Giant cous cous risotto

This recipe is inspired by a dish from Sardinia called fregola and mixed with some imagination.

Ingredients: giant cous cous (250 grams) or fregola, chopped butternut squash, mushrooms, sausages (one or two), 1/2 onion, olive oil, pepper, parsley, parmesan cheese.

Add chopped onion to a pan with olive oil for two minutes on a medium fire, add chopped butternut squash and mushrooms previously washed and chopped. Add sausages as well chopped with your hands in small pieces. Let it cook for 5/10 minutes until the sausages became red.

In a sauce pan boil some water with a beef cube stock.

Add giant cous cous to the pan and some stock from the sauce pan. Cover with a lid. Stir and add more stock a couple of times when it dries. When cous cous becomes soft enough you can serve your dish adding some pepper on the top, cheese and chopped parsley.

Butternut squash and mushrooms gnocchi

This is a tasty and delicous recipe which takes 10 minutes to prepare. It is healthy and good for vegetarians too, definitely a good meal to cook at lunch time or dinner time when you are alone or with friends.

Ingredients:

Butternut squash, mushrooms, 1/2 onion, garlic, cheese ( Parmesans or an other cheese) , gnocchi.

Chop the onion and a piece of garlic, add them to a pan with some extravirgin olive oil on a medium heat. After a couple of minutes when they become soft add mushrooms and small butternut squash pieces (I usually buy already chopped one). 

Let it cook for 10 minutes with a lid on. Smash the butternut squash with a fork when it gets softer.

In the mean time put a sauce pan with water on a high heat, when it boils add a nut of salt and drop gnocchi, they need to cook only for two minutes.

Once gnocchi are cooked drain them and mix them in the pan with the sauce, add some parmesan cheese on the top of it. Put them on a high heat for one more minute stiring them so that the cheese melts and if there is any water left it would dry.

The dish is ready to be served.

Seafood salad

This is a quick, healthy and low calories recipe. Very good especially in summer when refreshing and light food is needed.
Ingredients: raw prawns, squid, lemon, parsley, extra virgin olive oil, onion, celery, carrots.
Wash seafood very well.

Boil a carrot, a onion and a piece of celery in a pot of water. After 10 minutes on the fire add washed seafood and cook it go 5-10 minutes.

Drain it very well and lay it on a plate.

Add olive oil, fine chopped parsley and lemon juice. You can put the plate into the fridge for 20 minutes and eat it when it's cold.

               To make the dish more interesting you can add smoked salmon on a side
and some seeds bread.

Prawn and squid spiedini

This seafood based recipe is light and it takes less than 10 minutes to prepare and 10 minutes to cook. The result is delicious and it can be served with any side, I recommend leaves salad and bread for a light dinner or chips, or boiled potatoes with some olive oil, salt and chopped parsley spread on the top if it.
Ingredients: prawns, fresh squids, breadcrumbs, lemon, parsley, garlic, extra virgin olive oil (3 or 4 spoons)

In a bowl put some breadcrumbs, add a half of a garlic piece chopped, chopped parsley, olive oil and mix all of it with your hands until you feel the breadcrumbs a bit wet, add more olive oil if needed.

Wash squids, cut them in halves and remove any dark inside and hard parts. Cut them in 4/5 pieces. Take one piece and put it in the bowl with breadcrumbs so that it sticks to the squid and then add the squid to the stick. Do it for the rest of the squid piece like in the picture.

Do the same for prawns.

Put all of the sticks in a preheated oven around 200° for 10 minutes until the color of the breadcrumbs become like gold.

When it is ready serve in a plate after squeezing lemon on the top of it.