used in the North Adriatic (garlic, extra virgin olive oil, flat fresh leaf parsley) were added to the fish that was simply mashed with a fork.

Place the spread in the centre of a table, sprinkle with some extra chopped parsley or dill, a drizzle of olive oil, arrange some bread, olives, sliced tomatoes, salads, other fish based starters and really all the other things that you like.

Your family and friends will love this spread, they will ask you for the recipe or you will find them on your doorstep before you intent to invite them back.

Ingredients

Serves 4- 8

  • 2 whole baked sea breams (each weighing between 300-500g before baking) or 4 fillets (can use sea bass, mackerel or similar)

  • 1 clove of garlic, peeled and pressed (small to a medium sized garlic would be appropriate to avoid overpowering the delicate flavour of the fish, you can use big garlic if you are after a more garlicky taste)

  • 4 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

  • fresh flat leaf parsley, stalks included, finely chopped (about a handful)

  • sea salt, to taste

  • lemon juice (optional, to taste)

Method

If using the whole fish, remove the skin and any bones from the fish.

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Sea Bream Spread 3.jpg

Place cleaned pieces of fish meat in a food processor. If you do not have food processor you can use hand blender which will give you a very smooth consistency or you can simply finely chop fish fillets and have a spread with more texture.

Add pressed garlic, extra virgin olive oil, chopped parsley and a pinch of sea salt.

Blend until smooth or blitz for more coarse consistency.

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Taste and adjust seasoning with sea salt.

Add a squeeze of lemon juice if desired.

Serve at room temperature with fresh or toasted bread, crackers or bread sticks.

SEa Bream Spread 6.jpg

Just a though

If you bake the fish, there will be juices coming out of the fish. Spoon them up and add to the rest of the ingredients. It will really give extra flavour.

This spread can be made up to a day ahead and kept in the fridge but served at room temperature.

Wine suggestion

Ribolla Gialla IGT 2019 by I Clivi, Tre Venezie.

June 15, 2021 /tina oblak
Sea Bream, rustic fish spread, sea bream paté, home made fish spread
Adriatic Recipe, Appetizers, brunch, Canapés, dinner, Easy recipe, Finger food, Fish & Seefood, Healthy, healthy mael, Istrian dish, Istrian food, Istrian gastronomy, Nutritious dish, Rustic dish, Small bites, Snacks, spreads, Starters
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Final dish- sautéed sweet peas with parsley and onion.jpg

Sautéed Early Sweet Peas with fresh parsley and onion recipe

Beans and Sardines
June 08, 2021 by tina oblak in Adriatic Recipe, brunch, dinner, Eastern European recipes, Easy recipe, healthy mael, Istrian cuisine, Istrian dish, Istrian food, Istrian gastronomy, Nutritious dish, Rustic dish, Side Dishes, Slovenian cuisine, Slovenian food, Slovenian gastronomy, supper, Vegetarian

This is a great classic side dish, light and delicious, ideal for a rustic as well as a more formal lunch or dinner, it goes with just about any meat or fish dish, and it is quick and easy to make.

It can also be used as a base for pasta and risotto dishes and is very tasty used in frittatas and on top of bruschetta.

It is ideal to make this dish in spring using fresh peas as they are very sweet and tender. For this recipe, however, you can use fresh peas when in season but frozen petits pois are the ones I use most of the time as they are great alternative to the fresh peas when they are not in season and can be enjoyed all year round.

My mother made sautéed peas very frequently, they are nutritious, healthy and delicious, and they were served on a weekly basis, used fresh when in season but most of the time my mother used frozen petits pois as an alternative.

As a child I loved going to the allotment with my maternal grandparents and have vivid memories picking the pea pods from the plant. I also remember being always amazed walking home with big wicker baskets full of pea pods and ending up with half of what we picked after removing the peas from the pods.

I found picking the pea pods very entertaining, I liked very much opening the pods and finding this lovely vibrant green peas inside them.

As a child, I also soon spotted the opportunity to play and as the peas were all different sizes I would create a long line of peas starting with the smallest.

I thought that was great fun, it also provided fantastic healthy snack, I ate them as I went along creating this pea chain.

My most heart-warming memories around peas, whether they were picked at the allotment or bought at the farmers market, must have been me sitting at the table with my mother or paternal grandmother, and remove the peas from the pods. It provided the opportunity just to be together, have conversation or just stay in silence and smile at each other, I guess I felt reassured, loved...

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Ingredients

Serves 4 as part of meal

  • 1kg fresh early sweet peas in pods (after removing the pods you should end up with roughly between 400- 500g of peas)

    You can use sugar snap peas, in this case you will need about 2kg to get roughly 400g of peas after removing the pods.

    In both cases do not worry if you end up with more or less peas. Just use what you end up with after taking them outside the pod and follow the recipe.

    You can also use frozen Petits Pois (about 500g) or canned peas.

  • 4 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

  • 1 onion, medium size (about 130g), finely chopped

  • fresh flat leaf parsley, about a handful, finely chopped

  • hot vegetable stock or Bouillon powder instant stock

  • sea salt (only needed if using vegetable stock without the salt)

Ingredients- sautéed sweet peas 4.jpg

Method

If using fresh peas, clean and prepare them by removing the peas from inside the pods and discard the pods.

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In a skillet add the olive oil and onions and sautéed them over gentle heat until lightly browned and softened (this should take 5-7 minutes).

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Add the peas, fresh or frozen, and sautéed them together with the onions for few minutes. If using frozen peas cover with the lid as it will help to defrost them quicker.

Add fresh parsley and hot vegetable stock just enough to completely cover the peas.

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Cook uncovered over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until all the liquid is absorbed but the peas are still nice and moist and not dry (it should take around 15 minutes).

Taste and season with sea salt if needed and serve warm.

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Just a thought

You can keep the cooked peas in the fridge, in a airtight container, for about two or three days.

They freeze very well, so good side dish to prepare ahead.

June 08, 2021 /tina oblak
sautéed peas, sautéed sweet peas, sautéed early sweet peas, sweet peas with fresh parsley and onion, sautéed petits pois, sautéed peits pois woth fresh parsley and onion
Adriatic Recipe, brunch, dinner, Eastern European recipes, Easy recipe, healthy mael, Istrian cuisine, Istrian dish, Istrian food, Istrian gastronomy, Nutritious dish, Rustic dish, Side Dishes, Slovenian cuisine, Slovenian food, Slovenian gastronomy, supper, Vegetarian
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Creamed spinach 1.jpg

My mum's Creamed spinach (without cream) recipe

Beans and Sardines
May 25, 2021 by tina oblak in Adriatic Recipe, brunch, Central European recipes, Eastern European recipes, Easy recipe, healthy mael, Istrian cuisine, Istrian dish, Istrian food, Istrian gastronomy, Nutritious dish, Rustic dish, Slovenian cuisine, Slovenian food, Slovenian gastronomy, Vegetarian

Creamed spinach is one of my absolute favourite side dishes and it is one of those recipes that you will go back to time and time again. Spinach is a beautiful leafy plant but it is sometimes an unsung hero of dinner greens. It is quick and easy to make, perfect to introduce as a vegetable dish during midweek or to serve along those special weekend meat roasts. It is very tasty, nutritious, healthy and accompanies really nicely just about any fish or meat dish.

Spinach cooked this way was the one I loved most as a child, and I could never get enough of it, I could literally eat it out of pan with a spoon, nothing much has changed. And of course, I was never told off for eating too much of it! Definitely worth giving it a go if you have children (and adults) that are not so kin on vegetables.

My mother made creamed spinach very often for me and my brother when we were little during the week as a quick meal together with mashed potatoes and fried egg. This vegetable side dish is very popular back home and still served as part of school meals just as it used to be. It is reassuring to know that some things just haven't changed...

Creamed spinach 2.jpg

Ingredients

Serves 2-4 as part of meal

  • 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

  • 1 clove of garlic, peeled

  • 500g of baby spinach (washed and ready to use) You can use other varieties of spinach or Swiss chard in which case you remove the stalks

  • 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour

  • 250 ml milk (semi skimmed or full fat)

  • sea salt

  • nutmeg, freshly grated (optional)

Method

First of all you need to wash the spinach thoroughly if you bought it unwashed. If you are using the spinach that has been washed already and is ready to use just skip the following step.

The best way to wash the spinach is to put it in a sink or large container of cold water. Swish leaves around and than let them stand for a few minutes allowing the dirt to sink to the bottom.

Place washed spinach in a big pot and pour over boiling hot water. If you prefer you can bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil and then add the spinach. In both cases you need to push the leaves down to completely submerge them in the water.

Blanch the spinach for about 40 seconds to a minute (blanching is most often used as an intermediary step for a dish and it means giving greens, in this case spinach, a quick cook in hot water to cook them through and soften them).

Place a large colander in a sink, drain the spinach and run it under cold water just for few seconds. This will stop the cooking immediately (and retain the nutrients) but it will also help to cool down the spinach.

Let the spinach cool completely for few minutes and drain as much as you can. You want to remove as much excess liquid as you can (spinach contains quite a lot of water). I do this in batches by taking small handfuls of spinach and squeeze it very well. I end up with few balls of very well drained spinach.

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Transfer drained spinach on a chopping board and chop quite finely.

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Put the extra virgin olive oil and peeled clove of garlic in a saucepan. Infuse the oil with the garlic on a medium-low heat and when the garlic turns nice golden colour remove it from the saucepan and discard it. Be careful not to burn it, trust me this is easily done.

Add the flour and cook briefly, stirring constantly, until the flour turns golden colour.

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Add chopped spinach and stir well so the spinach is mixed well with the flour mixture. At this point the spinach mixture might stick to the bottom a bit, do not worry if this is the case.

Start pouring gradually the milk, stirring and mixing constantly, incorporating well. Season with salt and add some freshly grated nutmeg, if using, and cook further for about 5-7 minutes on a gentle heat, stirring constantly. By this time you should end up with a lovely thickened creamed spinach. If it does look a bit watery give it another minute or so.

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Just a thought

If you prepare this dish in advance it might get a bit thick. When heating up just pour in gradually a little bit more milk and stir constantly until you get the desired consistency.

Creamed spinach 10.jpg
May 25, 2021 /tina oblak
fresh baby spinach, baby spinach in a skillet, quick spinach recipe, easy spinach recipe
Adriatic Recipe, brunch, Central European recipes, Eastern European recipes, Easy recipe, healthy mael, Istrian cuisine, Istrian dish, Istrian food, Istrian gastronomy, Nutritious dish, Rustic dish, Slovenian cuisine, Slovenian food, Slovenian gastronomy, Vegetarian
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Pasta e Fasoi 1.jpg

Nona Nada's pasta e fasoi Istrian style (pasta and beans soup Istrian style) recipe

Beans and Sardines
March 02, 2021 by tina oblak in Soups, Adriatic Recipe, Easy recipe, entrée course, healthy mael, Istrian cuisine, Istrian dish, Istrian food, Istrian gastronomy, main course, main dish, Nutritious dish, Rustic dish, Slovenian cuisine, Slovenian food, Slovenian gastronomy, Vegan, Vegetarian

This must be one of the most humble, hearty and comforting dishes ever. It originated as a peasant dish, it is flavoursome, makes a robust meal, and it is made with simple, inexpensive ingredients.

Pasta and beans is a traditional Italian soup but there are numerous variations of recipe and names according to the region where it originates from, Central and Northern Italy.

Some vegetables like onions, celery and carrots can be used as a base. Some recipes include the use of diced tomatoes or tomato purée, pancetta or lard and flavoured with rosemary and garlic.

However, no matter how you want to call it, or where it originates from, two ingredients would be in common to all the variations: beans (cannellini beans or borlotti most commonly) and a small variety of pasta like ditalini pasta.

Using mixed shape pasta or breaking spaghetti in small sticks is very common, or the use of fresh egg pasta, like home made tagliatelle works wonderful.

I will share with you my Nona Nada's recipe that she learnt as a young girl from her grandmother, so it really goes back generations. It is the soup that reminds me of home, and of my childhood, and is a variety of simple variations. In the Istrian local dialect, we just simply call it “Pasta e fasoi,” and is based on a Venetian variation (as the area was once under the Venetian empire) characteristic of which is the use of pancetta, lard or cotenna (thick and hard outer layer covering pancetta or prosciutto).

My grandma told me that they would prepare the soup in advance in the morning, put it on the stove on a low heat to cook for hours while they would be working on the fields. Upon return this hearty soup would be ready to be eaten.

This dish is so common that it also appeared in popular culture in the song “That’s Amore” by Warren and Brooks (popularized by Dean Martin) including the rhyme "When the stars make you drool, just like pasta fazool, that's amore".

No matter how simple and humble this dish is, it is a big hit every single time! My son and my husband love it and here is how to make it.

The quantities of the ingredients in the recipe is for a big pot of soup, feeding quite a lot of people, about eight (providing they do not go for seconds!).

This soup also freezes very well. Keep in mind that when you defrost it, or simply refrigerate it and then reheat, it will most probably thicken up quite a bit. You can keep it thick or just dilute it with a bit of water.

You can make half the quantity with 300g borlotti and 2 ½ l of water, smaller piece of pancetta and 100g of pasta

Ingredients

Serves 8

  • 500g dried borlotti beans

  • 4 ½ l water

  • 1 bay leaf, fresh or dry

  • few celery leaves

  • 1 medium size potato, peeled (about 200g)

  • extra virgin olive oil, generous drizzle

  • 1 piece, about 130g of pancetta (cured pork belly) or similar like ham hock, pig's trotter, cotenna or bone of prosciutto

  • sea salt

  • freshly ground black pepper

  • 200g ditalini shape pasta (or any small shaped pasta), or fresh egg pasta

Method

First of all, you need to soak the dry borlotti beans in plenty of cold water overnight. The following day drain them using a colander and run them through cold water.

Put the beans in a big pot, add cold water so the beans are completely covered. Add bay leaf, celery leaves, potato, piece of pancetta, drizzle of oil and season with sea salt and black pepper.

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Bring to boil then lower the heat to medium-low and with the lid partially uncovered cook for about 2 ½ h.

Remove bay leaf and pancetta. Cut the meaty bits off the pancetta, set aside and put it back in a soup after you pass it through a food mill.

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Take a food mill and place it steadily over a bowl. With a soup spoon, spoon out about ¾ of the beans with the liquid and mill them so you get a bean purée. Transfer the bean purée back in the pot and mix well with the rest and cook for further 30 min.

Add the pasta of your choice and cook until al dente making sure you mix it now and again just to avoid sinking the pasta to the bottom and burn.

It is very common to cook pasta separately, drain it and then added to the soup.

If the potato did not end up through the mill, then take the wooden spoon and with the back of it just press the potato against the wall of the pot. By doing so the potato will just disintegrate giving pasta and fasoi a nice thick, velvety, consistency.

Serve hot with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and a nice rustic type of bread, slightly toasted even better. It is very common to grate fresh Parmigiano-Reggiano (Parmesan cheese) on top of it.

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Just a thought

This is a great dish for vegetarians and vegans by opting out pancetta or similar and using non egg based pasta for the soup.

Wine suggestion

Friulano DOC “Valeris” 2019 by Muzic, Collio.


March 02, 2021 /tina oblak
pasta and bean soup Istrian style, pasta and borlotti beans soup, Venetian style pasta and beans soup, Pasta e fagioli recipe, Pasta e fasioi Venetian recipe, rustic borlotti beans and pasta soup, simple bean soup
Soups, Adriatic Recipe, Easy recipe, entrée course, healthy mael, Istrian cuisine, Istrian dish, Istrian food, Istrian gastronomy, main course, main dish, Nutritious dish, Rustic dish, Slovenian cuisine, Slovenian food, Slovenian gastronomy, Vegan, Vegetarian
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Sautéed Sauerkraut recipe

Beans and Sardines
February 16, 2021 by tina oblak in Side Dishes, Adriatic Recipe, Easy recipe, healthy mael, Nutritious dish, Vegan, Vegetarian, Istrian food, Istrian cuisine, Istrian gastronomy, Slovenian food, Slovenian gastronomy, Slovenian cuisine, Rustic dish

The word “sauerkraut” comes from German Sauerkraut, which literally means “sour cabbage”. From sauer “sour” and kraut “vegetable, cabbage.” The origin of the dish has been disputed but it took root mostly in Central and Eastern European cuisines.

Sauerkraut is finely shredded cabbage, that has been fermented by various lactic acid bacteria and it has a distinctive sour flavour due to the fact, that the lactic acid is formed when the bacteria ferment the sugars in the cabbage. It is the lactic acid that naturally preserves sauerkraut and gives it long shelf life.

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It is incredibly popular dish back home, and would appear on tables as a part of a family meal on a weekly basis, especially during colder months. Its popularity is not surprising, if we consider the fact, that the area was under Austro-Hungarian Empire until the end of First World War. Almost every household would have a slightly different version of how to prepare and cook sauerkraut.

In Slovenia, you can buy sauerkraut in all supermarkets in sealed plastic bags or glass jars, but I just love getting it from farmer's market, where it is sold on food stalls by local farmers directly from big wooden barrels.

I am sharing with you my grandma and my mum's version of how it is cooked on the coastal region, simply with extra virgin olive oil, a bit of garlic and bay leaf, however, adding a pinch of sweet Hungarian paprika and few crushed caraway seeds is quite common too, in order to achieve once again that “imperial” flavour. This is a great side dish, traditionally used to accompany almost any meat based dish like sausages, cooked ham, pork roast or other meat roasts, pork chops, black sausage...

As children, my brother and I would have it just simply with fried eggs and a bit of potato mash.

Sauerkraut is quite versatile, and it can be also used in a variety of other dishes, and just to mention a few, jota (Istrian sauerkraut and bean soup), Hungarian style sauerkraut, rice and mince pork casserole, and it is great in sandwiches, made for example, with rye bread and cooked ham.

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My nona Nada has vivid memories from when she was a child, of every household in the village making a big barrel of sauerkraut; cabbage would be harvested in autumn and fermented during winter month.

Sauerkraut is also very healthy, and has numerous nutritional benefits. Contains live and active probiotics, helping your body to fight off harmful bacteria or toxins, it has high level of digestive enzymes, high in vitamin C and K2. Rich in fibre and minerals like potassium, iron and magnesium.

No wonder Captain James Cook always took a store of sauerkraut on his sea voyages!

It is really not surprising, that sauerkraut has been gaining increasing popularity in the past few years, especially in the countries where it has been less known.

Back home, it has always been there...just like family.

When shopping for sauerkraut, make sure you get a good quality one, just sea salt and nothing else should be added on the ingredient list.

Ingredients

Serves 4

  • 1kg Sauerkraut (sauerkraut is normally sold in glass jars or sealed plastic bags and will have different net weights of sauerkraut, it does not matter if you end up with slightly less or more than 1kg of sauerkraut)

  • 1 bay leaf (fresh or dry)

  • 4 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

  • 2-3 cloves of garlic (peeled and crashed)

  • sea salt

  • few black whole peppercorns

Method

Drain the saurekraut in a colander and give it a quick rinse with cold water if you think the sauerkraut is too acid for your taste, but do not over rinse it, as you will loose the characteristic sauerkraut taste.

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Place the rinsed sauerkraut into a large, preferably non stick pan, add sea salt, peppercorns, bay leaf, garlic, extra virgin olive oil.

Add water, just enough to cover the sauerkraut, bring to boil, reduce the heat and simmer for about 1-1 1/2 hours.

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Sauerkraut is cooked, when you have no excess liquid left in the pan, and the sauerkraut is nice and soft. Adjust seasoning with sea salt and freshly ground pepper.

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Wine suggestion

Cabernet Sauvignon IGT 2017 by Balter, Vallagarina.

February 16, 2021 /tina oblak
side dish, Sautéed Sauerkraut recipe, Istrian style Sautéed Sauerkraut recipe, Sauerkraut recipe
Side Dishes, Adriatic Recipe, Easy recipe, healthy mael, Nutritious dish, Vegan, Vegetarian, Istrian food, Istrian cuisine, Istrian gastronomy, Slovenian food, Slovenian gastronomy, Slovenian cuisine, Rustic dish
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