Spaghetti aglio e olio (spaghetti with oil & garlic)

For ➍
250 g spaghetti
4 tbs extra virgin olive oil
3 cloves garlic, chopped
2 onions, chopped*
parsley
peperoncino (dried Italian pepper)**
sea salt

Cook spaghetti, until undercooked.

Meanwhile, heat the oil, (sauté the onions)*, sauté the garlic in a skillet with oil and peperoncino until golden brown.

Mix cooked spaghetti briskly in the same skillet, sprinkle over some (sea)salt, add a generous tablespoon of finely chopped parsley, toss and serve.

*Optional.
**Use fresh pepper instead, thinly sliced & seeded.

One of the oldest ways to dress pasta was with raw oil and garlic. Later ingredients like peperoncino were added. Spaghetti aglio e olio (in fact it is spaghetti all´aglio, olio e peperoncino) is a traditional Italian pasta dish from the Abruzzo region.
The sauce consists mainly of garlic fried in oil, plus peperoncino (dried red chili peppers). Parsley is also added.
See the variations in the oil & garlic sauce post. Also see the related sugo alla puttanesca. Read more spaghetti & linguine recipes: a quick spaghetti, spaghetti with scallops & tomatoes, scallops & rucola spaghetti, spaghetti alla carbonara, spaghetti with vegetables, shrimps fra diavolo, raw tomato spaghetti, spaghetti with clams, spaghetti with small clams, Palermo spaghetti with tomatoes & mint, American-Italian spaghetti with meatballs, vermicelli with parsley sauce, shrimps & Brie linguine, butter & tomato pasta sauce, lemon pasta with sea spinach.

Aglio e olio (oil & garlic sauce variations)

The basic sauce for spaghetti aglio e olio can be made in several ways.

A few of them:

Variation 1: add some anchovies (6 salted fillets, washed and cut into pieces) to the garlic and oil, add a handful of black or green olives cut into pieces, and sauté together until golden brown.

Variation 2 (Southern Italy): brown 3-4 tbs of bread crumbs in oil and garlic, add some more peperoncino to taste just before sautéing with the pasta.

Variation 3: add a couple of fresh tomatoes to the boiling oil after frying the garlic.

Clafoutis aux cerises (French cherry custard)

For ➏
500 g fresh cherries, pitted*
1 tbs + 50 g sugar**
1 ts cornstarch
50 g flour
50 g almonds, toasted***
4 large eggs
pinch of salt
20 cl milk
50 g unsalted butter, melted
1 ts grated lemon peel
1 ts vanilla extract
½ ts almond extract
powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 160°C.
Butter shallow glass baking dish. Combine cherries, 1 tbs sugar and cornstarch in bowl. Toss to coat.
Arrange cherries in bottom of prepared dish.
Blend flour and almonds in processor until nuts are finely chopped. Whisk eggs, salt and remaining sugar in large bow. Whisk in flour mixture. Add milk, butter, lemon peel, and vanilla and almond extracts. Whisk until smooth. Pour custard over cherries.
Bake clafoutis until golden on top, about 55 m. Cool slightly.
Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve warm.

*Use bottled or frozen unsweetened pitted dark sweet cherries, thawed, drained. Always use dark, rather sour cherries, never the sweet variety. When using cherries on syrup, use less sugar.
**Use 100 g to make it sweeter.
***Use hazelnuts for an even nuttier taste.

Originally from the French Limousin region, this custard-like dessert spread all over France in the 19th century. The name comes from the Occitan verb for 'filling up', and that is exactly what happened with the recipe, which gradually was made with other fruits than cherries, called flognarde then, and even with cherry tomatoes. The original recipe is made with unpitted cherries, making it a little bit less sweet and adding a nutty flavour, but rather uncomfortable to eat. In this recipe, almonds are added to have this effect.

Asperges à la flamande (Flemish asparagus)

For ➊
6 white asparagus stalks* (500 g)
1 egg***
25 g butter
2 ts parsley, chopped

Cook the eggs for 10 m. Let them cool. Peel.
Peel the stalks**. Cut the hard end. Steam the asparagus for about 10-15 m.****
Meanwhile crumble the eggs with a fork. Mix with the parsley.
Melt the butter. Gently discard the solids and save the clarified butter.******
Put the asparagus on a plate and nap with the melted butter and eggs.
Serve with bread and a dry mineral white wine, like Riesling.

*Or 3 as an entrée (300 g).
**Use the cleaned and chopped peels in an asparagus broth or soup.

****Alternatively, put the asparagus in cold, salted water. Bring to the boil. Cook for 1 m. Put the heat off and let cook until done (10-15 m).
*****To clarify butter, put butter on low heat for 10 m until solids separate from the fat. Let stand for a few m. Skim off the foam. In a microwave, cook covered for 30 s (for 40 g). Let stand until solids sink. Save the fat.

This is a Flemish traditional dish, made with local white asparagus. White asparagus are covered with soil, sand in this case, to preserve their pristine colour.
Try a more contemporary fusion version.
Read tip on cooking asparagus.

Fresh mint syrup

For 25 cl syrup
200 g sugar*
25 cl hot water*
bunch of mint leaves, freshly chopped*

Put chopped mint leaves in hot water. Add sugar.

Let stand for 30 m.

Squeeze and remove the leaves.

Cool for 1 h.

*Use same proportions for more or less syrup. The syrup will be good for several days when put in a closed container in the refrigerator.
It can be used in drinks or on ice-cream.

Schiacciata con l'uva (Etruscan grape-filled bread)

For ➏
1 kg blue grapes (or blueberries)
500 g flour
1 package dry yeast
100 g sugar
4 tbs olive oil
1 branch rosemary
25 cl warm water
honey
grape juice

Heat the rosemary branch in olive oil. Let it cool.
Dissolve the yeast in 25 cl of warm water.
Place the flour in a large bowl. Pour yeast mixture into the center and stir.
Remove the rosemary from the oil. Add the cooled oil to the dough.
Add 4 tbs of sugar and knead until smooth, for 10 m.
Put in a greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let sit in a warm place until doubled in size. Punch down the dough and divide in half.
Roll out half of the dough to fit in a round or rectangular pan.
Cover with half the grapes, removed from their stems.
Sprinkle with half the remaining sugar and drizzle with olive oil.
Roll out the other half of the dough to fit. Cover the grapes, sealing the edges with the bottom layer of dough. Push down to crush the grapes. Cover top layer of dough with remaining grapes and repeat the process. Sprinkle with sugar, drizzle with olive oil, and crush the grapes.
Sprinkle with sugar and drizzle with olive oil. For an Etruscan touch, drizzle with honey.
Bake at 180°C until golden. Baste with some grape juice while it's baking. Bake for 45 m.

Nowadays, this is traditionally served as a dessert bread, or a nice comfort bread, and some special treat during the Tuscany wine harvest season. As is often the case in Tuscany, it is said to have already been popular with the Etruscans, well known for their lust of life. Schiacciata comes from the Italian verb 'schiacciare' meaning 'flattened' or 'crushed'. The recipe is related to the American pizza bianco and to the schiacciata alla Fiorentina.
Image shows dancing Etruscans with a wine flask on a tomb wall in Tarquinia.
Read more on 'Etruscan' food: Etruscan tuna fish.

Pizza e fichi (pizza with figs)

For ➋
It's also a Roman style, to top the pizza bianco with figs, served on a bed of some gorgonzola dolce cheese and decorated with some thinly sliced prosciutto.