Pasta alla Norma

This classic Sicilian pasta sauce combines the creaminess of aubergine with the sweet acidity of tomatoes and the fresh tang of ricotta cheese. This dish is named after the heroine of Vincenzo Bellini's opera of the same name. There are many versions of the recipe, but all contain aubergine (recipe taken from Taste Italia/July 2011 issue)
serves 4
prep. 15 minutes
cooking 45 minutes
1 large aubergine, trimmed, cut into 2cm thick slices
350 g fresh tomatoes or 400g tinned tomatoes, chopped
160ml olive oil
2 garlic cloves, peeled, thinly sliced
a handful of basil, leaves torn
400g conchiglie pasta
150f fresh ricotta cheese
Put the aubergine slices in a bowl of salted water for around 10 minutes. Drain and dry on paper towel. (If the aubergine is freshly picked and young, I would skip this stage, it shouldn't be bitter)
If using fresh tomatoes, remove the stems and score a cross in the bottom of each one. Blanch in boiling water for 30 seconds, transfer to cold water, peel the skin away from the cross, then chop the tomatoes. (Again, don't bother with crosses, the peel will break on its own)
Put a generous amount of olive oil in a frying pan and cook the aubergine in batches over a medium-high heat until golden brown and soft inside, adding more of the oil as you need it. Drain in a colander or on paper towels. Cut the aubergine into 2cm thick slices and set aside. (I am a bit confused here, why do you need to cut the aubergine after you cook it? I just cut it into cubes to start with, and didn't need this amount of olive oil, I added a bit of water and covered the pan with the lid, so it was perfectly cooked and not too oily. It wasn't necessary then to leave it on paper towels to absorb the extra oil).
Remove all but 2 tbsp of the oil from the frying pan, add the garlic, and cook until light golden brown. Add the tomatoes and season. Cook until the sauce has reduced and thickened. Add the aubergine and the basil leaves, mix well, then set aside.
Cook the pasta in a large saucepan of boiling salted water, until al dente. Drain briefly, leaving some of the water clinging to the pasta, then return the pasta to the saucepan with aubergine mixture and 100 g of the ricotta.
Mix briefly, check the seasoning, and serve immediately with the remaining ricotta crumbled over the top.

Torta con albiccoche e pinoli/Apricot and pine nut cake

Recipe is taken from Taste Italia/issue June 2011
serves 6 ( I would say, rather greedy 6 people, as it is a big size cake)
prep 30 minutes
cooking 1 hour 30 mins
100g pine nuts
250 g unsalted butter, softened
250g caster sugar
grated zest of 2 unwaxed oranges
3 free range eggs, lightly beaten
310 g plain flour
3 tsp baking powder
200 g dried apricots, chopped
250 ml orange juice
for the chocolate sauce: 150g plain chocolate and 150 ml double cream (very optional, I think, as it is a very rich cake, it uses a whole pack of butter. Not exactly for Weight Watchers.)

Preheat the oven to 175C/gas mark 4. Grease a 23cm cake tin, then line with baking paper. Toast pine nuts in the oven for a few minutes, then chop them coarsely. Beat the softened butter with the sugar and orange zest. Continue beating as you add the eggs a little at a time. Sift the flour and baking powder together, then use a mixing spatula or wooden spoon to stir the flour into the eggs and butter.
Add the pine nuts, apricots and orange juice to the mix. Transfer to the cake tin and level the surface of the cake mixture. Bake in the oven for 1 hour 20 min until a skewer inserted comes out clean.
Remove the cake from the oven and leave to cool for 15 mins before turning out of the tin.
Melt the chocolate in a bowl with the cream to create a rich chocolate sauce, then pour a little of this sauce over each piece of cake to serve.
Tip: to prevent the apricots sinking to the bottom of the cake as it cooks, toss them in flour and shake them in a sieve before adding to the mixture. (Done exacty that, but the apricots were still evenly distributed in the lower half of the cake. Which is also fine).

A good recipe, works well. The cake is lovely straight from the oven, I didn't wait for 15 minute and cut the slices while it was still hot. My old friend Anne was coming for tea in the morning, and we enjoyed the cake very much.
I love pine nuts, so it is just the right cake for me. Will try to bake it again with a bit less butter.
Years ago, when we visited my husband's grandma in Viareggio, she bought a cake from the local pastry shop called Matilda, it was a local speciality, a lovely pine nut cake, very moist. I cannot find the recipe anywhere. There are many pine nut cake recipes online, but not for Matilda. If only I could find it.....

Gelato al limone (Lemon gelato)

What could be more refreshing after a rich meal than a lemon gelato?
This recipe appears in the current issue of Taste Italia (June 2011).
serves 6
prep 15 mins, plus freezing
cooking 15 mins
If your lemons are very sour, you may wish to reduce the lemon juice by a quarter or half.
350 ml milk
180g sugar
150 ml heavy cream
juice of 5 lemons
mint sprigs, to garnish
In a saucepan, heat the milk over a medium heat to just under a boil. Add sugar and immediately remove from the heat. Stir until the sugar dissolves. Slowly stir in the cream, then the lemon juice.
Plunge the pan into a bowl of ice cubes and stir until the mixture is cold. Transfer to an ice cream maker and churn according to instructions.
Alternatively place in the freezer, stirring every so often with a fork to break up the ice crystals. Serve with mint sprigs.
Recipe created by Aurora Baccheschi Berti.

My take on the recipe: first of all I would like to know what milk is better for the recipe. Does it have to be full fat milk, will it then take less time to set? I used semi skimmed milk, and it took a long time for the gelato to set. Again, would have been helpful if the time of the freezer setting version was printed in the magazine.
I used 4 lemons for my gelato. I was worried that the gelato will be too sour, but it turned out to have a very delicate lemon flavour. It is a brilliant gelato, and I will definitely make it again.