Tiramisu.

When your kitchen is filled with the scent of vanilla, rum and espresso something magical is unfolding.

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Mention the word Italian dessert, and the classical answer is tiramisu. Tiramisu is not only the perfect dessert for grown-ups. It is the perfect dessert. Easy to make, it can be prepared in advance, and has a subtle yet wonderful scent and taste. There is only one problem. Its relative ease is based on buying ladyfingers. What if you are gluten intolerant?

The dessert that was almost invented in Venice

Veneto. V for Veneto. The region in the northeastern corner of Italy known for the cities of Verona and Venezia and valpolicella wine. Lately the region of Veneto has made claim to be recognized as the birthplace of tiramisu, the same way the city of Naples has been recognized for pizza. The town of Treviso not far from Venice claims to have invented tiramisu. What is undisputed is the fact that tiramisu is a quite new invention among Italian desserts, it does not show up in cookbooks until the 60s and 70s. Some say as late as the 80s.

Pick me up, but forget the amaretto

The word tiramisu means pick me up or lift me up, probably because of the invigorating effect of coffee. To me just thinking of tiramisu lifts me up. Traditionally tiramisu was made without egg whites and alcohol. Today there are many varieties, some containing egg whites, which makes the texture lighter. I like it when it is made more like a dessert with just one sponge layer and plenty of vanilla cream. It is important to soak the sponge just until moist and be generous with the mascarpone to achieve a quite dense cream. When it comes to alcohol, I prefer rum, but do try marsala, vin santo or even brandy. Just avoid the almond-flavoured amaretto liqueur. In my opinion it destroys the delicious vanilla-coffee flavour you want to achieve.

Gluten-free tiramisu

I am not allergic to gluten, but my better half does not tolerate gluten well. Hence most of the food at our home is gluten-free. Most of the time this works well, but sometimes it can be a challenge. Making profiteroles or cream puffs is a total failure resulting in wheat bullets, and it is far from easy making small pies as a starter when you have to make the puffed pastry yourself. Pizza on the other hand requires some practise but works fine in the end. If you want to enjoy a tarte tartin, just substitute the puff pastry with gluten-free pie dough. Instead of ladyfingers you can make a very easy sponge. It may not be as authentic as ladyfingers, but you will not taste much difference.

Magic in the kitchen

Egg yolks, mascarpone, espresso, rum, vanilla bean, cocoa and savoiardi biscuits (ladyfingers). These are the magical ingredients in a tiramisu. Leave the dessert overnight in the refrigerator for it to set and the flavours to develop even more. I also add bits of dark chocolate, just to drive home the grown-up flavours that perfectly melt together to create one of the world’s finest desserts.

P.S. If you want to make it without alcohol, substitute the alcohol with orange juice and serve it in individual portions. Also, I only use half the sponge and freeze the rest for another time to make tiramisu.

Gluten-free tiramisu (makes 3-4)

Sponge:
2 eggs
5o g / 1,8 oz sugar
75 g / 2,6 oz flour or gluten-free flour

Liquid for soaking:
40 ml espresso
1,5 tbsp rum

Cream:
2 egg yolks
35 g / 1,2 oz icing sugar
½ vanilla bean
100 ml heavy cream
250 g / 8,8 oz mascarpone (a tub)
25 g / 0,8 oz dark chocolate

To finish:
cocoa powder for dusting

1. Sponge: Preheat oven to 150C/300F and place parchment paper in a round baking tin (20 cm / 8 inch). Whisk the eggs and sugar with an electric whisk until pale and fluffy. Fold gently in the flour. Bake for about 20 minutes. Leave to cool and divide into two.

2. Liquid for soaking: Mix the espresso with rum and allow to cool.

3. Cream: Whisk the yolks and sugar with an electric whisk until pale and fluffy. Add the seeds of the vanilla bean and stir well. In another bowl whip the cream until soft peaks and fold in the mascarpone. Chop the chocolate roughly and add to the cream.

4. To assemble: Place half the sponge in a serving bowl and pour the coffee-rum evenly. Spoon the cream on top, cover and leave overnight in the refrigerator. Right before serving, sprinkle generously with cocoa powder.

If you like this post, you should try

Summer pasta with slow-roasted vegetables
Roasted plums with cookie topping
Chocolate cake with blood oranges
Gluten-free banana cake

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Quick pasta with spinach and quinoa.

This quick pasta dish only takes 15 minutes, is fit for both midweek and weekend dinners and contains two super ingredients, spinach and quinoa.

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Spinach – the green knight from Persia

Spinach is one of the quickest and healthiest vegetables you can use in your kitchen. If you buy packages of prewashed spinach, it takes only two minutes to prepare. The spinach originates from ancient Persia (today’s Iran), and was brought to India and China by Arabic traders in the 7th century. Hence the Chinese called it “Persian vegetable”. The Arabs also brought it to Europe in the 9th century, to Sicily which at that time was ruled by the Arabs.

Quinoa – the secret from the Andes

On the other side of the earth a distant relative of the spinach thrives in a harsh climate. Quinoa has been cultivated for 3 000 years in South America. It is very nutritious and even gluten-free. The Incas held quinoa into high esteem, using the seeds in religious rituals.

Although the Inca population never exceeded more than 100,000, they have put their everlasting mark on history. Their empire stretched 2,500 miles through some of the world’s most mountainous terrain from today’s southern Columbia to central Chile. They built Machu Picchu as a royal retreat for one of their emperors. The Incas have been called the Romans of the New World. Their reign ended with the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors in the 16th century. The Spaniards forbid the cultivation of quinoa, forcing the Incas to grow wheat instead. The last Inca emperor, Túpac Amaru, was killed by the Spanish in 1572.

There is a good reason quinoa was revered by the Incas. Compared to wheat quinoa is more nutritious containing a high amount of protein, magnesium and iron. It endures extreme conditions and is cultivated at an altitude of 4 000 meters above sea level defying temperatures ranging from -8 degrees to 38 degrees Celsius. Because it is so hardy and nutritious, the United Nations has put quinoa to the fore under the slogan “A future sown thousands of years ago”.

The Spanish did not bring the quinoa back to The Old World. Quinoa remained an edible treasure hidden by the Andes range. Instead Columbus and the Spaniards brought the pepper (Capsicum annuum) home to Europe. And back in Old Spain pepper were to become one of the key ingredients in modern Spanish kitchen.

Pimentón dulce.

Red is for pimentón

Which colour do you associate with the Spanish kitchen? Maybe your answer is yellow and saffron, but there is another colour more integral to Spain’s food. Red. Red is for pimentón. Pimentón is a spice made from peppers (chili peppers or bell peppers) first dried and then ground to a fine powder. Pimentón is what gives chorizo its characteristic red colour. Pimentón comes in tree versions: mild (dulce), bittersweet (agridulce) og hot (picante). The spice is only produced in the region of Murcia and La Vera in Extremadura. In La Vera the peppers are smoke-dried on chunks of wild oak producing a smoky flavour and intense red colour.

Quick pasta with spinach and quinoa (makes 2–3):

In this pasta dish it is important to use raw sausages because they impart more flavour. You can use a common type of sausage like bratwurst, but then do add a garlic clove when you fry to spice up the sausage.

A bag of prewashed spinach (about 300 g)
2–3 raw sausages
1 tbsp pimentón (preferably Pimentón de la Vera)
200–300 ml heavy cream
a handful of parmesan
salt and pepper
rapeseed oil
quinoa pasta

1. First, start boiling the pasta water. You do not want to wait for it to boil after the sauce is finished.

2. Add a lug of oil to a frying pan and fry the spinach in two batches on medium heat until wilted. I takes about 1 minute. Place the spinach on a plate and squeeze out the water with your hands.

3. Add another lug of oil to the frying pan. Slit the sausages and squeeze small meatballs with your hand into the pan. Fry the sausage meatballs with the pimentón until golden, about 5–10 minutes.

4. Finally add the cream and cook until the sauce has thickened a bit.

5. Put the spinach back into the pan. Season with salt and pepper and serve with a generous amount of parmesan.

If you liked this post, maybe you also will like:

Smoothies with mango, lingonberry and spinach
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Pasta Bolognese for non-Italians

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Pasta with slow-roasted vegetables.

I have always loved pasta. Spaghetti was the first dinner I made myself from scratch. The dish was something I had learned at school: spaghetti with minced beef in a sauce made of onions and tomato paste. Pasta is truly easy food. It is food kids can make. And do not care about making your own pasta – even Italians think it is ok to use dry pasta.

In this dish I serve pasta with typical Italian vegetables, tomatoes and zucchini, slow-roasted in the oven. If you haven’t tried zucchini I hope you will try them. Baking the vegetables on slow heat is a drying process that removes the water and intensifies the taste. Just think of the difference between natural tomatoes and sun-dried tomatoes.

I also add bacon and mushroom because these are two of my favourite ingredients, but you can easily skip the bacon for a veggie-option. If you are lactose intolerant, leave out the cream. This dish is still delicious thanks to the slow-roasted vegetables packed with flavours.

Summer pasta with slow-roasted vegetables.

Pasta with slow-roasted vegetables (makes 3)

1 big zucchini, ends trimmed
200 g / 7 oz cherry tomatoes
400 g / 14 oz mushrooms e.g. brown button mushroom (aromasjampinjong)
300 ml / 10 oz sour cream (sæterrømme) or heavy cream (kremfløte)
200 g / 7 oz bacon, cut in small chunks (optional)
parmesan
parsley
salt and pepper
4 tbsp olive oil

1. Wash the vegetables except the mushrooms. Line a wide baking tray with parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 150C/300F/Gas 2.

2. Cut the zucchini in thin slices and place on the baking tray along with the tomatoes. Add olive oil, salt and pepper and rub into the vegetables with your hands. Spread the vegetables evenly on the tray (so they get into touch with the tray, not each other). Roast in the oven for 1 hour. If the zucchini look dry, add some more oil.

3. The mushrooms should not be cut thinly, if they are small, cut them in two. If they are medium sized cut them in three. In a frying pan, place the mushrooms and bacon and fry for about 25 minutes on medium-low heat until the bacon is crisp and the mushrooms have a nice brown colour. Stir occasionally. Season with salt and pepper.

4. Meanwhile, boil your favorite pasta according to package instructions. When the bacon and mushrooms are done, remove half of them and place in the tray with the slow-roasted vegetables. Add sour cream (or heavy cream) to the pan and leave to boil until slightly thickened. Season once again.

5. Place the pasta in serving bowls, then add the creamy bacon and mushrooms. Finish with the slow-roasted vegetables, lots of parmesan and a scattering of parsley. Drizzle with olive or chili oil.

Music: Summertime Sadness by Lana Del Rey

More pasta dishes?

Pasta Bolognese
Quick pasta with spinach and pimenton

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Panna cotta with strawberries.

Make the most delicious panna cotta with strawberries and serve it like a present, wrapped in a little jar for your love to open.

It is finally strawberry season. The Norwegian strawberry season has been two weeks later in the south of Norway and the yield only 1/3 compared to last year. Large crops have suffocated because they have been covered by ice in the winter instead of snow. The farmers call this phenomenon ”icefire” (isbrann). In addition frozen ground and a rainy June worsened the conditions. Still, the ones that have survived are tastier than ever because the temperature has been not too cold and not too warm – making the berries extra sweet.

Panna cotta is unthinkable without vanilla, the dried fruit of a tropical Mexian orchid. It was introduced to Europe in the 1520s by the Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés. Vanilla was used by the Aztecs who mixed it with chili peppers and cocoa beans to make chocolate. In Europe, however, it was difficult to grow because the vanilla orchids had to be pollinated by Mexican bees. Vanilla is an example of how important insects are as pollinators. Luckily in 1841 a slave, Edmond Albius, discovered that it was possible to hand-pollinate the orchids. Albius came from the French island of La Réunion outside Madagascar in the Indian Ocean. Today vanilla from La Réunion is regarded as the finest vanilla in the world.

Lime panna cotta

The original panna cotta is a combination of cooked cream, sugar, vanilla and gelatin. I also add yogurt and lime. I once added yoghurt to lower the fat content in a panna cotta and found out that it worked. Lime (and lemon) do magic in the kitchen. Like salt lime enhances the flavour, but remember that the most aromatic flavour is in the skin. If you add sour lime or lemon in desserts, you also need to add more sugar to balance the flavour. The result is both sweet and sour. Gelatin thickens the cream. The most important thing about gelatin in panna cotta is to add as little as possible. You want it creamy, not like wobbly jelly. With just one leaf of gelatin, the panna cotta needs at least 3 hours to set (or the night to set), and because it is so creamy, this panna cotta is made to serve in a glass.

Panna cotta, Italian boiled cream.

Panna cotta with strawberries, an edible present for you love.

Panna cotta (makes 2–3):

Cream:
½ vanilla pod
50 g / 1,7 oz sugar
200 ml / 0,8 cup double cream or heavy cream (similar to Norwegian 38 % cream)
125 ml / ½ cup thick Greek yogurt
1 leaf of gelatin
1/2 lime

Topping:
275 g / 10 oz strawberries
1 tbsp sugar

1. Soak the gelatin in cold water in a small bowl until jelly like. It takes about 5 minutes.

2. Cut the vanilla pod in two and split lengthways. Scrape out the vanilla seeds and place seeds and pod in a small pan with the sugar and double cream. Bring to simmer.

3. Squeeze the water out of the gelatin leaf, then add to the pan and take off the heat. Stir until the gelatine has dissolved. Place the pan in cold water for 5 minutes.

4. When cold, add the yogurt, juice and zest of half the lime.

5. Pour the cream into a jar (or in small glass) and leave in the fridge for at least 3 hours or overnight.

6. Before serving: Cut the strawberries in half and mix with the sugar. The sugar sweetens the flavour and adds a beautiful glaze to the berries.

More Italian dishes?

Pasta with slow-roasted vegetables
Pick me up, tiramisu
Pasta bolognese

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Pasta bolognese (Ragù alla Bolognese).

In Italy it is a milestone when a child tries pasta for the first time. Whether you have children or not, cooking pasta bolognese is one of the dishes that makes a home. It is also one of the dishes that makes Italians infuriated. Eating pasta is serious business.

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Pasta bolognese is one of the most famous Italian dishes, yet it doesn’t exist in Italy. You will not find “Pasta bolognese” on an Italian menu, except tourist menues. In Italy the dish is called Ragù alla Bolognese or Tagliatelle alla Bolognese. The pasta bolognese made in other countries are abominations with their use of meatballs, turkey, cream or other inauthentic ingredients. Not to mention the most heretic ingredient, spaghetti! Pasta bolognese is always paired with tagliatelle.

We often think fresh pasta (pasta fresca) is more authentic than dried pasta (pasta secca), but Italians will not hesitate using dry pasta. Also, the pasta should not drown in the sauce, the sauce should just cling to the pasta. And while most of us love to eat pasta as main course, in Italy pasta is the starter, primo piatti. Considering the fact that there are more than 100 types of pasta in Italy, pasta is not pasta.

From Bologna

The home of bolognese is Bologna, where the official recipe was established in 1982 in an attempt to protect the authenticity of the dish. This recipe uses two kinds of meat (minced beef and pancetta), olive oil, onions, garlic, carrots, celery sticks, red wine, tomatoes from can, bay leaves and parmesan. The use of garlic, herbs, milk, red or white wine, however, is a disputed fact among Italian chefs.

Love takes time

The key to the ragu is cooking it for hours to develop intense flavours. You should cook the pasta bolognese for at least an hour, preferably two. Although it takes some time to make, it is a very easy dish, perfect for families with small children or if you are short on time. Like stir-fry, the job consists mainly of chopping. The rest is slow cooking. Make a large portion because pasta bolognese freezes extremely well. Then you just have to boil the pasta and heat the sauce – that’s what I call clever cooking.

A slightly greener version

The authentic ragu is more a meat sauce than a tomato sauce, and it is quite dry. My version is slightly greener with more vegetables and I replace the bacon with fennel seeds to enhance the flavour. Pasta bolognese is healthier than you might think. In Italy pasta bolognese is served with parmesan only, but I love to dress it with a handful of herbs such as parsley. Garlic, onion, olive oil, carrots and tomatoes (canned tomatoes are actually healthier than fresh ones) all contain antioxidants, and both carrots and tomatoes are richer in antioxidants cooked, instead of raw. This is just another reason to love the dish from the city with the nickname “La Grassa”, the fat one.

Pasta bolognese (Ragù alla Bolognese) (makes 4)

50 ml olive oil
1 big onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 carrots, chopped
3 celery stalks, chopped
400 g organic minced beef
2 tbsp tomato paste
400 ml tomato passata (tomato sauce with no lumps)
1 tsp fennel seeds
salt and pepper
a handful of flat-leaf parsley (optional)
parmesan

1. Fry the onion and garlic gently for 5 minutes, then add the carrots and celery and continue frying for 10 minutes until softened.
2. Season the meat and add to the pan. Fry the meat until it has changed colour, about 2 minutes.
3. Add the tomato paste and fennel, and fry for a minute.
4. Add the tomato passata, and let simmer for at least an hour.
5. When finished, taste and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper. Serve with spaghetti (or more authentically, tagliatelle), finely chopped parsley and parmesan cheese.

More dishes inspired by Italy?

Pick me up, tiramisu
Summer pasta with slow-roasted vegetables
Roasted plums with cookie topping
Chocolate cake with Italian blood oranges

And here is how the Italian blogger Juls’ kitchen makes the ragu.

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