Only when the day is fixed, the guests are invited, the ideas for the menu are coming. You have to jump into the water. And during the process of baking, preparing, looking at cookbooks, everything is changing again. The starting idea was only a package of 500g italian almonds.

With four guests of the orchestra of the opera the evening was a total success. Only the timing for a easter menu six days before easter sunday wasn’t perfect. But nobody cared about it, because we have a lot of work during easter.

Rosemary Focaccia

Recipe adapted from the Book “ Die venezianische Küche “ by Russell Norman

• 30 g fresh yeast
• 650 ml warm water
• 500 g flour Type 405
• 500 g 00 flour
• 2 tbsp salt
• olive oil, salt 
• sprigs of rosemary

Dissolve the yeast in the water in a large bowl. Add 500 g flour with an electric mixer. Cover and leave for about an hour until doubled in size. Knead in the rest of the flour and the salt for 5 minutes. Brush the bowl with oil and leave the dough for about two hours.Then form two equal loaves, put them on a baking tray an leave again for half an hour. Poke several wholes with oiled fingertips and put some salt and rosemary sprigs in them. Bake in the preheated oven ( 200° ) for about 45 – 60 min.

Tuscanian bean soup

• 300 g white beans
• 4 garlic cloves
• a handful sage leaves
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 white onion, chopped
• about 1 l vegetable stock
• 1 tbsp tomato puree
• optional: 4 tbsp almond milk

The evening before cover the beans with a lot of water. The next day drain the beans, put them in a bowl with the sage leaves and 3 garlic cloves, cover with water and bring to a boil. Simmer for about 1 1/2 hours until tender. Puree without garlic cloves and with some of the sage leaves and set aside. Heat the olive oil in a large pot, add the onion and the fourth garlic clove until tender. Then add the vegetable stock and the tomato puree, bring to a boil and then fold in the bean puree and the almond milk. Season with salt and pepper.

 

Chicken in almond milk

Recipe adapted from the book „Die Küche Venedigs“by Katie & Giancarlo Caldesi (based on a medieval recipe)

• 3 chicken legs
• 5 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp ginger, freshly grated
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 4 cloves
• 2 bay leaves
• 650 ml homemade almond milk ( if you use a store-bought almond milk, add 5o g almond flour )
• 1/4 tsp saffron strands
• 5 medjool dates, chopped
• 1 handful almond sticks, roasted

Brown the chicken legs in 3 tbsp olive oil in a pan, season with salt and pepper and set aside. Heat the rest of the olive oil in a big pan with a lid and add the onion. When the onion is tender ( about 5 min. ),  add the ginger, garlic, bay leaves and spices and the chicken legs. Cover with the almond milk. Add the dates and saffron strand. Simmer for about an hour. Put the bones away and serve with the almond sticks.

Almond ice cream with rhubarb in Moscato d’Asti – Syrup and Amaretti

own creation

Rhubarb in Moscato d’Asti-Syrup

• 500 g rhubarb, cut in pieces of 4 cm
• 75 g Sugar
• 130 ml Moscato d’Asti wine or another dessert wine
• 1 piece of lemon rind

Mix together all the ingredients in an ovenproof dish und put in the preheated oven ( 200° ) for 20 min., until the rhubarb is tender. Set aside to cool.

Almond ice cream

• 300 ml almond milk
• 300 ml cream
• 125 g sugar
• 125 ml water
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 5 egg yolks

Bring the sugar, water and vanilla extract to a boil. Meanwhile whisk the egg yolks with an electric mixer, While mixing add the syrup , until the mixture cooles down. Then fold in the almond milk and the cream and leave to cool in the refrigerator. Put it into an ice cream maker.

Amaretti

• 40 g ground walnuts
• 60 g ground almonds
• 30 g roasted almonds, chopped
• 50 g flour
• 125 g icing sugar
• 2 egg whites
• 1 tsp hazelnut paste
• about 20 almonds

Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl. Beat the egg whites until stiff and then add to the dry ingredients, as well the hazelnut paste. Form small balls, roll them in icing sugar, flat down a little and put an almond in it. Preheat the oven to 150° an bake for 14 minutes.