Ricotta, cocoa and almonds tart

There was a time when the world looked almost exactly as it does now, except for a few tiny details. The climate was different, the plants didn't look like they do now, there were more volcanoes and the birds were not sure what they were exactly yet. Oh and there were dinosaurs. Lots of 'em. In fact, it was full of dinosaurs. However, people today are mistaken as to the dinosaurs' true nature. Some say that they were bloodthirsty (so are bats), that they were brutal (so are angry guinea pigs), and that they lacked intelligence (so do some people). Others on the contrary say that they were excellent chess players. Others still claim that had there been other more evolved animals there, the dinosaurs would have made excellent and quite tender steaks.
Needless to say, this is all nonsense. Whoever thinks they're right are wrong. Luckily, it so happens that Divine Cherry and Celestial Dragon have decided in this exclusive revelation to tell the world what dinosaurs really were: excellent cooks. And the greatest pâtissier of his time was undoubtedly Lurp'Akk, the most famous Euoplocephalus this side of the oven. As it so happened, he was a great friend of Divine Cherry and Celestial Dragon. One day, the three of them were sitting on a hard rock having a coffee (or café as Lurp'Akk liked to call it). They were discussing about a large variety of subjects such as taxonomy, tax evasions and taxi fares. All of a sudden, both Lurp'Akk and Divine Cherry looked up from their café. They looked each other in the eyes. (At least, Lurp'Akk expressed the unmistakable intention of wanting to do so). Indeed, they had both just seen a curious formation of rocks and mud on the wall of their hard rock café-holding chairs. And they had both been inspired. The curious formation was brown and beige, and reminded Divine Cherry of almonds and chocolate, while to Lurp'Akk it called to mind mud and rocks.
And so it was that this cake was created. Of course, it was then but a rather rudimentary version of this version, but it nonetheless remains that the original spark for its creation occurred back then. But what of Celestial Dragon? Well, unused as he still was to coffee, he burned his tongue with it. Unfortunately, that inferred an instinctive reaction that expressed itself, due to the high content of sulphur in the air, as a gargantuan fiery sneeze...

Ricotta, cocoa and almonds tart - recipe adapted from Sale&Pepe

- 150 g plain flour
- 100 g butter
- 50 g cocoa
- 2 eggs
- 40 g icing sugar
- 300 g ricotta
- 100 g almonds, finely grated
- 100 g sugar
- 1 egg yolk
- 100 ml cream
- 50 g dark chocolate
- salt

Work quickly with your fingers (or a mixer) the flour, cocoa, icing sugar, a pinch of salt and the cold butter, cut in pieces, in order to form small crumbs. add the egg and form a ball of dough. Cover the dough with cling film and let it rest in the fridge for 30 min.
Grease and flour the tart mould and lay the dough. Mix in a bowl the ricotta, cream, sugar, grated almonds and the yolk.
Pour the ricotta filling over the dough and bake for approx 40 minutes in the preheated oven at 150C.

Torta di ricotta, mandorle e cacao - ricetta adattata da Sale e Pepe
-150 g farina
- 100 g burro
- 50 g cacao amaro in polvere
- 2 uova
- 40 g zucchero a velo
- 300 g ricotta
- 100 g mandorle, tritate finemente
- 100 g zucchero semolato
- 1 tuorlo
- 100 ml panna fresca
- 50 g cioccolato fondente
- sale

Con la punta delle dite lavorate velocemente (oppure usate un mixer) la farina con il burro freddo tagliato a tocchetti, lo zucchero a velo, il cacao e un pizzico di sale, in modo da formare delle briciole.  Unite l'uovo e formate una palla. Avvolgetel'impasto in pellicola e lasciate riposare in frigo per 30 minuti almeno.
Imburrare e infarinare una teglia e stendere la frolla. In una ciotola, mescolare la ricotta, la panna, lo zucchero semolato, le mandorle tritate e il tuorlo.
Versate il composto di ricotta sulla base di frolla.
Infornare per 40 minuti circa in forno caldo a 150°C.

Polpette di melanzana - Aubergine balls

Many eons ago, in the City of the Sun, there lived a god. He was a fretful god; he lived in a perpetual state of frantic uncertainty, for he was a jealous god. But he was also a good god; and when, every morning, he had finally managed to gather enough courage to carry his most precious treasure from one side of the horizon to the other, the people of the City of the Sun were grateful for his courage. For he was He-Who-Has-Come-Forth, and he was known to men as Khepri. Many modern -ists believe that the ancient people of the City of the Sun, upon seeing a scarab pushing its dung ball with great effort day in and day out, thought that surely the great Ball Of The Sky (what a finer and perhaps less scarab-obsessed poet once graciously called "Heaven's Eye") is also being pushed by a (cosmic) beetle. The analogy appears to be legitimate. However, modern -ists do not know that the people of the City of the Sun knew very well that this isn't so. They knew the secret modern -ists, with all their instruments and calculations and conjectures and fictions and joints and bongs and booze and chickens, will never be able to uncover: they knew what Khepri was actually pushing across the sky. And they knew because it had been given to Khepri by Divine Cherry and Celestial Dragon, both of whom at that time used to be the spiritual leaders of the City of the Sun.
Khepri had always been a jealous god. He had been jealous of many things; things good and bad. Mostly, he was jealous he had not created himself with the head of, say, a green lion or blue giraffe--that would've been cool. Unfortunately, when he had created himself, the only thing Khepri could think of was a scarab beetle (might've been due to that nightmare K. would later re-dream). And so it was that his head, according to the convention laid out in §1.3b of the Anthropomorphic Qualities of Egyptian Gods (AQED), became that of a scarab. But Khepri was also jealous because his animal counterpart, the real scarab, actually had something to do--whereas he, who had created himself and was thus not bound to any aspect of the cosmos particularly, was purpose-less.
And so it was that one day he went to see Celestial Dragon and Divine Cherry, hoping to get some advice on how to solve his essentially existential entanglement. When he arrived at their palace, Celestial Dragon and Divine Cherry were having dinner. As it so happened, Divine Cherry had prepared her delicious aubergine balls, and when Khepri entered the room, Celestial Dragon, like the little child he is, was playing with his food, rolling the balls to and fro on his plate (Divine Cherry was laughing affectionately, though). And so it was that a light went on in Khepri's head (literally, for he had hit the oil lamp that was dangling from the ceiling): he would roll a ball over the sky! But it would not be just any ball. Sneakily, feigning hunger, he asked for one of Divine Cherry's aubergine balls.
Thus, in truth, Khepri, the "sun"-pushing scarab god, was not pushing the sun at all from one side of the horizon to the next: he was in fact pushing one of Divine Cherry's aubergine balls.
And so it was that Divine Cherry's cuisine (at that time called something like" iwëfuwpeq-tu-oüàféifaskd-oorrrrrrrrrrrrr-mmh") gave Khepri something to be jealous about. Indeed, she noticed that he was not so much pushing the aubergine ball over the sky, as running away from the gods of the night who actually wanted to eat it.
And the people of the City of the Sun, when they realised that the radiance of their sun was simply due to the brilliance and exquisiteness of Divine Cherry's aubergine ball, changed the name of their city to City of the Radiating Aubergine--at which point Celestial Dragon and Divine Cherry resigned (their job, after all, was done).


Aubergine balls
- 400 g aubergines (2 small-medium ones)
- 1 egg
- 80 g breadcrumbs + enough to cover the balls
- 60 g grated parmigiano
- 3 basil leaves, chopped
- salt and pepper
- 25 g circa unsalted butter

Remove the green part from the aubergines. Make some small holes on their skin with a fork. Put them (whole) on a tray and bake in a preheated oven at 200C for 50 minutes. They are ready when the skin looks shrivelled and the flesh is very soft. Take them out from the oven, cut in two and dig out the flesh with a spoon. Chop the flesh in tiny pieces and put it in a bowl with the egg, parmiggiano, breadcrumbs, chopped basil leaves salt and pepper. Mix the ingredients. If the mixture is too wet, add some more breadcrumbs. You need to be able to make some balls with your hands. Roll the balls into breadcrumbs. Place them on a tray and put on the top of each ball a small cube of butter. Bake for 30 min circa in preheated oven at 180 C.

Notes: -I've used old bread, and have chopped it roughly in order to get the breadcrumbs (duh). Doing so confers the aubergine balls a je ne sais quoi of rough authenticity.
- Cooking the aubergine balls in the oven is an excellent alternative to deep-frying them in the pan. And if you put a dollop of butter on top of them before putting them in the oven, the latter will cause the balls to "deep fry" anyway: at the very least, they'll become nicely crunchy. I personally prefer butter instead of oil in this particular case.
-The aubergine balls are also excellent when prepared in advance and  eaten later at room temperature, instead of piping hot.
-And if, in the spirit of the balls, you fancy a vegetarian dinner/lunch/supper/tea/whatever, you can do like we did: we accompanied the aubergine balls with a fresh homemade tzaziki and grilled zucchinis...




Polpette di melanzana
- 400 g melanzane (2 medio-piccole)
- 1 uovo
- 80 g pangrattato circa + il necessario per l'impanatura
- 60 g parmigiano grattuggiato
- 3 foglie di basilico
- sale e pepe
- 25 g circa burro

Eliminare le parti verdi delle melanzane. Bucherellare la pelle con i rebbi di una forchetta. Disporre le melanzane intere su una teglia rivestita con carta forno. Infornarle a forno caldo a 200 C per 50 minuti circa. Le melanzane sono pronte quando la pelle è avvizzita e un coltello entrerà con estrema facilità nella polpa morbida. Estrarre le melanzane dal forno, tagliarle a metà e quando si saranno un po' raffreddate, scavare la polpa con un cucchiaio. Tagliuzzare le polpa in pezzi piccoli con un coltello e metterla in una ciotola. Aggiungere il pangrattato, il formaggio, l'uovo le foglie di basilico tritate, sale e pepe. Mescolare con un cucchiaio per ottenere un composto facilmente lavorabile, se troppo umido, aggiungere del pangrattato. Formare delle palline con le mani e rotolarle nel pangrattato.  Disporre le polpette su una teglia, su ogni polpetta poggiare un quadratino di burro e infornare a forno caldo a 180 C per 30 minuti circa. Le polpette sono pronte quando le superficie risulta dorata.

Note: - Io ho usato del pane vecchio e l'ho tritato grossolanamente per ottenere il pangrattato, questo conferisce alle polpette un aspetto più rustico.
- Cuocere le polpette al forno è un'ottima alternativa alla frittura in padella, mettendo un dadino di burro in cima a ogni polpetta fa si che durante le cottura in forno l'impanatura "frigga" un po', diventando croccante.Trovo il burro più facile da prozionare che l'olio in questo caso.
- Le polpette sono buonissime fatte in anticipo e mangiate a temperatura ambiente.
-  Noi le abbiamo accompagnate con un po' di salsa tzaziki e delle zucchine grigliate...per una cenetta vegetariana!

Crostoli di Carnevale

To some, carnival is but a fancy and chronologically misplaced way of celebrating halloween. Wrong. To others, it's nothing but silly people dressing up in silly costumes. Wrong. To some folks, carnival is the celebration of freedom. Wrong. To others still, it is a social vent that prevents society from imploding by granting the unprivileged privileges they would normally not possess, thus giving them an opportunity to ridicule their perceived oppressors. Wrong again. To some other people, it's a just a holiday. Wrong still. What all these people have in common is that they fail to see the true purpose of carnival: crostoli. In truth, when crostoli were invented, people deemed them too good to be eaten every day. They simply couldn't cope with their deliciousness. They were overwhelmed, their palates rebelled and their minds went numb. And so it was that Divine Cherry and Celestial Dragon intervened. They gave the people an idea. How about you invent a holiday just for this occasion and decree that crostoli are to be eaten during that time of the year only, they suggested. The people thought that this was a marvellous idea! They spent an entire year so eagerly looking forward to the newly created holiday that when the day arrived, they exploded in a firework of joy and music and dance and colours and costumes. Needless to say, they then immediately stuffed their faces with crostoli.


Crostoli - Tipical  italian carnival sweet. They are known by different names in every Italian region: Crostoli (Wide Veneto) Galani (Venice), Frappe, Chiacchere, Bugie. This recipe is taken from Divine Cherry's grandma's recipe book.


- 400 g plain flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- a pinch of salt
- 40 g butter, softened
- 40 g sugar
- 1egg and 2 yolks
- lemon zest
- 1 glass or white wine or marsala
- vegetable oil to deep fry
- icing sugar

In a large bowl put the flour mixed with baking powder, salt, sugar, lemon zest, the softened butter, egg and yolks. Stir and add as much wine as needed to get a dough a little softer that the tagliatelle dough. Place the dough on the working surface and knead until smooth and elastic (5-10 minutes). Roll out the pastry and cut 3 cm wide strips with a serrated wheel. Deep fry a few at a time in hot oil. Drain on paper towels and sprinkle with plenty of icing sugar.

Notes: - Roll out the pastry as thinly as possible:  the thinner, the better the crostoli. If you have a pasta maker, use it to strech the dough as thin as possible. I used a rolling pin: good workout!
- Cover the cut strips of dough with cling film when waiting to fry them, so that they will not dry out.
- There is no need to make precise shapes, irregular crostoli are beautiful ... I made rectangles with two central cuts.
- The oil should stay between 160 C and 180 C. If you have a thermometer, better use it. Otherwise check the temperature by dipping a toothpick in the hot oil (or throw in a small piece of dough): if bubbles form around it, the oil has the right temperature. Be careful not to get the oil too hot: if you see smoke, you need to throw the oil away, it is toxic!

Crostoli - ricetta della nonna di Divine Cherry che qui trascrivo pari pari come dal suo prezioso quaderno,

- 400 g farina
- 40 g burro morbido
- 40 g zucchero
- 1uovo e 2 tuorli
- 1 cucchiaino di lievito
- un pizzico di sale
- buccia grattata di un limone
- q.b. vino bianco o marsala
- abbondante olio per friggere
- zucchero a velo

In una ciotola capiente mettere la farina mescolata al lievito, il sale, la raschiatura del limone e il burro ammorbidito, l'uovo, i tuorli e tanto vino quanto serve per avere una pasta un po' piu' morbida di quella delle tagliatelle. Mettere l'impasto sulla spianatoia e lavorarlo finche' sara' liscio ed elastico. Stendere la sfoglia sottile e tagliare delle strisce con la rotella dentellata. Friggerle poche alla volta in abbodante olio bollente. Scolarle su carta assorbente e cospargerle di zucchero a velo.

Note:  - Tirare la sfoglia il piu' sottile possibile: piu' e' sottile, piu' buoni sono i crostoli. Se avete una macchinetta per tirare la pasta usatela e impostate la tacca piu' stretta. Io ho usato il mattarello: faticosetto!
- Coprire le strisce di pasta tagliata con della pellicola in attesa di friggerle, in modo che non si secchino.
- Non occorre fare delle forme precise...i crostoli sono belli irregolari! Io ho fatto dei rettangoli con due tagli in mezzo, anche questa e' una foma piuttosto tipica.
- L'olio dovrebbe stare tra 160 C e 180 C, se avete un termometro usatelo altrimenti per vedere se e' caldo abbastanza immergete uno stuzzicadente (o buttate un micro pezzetto d'impasto): se si formano le bollicine intorno, l'olio e' alla temperatura giusta. Attenzione a non scaldarlo troppo, se fuma va buttato perche'diventa tossico.