Two lazy Sunday recipes

I don’t feel like working tonight, so I’ve decided to take the time to post two recipes that I have recently tried and liked: cipolle ripiene (stuffed onions) and biscottini al vinsanto (vinsanto-flavoured biscuits).

Cipolle ripiene

Ingredients for 2 people

• 4 large white onions
• stale bread
• milk
• extra-virgin olive oil
• 100gr of ground beef
• white wine
• bread crumbs
• grated parmesan cheese
• 1 egg
• 1 or 2 cloves of garlic
• salt and pepper

I used white onions but you can use any other type I guess, provided they have a regular round shape.

Bring a pot of water to a boil.  Peel the skin off the onions and blanch them for 5 minutes in the boiling water.

In the meanwhile, put the stale bread to soak in milk. Drain the onions and, using a spoon or a small knife if they are still quite hard, remove the centres and put them aside.

Fry the onion centres in a large pan with some extra-virgin olive oil. Add the ground meat and cook for 2 or 3 minutes.

Add some white wine and cook for 5 more minutes – or until the liquid is completely evaporated – stirring frequently.

When the meat and onions are cooked, pour them in a bowl and add 1 egg, a spoonful of parmesan, some bread softened in milk and a couple of spoons of bread crumbs. Stir well, and use the mix to stuff the onions.

Put the onions on a greased baking tin, dress with a few drops of olive oil, a pinch of bread crumbs, and bake at 200°C (390°F) for 25-40 minutes (depending on the size of the onions)-

I am very sorry that I don’t have a photo of the final product! They were too good to take a picture!! We couldn’t resist and ate them all!!!

Biscottini al Vinsanto

Ingredients

• 250gr of  flour
• 100gr sugar
• a glass of vinsanto (approx.100gr)
• 100gr of oil, better if seed oil
• some baking powder for cakes (half a bag, approx. 8-10gr)
• a pinch of salt
• pine nuts
• raisins

Put the flour, the baking powder, the sugar and the salt in a bowl and then add the oil and the vinsanto. Mix well and then add the raisins.

With a spoon, pour small piles of the mix on a baking tin and decorate with pine nuts.

Bake at 180°C for 30-40 minutes, making sure they don’t overcook. The biscuits must be dry, and are excellent if you dip them in vinsanto.

You can add a sprinkle of icing sugar.

Ok, this photo is not mine… but they looked exactly like these. We couldn’t resist and we ate them all before I could take a picture!

They are excellent dipped in vinsanto too!

If you are interested in learning how to cook like a Tuscan, write to us! I give cooking lessons, and it’s a lovely excuse to spend some time chatting by the stove with a good glass of wine in our hands!