Crespelle al salmone / Salmon crêpes

Ingredients for 4 - 6 people

12 crêpes (either ready made or shop bought)
200 g smoked salmon (more or less 12 slices)
1 carrot
1 shallot
1 rib of celery
50 ml béchamel sauce
100 ml whipping cream
Handful of grated Parmesan
Butter
Olive oil

Finely chop the carrot, shallot and celery and sauté in a little olive oil until everything is soft and transparent. Add the cream, stir, then throw in the grated Parmesan. Stir in the béchamel sauce, season with salt and pepper and leave to cool. Lay the crepes out flat, lay a slice of smoked salmon on top, then spread the cooled vegetable mixture on top. Roll the crepes up and place in a buttered ovenproof dish, and dot with small additional pieces of butter. Place in an oven preheated to 440°F (220°C) for about 8 minutes or until heated through. Serve immediately.

Passatelli bolognesi

Ingredients for 4 people

2 liters of meat broth
3 eggs, beaten
50g butter, melted
250 g grated Parmesan
200 g homemade breadcrumbs
2 tbsp flour
Nutmeg

In a bowl, use your hands to mix together the breadcrumbs, flour, eggs, 200g of the Parmesan, the butter, a grating of nutmeg and then season generously with salt and pepper. If the mixture is too stiff add a spoonful or so of broth. Bring the broth to a boil. Take a potato ricer with largish holes and push the bread mixture through the holes and straight into the boiling broth, cutting the strands off every 3 or 4 cm or so. Boil until the passatelli float to the surface, then serve with a generous sprinkling of grated Parmesan.
 

Cotechino con lenticchie

Ingredients for 4 - 6 people

One large cotechino type sausage
300 g small green lentils
2 bay leaves
Olive oil
1 onion, peeled but left whole
Handful finely chopped parsley

Puncture the cotechino so the skin won’t split when it cooks. Place the cotechino and lentils in a large bowl and cover with water and leave everything to soak overnight. Next day, drain the lentils, and place in a pan with a cup of water, a drizzling of olive oil, the bay leaves and the whole onion and season with salt. Leave to simmer, adding a little more water if necessary. Meanwhile, wrap the cotechino in greaseproof paper and place in a pan of water, simmering for half an hour or so. Remove cotechino from pan, and add to the lentils and cook for a further hour or until lentils and cotechino are fully cooked. Drain the cotechino, peel and cut into slices. Check seasoning of lentils, and stir in parsley. Serve the slices of cotechino with a generous portion of lentils.

Macedonia di frutta secca / Dried Fruit Salad

Ingredients for 6 people

175 g dried apricots, cut in pieces
175 g dried figs, cut into pieces
175 g prunes, cut into pieces
175 g sultanas
175 g currants
25 g candied orange peel, minced
1 apple, peeled and cubed
Small glass orange juice
25 g pine nuts
600 ml Marsala
Nutmeg

For the Marsala Cream
75 ml Marsala
1 tbsp brown sugar
150 ml whipping cream

Place the dried fruit, peel, apple, and orange juice (but not the pine nuts) in a large bowl, add a sprinkling of grated nutmeg and cover with the Marsala. Cover, and leave to soak in the fridge overnight. Next day, place mixture and juices in a pan and simmer for a few minutes. Turn into an ovenproof dish and place in the oven to cook at 250°F (120°C) for about 3 hours. Remove fruit from oven and allow to cool. At this point, the fruit can be kept in the fridge for 3 or 4 days until you are ready to use it. Before serving, prepare a Marsala cream by adding the sugar to the Marsala and stirring until it more or less dissolves. Whip the cream, stir in the Marsala and whip again until cream reaches the soft peak stage. Serve the fruit in bowls or in large glasses and top with a sprinkling of pine nuts and a dollop of Marsala cream.