MariRecipes » Starters

Moroccan Cous cous with Vegetables and Grilled Chicken Breast

MariRecipes — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 17:06:07 +0000

The cous cous is originated in Maghreb and nowadays it’s very apreciated in the international cookery, easy and fast to prepare and it’s great with vegetables, meat or fish. My father is an expert in preparing it and as he always says you can use almost whatever vegetables you have in the kitchen, according to your personal taste (you can use red and/or yellow pepper, yellow courgettes, eggplants, onions…you decide!). For this recipe I use the pre cooked cous cous (from semola di grano duro). Serves 4 to 6 persons.

. 1 cup of pre cooked cous cous

. 1 cup of boiling water with 1 teaspoon of salt

. extra virgin olive oil

. 2 greeen courgettes grated in the large grater

. 1 carrot grated

. 1 clove of garlic minced

. mint leaves

. 1 chicken breast marinated with 1 glass of white wine, salt, pepper, thyme and origano.

In a glass bowl pour the pre cooked cous cous and add 1/3 of the boiling water at a time. Mix well and “husk” with a fork until all the water has been absorbed. Let it stand for 7 minutes and in the meanwhile heat 1 tbsp of olive oil in a non stick pan and add the garlic until golden. Add the carrot, cook for 5 minutes. Add the courgettes, salt, cook for another 5 minutes and take it off the heat. Add the vegetables to the prepared cous cous and mix well. Allow to set for a while and add the mint “crumbled” with your hands.

At this moment heat a pan (add a little quantity of butter if you want with some sage leaves) and grill the chicken breast until golden. At this point take it from the pan, cut into slices and return them to the pan. Add the wine of the marinata if you want, and allow it to evaporate completely. When it’s done add the slices of chicken to the cous cous that you have divided into the plates, to serve. It’s tasty, light and very nutritive at the same time. You can enjoy it in the summer or in winter…

Frayed Codfish with Cherry Tomatoes and Black Olives

MariRecipes — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 14:46:23 +0000

This is a plate you can serve as an hors d’ouvre or as a unique plate with boiled nouvelle potatoes, seasoned with extra virgin olive oil, salt, ground pepper and chopped parsley…

. 1 portion of dissalated and frayed codfish

. 2 cloves of garlic chopped

. extra virgin olive oil

. ground pepper

. 200 g of cherry tomatoes

. 3 tbsp of stoned black olives

. spanish “colorau” if you have it (it’s a kind of paprika)

As always you must dissalate the codfish for 72 hours. Afterwards fray it with your hands. Add the chopped garlic, the entire cherry tomatoes, the olives and season with salt (if necessary, it’s better taste first…), pepper, olive oil, the colorau if you have it by hand…Mix well and let it stand for one hour before serving…it’s very tasty also if served with “casareccio” bread and olive oil…:))

Egg Plant and Black Olives Hors d’ouvre

MariRecipes — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 15:35:39 +0000

You can prepare this starter in advance and it matchs very well with grilled meat.

. 3 firm egg plants cut into slices strewed with salt and let rest for 30 minutes in a colander. Afterwards wash the egg plants, let them dry and cut into sticks or little triangles.

. 1 onion (white or red one) cut into slices

. 3 cloves of garlic unpeeled (you will throw them away in the end of the cooking time)

. 4 tbsp of black olives unstoned cut into slices

. salt, black pepper

. fresh thyme and oregano

. 1 tbsp of red wine vinegar

. 3 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil

In a big bowl mix the egg plants, the onion, garlic, olives, salt, pepper, herbs, vinegar and olive oil. Mix with a spoon until very well mixed. Pour this mixture into a non sticking baking tin and bake in the pre heated oven (180°C) for 1 hour, mixing a little every 20 minutes, until the egg plants are cooked and “dry”. Serve with “crostine” of heated bread or with grilled meat.

Zucchini, Ricotta and Asiago Quiche

MariRecipes — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 15:02:46 +0000

Sorry, this entry is only available in Brasileiro and Italiano.

Stuffed Aubergines

MariRecipes — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 14:05:05 +0000

This aubergines can match with meat or be a veggie main course… Ingredients:

. 4 little aubergines. Wash them, cut each in halves along the lenght and extract the pulp. The pulp you dice into cubes. The aubergines’ halves you put into the colander and sprinkle with salt. Let them stand for 30 minutes, wash them and put in a baking pan.

. 2 mozzarellas diced into cubes

. tomato sauce or 3 big tomatoes diced into cubes

. salt, pepper

. leaves of thyme

. olive oil

. 1 clove of garlic chopped

. bread crumbs

Mix the aubergines’ pulp with the mozzarella, salt, pepper freshly ground, garlic (if you like it), thyme, olive oil and stuff the aubergines. Cover with the tomato sauce, a trinckle of olive oil and some bread crumbs. Bake in the pre heated oven (180°) for 30-40 minutes (control if they’re well baked, it depends on the oven…). Serve them hot or in ambient temperature…

Capri Salad

MariRecipes — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 09:32:19 +0000

Simple, light and delicious….for each person:

. 1 tomato (a big one, for salads…)

. 1 buffalo mozzarella

. salt, pepper, basil and olive oil

Wash the tomato. Slice it. Slice the mozzarella. Put in a plate alternating the tomato and the mozzarella. Season with salt, pepper, olive oil and basil…yummm

Tomatoes au gratin

MariRecipes — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 08:34:18 +0000

This is a good match for meat and fish, everyone likes it (is there someone in the world who doesn’t like tomatoes???)…for 4:

. 8 mature and firm tomatoes

. salt

. pepper

. leaves of thyme and basil

. oregano (if you like it)

. grated grana padano

. bread crumbs

. olive oil

Wash the tomatoes, cut a thin slice in the base and empty them out from the seeds. Let them stand overturned to loose all the water inside. Put the tomatoes in a baking pan, put salt, pepper, thyme, basil and origano. Season each tomato with a trickle of olive oil and cover each of them with a mix of bread crumbs and grated grana. Heat the oven to 180°. Put the tomatoes into the pre heated oven for 40 minutes, until the cover is light brown. Let it stand for 10 minutes outside the oven and serve…