Sustainable Farm in central Italy

Agriturismo, Farm Accomodation in Umbria...

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Gnocchi making! ニョッキを作ろう!

Gnocchi are a typical kind of pasta here in Umbria, wich we make using our local red potatoes, boiled with all the skin, then peeled, mashed and finally mixed with some flour to obtain a firm dough that is eventually shaped into small pieces and cooked in boiling water.

They can be served with several kinds of sauces, the important thing is to serve them hot with aboundant greated parmesan on top

And here’s the preparation:

ニョッキ作り!まずはみんなで準備をしましょう。

Let’s get ready 4 the Gnocchi making!

Hey! We need to help them?

ね~!お手伝いしたほうがいいのかな?

さあ!僕の出番?!

Need a hand?

Well… We can’t wait for them, so let’s do it!

と、遊んでいる間にジャガイモが茹で上がったのでサクラちゃんが一生懸命小麦粉と混ぜています!サクラちゃんうれしそう!

Mixing the flour with mashed potatoes…she seems so happy!!!

ここからはチームワークが大切よ!

this is a hell of a teamwork!!!

生地を棒状にする人!同じ大きさに切り分ける人!形を整える人!さあがんばっていきましょう!

皆さん真剣ですね!

wow! they are so serious and concentrated while cutting the pasta

そんな真剣な顔みんならしくないね!やっぱりこうでなくては!

そしてお昼はもちろんニョッキと羊肉のトマトソース!

と、ここで残念なお知らせ!実はあまりにもお腹がすき、そしてとってもおいしくて出来上がりの写真を撮るのを忘れてしまいました…。

ごめんなさい!今度はこちらに食べにきてほしいな!

And of course, our lunch was “Gnocchi with lamb sauce”

But… I forgot to take a picture… sorry! but I must say!!! IT WAS SO GOOD.

Come and try it yourself!!!    (^0^)/

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Torta di Pasqua – Easter cheese bread

In Umbria, una tradizione vecchia di secoli, vuole che la mattina di Pasqua si celebri la fine della quaresima con una ricca colazione insieme ad amici e parenti…l’abbuffata (perchè di questo si tratta) consiste in una selezione di salumi tipici umbri che varia da zona a zona, comunque diciamo che il salame non manca mai, uova lesse, vernaccia (un vino passito tipico di questa zona) e naturalmente la torta di pasqua, che è un gustosissimo pane al formaggio che ricorda il panettone per la sua forma a fungo

In Umbria, a tradition going back centuries, wants that the Easter is celebrated with a hearty breakfast with friends and family … the binge (because it’s so) is a selection of  umbrian salami and other cured pork, which varies from area to area, however, say that there is always the salami, boiled eggs, Vernaccia (a sweet wine typical of this area) and of course the Easter cheese bread, which is delicious & resembles the Panettone because of its mushroom shape

La tradizione vuole anche che il giorno della vigilia, si portino a benedire in parrocchia sia le torte che le uova sode, rito religioso ma anche di costume che purtroppo oggi si sta perdendo…

It’s  tradition that on holy friday this bread togheter with the boiled eggs is brought to the nearest parish church to be blessed  by the priest, religious ritual but also customs that unfortunately is being lost …

Ed ecco la ricetta che ci tramandiamo da almeno 4 generazioni (per una torta da circa 1 kg):

Here is the recipe, dating back four generations (about 1 kg of bread):

500 gr. farina 0 / 500 gr. flour

150 gr. Parmigiano grattugiato / 150 gr. greated parmesan

100 gr. pecorino romano grattugiato / 150 gr. greated pecorino cheese

50 gr. groviera a cubetti piccoli / 50 gr.  diced gruyere

100 gr. olio extra vergine di oliva / 100 gr. extra virgin olive oil

100 ml di latte intero / 100 ml whole milk

50 gr. strutto (se non lo avete usate il burro ma il risultato non sarà lo stesso) / 50 gr. lard (u can use butter but the lard is better)

5 uova / 5 eggs

1 pizzico di sale / pinch of salt

1 cubetto di lievito di birra / 25 gr. of live yeast

Preparazione:

sciogliere il lievito in acqua calda e lasciare che si attivi per almeno 5 min.

Nel frattempo sbattere bene  le uova, aggiungere il sale, i formaggi, il latte ed infine  l’olio ed amalgamare bene il tutto.

A parte fare una fontana con la farina ed aggiungere il lievito nel centro iniziando ad impastare fino a che non si ottiene una crema, poi aggiungere tutto il resto gradualmente impastando piano fino a che la farina non assorbe tutti i liquidi, alla fine aggiungere lo strutto (che deve essere a temperatura ambiente) ed impastare fino ad ottenere un impasto morbido ma non appiccicoso.

Naturalmente se avete un’impastatrice farà tutto il lavoro per voi, ma gli ingredienti vanno comunque aggiunti nella giusta sequenza.

Una volta ottenuto l’impasto mettere in un recipiente bello capiente in quanto con la lievitazione raddoppierà di volume e mettetelo a riposare in un posto caldo per almeno 2 ore. Io di solito uso il forno preriscaldato a 50° per 20 min.

Quando l’impasto avrà raddoppiato di volume formare una palla e metterla nello stampo, da noi si usa il tipico stampo da 22 cm, ma se non lo avete potete usare uno stampo da budino, oppure quello da plum cake, insomma spazio alla fantasia

Preparation:

Dissolve yeast in warm water and let it activate for at least 5 min.

Meanwhile, beat the eggs well, add salt, cheese, milk and finally the oil and mix well.

Now make a fountain with the flour and add the yeast in the center,  begin to knead until you get a creamy dough, then add the rest gradually mixing well until the flour absorbs all the liquid, at the end add the lard (which must be at room temperature) and knead until dough is soft but not sticky.

A good mixer will do all the work for you, but the ingredients should  be added in the same sequence as described above.

Once you have the dough ready put it  into a large  container as it will double in volume and put it to rest in a warm place for at least 2 hours. I usually preheat  the oven at 50 ° for 20 min.

When the dough has doubled in volume, form a ball and put it into a baking tin, we use the typical mold of 22 cm, but if  you dont have it u can use a pudding mold, or a plum cake one…well use your  fantasy

Dopo aver posizionato l’impasto nello stampo lasciar lievitare per un’altra ora e poi spennellare la superficie con il tuorlo sbattuto

After placing the mixture into the mold, let rise for another hour, then brush the surface with beaten egg yolk

Cuocere in forno preriscaldato a 200° per circa un’ora senza mai aprire, altrimenti la torta si affloscia e mettere nel forno un contenitore con un po’ d’acqua per garantire una cottura più uniforme.

Ed ecco il risultato:

Bake in preheated oven at 200°C  for about an hour without ever opening, otherwise the cake collapses; place in the oven a container with some water to ensure a more even cooking.

And here’s the result:

Ottima con gli affettati o con le uova lesse…provatela e Buon Appetito

Excellent with salami or boiled eggs … try it and enjoy your meal

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La nostra risposta al nucleare – Our nuclear free energy

Purtroppo quello che è successo a Fukushima è sotto gli occhi di tutti ma nonostante tutto nel paese del sole e del vento  i nostri politici insistono nel voler percorrere la strada dell’energia nucleare…ora si sono inventati una moratoria di un anno, tanto per far calmare le acque e ripartire all’attacco la prossima primavera, quando la “faccenda” giapponese non occuperà più i titoli dei telegiornali.Stavolta però abbiamo la possibilità di fermarli votando SI al referendum che si terra il 12 e 13 giugno prossimi.

Intanto noi, nel nostro piccolo, come tante altre famiglie italiane abbiamo dato la nostra risposta a chi tesse le lodi dell’energia nucleare.

La risposta si chiama Impianto Fotovoltaico ed ecco come lo abbiamo realizzato lo scorso dicembre:

Unfortunately what has happened in Fukushima is in everyone’s eyes but in spite of all, in the land of sun and wind, our politicians insist on along the road of nuclear power … now they have invented a one-year moratorium  to cool off and attack again next spring when the  Japanese “affair” will not take up more titles in the news. But this time we can stop them by voting YES in the referendum to be held on 12 and 13 June.

Meanwhile, like many other Italian families, we’ve given our answer to those who extols the virtues of nuclear energy.

The answer is called  Photovoltaic System and this is how we made it ​​last December:

Fase 1:

Rimozione della vecchia copertura in Eternit (tradotto in italiano = amianto)

Removal of old asbestos roof

Fase 2:

Posa in opera della nuova copertura con pannelli sandwich coibentati che faranno poi da supporto ai pannelli fotovoltaici

Erection of new roof with insulated sandwich panels which will support the photovoltaic panels

Fase 3:

Finalmente ancoriamo i pannelli fotovoltaici alla copertura

Finally, we anchor the solar panels to cover

Fase 4:

Finitura con cornice in metallo

Finish with metal frame

Questo impianto, realizzato in poco più di una settimana, ci consentirà di produrre poco meno di 20 Kw/h di energia che utilizzeremo x il fabbisogno elettrico ed in parte anche per quello termico di tutta l’azienda.                                                                                                                                               Il costo dell’impianto si ammortizza in 8 anni, ma i pannelli sono garantiti per 20 anni:  in pratica produrremo energia pulita e sarà anche a costo zero per almeno 12 anni.

This plant, built in just over a week, will allow us to produce just under 20 Kw/h of energy, that we use to produce all the electricity we need and partly for the heat of  the  farm.
The cost of the system pays for itself in 8 years, but the panels are guaranteed for 20 years, in simple terms will produce clean energy and will also be at no cost for at least 12 years.

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Spello's Green Gold – L'Oro di Spello

What would be Spello without its precious green gold? Surely us spellani, we owe a lot to our olive oil & we know it, cause every year we celebrate it like if it was a divinity. Also this year at the beginning of december we’ll celebrate the “Benfinita” wich in our slang means “the end of the olives harvest” & as usual there will be the traditional tavernas where u can eat the traditional bruschetta with the new oil & many other traditional rural recipes.

Cosa sarebbe Spello senza il suo prezioso oro verde? Di sicuro noi spellani dobbiamo molto al nostro olio d’oliva e lo sappiamo, perchè tutti gli anni lo celebriamo quasi fosse una divinità. Ed anche quest’anno all’inizio di dicembre festeggeremo la “Benfinita” che in dialetto sta per fine della raccolta e come sempre ci saranno le taverne aperte che proporranno la bruschetta con l’olio nuovo e le ricette della tradizione contadina.

Anyway the main attraction are always the 12 floats. Every float is carried by the oxen or by an ancient tractor & got in the center the “frasca” wich is a real olive tree decorated with salami, sausages, fruits & biscuits to symbolize prosperity and abundance and around the “frasca” the children & adults wearing traditional costumes sing, play and dance the ancient “saltarello”

L’attrazione principale però, restano i carri allegorici allestiti dalle 12 compagnie della frasca. I 12 carri trascinati da buoi o da vecchi trattori ospitano al centro “la frasca” cioè un olivo vero e proprio che come vuole la tradizione è decorato con salumi frutta e dolci secchi a simboleggiare abbondanza e prosperità ed intorno alla “frasca” i bambini e gli adulti festanti che in costume d’epoca suonano cantano e ballano il tradizionale “saltarello” .

In between popular songs, traditional dances and taverna’s food seems that here in Spello we found the way to warm up the cold winter days

Tra mangiate in taverna canti e balli popolari a Spello abbiamo trovato la ricetta per riscaldare le fredde giornate invernali

[googlevideo=http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5407213381002495202#]

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Olive Oil Making オリーブオイルが出来るまで!

まずは摘み取ったオリーブをかごに入れプレスするところに持ち込む

The first step after the harvest is bringin the olives at one of the local oil mills (frantoio) using the perforated boxes below

オリーブ そして オリーブ

our  olives ready to be squeezed

そして オリーブたち! なんと素敵な色でしょう!

This is a closeup of the typical breed of my area, the Moraiolo

これらの機械で葉が取り除かれオリーブの実が洗浄されます。

first the olives are washed, then the machine down here separates them from the leaves (unfortunately leaves dont make oil)….

そして、こちらの機械にてプレスの工程に入ります

And then they pass into the mill where the flesh is separated from the pips,then reduced into a paste, then finally spinned in order to separate the water from the oil…

これが全ての工程を経て出来た、とても貴重なオリーブオイルです

…& finally after being filtered drops into the funnel

マヌちゃん、さくらちゃん、お行儀が悪いですよ!
Behave yourselves!!!

当分はオリーブオイルを楽しみます!

 

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Let's try out the New Olive Oil! オリーブオイルを試食しよう!

さあ!待ちに待ったオリーブオイルの試食です!

Come on! ! We’ve been wating for this moment!!!

今年も大変おいしいオリーブオイルが出来ました!!!

Even this year it looks very good, as usual!!!

これが絞りたてオリーブオイルの色よ!

Emerald green…what a pity u cant smell it

まずはブルスケッタで食べてみました

Toasted bread (in italian “bruschetta”) with a rub of garlic, a pinch of salt & a lot of olive oil

のどにピリッと辛さを感じました。

Strong fruity flavour, a  spicy feeling down the throat

これがここの特徴です!

Unique, unmistakable taste

とてもきれいな色でしょ?!

Dont you feel like you wanna grab one?

 

 

 

 

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The olives harvest-Sunday edition 今日もたくさんオリーブを収穫しました!

This morning there’s no fog, at 9 am we already jumped up the trees

今日も朝からオリーブ狩り!

晴れ晴れとした天気とはいえなかったけど霧がなかっただけ良かったとしよう!

見よ!このアントニオの筋肉を!!!

Popeye collect tons of olives by himself

職人だね~!

Fearless Naoto up in the sky

何より楽しいとき…

Yeah!!! It’s lunchtime again

それはやっぱりこれでしょう

という事で本日のメニューは!

Today’s menu!

Maccheroni with Amatriciana sauce

トマトベースのパスタ ↑

 

羊肉のシチューとゆで野菜 ↓

lamb stew with wild veggies

あわてて撮ったので写真はあまり…でも実物はとてもおいしかったのよ!

そして今回はたくさんの方々のお手伝いもあり2日間で終わりました。

これが今年最後に寄せ集めたオリーブ達!

おいしいオリーブオイルになるのよ!

Exhausted after collecting the last bunch

そして最後に幻想的な風景をどうぞ!

sun shining over the valley

オリーブオイルの試食が楽しみ!

We finished the harvest!!! Today another 650 kg for a total of about 1300 kg, not bad in just two days

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The olives harvest – オリーブ狩りが始まりました!!! 

It’s 11 am, finally the fog lost its fight with the sun & we can officially start the 2010 harvesting…up the ladders!!!

いよいよオリーブ狩りが始まりました!!!

ただ…今日の朝はすっごく霧が濃くなかなか始められませんでした。

10時過ぎたころようやく太陽が顔を出し、さあ本格的に開始!

オリーブの木下にネットを敷き、実をどんどん落としていきます。

Antonio & Mario are laying the nets under the trees

これらの木は山にあるので…。 ↓

Sakura fall down again…

滑るね~!

まったく、遊びすぎ ^o^

…come on, get up!!!

これが昔からのやり方!

we  harvest  the old way using the hands & small rakes…

そしてイタリアのテクノロジー! 電動で実を落とす!

This year I decided to jump into the modern age introducing the electric rake…we’ll see if the revolution takes over

そろそろお昼…。

お昼ごはんはみんなでピクニック!!!

well, the best part of the day, the big lunch up in the hills

さくらちゃん!マヌちゃんが羨ましがっていますよ!

roast pork…yummy!!!

さあ!お昼ごはんが終わったらもう一働きです!

Antonio is disappointed as there’s a lot to do before sunset

こんな感じで今日から始まりました!

At the end of day 1 we harvested about 650 kg of precious olives & we’re still halfway

 

 

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Perugia All Saints street market / ペルージャ ストリートマーケット

We went to the big street market in Perugia!

ペルージャで行われている大きなストリートマーケットに行ってきました。

There is  plenty of stuff…. food,clothes, kitchen stuff… almost 500 stalls…
約500店ほどのテントが並び、食べ物から洋服、台所用品などさまざまな物がありました。

やはり目に付くものは色々な食べ物かしら?
why we  always stop in front of foods stalls?!

We couldn’t  see it all…. maybe We’ll come back next year?!
全てを見切る事はできませんでした。
来年また来れるかな?

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WWOOFing=happyness 私たちのお手伝いをしてくれています!

9月から私たちの農場と宿泊施設をお手伝いしてくれているさくらちゃんです!!!

Her name’s Sakura. she  came to help us at the farm.

マヌエレのお父さんアントニオと共に牧草を取りに行って来ました!

she always give us  happiness.

そしてわらの上で休憩中↓

今年はぺペロンチーノがたくさん取れました。

そして疲れたので休憩 ↓

あまりに休憩するので…↓

Antonio and Sakura they really like to  make  jokes

それでもみんなに愛されるさくらちゃんです!!!

Everybody loves Sakura!!!

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