| Recipes from the Mediterranean |
Cut the aubergines in half, boil them for about 30 minutes and let them cool. Squeeze them to remove all the water.
Blend together the aubergines, cheese, eggs, pepper, breadcrumbs, parsley, garlic, nutmeg, mint.
Mix everything with your hands and form them into balls.
Place them in an ovenproof dish with the tomato sauce and bake in the oven for 20-30 minutes at 180oC.
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350g strong (00) flour
1 egg
1 medium-sized potato
1 sachet yeast
1 tsp sea salt
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
For the filling (these are suggestions only – you can use whatever you like)
100g cooked ham (optional)
100g soft cheese e.g. gruyere
8 cherry tomatoes
Capers
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Boil the potato until it becomes soft, then peel and mash it (when it has cooled).
Put the yeast in a cup, add a little tepid water to dissolve it.
Pour the water with the yeast into the flour. Add the potato, salt, egg and olive oil, and mix everything together with your hands. Knead the dough until it gets springy and elastic.
Cut the dough into two balls (you will make the two layers of focaccia with each ball). Take a baking tray and sprinkle it with 00 flour. Place one layer of focaccia on the baking tray and flatten it with your hands until it fits in the tray. Add the filling and cover with the second layer of dough.
Place the focaccia in the preheated oven and bake at 200oC for about 45 minutes.
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Stuffed Calamari (Serves 4)
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4 calamari or squid, gutted and chopped
700g fresh ripe tomatoes, halved
½ onion, chopped
Handful of fresh chopped parsley
4 tbsp breadcrumbs
50g parmesan
1 garlic clove, chopped
Pinch of salt
Pinch black pepper
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
8 toothpicks
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Wash the calamari and separate the heads. Remove the eyes and chop the heads and tentacles into small pieces (or ask your fishmonger to do this for you).
In a bowl, mix together the parsley, garlic, breadcrumbs and cheese, chopped heads and tentacles, extra virgin olive oil and pepper. Mix everything together with your hands and separate into four pieces.
Stuff each calamari with the mixture and close with two toothpicks.
In a saucepan, soften the onion with a little olive oil for about 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes and let them cook and dissolve into a tomato sauce over a low heat. Add the salt and pepper. Blend the tomato sauce and return to the saucepan. Place the calamari in the saucepan with the tomato sauce, cover with a lid and let them cook for about 1 hour until the fish softens, over a very low heat.
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