If you have both main ingredients (lentils and squash) cooked, this dish will take no longer than 20-30 minutes.

Ingredients | 5 servings

• 400g/14.1oz squash
• 200g/10.5oz lentils
• 1 medium onion
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 3 tbs clarified butter
• Lemon juice (to taste)
• salt and pepper (to taste)

Preparation

– Cooking lentils: add them in a pot with 4cm/1.5in water above the surface. (follow the package instructions for cooking time)

– Stir fry chopped onion in clarified butter, till they become golden.

– Add the squash and a bit of salt. To have a greater taste, stir for 10 minutes, then put the lid on and wait other 10 minutes so the squash is tender.

– Add: cumin, turmeric and stir. The squash should be soften by now. Smash the squash pieces by pressing the back of spoon or a meat masher. This will help the stew become creamy.

– Add the cooked lentils, pour 2 cups of boiling water.

– Add freshly grate nutmeg on top and let it simmer for ⏳ 20 minutes.

– Adjust the season with salt and a bit of lemon juice and it’s ready!

Notes:

• While cooking lentils, don’t add salt because it makes them harder to cook. Add salt when they are cooked.

• Make sure the squash has a good quality so it sweet taste has a greater impact on the the dish. Once I bought from the super market the squash and the stew was very tasteless.

Serve with extra virgin olive oil and bread.

Noosh e Jan and Enjoy ☺️

The post Squash and lentils dip appeared first on Foodcraftz.

There are so many flatbreads in the world without yeast to name some:

• Chapati, Paratha, Naan (India)
• Lavash (Iran, Armenia, and Turkey)
• Cong you bing (China)
• Tortillas (Mexico)

This recipe is inspired by Lavash (the Iranian version), the ingredients are: flour, water, salt, and yogurt.

Why making the dough with yogurt?

Yogurt is a complex ingredient. We have proteins, fat and loads of bacteria and probiotics which is the result of a natural fermentation of milk. A bread made with yogurt is higher in nutritions and easier to digest.

Ingredients | 6-10 breads

• 500g 00 /17.6 oz wheat flour (all purpose flour)
• 180g/6.3oz lukewarm water
• 70g/2.4oz whole greek yogurt
• 1tsp of salt

Preparation of dough

– In a big bowl mix the flour with salt. Pour water and yogurt. Knead to have a rough dough.

– Leave to rest for ⏳ 15 minutes at room temperature and knead again the dough gets smoother.

optional: let it rest for 2 hours.

Baking the flatbread

– Divide dough to form balls. Slightly press them to have a disk shape for an easier work with rolling pin later.

⏳ wait 10 mins so the dough relaxes.

– Place the pan/skillet on the stove, on medium heat. The pan should be very hot like a baking oven.

– Pop each rolled out dough on the hot pan.

(Optional) ➡️ There is a trick that many bakers use to maintain flat shape of the dough. It’s a clean pillow-like surface which the baker stretches the dough on top so it doesn’t shrink back. Then they stick the dough to the hot surface/walls of the oven (Tanoor).

lol this is how I made mine: with a bowl and a clean kitchen cloth 🙂

Bake (suggestive):

• the first side: 2 minutes
• the other side: 1 minute

After baking the first bread, you’ll see what is the best timing for you to change the sides.

➡️ Important: When upturning the dough, press, so the whole surface is in contact with pan and the bubbles does not lift dough off pan’s surface and burn.

The result is a smooth and crispy flatbread!

Notes:

• The number of bread depends on the size of the pan you bake the breads. If you have a small pan, you’ll have to make smaller balls. (and more work to do lol)
• ➡️ Important: make sure you use stone or cast-iron skillet; other materials like Teflon become carcinogen at high temperatures.

Enjoy ☺️

The post Flatbread with yogurt appeared first on Foodcraftz.

This recipe shows how to make reshteh for the soup. Make sure you have a wide working space for the dough. You’ll need a rolling pin, durum and/or rice flour to prevent the sheets of dough stick to each other while we are cutting the reshteh.

Ingredients | 5 servings

• 300g/10.5oz Flour
• 100g/3.5oz Water
• 6g/0.2oz of Salt

Preparation

– In a bowl mix flour and salt.

– Pour a bit of water, incorporating a little at a time, until everything is combined.

– Knead the pieces of dough together.

⏳ Let it rest for 10 mins. This helps the dough to relax.

– Knead it again. This time working the dough becomes slightly easier.

– Repeat this for other 2 times, with the intervals of 10mins. Then cover the dough with a foil and let it rest for 1 hour.

Making Reshteh

– On a wide working board, sprinkle flour and with a rolling pin flatten the dough and create a circle.

– The thickness should be around 2-3mm/0.11inch.

– Cut the dough in half (horizontally) the noodles should be short (12 cm / 5.1inch approximately)

– Sprinkle flour (better use durum or rice flour) on the surface and fold the dough on itself and cut it, (circa 3mm/0.11inch of width), with a very sharp knife.

The reshteh is done!

The result:

How to use Reshteh

The freshly made reshteh, cooks in 10 minutes. Unlike Italian pasta they shouldn’t be “al dente” but overcooked.

Notes

• Having the rice flour or durum flour comes handy. When we are cutting reshteh, they helps to separate the sheets of dough because of their very dry nature.
• You can store reshteh up to 3 days in fridge.

With this noodles you can cook Ash reshteh one of the famous Iranian soups:

Good luck ☺️

The post Reshteh recipe – Persian noodles appeared first on Foodcraftz.

Fish: Traditionally the white meat fishes are used for this recipe like the Caspian sea fishes: Mullet (کفال), Whitefish (ماهی سفید), Trout (قزل‌آلا), but almost any kind of fish (salmon, mackerel, sea bass, …) taste great with Sabzi polo.

In this recipe I used Common Dentex (Dentice in Italian) because that was the freshest fish I could find in the fish market.

Ingredients | 4-5 servings

• 1 Fish fillet per person
• 500g/17.6oz Basmati rice
• 1 clove of Garlic
• 2 knobs of Butter
• 60g/2.1oz chopped Dill
• 60g/2.1oz Coriander
• 60g/2.1oz chopped Parsley
• 100g/3.5oz chopped Chives or Leek
• Saffron
• Pickled Garlic as accompaniment (optional)

Preparation

– Herbs: combine all the chopped herbs together (dill, coriander, parsley, chives).

– Grate a clove of garlic and mix.

– Wash the rice till it’s the color of water is longer opaque.

– Add the rice to salty & boiling water (just like pasta).

– When it boils and the rice doubles in size and float on the surface, it’s ready.

– Drain the rice (don’t rinse to maintain the salt and aroma of rice).

– Add the mix of chopped herbs and mix all together gently.

– In a small glass pour hot boiling water.

– Add a pinch of ground saffron and a knob of butter and mix till butter melts completely and saffron gives its color to the mix.

Combine all together

– On medium-high heat, place a non-stick pot.

– Add the mix of saffron & butter (for a good saffron tahdig).

– Followed by mix of rice & herbs.

– Put the lid on, wait a few minutes, until it starts to sweat.

– Set the heat to lowest. Cover the lid with a clean kitchen cloth = damkoni, (it absorbs the humidity and helps to have a better tahdig).

– Cook for ⏳ 1 hour.

Preparation of Fish

– Clean and debone the fish fillets.

– Make some cuts on the skin, sprinkle salt and pepper.

– Place the fish on the hot pan with clarified butter/oil.

– First from the meat side when it becomes golden turn over to the other side until it gains the same color and preferably the skin gets crunchy.

– When the skin becomes crunchy it’s ready to serve.

Serving

– Overturn the pot of rice on a big flat plate (finger’s crossed you’ll have good Tahdig!).

– Decorate the sabzi polo with a bit of saffron rice.

– Bring fish and rice to the serving table in two separate plates so each diner can take the amount she/he wants to eat.

Notes

• Some cook the fish in the oven with herbs, garlic and lemon. In this case the skin of the fish doesn’t become crunchy and usually is removed.
• The best accompaniment for sabzi polo mahi is: pickled garlic, which is a typical delicacy of north Iran

Noosh-e-Jan & happy Nowrooz ☺️

The post Sabzi polo mahi – rice with herbs and fish recipe appeared first on Foodcraftz.

Khoresh bademjan is served with white rice (Kateh style or Traditional style). The rice is cooked alongside the stew.

A popular variant of this recipe called: Gheimeh bademjian which is with the split chickpeas . It gives a richer structure to the stew, I put that optional because it’s not the main ingredient.

Ingredients | 4 servings

• 2 kilos/4.4oz Eggplants
• 400g/14oz Lamb or Veal
• 2 Onions
• 2-3 limu amani or 2tbsp ghooreh or half cup of lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon Turmeric
• 2tbsp Tomato paste
• 4 big Fresh Tomatoes
• Clarified butter
• Salt and Black pepper
• 2-3 tbsp Split Chickpeas (optional)

Preparation

– Peel the eggplants and cut them in half.

– Add a generous amount of salt and leave them in a sieve for ⏳ 2 hours so they lose water.

Then you can cook the eggplants either:

• Frying (Traditional way): the eggplant in a big pan.
• In the Oven (None traditional): Coat them with oil and put them in the oven for ⏳ 1 hour at 180C°/350F°.

– In both cases: The eggplant cooks and gain a dark brown color.

Cooking the meat

– In a pot place the meat and add one onion, turmeric, 2 cups of water, salt, and pepper.

– Cook for⏳ 2 hours.

No need to chop the meat in smaller size, because in the end, it will be so tender that it divides with a spoon.

➡️ Meanwhile cook the rice so it will be ready when the stew is cooked.

➡️Prepare the sour ingredient: Place the limoo amani in a glass and pour hot boiling water on it after 1 hour they become soft. Create wholes on its skin and add them later to the final pot. If you have ghooreh (sour grapes) or you have lemon juice, you can add it directly to the final pot.

The final pot

– In a big pot, stir fry chopped onion.

– When it turns golden brown add turmeric, salt, pepper, tomatoes paste, and 2 fresh tomatoes cut in half. Stir fry for some minutes.

– Add the cooked meat & its juice (remove the onion, it helps to absorb the smell of the meat).

– Add the split chickpeas (optional).

– On top of them place fried eggplants so they soak in the meats juice.

– On the eggplants goes: the other pieces of fresh tomatoes.

– On low heat, Cook for at least ⏳ 1 hour without stirring!

Be careful with the shape of eggplants: This is challenging, especially when you want to adjust the salt but if you stir gently without mashing the eggplants it will be ok.

The main characteristic of the Khoresh Bademjan stew, visually is, the form and shape of eggplants. They should be maintained intact until you serve them. This is how you show your guest a flawless eggplant stew! This will be very challenging because they become very soft at the end of cooking.

When the stew is dense, and the flavors are well combined, the eggplant stew is ready!

Serve the stew with rice.

Notes

• To cook the meat, if you use a pressure cooker the cooking process will be much quicker.
• This dish is usually served with raw onions (not very socially accepted), fresh herbs, pickles, plain yogurt, and salad. The usual Persian mazzes مزه / چاشنی on the table

Noosh-e-jan ☺️ (in persian: Buon appetite)

The post Eggplant stew – Khoresh Bademjan appeared first on Foodcraftz.

The cream combines and balances perfectly the flavors that mostly released from the shrimps, and when the pasta goes in, it absorbs all that goodness from the pan. This dish cooks very quickly, the only hassle will be the preparation of each element.

Ingredients | 2 servings

• 160g/5.6oz Small Pink shrimps
• 230g/8oz chopped zucchini
• half cup cream
• 220g spaghetti pasta
• 5-6 Tigre Shrimps or any “big” shrimp of your choice
• fresh mint or basil leafs
• 2 clove of Garlic
• Extra virgin Olive Oil
• Ground Parmesan Cheese
• Salt and Black pepper
• Lime zest

Preparation

– Bring the salty pasta water to boil.

Meanwhile:

– Sauté the chopped zucchini with 1 clove of garlic until the zucchini become slightly soft.

– Add the small shrimps, salt, pepper and stir.

– (back to pasta) Add the pasta to the boiling salty water (stir occasionally, to avoid the pasta from sticking).

– Pour cream in the pan and keep stirring till it becomes slightly dense.

– Sautè just for 2 minutes in a different pan the tiger shrimps with garlic, salt & black pepper. We’ll serve them on top of pasta for each dish.

– Save 1 cup of pasta water.

– Remove pasta 2-3mins prior to its cooking time from the heat, and toss it in the cooking pan.

– Add chopped fresh mints (or basil) and finish cooking the pasta in the sauce for another 2 mins. Turn off the heat.

– Sprinkle parmesan cheese and mix lively it helps to create a creamy texture with the liquid (pasta water) in the pan

Serve the pasta with grilled tiger shrimps, lime zest on top.

Notes

• Instead of mint also the parsley is suitable with fish.
• This dish is comfort food in many Italian houses, with frozen shrimps and zucchini in the fridge you are ready to go.

Buon appetito! ☺️

The post Pasta with Shrimps and Zucchini appeared first on Foodcraftz.

The sauce of carbonara is very quick to make, you’ll only need black pepper, eggs and cheese. The pasta water helps you to decide the thickness of the sauce. No cream is added (Italians get mad if they see that!) but the sauce should have a creamy texture! Thats why the skills of chef is very important. It’s an extremely simple recipe which makes it very difficult to execute. (one wrong step can ruin the dish)

Ingredients | 2 servings

• 240g/8.4oz Spaghetti pasta
• 15g/0.5oz finely grated Pecorino cheese
• 15g/0.5oz finely grated Parmesan
• 80g/2.8oz Pancetta or Guanciale (your choice)
• 3 Eggs: 2 whole and 1 Yolk
• Freshly ground black pepper

Preparation

– Cut the pancetta (or guanciale) in small strips.

– First, sauté the pancetta on low heat, after 10 minutes the grease will melt slowly and comes out.

– Add freshly ground black pepper and continue to stir for some seconds.

Meanwhile, boil the salty water for pasta and add the pasta (remove 3 minutes prior to its cooking time )

– Add the pasta to the salty boiling water we will remove it 3 minutes prior its cooking.

Back to pan:

– When the pancetta becomes crunchy and the pan is greasy with the melted lard. Remove 1/3 of it for the decoration.

– Meanwhile, in a bowl add: 2 eggs and 1 egg yolk, grated pecorino cheese and parmesan, ground pepper, and mix lively. Add 1/2 cup of pasta water to have a dense cream.

– Remove pasta earlier while its still very “al dente” toss it directly into the pan.

– On high heat, stir and mix the pasta with the oil and flavors of pancetta. The pasta should sizzle at this point. Add a bit of pasta water that help us to mix easier.

– Turn off the heat. remove the pan from the stove. It is very important to lower the temperature.

– Pour the sauce into the pan and mix quickly. You’ll notice a creamy condiment covers the spaghetti and that is when the carbonara is ready! If it’s too thick add a bit of pasta water.

– The eggs should cook half-way so they maintain their creamy consistency. The temperature should be under 140F°-62C° otherwise they coagulate.

– Serve the carbonara with some crunchy pancetta on top.

Notes

• In case the carbonara is so runny, I saw some chefs stir the pasta on bain-marie! So the eggs will stay creamy while the pasta absorbs the liquid and makes it perfectly creamy.
• Many restaurants use “orange” color yolk eggs, for a more colorful carbonara.
• The most important thing is the eggs should be VERY FRESH. Otherwise they will have a unpleasant taste.

Serve it with some freshly grated black pepper on top and parmesan cheese!

Buon appetito! ☺️

The post Pasta Alla Carbonara – Carbonara spaghetti appeared first on Foodcraftz.

Ingredients | 2 servings

• 240g/8.4oz spaghetti pasta
• 1 Rosemary stem
• 1 clove of Garlic
• 4-5 big tomatoes (peeled)
• Ground Parmesan Cheese
• ground black pepper
• Extravirgin Olive Oil

Preparation

– (optional) Peel the tomatoes: make small incisions on the skin of tomatoes, put them 30 seconds in boiling water, place them quickly into cold water. Peel them easily.

– Remove their seeds because in some people it can cause allergenic reaction.

– Chop them into bites and put them aside.

Cooking the sauce

– On medium heat sauté the rosemary with chopped garlic, salt, and black pepper in extra virgin olive oil for some seconds.

➡️ The oil absorbs the taste of garlic and rosemary and becomes very aromatic.

– Add the tomatoes and cook till they lose their water and become creamy.

– Remove the rosemary sticks from the pan and the sauce is ready for the pasta.

– (meanwhile) Add the pasta to the salty boiling water and save a cup of pasta water for later.

– Add pasta to the pan, 2-3 mins prior to its cooking time, while it is “al dente”.

– Stir while it’s absorbing the sauce.

– If the pan is too dry, add the pasta water for finishing cooking the pasta in the pan.

– Turn off the heat and grate parmesan cheese on top, and it’s ready to serve.

Buon appetito! ☺️

The post Pasta with Rosemary appeared first on Foodcraftz.

Some “gourmet” restaurants serve this with cooked & juicy bonemarrow in the middle and some with the reduction of the meat broth like a sauce on top, if you go to the famous restaurant of chef Marchesi in Milan, you can taste his signature dish: risotto with golden leaf (another variation of this risotto)

Ingredients | 3 servings

• 300g/10.5oz Carnaroli rice
• 4 knobs of butter
• pinch of ground saffron
• 60g/2.1oz grated Grano Padano cheese or parmesan
• 1L meat Broth
• half of onion
• 1/2 glass of white wine

Preparation

Saffron water: pour boiling water on ground saffron (0.5g circa) in a small glass. Let it rest for 10-15 mins.

– Sauté the grated onion with butter in a hot pan for 1 min.

– Sprinkle a bit of salt (not much because meat broth & cheese are salty)

– Add rice and toast: stir them in the hot pan, till the rice becomes slightly translucent, the pan should be dry and hot.

– Give it a thermic shock by pouring the white wine.

– Continue to stir till the wine evaporates & the starch starts to be released.

– The meat broth should be warm, add 2-3 ladles of broth and continue to stir till the broth is absorbed.

– If you like the risotto to be “al dente” continue to add broth for the next 14-15 mins.

➡️ If you’re not a fan of al dente: continue to add the broth and taste the rice till they are softer.

– In case the broth finishes earlier, add boiling water to complete cooking the risotto.

– 1 minute before Turn off the heat, pour the saffron water and stir.

➡️ Don’t worry if you see the risotto’s consistency is runny, it should be because Rice absorbs quickly and to have a creamy result we have to give it humidity.

– Add 3 knobs of butter & cheese together.

– Mix lively, some chefs even waving the rice in the pan to “mix” them (they believe this way, “more air” goes inside the risotto!).

Now you should have a silky & creamy risotto.

When serving, you’ll notice the rice becomes slightly denser on the plate.

You can serve this as it is or with a cheese cracker* in the middle. One of the classic dishes of Milan is the saffron risotto with Ossobuco. so if you have prepared the meat it can goes on top.

Buon appetito! ☺️

*cheese crackers: in a non-stick pan, sprinkle in form of circles the grated cheese, when it melts wait till it starts to change its color to yellow/brownish remove them with a spatula and while it’s soft (and warm), bend it on a cool surface like a small glass. When it’s cold the cracker is ready!

The post Risotto alla Milanese – Risotto with Saffron appeared first on Foodcraftz.

What is Zereshk? It’s Barberry.

It is a type of berry that grows in arid mountain areas up to 2000m/6561f of height. A vitamin-C-rich fruit which is sour, that’s why it’s a great match with greasy food because it balances the flavors and in general Persian food has a penchant for sourness.

In case you don’t have Zereshk, replace it with one of these berries:

• Ribes/currant
• Raspberries

Ingredients | 2-3 servings

• 3-4 Chicken thighs & legs
• 1tbsp Tomato paste
• A handful of dried Zereshk/Barberries
• 1 teaspoon Turmeric
• 1 white Onion
• Salt and Black Pepper
• Clarified butter
• Slices of Almonds (optional)
• 1 spring of Rosemary (optional)

While cooking the chicken, start cooking the Persian rice. Here is the recipe of white rice.

Preparation

– In a big pot add clarified butter (or the oil of your choice), followed by chicken tights.

– Stir fry the chicken until browning.

– Add onion, turmeric, salt, pepper.

– Add 1 cup of boiling water and set the heat to low.

– Cover with the lid and cook for ⏳ 40 mins.

– In a small pan stir fry tomato paste to have a more vivid red color (Optional).

– Add the tomato paste to chickens.

– Cook for another ⏳ 30 minutes.

Preparation of Zereshk/Berries:

– Wash the Zereshk using a sieve.

– In a pan add: oil + Zereshk + 1tsp sugar + a bit of ground saffron and salt. Stir fry for ⏳ 1 minute.

– Add 2-3 tbsp of cooked rice and almonds (optional), mix them well.

– The topping for the rice is ready.

Back to the chicken pot:

After cooking zeresh polo for an hour, the chicken becomes tender and gains the red color of tomato paste, that is when it is ready, check the seasoning before serving.

Notes

• Some people like to eat this dish with sides like white greek yogurt, raw onions & fresh herbs (سبزی خوردن).
• If you like less red chicken feel free to add less tomato paste, in many restaurants, this dish doesn’t have an intense red color and it’s less sour.

Serve it with basmati rice, zereshk & saffron rice on top and the chickens aside.

Noosh-e-jan (buon appetito) ☺️

The post Zereshk Polo Morgh or Barberry Rice Chicken appeared first on Foodcraftz.