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.

Some people cook it in pyrex and in the oven. This way it’s easier to check the color and decide when it’s done. This recipe is with old fashion non stick pot.

Ingredients | 4 servings

• 2 Eggs
• 2 tbsp Yogurt
• 4-5 tbsp Oil of your choice/Clarified butter
• Salt
• 1/2 tsp Saffron
• 400g/14.2oz Rice (Basmati, Thai or Jasmin)

Nice to have:

• Non-stick pot

Preparation

Making saffron cream:

– In a big bowl (later some rice will goes in) add saffron and pour 2 tbsp of hot boiling water and wait for ⏳ 5 minutes.

– Add yogurt, eggs, a pinch of salt and 3 tbsp of oil/clarified butter. Mix till you have a yellow homogenous cream.

Preparation of rice

– Wash the rice till the color of the water, is no longer opaque.

– In a big pot boil water and add salt.

– Add the rice to the salty boiling water and wait till the rice grows in size and floats.

– Drain the rice, don’t rinse! (to maintain its taste and salt)

Preparation of final pot

– Mix 1/3 of rice with saffron cream.

– Pour in 3-4 tbsp of oil/Clarified butter to a non-stick pot on the stove, make sure it coats the bottom of the pot.

– Add the mix of rice and saffron and gently spread with a spatula to have an even surface.

– Add the rest of the white rice on top.

– Pour a bit of oil/butter on its surface.

– Cover the lid with a clean kitchen cloth.

➡️ in persian it called “Damkoni” دمکنی. It helps to absorbs the humidity, preventing water to return on the rice and helps the tahchin becomes crunchy.

– Cook on low heat for ⏳ 1 hour at least.

To serve:

➡️ Grip both pot and serving plate together and overturn. The Tahchin detaches from pot to the plate and it’s ready to serve.

Notes:

• Use thick bottom non-stick pot, it distributes the heat evenly, and prevent the rice to burn quickly.
• Greek style yogurt is perfect for Tahchin. It’s fatty and slightly sour.
• Long-grain rice is usually used to make Tahchin: Jasmin, Thai, Basmati, etc.

Noosh e Jan ☺️ (buon appetit!)

The post Simple Tahchin appeared first on Foodcraftz.

It’s rich, without making you feel stuffed. Livers and other internal organs are usually overlooked in Italy, where I live. That’s why they are so cheap! (and I don’t complain about it)

⏳ This dish is ready in 15 mins, perfect for hectic days.

Ingredients | 2-3 servings

• 350g/12.3oz Chicken livers and hearts
• 1 Onion
• 1 teaspoon Turmeric
• 1 tbsp Tomato paste
• 2-3 tbsp Clarified butter / oil
• Salt and Pepper

Preparation

– Remove the white parts from the livers.

– Cut the hearts in smaller pieces because they need more time to cook.

– Chop the onion too

Cooking process

On medium heat:

– Stir fry onions till they become slightly golden

– Add turmeric, salt and black pepper

– Add heart pieces and stir fry for 5 mins ⏳

– Add livers and continue to stir for some seconds till they change their color and releases their juice

– The last ingredient is tomato paste which gives sour taste and a nice red color to the dish.

Stir fry for ⏳ 5 minutes, adjust the seasoning and it’s ready to serve!

Notes

• Traditionally it’s served with flat bread, chopped fresh onions and vinegar, plain greek yogurt and fresh herbs

Noosh e Jan! (in Farsi: Buon Appetite ☺️)

The post Pan-fried chicken liver and heart appeared first on Foodcraftz.

Iran is the land of Ash, according to Wikipedia, there are 50 varieties of Ash in Iran. Ash Reshteh is not an easy recipe, it’s so laborious. Every time I cook, it takes 3 hours. Because i make everything from scratch. If all the ingredients like Reshteh, Kashk (or yogurt’s cream) & legumes are ready, it takes much less but we can’t fast forward the cooking time of Ash because its flavors should be settled. (جا بیوفته)

Ingredients | 4-5 servings

• 130g/4.5oz mix of beans (pinto, white, red)
• 40g/2.1oz Chickpeas
• 80g/2.8oz Lentils
• 2 Onions
• 100g/3.5oz chopped Coriander
• 200g/7oz chopped Parsley
• 200g/7oz chopped Chives or Leek
• 250g/8oz chopped Spinach
• 1 teaspoon Turmeric
• 2 tsp Cumin
• 3tbsp dried Mint
• 3 clove of Garlic
• 4-5 tbsp Kashk
• 300g/10.5oz fresh or 150g/5.3oz dried Reshteh (noodles)
• Pinch of Saffron (optional: for decoration)
• 3tbs Clarified Butter or oil

Reshteh: if Homemade 250g/9oz, if Packed/industrial 100g/3.5oz

Preparation of ingredients

Legumes:

– Better to soak them overnight (except lentils). In the day after you can cook them in 1 hour. If not, in a pressure cooker they will take 45 minutes to cook (with loads of water).

Reshteh (noodles) you can either:

1- Iranian supermarkets sells Reshteh or you can use pasta (spaghetti shape)

2- Make it yourself: Mix 3 times flour more than water, (like: 70g/2.5oz water, 200g/7oz flour) knead till you have a very dry dough. Let it rest for 1-2 hours then extend the dough to have a sheet of 3 mm of thickness and cut it in strips of 10-12 cm.

➡️ for more details check out reshteh recipe: reshteh

Kashk (the white sauce) you can either:

– If you find buy it from Iranian supermarkets or online shops.

– Homemade Kashk: On low heat, mix 500g/17.6 sour sheep yogurt (preferable) with 1tbsp of salt. Stir gently till it reduces in less than half. I use a blender to make it creamy. (and add some water if it needs) ✅

➡️ The homemade Kashk will not taste the same as the one in Iran, because in that case the yogurt goes through aging process and acquires a pungent taste which is the main characteristic of Kashk. We can’t do that at home because it needs some special conditions that if not respected pathogenic bacteria may grow and are very dangerous.

Final pot

– Chop 1 onion in a big pot (will be the pot of Ash) stir fry, when they become slightly golden add turmeric, cumin, and 1 chopped clove of garlic.

– Stir fry for some seconds.

– Add herbs, spinach and lentils.

– Pour 1.5L of boiling water.

⏳ Put the lid on and simmer for 1 hour.

– Add the cooked beans. Add half of the dried mint & 3-4 tbsp of Kashk and mix well.

⏳ Add Reshteh and simmer the Ash. If Reshteh is fresh 5-7 minutes, if not it +12 minutes.

Since the reshteh absorbs so much water, watch the density of the ash, If it gets too dense add a bit of boiling water.

(optional) Mix 1tbp of flour in a 1/3 glass of cold water. Pour it in and simmer for ⏳ 5 minutes.

– Turn off the heat. Adjust the seasoning, avoid adding too much salt because, we’ll serve Ash with extra Kashk on top which is already salty.

– Let Ash Reshteh rests for 20 minutes. It is essential to serve Ash Reshteh warm not very hot.

Meanwhile prepare the 5 toppings:

– Fried onion: slice onion very tiny, fry till they become golden brown.

– Fried garlic: chop the garlic into slices, fry till they gain golden color and becomes like small chips.

– Mint oil: heat half cup of extra virgin olive oil on medium heat, when it becomes slightly hot, turn off the heat, crush the dried mint between your fingers and sprinkle in pan and it’s done!

– Saffron water: pour in 1/4 cup of boiling water in glass and add a pinch of ground saffron. Leave it for ⏳5 minutes to release all its color to water.

– Kashk: If it’s very dense, dilute it with a bit of water when it becomes creamy it’s ready.

Decorate the serving bowl with the toppings: kashk, fried garlic and onion, saffron and mint oil

Final word: pat your shoulders and call yourself: “Ashpaz“, the one who can cook Ash, which is the word used for “Cook/Chef” in Persian. (it is not a recipe that everyone can do ☺️)

Good luck with cooking your Ash Reshteh 😆

The post Ash Reshteh – Persian dense soup with legumes, herbs, and 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.

In this recipe the sauce is very important because it makes the chicken moist and gives a sour kick, that transform the “not-so-tasty” chicken breast into a flavorful dish. The origin of this recipe is northern Iran.

Ingredients | 2-3 servings

• 1 Chicken breast
• 1 teaspoon Turmeric
• 2 Eggs
• 1 onion
• a pinch of saffron
• 4-5 Clarified butter
• 1 Lemon
• 2 tbsp Tomato paste
• Aromatic herbs: roasemary, sage etc.
• 1 clove of garlic
• salt and black pepper (to taste)

Video Recipe

Preparation

– Cook the chicken breast, in a pot with 1 cup of water, salt, pepper & aromatic herbs for ⏳ 1 hour.

– In a pan, sauté chopped onion, when golden, add salt, pepper, and turmeric, stir for some more seconds and the onion base is ready.

– Saffron water: pour hot boiling water in a small glass with a pinch of ground saffron. after ⏳ 5 mins it’s ready to use.

– Red sauce: In a pan stir the tomato paste/concentrate, add half a cup of water when the sauce becomes thick add the juice of a whole lime, stir and it’s done.

In a bowl:

– Split the chicken breast in chunks by hand (to maintain its texture), add saffron water, stir fry onions, salt, pepper, and 2 eggs.

– Mix all together (feel free to use a masher to make it like a rough paste).

– In a pan pour generously clarified butter/oil (on medium heat), add the chicken mix. 

– Cover with the lid, cook for 10 mins, until eggs solidify, then remove the lid for 5 mins until sizzling.

– Divide kuku into 4 pieces and turn them over.

– Add more clarified butter/oil and cook the other side for ⏳ 10 minutes or till it becomes golden.

– Pour tomato sauce.

– Wait a few minutes so kuku absorbs the sauce, flip the kuku once again so the other side also absorbs the sauce.

When no more sauce is left in pan, the chicken kuku is ready!

Notes

• This recipe is great for antipasto, wraps and sandwiches.
• Chicken kuku if combines with grilled veggies or fresh salads, can be a treat for low carb diet.
• Traditionally it’s served with pickled garlics and yogurt with bread.

Noosh-e-jan & enjoy! ☺️

The post Chicken kuku or kuku morgh appeared first on Foodcraftz.

For Fesenjan you are free to use any type of meat, either chicken or meatballs the choice is yours. Traditionally in north Iran, where this stew comes from, they use wild poultry meat like goose, duck, quail etc.

In case you can’t find Pomegranate concentrate also the Pomegranate molasses is fine. The elegant and sophisticated taste of Fesenjan, makes it the stew of celebrations and formal occasions. That’s why, in this recipe, we opted for duck’s breast to maintain the level of sophistication.

This stew is served with rice

Ingredients | 2-3 servings

• 170g/6oz Walnuts
• 2 tbsp Pomegranate concentrate/pomegranate molasses (adjustable to taste)
• 1 tsp Turmeric
• 1 Onion
• 1 Duck big breast (or chicken or 300g/10oz meatballs*)

➡️ Here is the recipe for basmati rice to prepare which will be served with Fesenjoon.

Preparation

– Blend walnuts, to form a paste.

– In a pot, stir the walnuts on medium heat gently, for around ⏳ 15 minutes. Their color becomes darker.

– Grate half onion, add turmeric, salt, and pepper stir to combine all ingredients.

– Add the duck breast (you can either add chicken or sautéed meatballs*) and the other half onion to the pot.

– Pour cold water till it covers all ingredients.

➡️ Water should be very cold, you can even add 1 cube of ice too. This thermic shock helps the walnuts to release more Natural oil to the stew.

– Stir gently and bring the stew to a simmer.

– Add the Pomegranate concentrate or molasses and stir.

⏳ On medium-low heat, cook for ⏳ 1.5 hours.

– Stir occasionally to avoid Fesenjoon sticks to the bottom of the pot.

When the stew has a dense consistency with a thick layer of oil on top and its taste has a good balance between sweet & sour, the Fesenjan is ready!

Notes

• Fesenjoon/Fesenjan is served with saffron rice, a mix of fresh herbs aside, raw onions, white yogurt.
• The taste of Fesenjan depends on the concentration of Pomegranate, if it’s from north Iran they are sour. If it’s from central Iran it’s sweet. Feel free to adjust the sweetness if you prefer by adding a bit of sugar.

Noosh-e-jan (in farsi: buon appetite) ☺️

*How to prepare the meatballs: combine minced meat (lamb or veal), salt, black pepper, and half of a grated onion. From this sticky mixture create small balls (dimensions like a walnut), sauté on high heat to have grilled surface, add them to the Fesenjan. ⏳ The time of cooking will not be less, because the focus is on the taste of pomegranate sauce that should be mature.

The post Fesenjan, the stew of pomegranate and walnuts appeared first on Foodcraftz.

The pasta all’arrabbiata is ready in ⏳10 minutes and the type of pasta used for this is “penne” but that’s totally up to you. Better be short shaped pasta to get more sauce with every bite

Ingredients | 2 servings

• 300g/10oz peeled crushed tomatoes
• 250g/8.8oz penne pasta
• 1 clove of Garlic
• 1/2 tsp of Chilly (or 1tsp if you like it spicier)
• Extravirgin Olive Oil
• Ground Parmesan Cheese

Preparation

– Sauté the chopped garlic & chilly together in olive oil

– Add salt, and tomatoes

– Mix them on medium heat and after 10 minutes of cooking, the sauce is ready

Meanwhile, make the pasta.

– Add pasta to salted boiling water, following the instruction on the package remove them 3 minutes prior to the suggested cooking time and add them to the sauce.

– Finish the cooking of the pasta in the pot.

– Taste the salt before serving, turn off the heat and add parmesan cheese.

– Stir lively so it will melt in the sauce and makes the dish more creamy. In case the pasta is too dry add a bit of pasta water.

Serve the pasta all’arrabbiata with a bit of parmesan cheese on top and chopped fresh parsley

Notes

• The spiciness of pasta depends on the type of chilly you are using. In Italy, the chilies of the Calabria region are very famous. They have so many varieties from very hot to mild chilies.

Buon appetito. ☺️

The post Penne all’arrabbiata – spicy pasta appeared first on Foodcraftz.

Check out the: recipe of risotto alla milanese

Ingredients | 2 servings

• 2 veal cut of ossobucos
• Sage & Rosemary & Garlic
• 1 cup Italian soffritto veggies (carrot, celery, and onion)
• 2-3 tbsp of Wheat flour (for coating the meat)
• 1/2 cup White wine
• 1/2 cup Tomato puree/passata
• 1 knob of butter
• Extravirgin Olive Oil
• Chopped Parsley
• Salt and black pepper

Ingredients for risotto

• 150g/5.2oz Arborio or Carnaroli rice
• 2 knobs of Butter
• 50g grated Parmesan
• 1/2 cup white Wine
• 300g/10.5oz Broth
• half Onion (grated)
• a pinch of Saffron

Preparation

Choose a thick pot like a dutch oven to cook ossobuco.

– Sauté aromatic herbs in a bit of olive oil and butter.

– Coat the meat in flour.

– Cut vertically the skin around meat 3-4 cuts per each (it facilitates the cooking process and meat stays flat)

– Place the meat in the hot pot, fry till the surface becomes golden.

– Pour in, wine. Wait till it evaporates.

– Add the Italian soffritto (diced: carrot, celery & onion) veggies and stir fry.

– Add the tomato puree/passata

– Mix the ingredients & pour in water (2-3 cups), cook for 2 hours on low heat.

➡️ Some use vegetable broth for more taste but since we are using Italian soffritto and big pieces of meat at the end of cooking, the taste will be great without any added broth.

– Stir once in a while, to avoid it sticks to the bottom

After 2 hours the ossobuco will be ready!

start to cook the saffron risotto 20mins before the ossobuco finishes cooking.

A quick recipe for Saffron Risotto:

⒈ In a small cup pour boiling water on a pinch of ground saffron. put it aside. ⒉ Grate half of onion in a pan, ⒊ Add risotto rice and toast it, ⒋ Add wine, when evaporates, ⒌ Pour in meat broth gradually and while the rice is absorbing stir continuously, ⒍ After 14-16 mins depends on how you like the risotto “al dente” 7. Pour in saffron water, stir for 1 minute then 7. Turn off the heat 8. Add parmesan cheese & butter and do “mantecazione” (mix lively) so you’ll have a creamy risotto. (see the step by step recipe of risotto)

Ossobuco is ready to be served

Notes

• Many restaurants in Milan, serve the ossobuco beside the risotto, but I suggest to place the ossobuco on a “bed” of risotto so all the flavors from meat goes in the risotto.
• Osso means bone and buco means hole. That’s why the bone marrow should be visible in the dish.

Spread the creamy risotto layer as a base.

Place the juicy ossobuco on top.

Buon appetito ☺️

The post Ossobuco with Saffron Risotto or Milanese risotto 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! ☺️

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