Broccoli and Basil Pâté

A looooooong weekend of All Saints is behind us. My in-laws left today, and the kids will be back to school only tomorrow. Usually, the evening before going back to school, my older daughter tries to remember everything she's done over the weekend looking for something interesting to tell in class. And this weekend was "rich", apart from being long (two more days and it will be weekend again!!!). We passed different phases from having to stay at home because my daughter had fever and terrible cough (she kept us awake all night), to joy for the arrival of their grandparents and one more tooth being extracted (event that the tooth fairy rewarded generously ^__^). And yesterday we decided to go out for lunch and choose an agriturism near Modena, which is also an acetaia, that is, a place where the traditional balsamic vinegar of Modena is produced. The gentle owner, Mr. Paltrinieri, also showed us around and explained the whole process and why the traditional balsamic vinegar is of higher quality and more expensive than the industrially produced balsamic vinegar. I definitely couldn't afford to buy their 50-years aged balsamic vinegar (sold at about 1500 euros per liter), but did go home with a 2-year-old  souvenir.
We also tasted their 12-year old balsamic vinegar with parmigiano cheese as an appetizer and a risotto with 4-year-old one. Excellent.


  


I've been pretty much into bread baking lately, and really wanted to make some rye bread. Not that the others appreciated it much, but I was totally satisfied with the result. While I was still thinking about the bread I came upon the recipe for this fabulous green and they seemed a perfect couple. I even managed to "sell" this combination to my husband who at first just frowned at the sight of this dark bread.The patè is basicly the basil pesto prepared with toasted hazelnuts instead of pinenuts with the addition of bright green broccoli. Delicious combination indeed.

Broccoli and Basil Paté
(from Cucina Naturale magazine, Oct. 2011)

* 350 g broccoli
* 20 whole hazelnuts
* 1 clove of garlic
* 60 g grated parmigiano cheese
* a bunch of fresh basil leaves (or parsley)
* 3-4 TBspoons extra virgin olive oil
* salt and pepper (to taste)

Divide the broccoli into florets, if too big, cut each floret in half. Put them in a pot with boiling, salted water and cook for 10 minutes until tender but careful not to overcook it. Drain and put the cooked broccoli into a bowl with cold water and ice so they don't lose their beutiful green colour. Once they are cold drain them again.
Keep a couple TBspoons of water in which you cooked broccoli, you may need it later.
Dry toast the hazelnuts in a skillet shaking and stirring until golden and crunchy. Let them cool.
Carefully wash and pat dry the basil leaves.
Put the basil, the hazelnuts, the cleaned and halved clove of garlic, the parmigiano cheese and 2 TBspoons of EVOO in the bowl of a food processor. Start processing everything adding the remaining oil in a thin streak until you get a smooth pesto.
Add the broccoli, salt and pepper to your taste. Mix again. If too dense add a little cooking water you preserved.
Put the patè in a glass jar, cover the surface with a little extra virgin olive oil and keep refrigarated until use.
Serve the Broccoli and Basil Patè with slices of rye or wholewheat bread, or with crackers and similar.

The Rye Bread in these foto is prepared following the recipe for No Knead Oats Bread in which I substituted 300 g of wheat flour with whole grain rye flower, and used about 1 TBspoon  molasses and a little barley malt syrup instead of sugar and honey.

Patè di broccoletti e basilico
(da Cucina naturale, ott. 2011)


* 350 g di broccoletti
* 20 nocciole intere
* 1 spicchio d'aglio
* 60 g parmigiano grattugiato
* 1 mazzetto di basilico fresco (o prezzemolo)
* 3-4 cucchiai di olio extra vergine d'oliva
* sale e pepe


Dividete i broccoletti in cimette, tagliate a metà quelle grandi. Tuffatele in abbondante acqua bollente salata e cuocetele per 10 minuti, finché tenere.
Scolatele conservando un po' d'acqua di cottura. Mettete i broccoli in una terrina con l'acqua fredda e ghiaccio per mantenere il colore verde brillante.Tostate le nocciole in una padella senza olio fino a farle diventare dorate e croccanti.Lavate e asciugate le foglioline di basilico. Mettete il basilico, le nocciole, il parmigiano,  l'aglio pulito e privato del germoglio e 2 cucchiai dio olio EVO. Frullate il tutto aggiungendo altro olio a filo ricavando un pesto omogeneo. Unite i broccoletti scolati, sale e pepe e frullate di nuovo aggiungendo un po'di acqua di cottura se dovesse risultare troppo denso. Trasferitelo in un vasetto di vetro, coprite con un filo d'olio e conservate in frigorifero.

Servite questo patè con pane di segale o integrale, o con i cracker, gallette e simili.

Il pane alla segale nelle foto ho fatto con la ricetta per il Pane all'avena, sostituendo 300 g di farina di frumento con la farina integrale di segale, e la melassa e malto al posto di zucchero e miele.

Pašteta od brokule s bosiljkom
(iz časopisa Cucina naturale, list. 2011)


* 350 g brokule
* 20-ak cijelih lješnjaka
* 1 češanj bijelog luka
* 60 g naribanog parmezana
* 1 svežnjić svježeg bosiljka (ili peršina)
* 3-4 žlice maslinovog ulja
* sol i papar po ukusu


Podijelite brokulu na cvjetiće, one veće prerežite na pola. Ubacite ih u veću posudu s kipućom, malo posoljenom vodom i kuhajte 10 minuta, dok brokula nije mekana. Ocijedite i stavite odmah u drugu posudu s hladnom vodom i ledom (da zadrži lijepu zelenu boju), dok se ne ohladi. Sačuvajte par žlica vode u kojoj se kuhala brokula, može vam zatrebati kasnije.
Tostirajte lješnjake u tavi bez masnoće dok nisu zlatne boje i krokantni.
Listove bosiljka operite i posušite tapkajući kuhinjskim papirom.
Stavite bosiljak, ohlađene lješnjake, naribani parmezan, očišćeni češnjak, kojem izvadite klicu iz sredine, i 2 žlice ulja u zdjelu multipraktika. Miksajte dodajući ostatak ulja u tankom mlazu dok ne dobijete prilično gladak pesto. Dodajte dobro ocijeđenu brokulu, sol i papar i izmiksajte ponovo sve skupa. Ako je potrebno, regulirajte gustoću dodajući žlicu ili dvije vode u kojoj se kuhala brokula.
Paštetu stavite u staklenu teglicu, zalijte s maslinovim uljem površinu i čuvajte u hladnjaku.

Poslužite ovu paštetu uz kriške integralnog ili raženog kruha, kao i uz krekere, galette i sl.

Raženi kruh na slici pripremila sam po receptu za Zobeni kruh koji se ne mijesi - napravila sam ga s 300 g raženog i 100 g pšeničnog brašna, med i šećer zamijenila sam jednom žlicom šećerne melase i malo ječmenog slada.