Have you got your New Year's menu sorted? Here some suggestions for a classic Italian menu that can satisfy your guests and friends on both New Years' Eve and Day. Lentils cannot be missing from the table on an Italian New Year's Eve; as they stand for good luck. The classic preparation is that of stewed lentils; cooked for about forty minutes in a saucepan with sautéed chopped onion, celery and a carrot, as well as a little concentrate or tomato puree, and then serve while still hot with the addition of salt, a drizzle of oil and pepper. Usually served with cotechino; a traditional pork sausage, prepared with rind, different cuts of meat, bacon, salt and spices. Cotechino e lenticchie; in any case, is fine both as a second course at lunch on January 1st and as a course to be served during dinner at the stroke of midnight, obviously accompanied by a lot of bubbles.
Il Cenone di San Silvestro - Dinner San Silvestro
For a traditional menu in view of the dinner on December 31st, it is still good to remember to prepare appetizers with mixed cheeses and salami, olives and bruschetta: the classic Italian appetizer.
Preparing cappelletti, agnolotti, anolini or tortellini in broth is a traditional Italian classic as a first course for this special festive day.
The traditional second courses of the end of the year dinner can be Filled Octopus, Fried Baccalà (Cod), roast or sausages.
All that remains is to conclude the celebrations with sweets: from panettone and pandoro to cantucci, from Rotolo Dolce, Tiramisù al pistacchio, Zuccotto to cake with pears and chocolate.
Il Pranzo di Capodanno - New Year's Lunch
The day after the longest night of the year, the party should continue, especially insofar as the menu is concerned! Vegetables, thanks to their purifying properties, are a great appetizer to be prepared for New Year's lunch. Turnip greens, chicory and chard, boiled and served with a generous drizzle of olive oil, are chosen by many Italians (especially in the South, accompanied by fried delicacies ranging from panzerotti to stuffed calzone). For the first course, a traditional meat based lasagna. Scallops, raw seafood (oysters are a must), salmon, capitone, lamb and beef are the classic dishes for the second course. To finish the New Year's lunch, close with fruit: oranges and tangerines or even pineapple; and may be a special dessert such as a Semifreddo or Zuccotto di pandoro.
Something special to celebrate into the New Year!
Due caviali, «blinis» e spuma di mozzarella- Caviar, blinis & mozzarella mousse
Ingredients:
The Syrup
25g sugar; 1 lemon; salt
The Blinis
200g milk; 200g fresh whipped cream; 160 g flour; 2 egg
baking powder for savory pies; salt; 125g fiordilatte mozzarella; 30g Golden Sterlet caviar; 30; g Beluga Siberian caviar; chervil; butter
Preparation:
Step 1: Bring 100 g of water to the boil with the sugar and a pinch of salt. Obtain the lemon zest, without the white part, and cut it into very thin strips. Immerse them in the water and sugar syrup, after 2 minutes of boiling, turn off the heat and leave to rest for about ten minutes. Step 2: Mix the flour with the milk, a pinch of salt and a pinch of yeast, add the yolks and mix with a whisk; separately whip the egg whites, then incorporate them into the flour and egg yolks mixture, mixing from bottom to top. Step 3: Prepare the «blinis»: pour the mixture, spoonfuls apart, into a frying pan veiled with butter; after 1 minute, turn the «blinis» so that they are lightly browned and cook them for another minute: you will get 45-48. Step 4: Blend the mozzarella with the hand blender and mix it delicately with the whipped cream.
Step 5: Serve the «blinis» with the mozzarella mousse, the caviar, a lemon peel fillet in syrup and a chervil leaf.
Insalata di Mare - Seafood Salad
A state-of-the-art seafood salad, so beautiful that it looks like a painting. Follow the recipe of the Hotel Il Salviatino di Fiesole in Tuscany, here hospitality and elegance blend in heavenly dishes.
Ingredients:
12 peeled red prawns from Mazara del Vallo; 12 scampi; 12 medium squid in chunks; 4 diced medium potatoes; 1 sliced shallots; candied lemon; parsley; vegetable broth; extra virgin olive oil; salt
Preparation:
Step 1: For the seafood salad recipe, brown the shallot in a little oil, then add the potatoes, cover with hot vegetable broth and cook until cooked: blend and season with salt and pepper. Step 2: Shell prawns and scampi without removing the head; steam them for 4-5 minutes at most and do the same with squid. Step 3: Distribute the creamed potatoes on the plates and complete with scampi, prawns, squid. Drizzle with a drizzle of oil and decorate with aromatic herbs, candied lemon wedges, puffed fregola and potato chips.
Insalata russa classica - Russian Salad
A sumptuous dish from the belle époque dedicated to the Russian nobility who then frolicked in Paris.
Ingredients:
250 g peeled carrots; 250g peeled potatoes; 250g peanut oil; 125g frozen peas; 125g pickled gherkins; 7 eggs; apple cider vinegar; mustard; lemon; salt
Preparation:
Step 1: Cut the potatoes lengthwise into 1 cm thick slices; cut the slices into 1 cm sticks and finally the sticks into cubes. Step 2: Dice the carrots like the potatoes. Boil the two vegetables separately, starting with cold salted water: after boiling, calculate about 10 minutes for the potatoes and 7-8 minutes for the carrots. Step 3: Drain the potatoes and carrots well al dente and spread them out on a tray, keeping them separate. Step 4: Boil the peas in boiling salted water and drain them when they return to the boil. Also spread out on a platter. All the vegetables must cool down and dry well so as not to release humidity and water down the salad. Step 5: Boil 4 eggs for 8 minutes from the boil. Once cold, shell them, cut the egg white and separate it from the yolk. Step 6: Cut the egg whites and yolks into small pieces. Cut the gherkins into cubes. Step 7: Collect an egg and 2 yolks, 2-3 pinches of salt, a good teaspoon of mustard, a spoonful of apple cider vinegar and the juice of half a lemon in the blender glass. Step 8: Blend briefly to mix the ingredients, then begin to add the oil slowly and continue to blend until all is used up. You'll have to get a mayonnaise soda. Step 9: Combine the now cold vegetables, hard-boiled eggs, gherkins and mayonnaise in a bowl. Mix carefully until the mayonnaise is evenly distributed.
An elegant vegetarian dish: Caviale di lenticchie, melanzane e giardiniera
Caviar of lentils with Melanzane and pickled vegetables. Lentils; in addition to being a good luck symbol, lentils are very healthy. A true source of well-being, serve them as if they were caviar and your vegetarian dishes will become prized specialities!
Ingredients:
500g diced vegetables (carrots, white and yellow cauliflower florets, yellow pepper, friggitelli peppers, red pepper, celery, fennel, radishes); 150g dry white wine; 120
g white wine vinegar; 30g whole cane sugar; 3g salt; 10
black peppercorns; 5 Bay leaves; 2 cloves; 2 Juniper berries; 2 cardamom pods; 1 cinnamon stick; half a clove of garlic
200g black lentils; 2 black eggplant; clear tahini (sesame cream, alternatively almond cream); wine vinegar; parsley; lemon; sunflower oil; extra virgin olive oil; salt
Preparation:
Step 1: Collect the vinegar, wine, salt, sugar, 170 g of water, the herbs in a saucepan and boil for a few minutes; then dip the vegetables in it and switch off when it boils again; add a lemon zest if you like. Leave to rest for 10 hours. Finally drain the vegetables. If you want to keep them, transfer them to a jar and cover them with oil: they last 2-3 months.
Step 2: Wash the aubergines and bake them at 250°C for at least 1 hour, turning them occasionally. Finally, take them out of the oven, let them cool down and cut them in half lengthwise; season them with very little vinegar, extra virgin olive oil and salt. Step 3: Soak the black lentils in cold water for 1 hour, then drain and boil them for about 40 minutes over medium heat (in unsalted water, so they don't break). Add salt at the end and drain them. Step 4: Mix the tahina with 20 g of sunflower oil, the juice of 1/2 lemon and parsley. Serve the aubergines with the sauce, the lentils and the pickled vegetables.
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