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.