Budget meals for the weekend: three recipes to try

Nov 24 2022, 15:35 | by Michela Becchi
Who says that a good cuisine must be expensive? Here are 3 budget-friendly recipes to try this weekend.

Budget-friendly meals are possible and delicious. Here are three seasonal recipes to try this weekend.

Beans, cabbage and yellow flour soup

Ingredients

1 onion

1 celery stalk

1 carrot

1 ripe tomato

200 g. black cabbage leaves

300 g. fresh borlotti beans

1.5 l. vegetable stock

150 g. corn flour

Extra-virgin olive oil

Salt

Pepper

Chop together the onion, celery and carrot. Roughly chop the tomato and slice the cabbage. In a saucepan fry the chopped onion, celery and carrot with a few tablespoons of oil. Add the tomato, beans and cabbage. Cover with the broth and let it cook for 30 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, then pour in the cornflour, stirring continuously with a wooden spoon to prevent lumps. Cook for another 45 minutes and keep stirring; finally, season with salt and pepper. Distribute the soup on plates, drizzle with a little olive oil and serve.

Croccante - Nut brittle

Ingredients

1 kg. almonds

1 kg. sugar

Seed oil

Clean the almonds and roast them in the oven until golden, then chop coarsely. In a saucepan, dissolve the sugar over low heat with half a glass of water; fold in the chopped almonds and mix. When all mixed, pour the mixture over a marble surface or on an oiled metal slab and give it the shape to your liking. Let it cool, cut into pieces and serve. Before cooling, you can decorate it with candy.

Castagnaccio

Peasant dessert with many variants throughout Italy, of ancient origins (it seems to have been born in Lucca and dates back to the middle of the 16th century) and widespread in the rural areas of the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines. Its season is autumn, which celebrates the chestnut harvest with countless festivals and village fairs. Pairing it with new wine, passito or Vin Santo is a must.

Ingredients

400 g. chestnut flour

50 g. sugar

50 g. raisins

50 g. pine nuts

1 sprig of rosemary

Extra virgin olive oil

Salt

Mix the flour with 4 tablespoons of oil, the sugar and a pinch of salt in a bowl; add 9 dl of cold water a little at a time, stirring constantly to obtain a smooth dough without lumps. Grease the bottom and sides of a shallow, square or round mould, 24 centimeters in diameter or side with some olive oil. Pour in the mixture in an even layer, level it and sprinkle with raisins, previously soaked in warm water and squeezed, pine nuts and chopped rosemary. Cook the castagnaccio in the oven at 200°C for about 50 minutes, then take it out of the oven, let it cool and serve it directly from the mould.

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