Flavours Italian Easter menu: Abbachio Scottadito recipe

Happy Easter everybody! It’s that time again for our Italian recipe that will conclude Flavours Holidays Easter menu ideas. Today’s recipe Abbacchio Scottadito is a traditional main dish with grilled lamb chops.

‘Abbacchio’ is name used in the region of Lazio for milk-fed lamb. The tradition of eating lamb at Easter has roots in history. The lamb, or‘ agnello’ in Italian, is an important religious symbol especially in Christianity, because it represents the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

The literal translation for ‘scottadito’ is ‘that burns your fingers’.

Abbacchio Scottadito

Ingredients: 

• 800 gr. lamb chops
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 sprig of rosemary
• Salt 
• Pepper 
• Lemon wedges to serve

Directions:

Prepare the marinating with chopped garlic, rosemary, salt, pepper and olive oil. Add the lamb chops and stir to coat them well. Leave them to marinate for 30 minutes. Grill the marinated lamb chops on a high flame for 2 to 3 minutes on each side (for medium rare). Serve hot with some lemon wedges on the side.

In alternative, put the marinated chops on a baking tray and cook them in a pre-heated oven at 180º-200 º, for about 45 minutes. 

Serve with mixed grilled vegetables or baked potatoes seasoned with herbs.

From everyone here at Flavours, we wish you Happy Easter and a wonderful holiday break. Relax, enjoy every day and whatever your culinary skills are – prefer to cook your own food than eating outside (..this is an advice our Italian chefs gave us on our last cooking holiday)!Buona Pasqua!

photo credit: manusmenu via photopin cc

Flavours Italian Easter menu: Crescia – Torta di Pasqua recipe

If you’ve ever travelled to Italy, you have most probably tried (or even cooked if you were on a cooking holiday) a torta. For those who don’t know however, torta is a pie or tart and it can be both savory or sweet. Today’s recipe is a savory torta which is ideal for your Easter menu as it is a favourite traditional dish during the season. 

Crescia (or Torta di Pasqua) is a famous typical Easter food that originates from Umbria and Marche regions. The taste is delicious. The following recipe is a classic one, but you must know that many other variants of Crescia exist: someone may want to add many different types of cheese, someone else might use butter instead of extra virgin olive oil, etc.

Remember… if you are in Marche region, ask for Crescia, whereas if you go to Umbria, ask for Torta di Pasqua! Basically the same thing but known in two different ways.

Ingredients 

• Flour 500 grams
• Parmesan  cheese 150 gr 
• Extra virgin olive oil 150 gr 
• Warm milk 150 ml 
• Eggs 5 
• Malt 1 spun 
• Salt 10 gr 
• Black Pepper 
• Fresh Pecorino cheese 100 gr 
• Brewer’s yeast 7 gr 

Directions 

Put the milk in a bowl and stir the malt into the milk.

Put into a bowl with the flour, the parmesan cheese, the yeast and the mix of milk and malt. Knead all.

Add the eggs, the black pepper and the salt.

Add the extra virgin olive oil and mix. Wait 10 minutes and just when the compound will begin to be completely amalgamated, add the diced pecorino cheese.

Inverse the dough on a pastry board, knead quickly to form a ball.And then place the crescia with the most smooth upward into a cylindrical mould with high edges (like for panettone) previously buttered and covered with baking paper.

Brush the surface of the crescia with butter.

Let it rise for about 2 and a half hours.

Now put the crescia in the preheated oven (180 degrees) for about one hour. 

After the indicated time, in order to check the cooking, do the toothpick test and if it comes out completely dry, crescia is ready!

Remove the crescia from the oven, pull it out of the mould and let it cool on a wire rack. Once cool, cut into slices and serve crescia.

You can serve it with many types of cold cuts: salami and capocollo are the best combinations!

Try this recipe to make a difference this Easter and impress with your Italian cooking knowledge! If you are tempted to enhance your cooking skills and combine it with an authentic Italian holiday, just check our next cooking holiday.  

photo credit: Michela Simoncini via photopin cc