Vellutata viola - Purple Veloute

January means winter. No colours around, few vegetables at the farmers market, short days.
However, with a bit of creativity, we can make up seasonal recipes able to enlighten our long evenings.
I love all the cabbages, I love their crunchiness and variety of colours, from the cavolo nero to the red cabbage through all shades of greens and white.

Here I combine a red cabbage with potatoes and red onions. I trim, peel and roughly chop my vegetable - no need to be precise as I make a veloute at the end - and I cook it for half an hour.

Seasonal, no waste and a great joy for your eyes. The colour is amazing! No photoshop.

Vellutata Viola - Purple Veloute

half of a medium red cabbage (350 g), trimmed and roughly shredded

2 medium red onions, peeled and quartered

2 small potatoes, peeled and quartered

500 ml vegetable stock

sea salt

black pepper

yogurt (optional)

Serves 4

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 30 minutes

1. In a pan, place the vegetable and cover with stock.

2. Bring it to the boil and leave to simmer for 30 minutes.

3. Blend it in a blender and season with black pepper and salt, if needed.

1. Serve at once, with a spoon of yogurt, if you wish.

Farinata di ceci - Flat Chickpea Bread with Rosemary

The Ligurian farinata, also know as cecina in Tuscany, is a thin and crispy flat bread, made of chickpea flour, water and oil. You eat it piping hot with chopped rosemary in Liguria and a simple twist of the pepper mill in Tuscany. 

Torta di spaghetti – Spaghetti Pie

Here I propose a spaghetti cake to relief the hustle of last minute cooking. 
It's a delicious and beautiful dish, which could be easily prepared few hours in advance and just baked 45 minutes before eating. 
The plain tomato sauce will bring colour and would enhance the Mediterranean flavour.
It is a perfect one-course dish for a family meal or one of main courses for a bigger gathering. 

Malfatti Burro e Salvia - Butter and Sage Malfatti Gnocchi

"Malfatti" are spinach and ricotta gnocchi (dumplings) from Lombardy, which come out in slightly different shapes. In fact, "malfatti" literally means "badly formed", to enhance their rustic  appearance.
Quick and easy to make, kids and grown-ups love them, they are a good alternative to pasta. They are delicious simply dressed with butter and sage.

Minestra Farro e Ceci - Farro and Chickpea Soup

Farro and chickpeas are two ingredients already popular in ancient Roman cuisine. Combined with tomato comfit, they turn into a tasty and colorful soup, enjoyable at the end of summer. Serve with plenty of fresh herbs.