Octopus Salad recipe

This dish, with its simplicity, evokes those truly Mediterranean flavours, and has that real Mediterranean feel about it. It has always been incredibly popular and a real success every time it was served, be it at home or in the restaurant where it has been on the menus since I was a child, and has never gone out of fashion. Needles to say, it is one of my favourite dishes, and it is also a family favourite too!

My parents would prepare this dish over and over again and it does evoke some heart worming memories. My grandfather or my dad would go to the fish market and returned home with a full bag of octopus to clean and cook. They would display it on the kitchen table and I was really fascinated by the animal itself just admiring its long tentacles. Now to think back, it was a great biology lesson.

Octopus salad is a very simple but delicious and healthy way to eat octopus. You can eat it on its own just simply dressed or over the bed of fresh rocket salad. Traditionally you would have a nice fresh crunchy piece of bread to pick up the dressing and a glass of chilled wine to further elevate the dish, and this is exactly how my husband loves to eat it. Everyday troubles just somehow seem to disappear, at least for a while.

This tasty octopus salad can be eaten all year round, although having it as a cold salad on a hot summer's day is quite a refreshing treat.

There are a lot of stories of how you should cook the octopus to have it really nice and tender. I always cook it in the evening, then turn the heat off and leave it to cool overnight in its own liquid. The following day is wonderfully tender and surely cool enough to clean and dress.

Ingredients

Serves 4

• fresh octopus, cleaned (about 1kg in weight) Most fishmongers will be happy to clean it for you.

  1 stick of celery

  1 carrot washed and peeled

  1 small onion, peeled

  1 fresh or dry bay leaf

  5 whole black peppercorns

  1 clove of garlic, peeled

  4 Tbsp (60ml) extra virgin olive oil

  7g fresh parsley (plus some extra to be finely chopped and sprinkled over the salad)

  juice of 1 lemon (optional)

  sea salt, to taste

  freshly ground black pepper, to taste

  a splash of white vinegar (optional)

Method

To make a dressing, take a small bowl and add extra virgin olive oil, roughly chopped garlic and roughly chopped parsley, lemon juice (if using), a pinch of sea salt and a bit of freshly ground black pepper. Leave the dressing for at least 1 hour for all the flavours to develop.

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Wash the cleaned octopus under the cold running water and put it in a large pot together with celery stick, carrot, onion, bay leaf, peppercorns. Fill the pot with cold water enough to completely cover and bring to boil. Turn down the heat and simmer with the lid covered for about 1 hour or until the octopus is cooked and fork tender.

Remove the octopus from the pot and let it cool for a bit until you find the temperature of the octopus manageable. Out of habit and simplicity, I always cook the octopus in the evening and leave it to cool overnight in its own liquid.

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Clean the cooked octopus with your hands by sliding the darkish pink layer off the tentacles and the body of the octopus. This should feel very similar to when you roast the peppers and you take the skin off. You should be left with a nice pinkish white meat.

Cut the cleaned octopus head in cubes and tails in slices roughly about 1 square cm in size. Put the octopus in a bowl ready to be dressed.

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Sieve the dressing over the bowl with the octopus and adjust seasoning with sea salt and pepper. Add more extra virgin olive oil if you think the dish is a bit too dry and sprinkle with fresh finely chopped flat parsley. For freshness you can add a splash of white wine vinegar, a squeeze of lemon juice or a combination of both. Mix and serve.

Just a thought

You can serve dressed octopus over the bed of fresh rocket salad.

With a dressed octopus you can also create a more substantial salad and serve it as a main dish by adding for example chopped celery sticks, some sweet cherry vine tomatoes, cold boiled potato cut in smaller pieces, black olives and finely sliced red onion.

A lovely idea to serve octopus salad is to put it on a serving dish, together with smaller plates consisting of sun dried tomatoes, a mixture of olives, different types of Mediterranean vegetables in olive oil and for sure plenty of rustic crunchy bread.

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Wine suggestion

Malvasia ZGP 2016 by Hedele, Vipavska Dolina.

Rustic Fig Jam Crostata (rustic Italian style jam tart) recipe

When I was a child, desserts after the main meal were more of a weekend treat, and it is when my mum would bake.

And there is one simple dish she always baked in our household, and that is a jam tart or simply crostata as we call it in Italian. It is made using Italian style sweet shortcrust pastry that is enriched with eggs, which help make the dough even flakier, lemon zest, sugar, and baking powder. It is still very popular to bake at home and easily available in bakery shop and supermarkets.

My mum would use different fruit jams that she made using a variety of fruits in the season from our orchard or fruit given by friends or neighbours. Most commonly used type of jam to fill the crostata with would be the apricot jam. Crostata can be also filled with ricotta, Nutella, pastry cream and fresh fruit.

This year we had a brilliant year for figs and they were in abundance in my grandma's back garden. Most were eaten just picked directly from the tree, how luxurious. But there were just so many figs and since nothing gets ever wasted, we made a lot of jam!

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There is something so comforting and homely about jam crostata, with a delicate flake crust, filled with your favourite choice of jam. Simply delicious, just melts into your mouth, and most importantly, it is easy to make, and the aroma during the baking is unmistakable.

Crostata is also great for colder days, as a dessert or snack, and is commonly served for breakfast too.

Nice accompanied with cream, vanilla ice-cream or natural Greek yogurt, just to tone down a bit the sweetness of the the fig jam.

Ingredients

• 250g all purpose flour

• 105g diced butter, room temperature

• 1 egg and 1 egg yolk (slightly beaten), keep the egg white for brushing the crostata just before putting it in the oven for baking

• 50g caster sugar (optional if you use fig jam as it is quite sweet already)

• lemon zest of one small unwaxed lemon, finely grated

• 1 Tsp of liquor like grappa or rum ( I used rum)

• ¼ Tsp baking powder

• jar of fig jam or any other jam of your choice, home made or a good quality one from the food store

Method

To make the pastry, measure the flour into a large bowl and add the butter.

Using just your fingertips, rub the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.

Make a well in the centre of the flour, then add the sugar, the eggs, lemon zest, liquor, and baking powder. First stir gently with the fork to combine all the ingredients and for the mixture to come together.

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Gently gather the dough together with your hands and transfer it onto a floured work surface.

Gently press the dough, without kneading it, until it comes together to form a firm ball.

Press the dough into a flat disc, wrap it in cling film and refrigerate for about 30min.

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Preheat the oven to 180C static or equivalent.

Lightly flour the surface and the rolling pin. Take about 2/3 of the pastry and with the rolling pin roll it out on a surface, then roll the pastry back over the rolling pin, so it is hanging, and ease it into the 23cm loose bottom non stick flan tin.

Press the pastry shell into the side of the tin.

Allow the excess to hang over the side and roll the rolling pin over the top of the flan tin, to cut off the excess pastry.

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Spoon the jam of your choice into the pastry case.

On a lightly floured surface roll out the remaining pastry, cut it in strips with pastry wheel cutter or with the knife and decorate your tart.

If you happen to have a bit of left pastry, just take your favourite cookie cutter and make few biscuits.

Brush the pastry with a slightly beaten egg white, put it in the oven and bake for 30-40min until nice and golden in colour.

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When baked, let it cool in a tin, dust with little icing sugar and serve warm or cold.

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Wine suggestion

Verduzzo Friulano Passito DOC 2019 by La Tunella, Colli Orientali del Friuli.

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

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.

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.

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.

Beef goulash with fresh herbs Istrian style recipe

There is a wide variety of different goulash recipes and the one that I share here with you is more like the Austrian version than the Hungarian one since it has a nice thick gravy and a texture of a stew. It does derive, however, from the Hungarian version, which is more of a soupy consistency with bell peppers and potatoes.

Beef goulash, locally called “golaž” is one of those dishes that, yes, belong to the Austro-Hungarian Empire but it took a bit of a “southern turn” and changed to fit in better with Istrian's local flavours and ingredients.

And as I come from the coastal town Koper, held by Austrian Empire between 1813 -1918, with Mediterranean climate, a handful of fresh herbs would be added for flavour, developing into Istrian Style beef goulash instead of using caraway seeds and powdered sweet Hungarian paprika that can be added for more “imperial” taste.

In Central Europe and in other parts of Europe, goulash is a common meal. Very popular in Austria, Slovenia and Italy, especially in Friuli Venezia Giulia, the most eastern region of Italy, which borders with Slovenia and Austria. A dish that truly represents a gastronomic osmosis.

This must be comfort food at its best, and it is so popular that it appears almost weekly on tables as a family meal, and on menus in local “gostilnas” (informal family run restaurants in Slovenia) especially during colder months. I grew up with this dish and my husband and my son go mad for it, especially when accompanied with fluffy potato gnocchi, that are squashed with a fork to soak up that delicious gravy.

It is very easy to make but it does take time to cook so not the best option if you are in a rush and want a quick meal.

It is best made one day or two days in advance and then reheat it, as the beef tenderizes further, the gravy thickens and flavours enhance.

Traditionally is served with soft, just cooked polenta, fresh crunchy rustic bread, mashed or roasted potatoes, potato gnocchi, bread dumplings or pasta of any shape and form.

Great also with spinach or plain spaetzle (German style egg pasta) and moon crescent fried gnocchi. All good options as they will soak up the gravy.

Commonly beef goulash would be made with shin of beef, which is very tough piece of meat but after long and slow cooking process it melts into your mouth and becomes so tender you do not need the knife to cut it, so a trip to a local butcher is worth if you are having difficulty to find it in a local food store or supermarket.

Ingredients

Serves 4-6

• 1 kg shin of beef, diced (can use stewing beef)

• 4 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

• 200 g onions or shallots, finely chopped

• 4 garlic cloves, finely grated or crashed

• 1 small carrot 20g-40g, finely grated

• 1 full handful of mixed fresh herbs, finely chopped (marjoram, thyme, sage, rosemary, basil, fresh or dry oregano)

• 1 bay leaf fresh or dry

• 1 ½ l water, vegetable or beef stock

• 2 Tbsp double concentrated tomato purée

• 1 Tbsp all purpose flour

  Method

In a large pot put the oil, finely chopped onions, crashed garlic, grated carrots a pinch of salt and cook on a low-medium heat stirring quite often until the onions are soft.

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Add diced beef, turn up the heat a bit and brown it stirring and turning occasionally. The meat should be sealed on all sides with almost no juices from the meat left in the pot.

Sprinkle flour over the beef, stir and add water, vegetable or beef stock, herbs, bay leaf, tomato purée and let it simmer for about 2 ½ -3 hours on a fairly low heat with a lid partially uncovered.

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Wine suggestion

Teroldego IGT "Foradori" 2019 by Elisabetta Foradori, Vigneti delle Dolomiti.

Sautéed Sauerkraut recipe

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Wine suggestion

Cabernet Sauvignon IGT 2017 by Balter, Vallagarina.

Leek Risotto recipe

Leek is a humble vegetable of great potential but it is sadly often overlooked. It is a relative of the onion with long green leaves and a white bulbous root. As we know it today, leeks were first grown by the ancient Egyptians.

These alliums (the type of plants that belong to the group that includes onions, shallots, scallions, chives and garlic) are almost inedible when raw but when cooked slow and low they become mellow, sweet, creamy and taste delicious. Fantastically versatile, full of flavour, and it should be no surprise the humble leek is used in risotto where it takes central stage.

Leeks are omnipresent at the vegetable markets but at its best during the coldest months of the year from October through May.

They are packed with nutrients and anti-oxidants, and so make the best use out of them especially during autumn and winter months when less native vegetables are available. They will help fight colds and flu.

Back home we will use just about anything to make risotto, a very much liked and loved dish. This should be no surprise since my hometown is less than a two hours drive to Venice, and the region of Veneto (Northern Italy), especially the Po Valley, where growing rice is very popular, and is a major agricultural industry.

The valley offers a constant supply of water for the rice fields since there are many large non-seasonal rivers.

It is in this region of Italy, the Veneto region, with its colder climate compared to the warmer South of Italy, that the dishes had to be warming, hearty, and filling, and although risotto is found in the whole of Italy, it is in the Veneto that the greatest variety, and number of risotto recipes can be found.

My mum would go to the vegetable market and made risotto with the vegetables there were in season, and when the leeks were at their best, leek risotto would be on the table for lunch or dinner.

This very simple, comforting leek risotto is perfect solution for mid week quick nutritious lunch or dinner, but equally great for more formal entertaining since it is also presentable as a delicate and elegant dish.

Ingredients

Serves 4

• 500g leeks, cleaned and chopped (Do buy more than you think you will need to allow for losses caused by trimmings)

• 4 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

• 1 clove of garlic (peeled)

• 300g risotto rice (like Vialone Nano, Arborio, Carnaroli) In this recipe I used Vialone Nano.

• 1l vegetable or chicken stock (you can use good quality instant stock powder or boiling water)

• 40g Parmiggiano Reggiano (finely grated)

• knob of butter (1-2 Tbsp)

Method

Rinse your leeks under cold running water and pat dry with a paper towel.

Put your rinsed leeks on a chopping board and with a sharp knife cut off the dark green leaf ends of the leek and the muddy tips of the roots. Keep the green ends for the stock if you wish or discard.

Slice each leek in half from top to bottom and slice further the halves into thin stripes (julienne cut), then chop.

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Wash chopped leeks thoroughly under running cold water. Leeks need a good cleaning before using, as dirt often gets stuck between the layers of leaves as they grow.

Before starting making risotto, it is a good idea to have your boiling hot stock or water ready to hand for later.

Now, let's start making risotto by putting the oil in a pan and heat it with the garlic clove. When the garlic has turned golden in colour and infused the oil, remove it. Pay attention not to burn the garlic.

Add chopped leeks and cook them slowly on a gentle heat for about 20-30min until they reach a very soft consistency, almost disintegrating.

Season with sea salt, add risotto rice, mix well with the leeks and toast it together for few minutes stirring constantly to avoid sticking to the bottom of a pan.

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After toasting the rice, cover it completely with boiling stock or water and cook over medium heat.

Start adding gradually the ladles of stock or water, one at a time, to keep the risotto moist, allow liquid to be absorbed before adding more. Stir constantly and cook until the rice is cooked al dente (fully cooked but still firm when bitten) and the stock almost completely absorbed but make sure you do not dry the risotto too much.

If the risotto gets too dry just add a bit more stock. There should always be enough liquid just to cover the risotto, the Italians say that risotto should be smooth and runny enough to be described as all'onda (on the wave).

Generally it will take at least about 15 to 18 min for risotto to be cooked.

The risotto is now ready to be finished with a typical Italian mantecare phase which is quite essential when making risotto. Mantecare simply means that you remove the saucepan from the heat, add grated cheese and cold butter or cream to the risotto when is almost finished and stir with a wooden spoon quite vigorously in order to develop that delicious creamy texture.

Serve immediately garnished with extra grated or shaved Parmiggiano Reggiano if desired.

Wine suggestion

Pinot Grigio DOC 2019 by Le vigne di Zamò, Friuli Colli Orientali.