Pumpkin seeds snack

Fall is the pumpkin season! Carving your own Halloween pumpkin is an easy and fun activity for the whole family, but what to do with the leftovers… Do you Know that pumpkin seeds are an excellent source of magnesium and also supply some protein and fiber? The seeds are rich in phytosterols, natural plant compounds that may help lower blood cholesterol levels. So don’t throw out your pumpkin seeds! Believe it or not, the seeds you exhume and discard from your soon-to-be Jack O’ Lantern are just a quick roast away from becoming a delicious snack – crunchy.
Ingredients:

• one pumpkin
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika

Method:
Cut open the pumpkin by cutting a circle around the stem end with a knife and pulling off the top. Scrape the seeds from your pumpkin with a metal spoon. Place the mass of pumpkin seeds in a colander and run under water to rinse and separate the seeds from flesh. Preheat the oven to 350/400°F gas 4. Spread the pumpkin seeds evenly over a large baking tray. Put a few good lugs of olive oil over the seeds and mix together with cumin and paprika. Bake until the seeds begin to brown, 10 minutes, depending on the size of the seeds. Let the pumpkin seeds cool all the way down before eating. Either crack to remove the inner seed and eat. You can use

Pesto Sauce Recipe

Pesto Sauce

Make your pesto sauce in ten minutes! It's the best choice for your pasta! Do you Know that there is a championship in Genoa. Do you want to partecipate? Read more: The Genoa Pesto World Championship

• 4 bunches of fresh PDO (Protected Designation of Origin) Genoese basil
• 30 g pine nuts
• 45-60 g aged Parmesan cheese, grated
• 20 g Sardo cheese (Pecorino Sardo), grated
• 1-2 garlic cloves from Vassalico (Imperia)
• 5-6 g salt
• 70 cc PDO extra-virgin olive oil from the “Italian Riviera”

Wash the basil leaves in cold water and dry them on a tea towel but don’t rub them. Then in a mixer insert the garlic and pine nuts. Add salt and the basil leave, then add the Parmesan cheese and the Sardo cheese mix with a spoon. Pour in a thin layer of PDO extra-virgin olive oil from the Italian Riviera, which lightly blends the ingredients without overdoing. The preparation must be done as quickly as possible to avoid oxidation problems.
Pesto sauce should be stored in the refrigerator for four to five days at the most, covered with a thin layer of oil. You can also store it in your freezer for one to two months. Remember to divide it into the portions you use to toss pasta

Hummus

Hummus

Today my proposal is hummus recipe.

This sauce is great to make sandwiches for your lunchbox, or simply to eat with warm pita bread or piadina or to make a vegetarian stuffed courgettes.
This recipe is so quick and easy.

Ingredients:

• 7 oz chickpeas (save the cooking liquid), or canned chickpeas
• 2 garlic cloves
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoon tahini (it's a paste made from ground sesame seeds) optional
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon salt

Preparation method:

The night before soak the chickpeas in plenty of cold water. The day after you can cook them for 40 minutes in the pressure cooker.
Then all you have to do is throw all the ingredients in the processor.
And... your homemade hummus is ready!

Vegetarian Stuffed Courgettes

Vegetarian Stuffed Courgettes

Stuffed courgettes is a very tasty main dish, well known among classic Italian Recipes but today I propose you a vegetarian recipe.
This recipe is even more interesting because you will use the whole courgette: its pulp for example will be added to the hummus to enrich the filling.

Ingredients for 3 people

• 8 courgettes
• hummus
• wholemeal bread crumbs

Preparation of vegetarian stuffed courgettes

Wash the courgettes. Even if there’s no visible dirt you should always wash them under fresh running water to rinse them of any pesticides or lingering bacteria. With your hand, gently rub the skin of the zucchini while holding it under water until it no longer feels gritty.
Trim off the ends and boil the courgettes whole in lightly salted water for at least 5/10 minutes, until soft. Cut the courgettes in half lengthwise, and scoop out the pulp in a bowl and keep aside. Mix together hummus and pulp. You can now lay your hollow courgettes on an oiled baking tray and fill the vegetables with the mix.

Run a fork on each courgette lengthwise in order to get a ridged surface and sprinkle with wholemeal bread crumbs.
Cook for 20-30 minutes at 180ºC and leave them too cool down for 5 minutes before serving.

Notes:
the stuffed courgettes are a perfect dish for summer (you can find the last courgettes in a market), to prepare well in advance to eat the day after!
In my family, filled courgettes were a very popular dish and an easy one to make with kids. It’s also a good way to get children to eat vegetables.
Et voilà vegetarian stuffed courgettes

Whole-Wheat Penne with Green Beans

Whole-Wheat Penne with Green Beans

Why Is Whole-Grain Pasta Healthier Than White Pasta?
The seeds of whole grains have three components called the endosperm, germ and bran. When these are intact, whole grains offer you higher nutrient value. We know that the carbs are a nutrient that our body needs. They function to give you energy and support the brain and nervous system. Simple carbs occur naturally in milk, milk derivatives and fruits, but they are also prominent in cakes, cookies, candy, sweet drinks and sugary cereals. When consumed, simple carbs give you a fast spike of energy, but it wears off quickly. White pasta is technically a complex carb, but it is refined and starchy. This makes it act like a simple carb in the body. Consistent intake of simple carbs can promote weight gain and hinder weight loss efforts. Complex carbs, on the other hand, are digested at a slow pace and give you lasting energy levels. Whole-grain pasta is a good source of complex carbs. ACS Guidelines for Nutrition recommend: “Choose whole-grain breads, pasta, and cereals (such as barley and oats) instead of breads, cereals, and pasta made from refined grains, and brown rice instead of white rice”.
So if you spend extra money on whole wheat bread or pasta and you’re positive you’ll enjoy a low glycemic index, nutritional fibers, and generally better health.

Ingredients:

• 8 oz. whole wheat penne or spaghetti
• 2 to 3 tablespoons pesto sauce the original recipe
• 1 lb green beans, ends trimmed
• 1 yellow onion
• 2 tablespoons of oil
• salt

Method:
Cut the green beans are into one-inch pieces.
Cut the onion into thin slices, in a large, heavy skillet, warm the olive oil over medium-high heat and then add the onion and sauté for 4 minutes. Add the green beans, salt, the reserved pasta cooking liquid and continue cooking until the beans are tender.
Drain the pasta and immediately toss it in a large bowl with the green beans, pesto.
Bring the bowl to the table and serve

Homemade Mustard Recipe

Homemade Mustard Recipe

Have you ever read the ingredients list on a mustard? Quite possibly not. For example these are the ingredients of a famous mustard: water, mustard seeds, vinegar, salt, citric acid, sulphur dioxide
I hope I have convinced you to leave the jar on the shelf of the supermarket, also because it is really, really easy to make.
Mustard is a condiment of a thousand faces. Vinegar is often used, but also wine, beer, water are used to moisten the seeds. Sweetness is usually achieved by adding honey.
Grind some mustard seeds, mix with mustard powder and some liquid and you’re done. Endless variations exist. Change the liquid and you change the mustard. Grind the mustard seeds a lot or a little and you change the texture — or skip the whole seeds altogether and use just mustard powder. Or skip the powder and just use seeds.
I use only mustard powder and this is my recipe, try it!
Ingredients (servings: 1)

• 1 tablespoon of mustard powder
• 1 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar
• 1 teaspoon of water
• 1/2 teaspoon of honey
• 1 teaspoon of vegetal oil
• pinch of salt

Put and mix all ingrendients in a cup. Put into a glass jar and store in the fridge. Wait at least 12 hours before using.
Your mustard is ready!
How to store: Seeds can be stored up to a year in a dry, dark place; and powdered mustard for about six months. The mustard will keep for up to 6 months refrigerated

Chips without Potatoes

Oven-chips without Potatoes

This is my proposal of chips, a delicious and healthy low fat recipe, that can be made from chickpea flour, and embellished with flavours of your own choosing. This is a gluten free recipe. This is an old Ligurian recipe: its name is “Panissa”. You need chickpea flour; if needed, you can make it at home, by grinding dry chickpeas to a powder in either an electric coffee grinder or a blender.
Total preparation and cooking time: about 2 hours. But you can eat these “chips” into your salad or warm chip with crème fraîche, a small slice of smoked salmon, smoked trout, or a bit of caviar.
Ingredients:

• 2 cups of chickpea flour
• 4 cups of water
• salt and pepper

Put the chickpea flour and salt in a pot and slowly add the lukewarm water. Stir your batter until the dry and wet ingredients are well incorporated, beat with an electric hand mixer or whisk. Bring over medium high heat and make it boil.
Reduce heat and cook for 50 minutes, stirring constantly; should it dry out too much while it’s cooking stir in more boiling water. If you have a polenta pot with a mechanical stirrer, the cooking will be much easier.
Then put it in a greased pyrex and let the Panissa cool. Then cut it into matchsticks (1/8-inch thick). Spread the chips evenly on a baking tray (use more than one if you need to – best not to have the chips piled up on top of each other) and stick them in a hot oven (200c) for 20/25 minutes or so.They should be light brown and starting to get crunchy. After 20 mins or so, they should be done.
Serve hot, with sauces if you like (provided they are healthy), and enjoy! These chips go well with loads of dishes, also in salad and in sandwiches.