Rometti is going on vacation for a couple of weeks, but we’ll be back the second week of August with more recipes, Happy Hour Tuesday and some exciting news!
We wish you all a fantastic Summer, enjoy the sun, the fun, and if you’re traveling around the world don’t forget to experience all the different cuisines, as you learn a lot about a culture by getting to know what they eat!
Cheers!
The Rometti Team
Dear Reader,
this week Rometti is posting the weekly blog straight from Italy! And it’s here in Italy that I got to taste a drink that I think is worth a shot, in the very sense of the word, Samba Lime.
Samba Lime uses as main ingredients Sambuca and Rometti Limoncello. Sambuca is an Italian anise-flavored liqueur which can be found in white, blue or red color. During distillation, Sambuca gets that delicious, particular taste thanks to the oils released by anise, star anise and liquorice, sometimes even elderflowers! Sambuca seems to have originated in Civitavecchia, Italy, where anise was imported from the Easter countries. The Latin word for it, Sambuca, means “elderberry”.
Today, Sambuca in Italy is still a very popular “ammazza-caffe’”, a digestif that Italians choose to drink after coffee at the end of a meal. Its revitalizing taste recalls the taste of liquorice or fennel terragon, it’s very strong but the addition of limoncello sweetens it a bit and the combination of the two makes a perfect refreshing shot.
Salute!
Ingredients:
¼ oz Sambuca
¼ oz Rometti Limoncello
Simply add the Sambuca and Rometti Limoncello in a shot glass and…
ENJOY!
This week the protagonist of our Cook n Bake weekly appointment is a pear-shaped black beauty, which in the vegetable world is also better known as the Eggplant!
Eggplant is a perennial plant that grows annually, but what we eat is not the eggplant itself, it’s the fruit, which is classified – believe it or not!- as a berry. This deep purple fruit tastes bitter when raw, but its flavor immediately elevates to a more complex and rich level, which makes it smoother but never sweet. An health advice, that not a lot of people know about, is to make sure that you rinse the eggplant and drain it well before cooking it, but most of all that you salt it, or else this fruit will absorb cooking fats. Eggplant is very popular in the Mediterranean cuisine, we see it in the French ratatouille, in the Italian parmigiana di melanzane, in the Greek moussaka, and many Asian dishes. In the United States, the major production is located in Georgia.
Rometti would like to introduce you to one of the many ways to use eggplants, which by the way are perfect for rice, orzo, and meat stuffing. We chose a delicate way of cooking it and present it, the Involtini di Melanzane alla Mediterranea (Mediterranean Eggplant Rolls).
This dish is fresh, savory, and is a great start to a fun, Summer dinner with friends. The Involtini di Melanzane are grilled slices of eggplant spread with tomato sauce, minced black olives, basil and mozzarella, and put in the oven for a few minutes. These delicious bites can be served either hot or cold, and can be garnished with some fresh basil leaves.
Ingredients (for 12 rolls):
12 Basil leaves
12 Eggplant slices
120 g Mozzarella
1 tbsp Olive oil
15 Seedless black olives
1 tsp Oregano
120 ml Tomato sauce
Pepper
Salt
Wash the eggplants and slice them into 12 slices of about 1/4″ (1/2 cm). Salt them and let them drain (on a cutting board or in a drainer) for about 20-30 minutes to get rid of all the water.
Grill the slices, each side for about 1-2 minutes.
Mix the tomato sauce with salt, pepper, oregano, and olive oil. Spread them on each slice, add a few mozzarella dices, minced black olives and a minced leaf of basil. Roll them up, and place them on a tray anointed with oil, and place them in the oven for about 15 minutes. When you take them out you can garnish the plate with a little olive oil and bass leaves.
ENJOY!~
image taken from http://www.ondaiblea.it/2012020744349/laboratorio-dei-sapori-involtini-di-melanzana.html
Happy Hour Tuesday, friends!
This Tuesday the protagonist of Rometti’s weekly blog is Limoncello Spritzer. You might know the Campari version of this drink, Campari Spritz, especially if you have been in Italy (or, I have to say, also in some good Italian restaurants in the United States – first one that comes to mind is Hugo, in Culver City, California. They really have great dishes and yes, they do serve Campari Spritz!). Spritzer is found also in Germany, where it originated, Hungary, Romania and France, and it’s typically made of white wine, seltzer and club soda.
Limoncello Spritzer is a variation of the original drink. It’s a sweet, refreshing and bubbling drink, as a matter of fact Spritzer means “spray, sprinkle”! Spritzer is perfect refreshing and social drink to share amoungest friends, while enjoying some starters. I also recommend sipping on it at the end of the meal, possibly paired with a light, creamy / fruity dessert. If you like the peppery taste of mint, you might even want to try adding a few mint leaves to make this delicious drink even more refreshing.
Ingredients:
Rometti Limoncello
Dry white wine
Seltzer
Ice
Lemon Wedge
Fill a highball glass with some crushed ice. Pour the white wine into the glass to fill half about of it. Add about 1 oz of Rometti Limoncello, don’t forget to have it chilled! Top off with club soda, squeeze a lemon wedge and stir to combine. Add mint leaves if you desire, or garnish with a twist of lemon peel.
ENJOY!~
Image taken from: http://www.marthastewart.com/348805/limoncello-spritzer
…Now that the Fourth of July has come and gone, leaving us filled with a belly full of hamburgers, hot dogs, chips, your body may be screaming for some healthy relief. When a quick and easy salad doesn’t seem to do the trick, Rometti has a fresh, delicious dish that will still satisfy your palate and your veggie craving: the Torta Rustica alle Zucchine (“Rustic Zucchini Pie”). This pie is both a great dish hot, as it is cold, and don’t forget zucchini is seasonal so not only is it light on your stomach, it’s also light on your wallet!
Torta rustica in Italy is essentially a “torta salata”, a salty pie, very similar to the French Quiche. The main ingredient of the quiche differs in that heavy cooking cream is used. In some cases the Italian torta salata might still use cooking cream, however it is more often replaced by cheese. Based on some traditions the torta salata may also have an additional sheet of puff pastry on top.
Kids usually love this recipe (which is a good trick for them to intake their vegetables). It’s perfect for a quiet family dinner but also a great unexpected treat for parties and gatherings.
Ingredients:
1 puff pastry sheet
5 eggs
3 zucchini
4 tbsp grated Parmisean Cheese
5 slices of Prosciutto Crudo
3.5 oz (100 gr) of fat-free Philadelphia cheese
Salt and pepper
Remove the seeds from the zucchini and cut them in small dices (the seeds would make the zucchini too watery while cooking). Stir-fry them in a pan with some extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper. It’s better to use a high flame to cook them quickly and make them crispy. Cut the prosciutto crudo in small stripes and add them to the zucchini. Sizzle them in a pan for two minutes.
In a bowl, beat the eggs and then add the Philadelphia cheese, the Parmeasan cheese, salt and pepper.
Take the puff pastry sheet and lay it without removing the parchment paper which it came with in a baking tin, leaving the excess pastry on the outside of the tin. Don’t forget to use a fork to punch some little holes at the bottom! Put the zucchini and the prosciutto crudo inside the puff pastry, then add the eggs and the Philadelphia cheese.
Turn the edges of the puff pastry inside and put it in the oven at 392 F (200 C) for 30 minutes, until the puff party becomes golden.
ENJOY! ~
The fourth of July would have been just another day if 236 years ago Americans didn’t declare their independence and turned it into the most commemorative, patriotic holiday in the United States. We at Rometti Limoncello like traditions, so in preparation for a day of celebration with family and friends, we decided to put into our picnic basket a drink that speaks well to American traditions, the Bourbon Smash.
The main ingredient in the Bourbon Smash‘s is well…Bourbon whiskey, produced since the 18th century in what is now known as Bourbon County in Kentucky. Bardstown, Kentucky is where 97% of bourbon is made, and each September they host a Bourbon Festival.
Bourbon County was founded by the American pioneers in 1785 and named after the French royal family of the Bourbons. The Ohio River port was the port from which whiskey and spirits were shipped in barrels marked “Old Bourbon”. Bourbon whiskey, was first made of corn and aged in charred-oak barrels, this process became the common name for all the corn-based whiskey.
Bourbon Smash with its reddish tones is quite refreshing and a little bittersweet, which makes this a great drink to both savor the American whiskey and to cheer American Independence day.
“Freedom has its life in the hearts, the actions, the spirit of men and so it must be daily earned and refreshed – else like a flower cut from its life-giving roots, it will wither and die.” (Dwight D. Eisenhower)
Ingredients:
1 2/3 oz bourbon whiskey
1 dash Angostura® bitters
2 1/3 oz cranberry juice
1 slice lime
5 – 7 raspberries
1/2 tsp sugar
Place at the bottom of the glass a diced lime with raspberries. Add sugar and bitters, muddle well. Add bourbon and ice, then top with cranberry juice. Garnish with raspberries and serve in an old-fashioned glass with a lime twist or a mint leaf.
ENJOY! and Happy Fourth of July!~
Image taken from http://www.brunelloshavemorefun.com
Rometti Limoncello 