RECIPES BY GASTRONOMICA

Dinners by Gastronomica. An event to celebrate Liguria through the music that made it famous all over the world!

Discovering our land through its flavours and aromas

Pietra Ligure Gourmet

We want to take you to know the small, precious gastronomic treasures that make Pietra Ligure unique and let you discover it through all 5 senses that food awakens to make you love it even more. A mapping project of our uniqueness, built thanks to the collaboration  with experts in the sector and the local Slow Food Convivium who went in search of those who, with their work, tell about our gastronomic  authenticity. We hope that this guide will grow from year to year  welcoming all those producers, cooks, artisans of taste who believe in the knowledge and enhancement of local identity.

The most loved Ligurian “street food”, made according to the tradition, using the typical tinned copper pan, the ``testo``, and cooked in a wood oven.

CHICKPEA “FARINATA”

INGREDIENTS FOR 4 PEOPLE
300 g chickpea flour
1 liter warm water
extra virgin olive oil
salt to taste
pepper

Pour the lukewarm water into a bowl and slowly add the chickpea flour, mixing with a whisk or a spoonful of wood, being very careful not to leave any lumps. Salt to taste.
Let it rest for 4 hours, then scoop up any foam that has formed on the surface with a spoon. If necessary, pass the mixture through a sieve to remove any lumps. Add a glass of EVO oil. Generously grease a copper pan and pour in the batter. The thickness must be less than 1 cm. Give it a further stir and bake for 10/15 minutes at a temperature of at least 270°.
Farinata is eaten hot, flavored with ground black pepper and, in its variants, it can be sprinkled with rosemary or finely chopped fresh onions.

STUFFED ANCHOVIES IN THE MANNER OF LIGURIA

One of the tastiest recipes of local tradition, in which the taste and scent of the Ligurian sea blend with the aromas of the peasant cuisine.

INGREDIENTS FOR 4 PEOPLE
400 g local anchovies
For the stuffing
50 g of lettuce leaves
50 g escarole
100 g grated Parmesan cheese
2 eggs
2 Vessalico garlic cloves
1 sprig of parsley
3 spoons of extra virgin olive oil
100 g breadcrumbs dipped in milk
50 g breadcrumbs

Clean the anchovies by removing the head, the central bone and the inside. Open them like a book, wash them and let them drain. Chop the escarole and lettuce with a little garlic, parsley and some anchovies. In a bowl, combine this mixture with the bread crumbs dipped in milk, a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, the eggs and the grated Parmesan.
Put the filling in the anchovies taking care not to break the back and flour them. Then pass them in the egg and breadcrumbs. Make sure to close the sides well and fry in hot extra virgin olive oil.

A great classic of Ligurian cuisine in which Nicolò Paganini also tried his hand

RAVIOLI AL TOCCO

INGREDIENTS FOR 4 PEOPLE
PASTA
500 g of flour
3/4 eggs
1 tablespoon of oil
water q.s.
salt to taste

STUFFING
700 g veal meat in one piece
150 g grated Parmesan cheese
6 eggs
1 kg beets
extra virgin olive oil
white wine
parsley, marjoram, salt and pepper

TOCCO (MEAT SAUCE)
500 g minced beef
EVO oil as needed
onion, carrot, celery
bay leaf
500 g tomato sauce

STUFFING: Boil the beets, squeeze and chop. Brown the meat with extra virgin olive oil, onion, rosemary and bay leaf, and blend with white wine. Cook the meat, chop it and mix it with beets, eggs, cheese and a chopped marjoram and parsley.
FRESH PASTA: Put the ingredients on the pastry board and knead them. Roll out a thin sheet, place small piles of filling on top and cover with another sheet. Then cut out small squares.
MEAT SAUCE: Brown the meat with chopped onion, carrot, celery and herbs. Add the tomato sauce and let it cook gently for about an hour.

Dinners by Gastronomica

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Tasting menus inspired by as many famous songs by song-writers of the “Genoese School”

STOCKFISH “BURIDDA”

The land and the sea meet in this symbolic dish of the Ligurian gastronomic tradition

INGREDIENTS FOR 6 PEOPLE
500 g stockfish already soaked
ripe peeled tomatoes
500 g of Calizzano potatoes
1 tablespoon of pine nuts
1 handful of dried Calizzano mushrooms
onion, celery, carrot
2 cloves of Vessalico garlic
anchovy fillets
taggiasca olives
extra virgin olive oil
parsley
white wine
ground black pepper and salt

Remove the skin and any bones from the stockfish, then cut it into pieces. Chop the carrot, onion, garlic, celery, anchovy fillets, mushrooms (previously soaked) and sauté everything in the oil together with the parsley, pine nuts and olives. As soon as the meat starts to wilt, add the stockfish. Add the white wine, let it evaporate. After a few minutes, add the chopped tomatoes and potatoes. Season with salt and pepper and continue cooking, adding hot water if necessary until the potatoes are tender.

Typical dessert of the Christmas holidays, still prepared by many families today.

PUMPKIN PIE

INGREDIENTS FOR 4 PEOPLE
Puff pastry
250 g of flour (preferably type “0”)
130 g water
10 g oil
10 g Marsala (or Passito Pigato)
a pinch of salt
For the pastry
a pumpkin weighing about a kilo (“trombetta di Albenga” variety)
raisins, pine nuts and sugar

PUFF PASTRY: knead all the elements and roll out a round pastry that is able to cover the pan.
FILLING: boil the pumpkin until softened. Squeeze it well, remove the excess water with a chinoise colander (alternatively a pillowcase hung overnight to drain the water). Soak the raisins in Marsala. In the morning, mix the pumpkin, raisins, sugar (to taste), pine nuts. Put the mixture on the pastry and bake at high temperature (200/220 depending on the Oven). Bake for at least half an hour (a lot depends on the oven) and then remove from the oven.

STUFFED PEACHES IN THE MANNER OF LIGURIA

All the sweetness and scent of summer in a recipe to go back to being children

INGREDIENTS FOR 6 PEOPLE
7 peaches (if possible of the local “Michelini” variety)
10 g bitter almonds
50 g candied citron
50 g candied apricots
30 g sugar
100 g macaroons
100 cc of dry white wine (“Pigato” if possible)
30 g butter

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Wash the peaches well including the peel – cut them in half, remove the stones and dig the cavities of 6 of the 7 peaches, widening them slightly (keep one peach for the filling). Add the almonds, candied fruit, amaretti and the pulp of a peach in the mixer and blend until you get a fairly thick cream. Fill the cavity of the peach halves with the mixture and cover the edges as well, forming domes. Put a little butter and a sprinkling of sugar on each dome.
Arrange the peach halves on a greased baking tray and sprinkle with white wine. Cook for 30-45 minutes or until soft and golden. Serve at room temperature.