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Written by Itri on 03 August 2010 | Posted in All News Entries

INVOLTINI DI MELANZANE

Aubergine spring rolls.
A delightful Mediterranean taste with cherry tomatoes contrasting with the fried aubergine. Lovely with a filling of buffalo mozzarella.

Ingredients:
- 4 medium aubergines, peeled and sliced lenghtwise into 5mm (1/4″) pieces
- 400 g (15 oz) Italian ’00′ flour
-Sunflower oil, for frying
- 3 mozzarella balls
- 20 basil leaves
- salt to taste

Submerge the aubergines in water with 1 tablespoon flour for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, heat the oil. Drain the aubergines from the water, pressing two slices at a time between your palms, and arrange over a tray to dry. Cover the slices with flour to coat all sides. Fry in the hot oil until golden-brown and transfer to a tray lined with paper towels. Cool for two minutes, then gently press each slice between clean paper towels to get rid of any excess oil. Season with salt. Slice the mozzarella into rounds 5mm thick, and cut again into wide strips. Place one piece of mozzarella and one basil leaf across the lower third of each aubergine slice and gently roll up.

ASSEMBLY:
- 20 cherry tomatoes
- 3 garlic cloves, sliced thinly
- extra virgin olive oil
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 5 basil leaves, coarsley chopped

Toss the tomatoes with the garlic, oil, salt, pepper and basil and drizzle with more olive oil until well-combined. Layer half the seasoned tomatoes over the bottom of a 20×20 cm baking dish. Line the aubergine rolls on top and top with the remaining tomatoes.
Bake at 180 ºC for 15minutes. Serve hot.

BUON APPETITO

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Written by Itri on 29 June 2010 | Posted in All News Entries, Recipes

CIAMBELLA

Ciambella is a typical Italian sponge cake, the favourite of kids. You could eat tons of it in your morning milk bowl (zuppetta). Is a very easy to make pudding but still one of the best. Traditionally it is cooked in a pan with a hole in the middle but any pan is actually fine. This is the recipe for the “two colors” one. Vanilla and chocolate.

Let`s see how to make it:

Ingredients:
- 250 g butter
- 250 g sugar
- 500 g plain flour
- 125 ml milk
- 40 g yeast
- 4 eggs
- 120 g cocoa
- vanilla flavouring

In a large mixing bowl with a whisk combine first butter and sugar until it becomes a compact whipped mixture. Add the eggs, flour and milk to the dry mixture and beat hard until creamy.
Add the vanilla flavour and the yeast and mix until it becomes a dense liquid.
Separate the compote in two parts and add the cocoa in one.
Finally put the two mixture in a cake tray and give a final mixing. Put in the oven at 180°C for 45/60 minutes.
To check if it`s cooked my mom would put a “spaghetto” in it and if it comes out dry the ciambella is ready!

itri ciambella

Buon appetito

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Written by Itri on 22 May 2010 | Posted in All News Entries, Recipes

I-TRIp: SARDEGNA NIGHT

Sardinia is the second large island in the Mediterranean sea (after Sicily).

Its strategic position (in the middle of the Mediterranean) made the Sardinia an attractive location for many civilizations. In modern history Sardinia was under the Spanish domain (Ferdinad II of Aragon and his “Kingdom of Sardinia). After the “Spanish war of succession” the Sardina became first Austrian and then finally Italian in the 1978.
Sardinia is one of the most beautiful regions of Italy with a fantastic variety of landscapes.
Probably the best part of it is the seaside. The coasts of Sardinia are generally high and rocky, with long, relatively straight stretches of coastline, many outstanding headlands, a few wide, deep bays, many inlets, and with various smaller islands off the coast.

Now let us skip to the most important part (from our point of view): THE FOOD.
Typical products of Sardinia are cheeses, meats and special breads.
Cheese like Pecorino Sardo (hard and strong mature cheese), known since prehistory, is a cheese made only from sheep milk and obviously marked with D.O.P (Denominazione di Origine Protetta) that means it can only be produced in Sardinia and by Sardinians.
They`re also very good with goat cheeses thank to a particular kind of goat they have.

Other famous cheeses are: Caciotta Sarda, Fresa, Casu. And also a very strange kind of cheese that is not allowed by law to be commercialised. It`s called “CASU MARTZU” (rotten cheese) and is a cheese where grubs lived.

When it comes to meat stuff, Sardinian are great! Suckling pig, wild boar and lamb are the most famous. The “PORCEDDO” (the pig) roasted in its whole shape, or the boar and the lamb cooked with herbs such as mint and myrtle.

Breads are very particular in Sardinia, the most are dried so they keeps longer: CARASAU, CIVRAXIU, PISTOCCU but also MODDIZOSU and COCCOI.

If you are thinking about going to Sardinia, remember that it is not just “COSTA SMERALDA”, the entire island is amazing. Don`t miss places like: Piscinas (Oristano), Stintino (Sassari), Golfo di Orosei (Nuoro), Quartu Sant`Elena and Pula (Cagliari).

Sardinia is fantastic. We hope you will have the chance to visit it.

SARDEGNA NIGHT @ ITRI

THE MENU
Starter
Tortino di carciofi
Homemade artichoke timball oven baked and served with rocket and toasted bread.

Pasta Dish
Gnocchetti sardi con salsiccia
Homemade gnocchi cooked with sausages, cherry tomatoes, garlic, olive oil,
fresh basil and saffron. Finished with Pecorino Sardo.

Main course
Agnello al mirto
Lamb stew finished with typical Sardinian liqueur “Mirto”.

Dessert
Seadas
Seadas is a typical dessert also called “sweet ravioli”.
Stuffed with sweet lemon ricotta. Deep fried.

Grazie a tutti!
See you next time

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Written by Itri on 01 April 2010 | Posted in All News Entries, Events

Vote ITRI at the Gordon Ramsay`s Best Restaurant

Do you think Itri is a fantastic restaurant? Click here and vote for us now!

Following on from the success of last year’s search on The F Word, Gordon is on the hunt for the best restaurants of 2010 – restaurants run by people with a passion for food who deliver great food, great service and a great atmosphere.

To vote for us just click here and follow the instruction on the Channel 4 website.

Thank you very much for doing this.

Grazie

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Written by Itri on 13 March 2010 | Posted in All News Entries

I-TRIp: LOMBARDIA NIGHT

Another great night of the culinary trip through the different region of Italy.
This time we`ve been to Lombardy.

Lombardy is one of the 20 region of Italy. It`s situated in the north of the country and Milan, its capital, with its history and culture is one of the major tourists attraction of the region.
Lombardy is a region with different geographical carachter with mountains, hills, plain and lakes.
Milan, Lake Garda, Como are all great destination if you are thinking about going in Lombardia. Those are the most famous destinations but not the only ones. For example you would like to see the little city of Saronno (just north of Milan) where they make the world famous liqueur AMARETTO.

Nice places and also very nice food. The culinary culture is diversified as is the territory.
Typical dishes of Lombardia are Polenta, Risotto alla Milanese (saffron risotto), Gorgonzola cheese that are the most famous but also Osso Buco, Cotolette alla Milanese (breaded escalope), vitello tonnato (veal with tuna cream) and Caseula (pork stew).
Lombardy is also famous for its cured meats and cheeses like the Bresaola of Valtellina, Duck salami and Brianza salami. The most famous cheeses are Gorgonzola, Grana Padano (similar to parmesan cheese), Taleggio (soft cheese) and Quartirolo lombardo.
About sweets who doesn`t know the “Panettone” but there are a lot of nice desserts like the “Sbrisolona Mantovana” (crumble tart).

This is what we had at ITRI:

Carpaccio di manzo
Beef`s Carpaccio served with potatoes, chives and tomatoes timball. Served with onion`s stew.

Risotto alla Milanese
Risotto with onion, saffron, parmesan cheese and butter.

Maiale e polenta
Pork chop cooked with thyme, honey and gorgonzola cheese.
Served with polenta.

Sbriciolata Mantovana
Crumble almond tart with patisserie cream.

Thanks to everyone who was here.

We`ll see you soon.

Ciao

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Written by Itri on 11 March 2010 | Posted in All News Entries, Events

ITRI CHOCOLATE NIGHT

For the chocolate lovers yesterday at ITRI has been a great night!

This was a real particular night, everything made with chocolate, from starters to dessert.
Every one has enjoyed it and we want to thank you all those that were with us last night.

Have a look at what you missed:

Trofie pasta with butternut squash cream and drizzled with chocolate

itri chocolate pasta

Scottish venison with herbs and dark chocolate served with mash potatoes

itri chocolate venison

Trio of chocolate tart, chocolate mousse and chocolate salami

itri chocolate night dessert

Thank you again to everyone.

Ciao

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Written by Itri on 18 February 2010 | Posted in All News Entries, Events

The new ITRI look

If you haven`t been at ITRI recently you probably
haven`t seen the new ITRI look.
Almost everyone knows that here at ITRI we care more about the food rather than the decor… Now we are trying to fix the look as well…

New look at ITRI

We strive to offer the best Italian cooking in town and we want you
to enjoy it as much as possible.

Come at Itri to see the new brick style

We are waiting for you to come!

Ciao

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Written by Itri on 17 February 2010 | Posted in All News Entries

The Italian Christmas

THE ITALIAN CHRISTMAS

Have you ever spent Christmas in Italy?
Christmas in Italy is a big affair, with lots of celebrating, visiting family and, of course, lots of food (with meals lasting for hours!).
Officially Christmas in Italy starts on the 8th of December with the “Immacolata” and with the first of the special Christmas meal. Typical dishes of the Immacolata are, especially in the south, “Pettole“(or zeppole), and also the famous “Baccala`” that could be fried, marinated or steamed.
In terms of food, the biggest meal is definitely the Christmas Eve one.
This is probably the most important night for few reason. First of all the religious side, at midnight Jesus will born. Also because is the biggest meal of all the celebrations (something you`ve been looking forward to) and the presents are opened on that night too. Sometimes during the meal between the first and second course.
The Christian tradition would not allowed to eat meat on that night and that`s why on the Christmas Eve,
Italians use to eat only fish based dishes (sometimes a stuffed turkey could appear on the table). Typycal dishes are “Linguine with vongole” and “Capitone” and maybe other 8/10 contorni.

The meal is followed by a variety of Christmas desserts like Panettone, Panforte or Torrone and obviously a nice glass of Spumante.

Il panettone

The big meal ends just in time for the midnight celebration (when Jesus borns) with fireworks and with the baby Jesus placed in the Presepe. The night will end playing “Tombola” or other cards game.
Then you will go to bed exhausted but looking forward to the next day’s big Christmas lunch.

On the 25th the lunch will definitely be “Pasta al forno or Cannelloni” followed by Agnello arrostito and vegetables. Again Panettone, panforte and torrone are the desserts.
The lunch meal will last until dinner time and will probably end start eating again.

In every home you`ll get in, you`ll find on the table a big pot with dried fruits like dates and figs,
the Christmas threes with boxes of chocolate and panettone under it.

For the new year`s eve how to forget the Zampone e Lenticchie, the dish supposed to bring richness. Every party around the country will serve this dish at midnight.

Zampone e lenticchie

Italy is a country with many ethnic and cultural influences, so Christmas traditions are diverse and cannot be generalized.

All the celebrations will last until the 6th of January, day when the “Befana” comes and brings the last presents. Italy doesn’t have the tradition of Father Christmas. Instead they have this good witch like woman (Befana) who leaves presents for children on the night of Epiphany if they are good – or black coal (il carbone) if they have been bad.
You will see ‘coal’ sweets all around Italy at this time of year made from black sugar.

So be good this Christmas otherwise you`ll have “Tanto Carbone alla Befana”!!!

Itri wishes you all a merry merry Christmas.

See you soon!

Glossary
- Immacolata(Immaculate conception): the Immaculate Conception is, according to Roman Catholic Dogma, the conception of the Virgin Mary without any stain (macula in Latin) of original sin. It`s celebrated on the 8th of December.
- Pettole: deep fried pizza dough sometimes stuffed with anchovies (depending on the area).
- Baccala`: salted cod.
- Vongole: clams.
- Capitone: big female eel.
- Contorni: contorni means side dishes. Typical are calamari fritti (fried squid), insalata di mare(sea food salad), fritto misto di verdure (deep fried mixed vegetables), mandarini e castagne(mandarin and chestnut),
- Panettone: is the tall, fruit-filled Italian sweet bread that is served only at Christmas.
- Panforte: a heavenly mixture of honey, spices, candied fruit, and almonds.
- Torrone: is a nougat candy, typically made of honey, sugar, and egg white, with toasted almonds or other nuts, and usually shaped into either a rectangular tablet or a round cake.
- Spumante: Italian sweet Champagne.
- Presepe: creche, Christmas nativity.
- Tombola: bingo.
- Zampone e linticchie: stuffed pigs trotter with lentils.

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Written by Itri on 16 December 2009 | Posted in All News Entries, Did you know that..., Events

RADIO FORTH AWARDS 2009: And the winner is….ITRI!!!

Yes that`s right!
The winner is ITRI for the “FORTH2 Best bar/restaurant 2009″ voted by the public of Edinburgh, Lothian and Fife. Wednesday 18th of November a big ceremony was held in the Capital`s Assembly Room. Lots the famous guest that attended the awards: from the SPANDAU BALLET to the SUGABABES. Also a standing ovation was given in memory of fallen firefighter Ewan Williamson.

Itri Restaurant won the “FORTH2 best bar/restaurant 2009″ awards voted by the member of the public. We want to thank you all the people who voted for us. You really make us very very proud.

itri radio forth awards

radio forth awards the winner

All the categories and winners are:

FORTH2 Best Bar or Restaurant Award with The Branding Company
Winner: ITRI, Edinburgh

Forth One Best Artist Award with Victor Paris
Winner: Sugababes

Forth One Best Place to Work Award with Ocean Terminal
Winner: Apex Hotels, Edinburgh

Forth One Fringe Award
Winner: Adam Hills

Forth One Best Teacher Award with FFDR
Winner: Alison Syme, Collydean Primary School, Glenrothes

The Forth One to Watch Award with the Liquid Rooms
Winner: Dirty Modern Hero

FORTH2 Contribution to Music Award with Ocean Terminal
Winner: Spandau Ballet

FORTH2 Contribution to Sports Award with Buyrite Bathrooms
Winner: Jim Leishman

FORTH2 Favourite Visitor Attraction Award with Continental Airlines
Winner: Dynamic Earth

FORTH2 Best Performance Award with Heritage Portfolio
Winner: The Noisettes – T in the Park

Radio Forth Local Hero Award with The Edinburgh Evening News
Winner: The Green Watch at Tollcross Fire station (in memory of Ewan Williamson)

Radio Forth Cash for Kids Award with Edinburgh City Private Hire
Winner: The Special Needs Information Point

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Written by Itri on 19 November 2009 | Posted in All News Entries, Reviews