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 02/20/07 Focaccia alla Fiorentina from CookiesFromItaly.com

"Tanti saluti a tutti!" Welcome to another recipe edition from Adriana's Italian Bakery!

This week's Italian recipes:
  -Insalata Tricolore
  -Focaccia alla Fiorentina
  -Chicken Vesuvio

Enjoy the recipes and the complimentary news article report from "Only In Italy.com".

Enjoy the issue!

Yours Truly,              
Adriana Ciccarello       


 Impt: Italian cookies for the Easter Holidays

Make this Easter Holiday a memorable one by adding an assortment tray of our scrumptious Italian "dolce" at the table. Enjoy them with a bottle of Prosecco. It will give a wonderful touch to your holiday feast, a proper ending with a touch of Sicilian sunshine.

If you would like to order for Easter (April 8) please keep in mind the following deadline:
All orders must be placed by Monday, March 26, at midnight EST.

Click here to order!

 Recipe: Insalata Tricolore

Insalata Tricolore
Tricolor Salad

Ingredients:

4 large red bell peppers
4 large yellow bell peppers
2 1/2 lb fennel bulbs
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 tb minced fresh parsley
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Directions:

Char peppers over gas flame or under broiler until blackened on all sides.

Wrap in paper bag and let stand 10 minutes to steam.

Peel and seed. Rinse; pat dry. Cut into 1/2-inch strips.

Discard tops and tough outer layer of fennel bulbs, core and trim. Cut fennel lengthwise into 1/2-inch thick strips. Rinse and pat dry.

Toss peppers and fennel with olive oil, parsley, salt and generous amount of ground pepper in large bowl. Serve immediately.

That's it!


 Recipe: Focaccia alla Fiorentina

Focaccia alla Fiorentina

Ingredients:

3 tbsp virgin olive oil
2 10 oz packages frozen chopped spinach (thawed/squeezed dry)
3 oz pancetta diced
1 and 1/4 tsp salt
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 envelope yeast
1 cup water
1 and 1/2 cup shredded Fontina Cheese

Directions:

Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in skillet. Add spinach, pancetta and 1/4 tsp salt; saute until softened, 5 minutes. Remove from heat.

Combine 1 cup flour, yeast and remaining salt in bowl.

Heat water and remaining olive oil in saucepan until very warm (125-130° F). Gradually beat water mixture into flour mixture. Beat in 1 and 1/2 cups flour with wooden spoon, 1/2 cup at a time, to make soft dough.

Knead dough on floured surface until smooth and elastic, 10 minutes, working in remaining flour as needed to prevent sticking. Shape into ball. Cover; let rest 10 minutes.

Roll dough out on floured surface into 15 x 11 inch rectangle. Fit in greased 15 x 11 x 1 inch jelly-roll pan, gently pushing dough up into corners.

With finger, make indentations all over surface of dough, pressing almost to bottom of pan. Scatter spinach over top. Sprinkle with cheese. Cover with plastic. Let rise in warm place until almost doubled in bulk, 30 minutes.

Bake in 400°F oven for 20 to 25 minutes, until lightly browned.

Cut into 12 pieces. Serve warm.

That's it!


 Recipe: Chicken Vesuvio

Chicken Vesuvio

Ingredients:

8 chicken thighs
1 and 1/2 lbs baking potatoes scrubbed
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 cup virgin olive oil
3 cloves garlic minced
1/4 cup dry white wine or vermouth
2 tablespoons fresh parsley minced

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375° F.

Cut the potatoes lengthwise into wedges.

Place the chicken and potatoes in a 13 x 9 inch nonstick baking pan. Sprinkle with oregano, salt and pepper. Drizzle with the olive oil. Bake for 30 minutes, stirring once to turn the chicken pieces over.

Sprinkle the chicken and potatoes with the garlic and wine. Bake for an additional 30 minutes, or until the chicken juices run clear and the potatoes are tender.

Drizzle the pan juices over the chicken and potatoes on a platter.

Sprinkle with parsley and serve. Serves 4.

That's it!

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 Only In Italy!

"Only In Italy" is a daily news column that translates and reports on funny but true news items from legitimate Italian news resources in Italy. Each story is slapped with our wild, often ironic, and sometimes rather opinionated comments. And now, for your reading pleasure:

Italy School Foils Cheats by Blocking Phone Signals

Rome - June 18 - Mobile phone-savvy teenagers tempted to cheat on exams by sending text messages or scanning pictures of tests could be thwarted by a device that jams signals inside the school walls.

The Enrico Tosi Technical Institute school in northern Italy has found a way to foil the next generation of would-be cheats with the help of military technology.

"Most schools try and confiscate phones before exams, but this way we can be sure nobody slips through," said Benedetto Di Rienzo, the head of the school in Busto Arsizio which is testing the devices for the Education Ministry during exams this week.

The box-like units, called C-Guard, were developed by experts from the military and defense industries for Netline Communications Technologies. They jam signals in a 262-foot radius in enclosed spaces.

They could eventually be installed across Italy to prevent cheating during university exams.

Di Rienzo said they have been so successful that the school plans to start using them during regular classes -- a measure likely to ruffle feathers in mobile phone-obsessed Italy where not even the teachers like to be left incommunicado.

"We hope to keep complaints to a minimum by turning the instruments off during lunch breaks," he said.

"Porca miseria!" Do you remember the good ol' days when we use to pass little paper notes back and forth during exams or when we use to write the answers on our dirty little hands? It was considered harmless and cute.

Now Italian teachers are armed with sophisticated military defense technology to prohibit 'school impaired' jackass students from cheating!

And by the way, if you're not from Italy, you should know that most universities in Italy are called "autogrills" or rest areas for kids who have nothing else better to do in life.

However, here's a frightening fact: The most successful hackers in the Internet world are Italian teenagers!

That's right! If you take 10 Italian teenagers and give them scooters, mobile phones, laptop computers, french fries and dump them in Afghanistan, they'll find Osama in no time!

"Only In Italy" Subscribe today and you'll discover why the last improvements to Italy were made by Julius Caesar and why it's been downhill ever since!  Click Here to Subscribe!



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