Letz Cook

Traditional Sicilian cuisine cooking classes at Castello San Marco, Sicily

Semolina pasta dough

Serves 4

• 300 g (10 1⁄2 oz) semolina wheat flour
• a good pinch of salt
• 150 g (5 oz) water at room temperature

Place the flour in a pile in the center of a large cutting board and make a well in the center. Pour the olive oil and most of the water, take a fork and begin to mix until the mixture is blended enough to dig in with your hands. Keep adding a little extra flour if necessary or a little bit of water if the mix is too dry. Once the ball of your basic pasta dough is firm and manageable you can begin to knead. When the dough is quite elastic and its surface nicely smooth, shape it as a ball, wrap in cling film and place in the refrigerator for at least half an hour. Before shaping the pasta, allow the dough to get to room temperature, then shape as you desire: cavatelli, caserecci, busiati, maccheroni...

Eggs pasta dough

Serves 4 

• 50 g (2 oz) semolina flour  
• 250 g (9 oz) all-purpose flour    
• 3 medium size eggs 
• a good pinch of salt
• 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil

Place flour in a pile in the center of a large cutting board and make a well in the center. Pour the eggs, take a fork and begin to mix until the mixture is blended enough to dig in with your hands. Keep adding a little extra flour if necessary or a little bit of water if the dough is too dry. Once the ball of your basic pasta dough is firm and manageable you can begin kneading until it becomes quite elastic and the surface is nicely smooth. After kneading, wrap the pasta dough with cling film and place in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours. You can prepare the dough one day in advance, but then take it out of the fridge at least 30 minutes before use to allow the dough to get to room temperature.

Trapanese Pesto (for pasta or bruschetta)

Serves 6

• 240 g (8,5 oz) plum (or cherry) tomatoes
• 120 g (4 oz) toasted almonds
• 2-3 garlic peeled cloves
• 10 leaves of basil
• extra virgin olive oil
• salt to taste

With a mortar and pestle mash the garlic with salt until it gets creamy, then add the almonds, oil, basil and crush them; chop the tomatoes into tiny pieces and place them into a bowl, season with salt and extra virgin olive oil. Finally, pour the almonds mixture into the bowl with the tomatoes and mix all together. Add more oil if necessary. Let the pesto rests for at least 1 hour to blend all the flavors. 
If you don’t have a mortar, you can use an immersion blender or a food processor. Place the tomatoes cut in big pieces and the basil in the food processor or into a jar (most of the immersion blenders have their own pastic jar/glass) and pulse. Make sure you do not blend for too long (we do not want a smoothie!); if you are making a good amount of pesto, blend the tomatoes and basil a little at a time and place the mixture into a bowl. Then add the rest of the ingredients into the bowl: ground almonds, the garlic paste made as written above (if you do not have a mortar and pestle use a garlic press), extra virgin olive oil and salt (if necessary). 
This pesto is perfect for a pasta but also on a toasted slice of bread. In Italy, the most popular pesto is usually made with basil and it is typical of the Genova area (north west Italy), but the generic word pesto refers to any kind of sauce made with raw ingredients crushed and blended in a mortar with pestle. In Sicily we create pestos with our local ingredients like almond or pistachio.

Aeolian style sauce

Serves 4

• 200-250g swordfish (or albacore ‘white’ tuna)
• 12-15 salted capers
• 12-15 cherry tomatoes
• a tuft of parsley
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 4 green olives in brine
• half a glass of white wine
• extra virgin olive oil

Wash the swordfish slices, remove the skin and cut them into cubes.
In a frying pan, sauté the peeled garlic cloves cut in two over high heat (if you like to eat garlic, you can sauté it minced) and the cherry tomatoes cut in four, so that they fry quickly for a couple of minutes. With the flame still high, add the swordfish pieces, let them brown a bit and pour in the white wine, waiting half a minute so that the alcohol evaporates, then add the capers (previously rinsed and chopped), olives (cut in two and without stones) and parsley (a tip: use the whole stems, not just the leaves!). Lower the flame to low, cover with a lid and continue cooking for about 3-5 minutes so that the swordfish does not harden. At the end, sprinkle the fish with the sauce you have in the pan. You are ready to season the pasta of your choice.

Swordfish rolls ‘alla messinese’

Serves 4

• 500g swordfish (cut in thin slices)
• 50 g aged Pecorino cheese*
• 4 slices soft bread (like sandwich bread)
• 2 spring onions
• 2 tbsp Corinth raisins
• 1 lemon
• 10 tbsp breadcrumbs
• salt - if necessary
• fresh mint (about 20 leaves)
• extra virgin olive oil

* you can use Provolone if you can’t find Pecorino cheese

Slice and gently fry the spring onions in evo oil, adding a little bit of water when they are slyghtly goldened. Set aside and let them cool until the are at room temperature.
In a bowl put together all the ingredients: pecorino cheese, bread - previously minced with a food processor or by hand - raisin, spring onions, chopped mint leaves, the zests of a lemon and one or two tablespoons of water. Salt should not be necessary because the pecorino cheese is quite salty. If you prefer, you can add toasted pine-nuts to add a nice toasted taste. Your filling has to be soft and compact but not sticky.
Place the swordfish slices on a cutting board, place a teaspoon of the filling on the slice and spread it all along the strip, then roll the strip on itself and then in breadcrumbs. Put 3-4 rolls in a skewer and place on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Drizzle with a little bit of oil and bake in preheated oven at 200°C (400°F) for about 10 minutes. Serve hot.

Beef meatballs in lemon leaves

Serves 4 

• 500 g ground beef
• 100 g breadcrumbs
• 250 ml whole milk
• 75 g Parmesan cheese
• 2 pinches of salt
• a bunch of parsley
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 20–25 large lemon leaves (preferably organic)
• 20–25 toothpicks

In a large bowl, mix together the ground beef, breadcrumbs, milk, and Parmesan cheese along with the finely chopped parsley, two pinches of salt, and two cloves of minced garlic. Shape the mixture into balls weighing about 45 grams each. Wash the lemon leaves thoroughly and pat them dry. Place each meatball in the center of a lemon leaf, on the darker side. Roll the leaf around the meatball to form a sort of “cannolo,” securing it with a toothpick so it doesn’t open during cooking. Bake for 10 minutes in a preheated oven at 200°C. Serve the meatballs warm, still wrapped in the leaves, to best enjoy the lemon aroma. Unwrap and discard the leaves, then enjoy your meatballs!

Grandma’s salad

Serves 4 

• 500 g grape or cherry red tomatoes
• 1 ‘Tropea’ red onion
• white wine winegar
• 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 bunch of basil
• salt 
• salted ricotta cheese 

Cut the tomatoes in small sectors or cubes. Cut the onion in thin slices and soak them for five minutes in cold water and white vinegar to let them loose the pungent flavour. Combine all the ingredients in a bowl, season with salt, basil and slowly mix with the olive oil. Add some grated salted ricotta cheese on top of the salad. Serve cold.

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