Pasta and pizza have been the basic Italian food most famously recognized in the world.
One thing I've learned is that Italians choose their sauce and match it to a specific pasta based on its shape and the way it holds the sauce. I've mentioned the types of pasta and the sauces that would greatly match with it from my previous post.
Italians also placed great importance in cooking with passion. They started the idea of courses. Italian meals would start with antipasti or appertizers followed by primi, which is the pasta, risotto or soup dish and always precedes the first meat or fish dish of the meal. The secondi would follow and is joined by vegetable dishes known as contorno. It would end with a dessert or what they call as dolce with sweets like tiramisu or fresh fruit or pastry. Basically, Italian cuisine is a combination of vegetables, grains, fruits, meats, cheeses usually seasoned or cooked in olive oil.
Pizza has also been the favorite since it made bread more interesting to eat and looked more appetizing.
Table manners are also important to Italians. Spoons are never used when eating spaghetti (isn't this obvious?) and elbows are kept off the table. Women are also served first.
Chef d' Angelo is a small Italian restaurant located in Glorietta. I wouldn't brag about this restaurant since I've tasted better pizzas and pastas. The place is also small and tends to be too crowdy and noisy by lunch time. It is always quite difficult for me to sit and enjoy my food whenever I dine here.
However, I would have to say that the pictures below taste good. Their pesto with chicken pasta is a must-try as well.
Chicken
Anyone could make pizza at home. Basic pizza dough making is vey easy and it gives pleasure knowing that you were able to make your own pizza dough.
Pizza Dough
Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 1/4 tsp yeast
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 cup warm water (120-130 F)
2 tablespoons vegetable/olive oil
In a medium mixing bowl, add warm water and yeast. Make sure that the yeast is still active. Mix well and add the olive oil, i cup flour and salt. Continue mixing until smooth and gradually stir the remaining flour to make a firm dough. Turn out on lightly floured board and knead 2-3 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic. Set aside and let it rest for 15 minutes or until the dough had risen.
Tip: Keep yeast in a cool place to keep it active. Fridges is a good place to store this.
For the toppings, you could put any of the desired toppings like mushroom, anchovies, sausage or ham. The most classic kind of pizza would be the Margherita.
You could follow the recipe below:
Topping
- 12 oz. firm, ripe, plum tomatoes
- 2 cloves garlic
- 12 fresh basil leaves, slice 6 in thin strips
- 1/2 pound Mozzarella, thinly sliced
- 4 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
- salt
- fresh ground black pepper
Directions
- Peel, seed and crush the tomatoes. Add sliced basil leaves, garlic, 2 Tbs olive oil, salt and pepper to taste and set aside.
- On your baking stone, or pizza pan, form the pizza dough into an 8" circle, turning up the edges just a bit.
- Spread some of the tomato sauce over the dough.
- Spread the Mozzarella over the tomatoes.
- Drizzle each with 1 tbs. olive oil on top
- Place two basil leaves over the pizza as you take it of the oven.
- Bake at 450 degrees Farenheit for 15 minutes.
Other pizza recipes.
Italian cuisines are meant to be enjoyed so wherever you eat an Italian food, just take time to eat and finish it.
