EASY AND FAST BORLOTTI BEANS AND PORCINI SOUP

Soup - vegetarian - lactose and gluten free

2 oz Italian dried porcini
3 14-oz cans Italian borlotti beans, drained
4 oz white mushrooms, cleaned and diced
1 carrot
1 onion
1 celery stalk
1 garlic clove
2 tbsp Italian extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup freshly chopped parsley
5 cups warm broth (chicken or vegetable)
Salt, pepper, rosemary and sage

Soak mushrooms in lukewarm water for about 20 minutes.

In the meantime, chop onion, carrot and celery together. In a big saucepan saucepan with lid over medium-high heat, warm up 1 tbsp olive oil and 2 tbsp broth and sautee all chopped vegetables until soft, then add beans and 4 cups of broth.

Add herbs, lower heat to low, cover with lid and simmer for about 15 minutes.

Drain porcini, carefully filter the water and add it to the beans soup; keep cooking for about 15 more minutes, seasoning with salt and pepper, if you like it. Cut big slices of porcini into smaller pieces.

In a skillet over medium-high heat warm the remaining olive oil and sautee garlic until golden, then add white mushrooms and porcini. Season with salt. Sprinkle with chopped parsley and cook until desired doneness, using some tbsp of the beans soup broth, if necessary.

Blend some of the beans soup, in order to obtain a thicker soup, then stir in the mushrooms.

Serve in individual bowl drizzled with Italian extra virgin olive oil and sprinkled with some more freshly chopped parsley.

This recipe serves 6-8


- This soup should be thick and creamy, if too thick add some more broth.
- You can cook some Italian pastina in the soup, or some Italian ditalini.
- You could substitute the borlotti beans with Italian cannellini beans or do a mix of the 2 varieties.

FUSILLI CORTI BUCATI WITH TOMATOES AND ZUCCHINE

Pasta entree - Vegetarian and lactose free (read notes below)

1 lb Italian slowly dried Fusilli bucati corti (short hollow fusili)
2 green zucchine
3 ripe tomatoes
5 basil leaves
1 garlic cloves, minced
1 medium onion, chopped
1 tbsp Italian anchovy paste or 3 anchovy fillets (optional)
3 tbsp Italian extra virgin olive oil
Salt


Cut zucchine in half lengthwise and thinly slice them.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil, add salt, then pasta.

In the meantime, dice tomatoes and arrange them in a bowl with shredded basil, 1 tbsp of olive oil, anchovy paste and a pinch of salt; stir until the paste is dissolved and set aside.

In a large non-stick skillet, over medium-high heat warm the remaining olive oil and sautee onion and garlic until onion is translucent. Then add zucchine and sautee, stirring, for a couple of minutes. Season with salt.

Lower het to medium and, if needed, add a few tbsp of water and cook for about 5 minutes. Add tomatoes with all their juice and cook for another 10 minutes. Remover from heat.

Cook pasta for about 7-8 minutes, drain (always remember to reserve some of the cooking water) and transfer in the skillet with the sauce; sautee over medium-high heat, tossing to coat well, for about 2 minutes. If the sauce thickens too much, add a few tbsp of the reserved cooking water.

Serve immediately, sprinkling with some more fresh chopped basil or parsley (or both).

This recipe serves 4-5


- This is a perfect recipe for summertime!
- If you use anchovy fillets, melt them in the skillet with olive oil before sauteing onion and garlic.
- This is lactose free and vegetarian (provided that you don't use anchovies).
- If you like garlic flavor, but don't want it in your dish, just halve (or quarter) the clove and marinate it with the chopped tomatoes.
- If you can't find flavorful fresh tomatoes, you can use our Pomodorina sauce, which is perfect.

SWORD FISH FRITTERS

Appetizer - Lactose free

2/3 cup Italian 00 flour
1/2 lb sword fish, diced
10 sage leaves, finely chopped
2 tbsp Italian extra virgin olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced (optional)
Water
Salt, pepper
Olive oil to fry


In a bowl mix flour, extra virgin olive oil and enough water to obtain a thick batter.

Then mix in sage, salt, pepper, fish and, if you like it, minced garlic.

Bring oil to temperature, than spoon in the mixture.

Cook until golden on both sides, spoon out and drain on paper towel to absorb excess oil.

Serve warm.


- This is a perfect recipe for a mixed appetizer.
- You can customize it: grilled vegetables, other fish, roasted chicken....

ANOTHER PASTA SALAD

Pasta entree - lactose free - Vegetarian and gluten free (read notes below)

2 lbs Italian ditalini
2 5-oz cans Italian tuna in olive oil
1 14-oz can Italian chick peas
1 14-oz can Italian cannellini beans
3 big ripe tomatoes
1 cucumber
3 tsp Italian anchovy paste
4 tbsp Italian extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, peeled and quartered
2 tbsp Italian capers, packed in salt
2 tbsp freshly chopped basil
2 tbsp freshly chopped parsley
Salt


Bring a large pot of water to boil.

In the meantime, rinsed capers and soak them for about 10 minutes in lukewarm water.

Peel and dice cucumbers, drain and rinse chick peas and cannellini beans, drain tuna but reserve its oil.

Dice tomatoes and arrange them, with 1 tbsp of olive oil, garlic and basil, in a large bowl, able to contain all ingredients. The add cucumbers, beans and chick peas, capers and tuna. Mix well.

When water boils, add salt and ditalini, stir and cook until al dente, about 7-8 minutes. Drain it, quickly rinse it under cold running water, to stop the cooking. Spread on a kitchen cloth to cool down completely.

Transfer ditalini to the bowl with all other ingredients, and parsley and mix well.

In a little bowl, mix anchovy paste, olive oil, until all the paste is well combined with the olive oil.

Season the salad with this seasoning and, if needed, some extra salt.

Refrigerate for 2 hours at least.

This recipe serves 8-10


- It's a perfect dish for a buffet.
- It's great during summertime.
- Remove garlic before serving it.
- If you want a vegetarian dish, avoid tuna and anchovy paste.
- For a gluten free version, use Italian corn anellini (we carry them).
- It's lactose free!!