Chicken Cordon Blue

Ciao!! I hope everyone has had a nice August. School starts a bit earlier in America than Italy so I guess you guys that have kids are back in the full swing of "Back to School" activities! Yesterday I had a client from Scotland and their school doesn't begin until October!

I'm happy to be back from holiday and wanted to share a few pictures with you of my wife Valeria, and our family! We spent some time in Aspromante in Calabria and we rode horses (cavalli)!!

This week's recipe:
Chicken Cordon Blue

Ingredients:
4 chicken legs
4 slices of ham
4 big pieces of melting cheese
3 eggs
1 c flour
Homemade bread crumbs:
2 c bread crumbs
1 c grated pecorino cheese
Fresh herbs from the garden
2 cloves of garlic

Preparation:
Debone and pound very thin the chicken leg. For each serving place a slice of ham and
melting cheese on top of the chicken. Fold the four corners of the chicken inward to meet
at the center. Pass into flour and squeeze. Then dip into the uncooked scrambled egg.
Use 3 cups of leftover bread. If the bread is too soft you can bake in the oven until it
becomes hard. Place the bread, pecorino herbs and garlic into a food processor and
blend.
Now pass into the breadcrumb mixture. Fry in a large frying pan with a lot of oil, over
medium heat. To measure the oil, it should come up to the middle of the meat in the pan. Cook for 5 minutes on
one side then flip and cook for 5 minutes on the other side. Then warm in the oven for 20
minutes at 212° F. Remove from heat and serve.

Broccoli and Sausage Gnocchi

Hey guys! I am busy trying to get my new website up and running so I won't be posting for the remainder of August but I will return in September!

Recipe:
Peel the potatoes and boil them in salted water. Drain the potatoes then place them on a floured surface. Mash them together with your hands to form a potato mound. Next separate the egg yolks from the egg whites and add to the potato mound and mix together well. Add more flour to the surface if needed and roll the mixture with your two hands to the desired thickness. Cut the roll into small pieces about ¾ of an inch long. Roll each individual piece on the back side of a fork to make the gnocchi groove. Place them in a pan of salted boiling water for a few minutes until they float. Remove from the heat, drain and return to the pan.

While the gnocchi is cooking. Add the sausage to a frying pan with the cooked broccoli, olive oil, garlic and red pepper. Cook well. Add the gnocchi to the sauce and stir.

Have a great rest of the month and see you in September!!

your Chef, Fabio

Lasagna with Eggplant, Cherry Tomatoes, Mozarella and Basil

Ciao my friends!

Today we make lasagna...

The lasagna pasta for two people is

made from 200gr of flour and 2 eggs.

(A litle shy of half pound .44 or 7 oz)

Cook the pasta in salted boiling water.
Cook 200 gr (1/2 lb) tomatoes in a pan with olive oil.
In another pan cook one sliced eggplant in olive oil.

Make bechemelle sauce with 1/2 liter of milk,
35 gr of butter and 35 gr of flour.
(2.11 cups of milk, 1.25 ozs of butter and milk)
Once mixed well add the eggplant and simmer.

Next butter the pan.

Add a layer of pasta, the bechemelle and

eggplant sauce and parmesan.

Add cherry tomatoes.

After dicing one package of mozarella, add with

some chopped basil.

Continue to layer pasta, eggplant bechemelle,

cherry tomatoes, mozarella, basil and parmesan.
Bake in oven for 40 minutes at 250°C (95°F).

Drizzle with olive oil.

I apologize for not having better quality photos.

My client and I only had cell phones

to take pictures with today!

See you next week!!

Your Chef, Fabio