Zucchine Ripiene ~ Stuffed Zucchini

There is a lot going on in this little life of mine. But right now, what I want to share with you is a suuuuper delicious recipe! It's time to use Zucchini.. they are so cheap in every store!! And I have to say it's one of my favorite vegetables... I use them in everything: with pasta, as a side dish, in a parmigiana or.. as in this recipe... STUFFED!! You're going to love them!!

ZUCCHINE RIPIENE  {or STUFFED ZUCCHINI}

What you need:

• 4 large zucchini
• 1cup of bread crumbs
• 1 cup of shredded Parmesan Cheese
• 1 handful of minced Parsley
• 1 egg
• salt & pepper
• extra vergin olive oil
• tomato sauce

Cut the zucchinis in half longways. 

Let them boil in hot water and salt for 4-5 minutes, until barely tender (don't over-cook them!). Drain them, let them cool down and take the pulp out with a spoon (don't throw it away, let it drain in a colander or squeeze the water out). 

Prepare the filling in a bowl. Mix together the egg, parmesan cheese, bread crumbs, parsley, the zucchini pulp with a little salt and pepper. 

Grease a pyrex with olive oil, fill the half zucchinis with the filling and set them in the dish. Cover each of them with a little tomato sauce (previously seasoned). Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and olive oil.

Cook in the oven at 400 degrees for 20 minutes, or until golden brownish. :)

Serve hot as a side dish or main dish with a nice piece of bread!

~Buon Appetito!!

Hugs to all,

Tomato Harvest

It seems like Fall is never gonna come. It's still very hot outside.. but I have to say that I'm enjoying these last days of Summer. I can still dry the clothes outside, before the rainy days come... and I like watering the plants everyday, especially my tomatoes!! It's the first time I have my own tomato-plants! Yesterday I picked and ate the first one... so good! 

Speaking about pomodori reminds me of something fun I did last summer.. I gave a few Italian Lessons to a sweet Denver girl who wants to learn my beautiful language! I don't know how much she learned in the end, I wish I had more time to do more lessons, but time really went so fast. During my lessons I taught her also some simple recipes {we cooked pasta with tomato sauce... and Pizza with Zucchini Flowers.. everything from scratch of course... }. It was fun!!! The best way to learn a language is to be somehow part of the culture and that's what I tried to do. ♥

my student showing off our Pizza! Buonissima!!!

...the blessings of my garden...

Fresh from the Garden.

~~~~I can't believe it's already August!!!~~~~ 

One of my favorite months.. it reminds me of the summer vacations spent on the beach in Italy. So, today I looked in my friends' garden and I found 3 Zucchini Flowers!! They told me I could pick them, as they don't eat them.. well... that's exactly what I did!! I LOVE zucchini flowers!! It's an ingredient found mostly in the Roman cuisine, they fry them or put them on pizzas as a topping. 

{So delicious!!!}

I like them fried and I decided to take pictures to show all of you this wonderful and easy recipe. It is a great side dish, appetizer or yummi snack!

FRIED ZUCCHINI FLOWERS 

(Fiori di Zucchina fritti)

This is what you need:

• 5 or 6 large zucchini flowers
• 2 eggs
• 1 tbsp flour
• 1 splash of water
• 1 pinch of salt
• vegetable oil 

Wash the flowers very gently, detach the little stem inside the flower (and throw it away). 

Prepare the egg-batter mixing the eggs with a pinch of salt, add the flour and mix well until creamy. Add a splash of cold water and keep stirring until smooth. 

Dip the flower in the batter and fry it in a saucepan with hot oil until golden on both sides.

Let the cooked flowers rest on paper towel to absorb the extra oil. Serve warm.

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