This Chef Can Teach You How To Make Italian Dishes with Ingredients Available in Kochi
- 12 Jul 2016
- dipu nair
- Features
Pasta drenched in creamy sauces, piping hot pizza topped with cheese, rich Tiramisu with coffee flavour ; these are all items that most Kochiites love to enjoy from their favourite Italian restaurants. Don't feel intimidated by these dishes, you can make them right in your kitchen! Dipu Nair, a cruise line chef from Kochi has come up with 6 Italian recipes which will soon have you saying Bellissima.
Try your hand at making these dishes and send us a picture of your version* The best picture will win gifts!
A Word from the Chef
I am Dipu, a chef who is presently working in Holland American cruise line. For the past 7 years of my life, I was cruising in different parts of the world learning multi-cuisines along the way. Now I am on vacation and to kill some time I decided to get engaged in sharing my memories and recipes which I picked up during my travel. Let me thank my better half Vidya for trying hard to encourage me .
The following are some easy Italian dishes which you can prepare with ingredients available in Kochi.
You can see more of the chef on his facebook page.
Parmesan Puffs
Once while I was visiting Civitavechia,Rome, I met a gorgeous lady who was an expert in cooking these. It was one of the most popular snacks in Alta Mearea, the famous Seafood restaurant.
Ingredients:
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 eggs
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup tomato sauce
Method:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease a medium baking sheet.
In a medium saucepan, bring milk and butter to boil over medium-high heat. Stir in flour and reduce heat to low. Vigorously stir until thick enough to form into a ball. Remove from heat.
Beat eggs into the mixture until smooth. Stir in Parmesan cheese.
Drop the dough by rounded teaspoonfuls onto the prepared baking sheet. Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes, or until puffed and golden brown. Serve warm with tomato sauce for dipping.
Italian Cream Soda
It's so funny when we meet kids on the cruise and some punks want to be a big chef making fancy dishes. To make them happy, I always share this mocktail recipe and I am used to seeing the surprised smiles. It's really simple and yummy.
Ingredients:
8 fluid ounces carbonated water
3/4 fluid ounce passion fruit flavored syrup
3/4 fluid ounce watermelon flavored syrup
1 fluid ounce cream
Method:
Fill a tall glass half full with ice. Fill to 2/3 with carbonated water. Pour in watermelon and passion fruit flavored syrups, then float the cream on top. Stir when ready to drink.
Italian Wedding Soup
Though the name will have you thinking about marriage ceremonies, actually it is the broth and the meat in this dish getting married. This is my wife’s favorite.
Ingredients:
2 medium lettuce, cleaned and chopped
8 cups chicken broth
1 pound ground beef
4 eggs, divided
1 cup dry bread crumbs
2 tablespoons dried basil
1 teaspoon dried parsley
1 1/2 cups grated Parmesan cheese
Method:
In a pot over medium heat, bring the broth to a boil. In a separate large bowl, combine the ground beef, 1 egg, breadcrumbs, basil, parsley and 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese. Mix well and form into bite-size balls. Drop the balls into the broth. When they rise to the top, they are cooked.
Add the lettuce to the broth. In a separate bowl, combine the remaining 3 eggs with the remaining 1 cup of cheese. Pour this mixture into the soup, stirring continuously, until the egg is cooked.
(Pesto )Pasta with Chicken
I can never forget the way I learned to make Pasta, You think cooking Pasta for fine dining is easy? For Chefs, the cooking time and boiling point of water is really important. It was after many scolding during my training period that I learned to master the Pasta. So do take care of the cooking time for the perfect al dente.
Ingredients:
1 (16 ounce) package bow tie pasta
1 teaspoon olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
crushed red pepper flakes to taste
1/3 cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, drained and cut into strips
1/2 cup pesto sauce – Blend some basils,olive oil,pine nuts,garlic,parmesan cheese
Method:
Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Saute garlic until tender, then stir in chicken. Season with red pepper flakes. Cook until chicken is golden, and cooked through.
In a large bowl, combine pasta, chicken, sun-dried tomatoes and pesto. Toss to coat even.
Italian Style Meatloaf
I tasted this with my best friends in Alle Testiere restaurant and couldn't wait to create this myself for my clients. This can be considered my masterpiece and is really simple to cook.
Ingredients:
1 1/2 pounds ground beef
2 eggs, beaten
3/4 cup dry bread crumbs
1/4 cup ketchup
1 teaspoon Italian-style seasoning
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained
1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
Method:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
In a large bowl, mix together ground beef, eggs, bread crumbs and ketchup. Season with Italian-style seasoning, oregano, basil, garlic salt, diced tomatoes and cheese. Press into a 9x5 inch loaf pan, and cover loosely with foil.
Bake in the preheated oven approximately 1 hour, or until internal temperature reaches 160 degrees F (70 degrees C).
Panna Cotta
Do you want to be an artist? Cook this famous Italian dessert and de-mold well. You can use your creativity in decorating and presenting this pudding. Aromatize this dessert with different flavours and find the proof in this pudding.
Ingredients:
1/3 cup skim milk
1 (.25 ounce) envelope unflavored gelatin
2 1/2 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Method:
Pour milk into a small bowl, and stir in the gelatin powder. Set aside.
In a saucepan, stir together the heavy cream and sugar, and set over medium heat. Bring to a full boil, watching carefully, as the cream will quickly rise to the top of the pan. Pour the gelatin and milk into the cream, stirring until completely dissolved. Cook for one minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, stir in the vanilla and pour into six individual ramekin dishes.
Cool the ramekins uncovered at room temperature. When cool, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, but preferably overnight before serving. To de-mold, dip the ramekin in hot water and keep a plate on top. Flip it over and de-mold. You can top this fruits or fruit reductions of your choice.
Text: Chef Dipu Nair
Images: Various Sources
If you have any dishes/cuisines for which you'd like to know the recipe, let us know by tagging us @wtzupkochi on our social media platforms.
*Send in your Italian dish creations with these recipes to win a prize to [email protected]
