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"Un caloroso saluto a tutti!" Welcome to another recipe edition from Adriana's Italian Bakery!

This week's Italian recipes:
  -Minestrone
  -Sogliola alla Fiorentina
  -Crostata di Limone alla Siciliana

Give these simple but scrumptious recipes a try. Please enjoy the complimentary news article report from "Only In Italy.com".

Enjoy the issue!

Yours Truly,              
Adriana Ciccarello       

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Recipe: Minestrone

Minestrone

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, diced (about 1 cup)
2 medium carrots, diced (about 1 cup)
1 celery rib, diced (about 3/4 cup)
2 medium zucchini, diced
1 garlic clove, minced
3 medium potatoes (about
3/4 pound), unpeeled and diced
3 cups thinly sliced Savoy cabbage
1 (15 1/2-ounce) can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
1 (141/2-ounce) can diced tomatoes
2 (14-ounce) cans lower-sodium chicken broth
3 cups water
1/2 teaspoon crushed dried rosemary
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
Grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

In a large pot, heat olive oil over medium heat.

Add onion; cook, stirring occasionally, 6 minutes or until softened.

Add carrots and celery; cook, stirring occasionally, 3 minutes.

Add zucchini and garlic; cook, stirring occasionally, 3 minutes.

Add potatoes and cabbage and cook, mixing occasionally, 3 minutes.

Add beans, tomatoes, broth, water, rosemary, salt and pepper. Cover and bring to a simmer; adjust heat and simmer gently 1 to 2 hours.

Serve with Parmesan cheese. Makes 6 servings.

That's it!

Recipe: Sogliola alla Fiorentina

Sogliola alla Fiorentina
Florentine-style sole

Ingredients:

800 grams fillets of sole
Plain white flour
80 grams butter
One glass white wine
1.2 kg spinach
Salt

Directions:

Melt half the butter in a casserole and add the fillets of sole, coated with flour.

Fry on both sides until golden and add the wine; allow to evaporate.

Wash, boil, chop and toss the spinach in the remaining butter; add to the fish. Warm gently to allow all the flavors to mingle and serve on a warmed platter.

Fish is always better moistened with a little sauce, so if it reduces too much, simply add a little wine and melted butter.

Serve with a dry, full flavored white wine.

That's it!

Recipe: Crostata di Limone alla Siciliana

Crostata di Limone alla Siciliana
Sicilian Lemon Tart

Ingredients:

Pie dough:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
5 tsp superfine sugar
1/2 cup butter, cut into small pieces
1 tbsp water

Filling:
2/3 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup superfine sugar
4 eggs
Grated rind of 3 lemons
9 tbsp lemon juice
Confectioner's sugar for dusting

Directions:

To make the pie dough, place the flour and sugar in a bowl and rub in the butter using your fingertips. Add the water and mix until a soft pie dough has formed. Wrap and chill for 30 minutes.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough and line a 10-inch loose-bottomed quiche pan. Prick the pie dough all over with a fork.

Line the pie shell with foil and dried beans and bake blind in a preheated oven at 375 degrees for 15 mins. Remove the foil and beans, return to the oven and cook the pie shell for another 15 mins.

To make the filling, whisk the cream, sugar, eggs and lemon rind and juice together. Place the pie shell, still in its pan, on a cookie sheet and pour in the filling.

Bake in the oven for about 20 mins., or until just set. Let cool then lightly dust with confectioner's sugar before serving.

Note: You might need to add more than 1 tbsp. of water to make the dough stick together.

That's it!

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Only In Italy!

"Only In Italy" is a daily news column that translates & 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:

Italian Language Losing Importance In the EU

January 20 - Italian EU commissioner Franco Frattini has in an unusual step criticized his own institution for not translating a website promoting the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome in Italian. "I cannot suppress my bitterness and dissatisfaction over this decision that hits the Italian language", Mr. Frattini said in a statement circulated among journalists. The statement adds that "the commission cannot and must not ignore certain aspects of its past and presence which are crucial for our collective memory. I ask this grave deficit to be urgently repaired."

The commissioner, himself an Italian, was referring to the fact that the Rome Treaty was signed in Italy. He also argued that the Italian-speaking community is one of the largest within the 27-nation bloc. On the website of the commission's External Relations directorate-general, an explanatory text on the March anniversary celebrations is available in the three working languages of the EU; French, English and German as well as Spanish, but not available in Italian.

The European Commission for its part called the incident "a misunderstanding" and pointed to the fact that the responsibility for the website lies with the External Relations directorate. "There are no fixed rules for a DG [directorate-general] when it comes to languages", a commission spokesperson said. He added that "all official websites" related to the EU's 50th birthday and launched by the Directorate General for Communication, officially responsible for the matter, are carried out in all 23 official languages, "including Italian".

But Mr. Frattini's complaint is yet another proof how languages are becoming a touchy issue within the bloc and the language issue seems to be a more delicate one for Italy, amid concerns by Italian political circles that Rome is slowly losing its influence in the EU. Lately Emma Bonino, an Italian minister for European affairs, criticized the fact that her country is under-represented in the European Commission structures, with only a few Italians in top jobs.

"Porca Troja!" I think we don't understand we have trouble understanding.

"Italy, the slowest-growing economy among the dozen sharing the Euro, has "serious problems" and "very low potential for growth," the European Union monetary affairs commissioner, Joaquin Almunia." We could be wrong but it appears that Italy is looked upon as the "special" child of the European Union.

"Italy has complained at EU Commission plans to drop Italian translation from some of its press briefings." That simply means the "special" child has to go and learn English, German, or French.

Europeans are vicious towards Italy. You should see the looks on the faces of the EU Commission members in Brussels during hearings and press conferences. They act surprised when they see us wearing shoes.

You know, we normally feel ugly when we travel outside Italy but we have never felt as ugly as we do when we visit other European countries.

A tourism portal on line, Italia.it, costing 45 million Euro "created to promote the tourism we can offer via the Internet as well as to promote the cultural, environmental and whole food wealth of Italy" and as it says on page 16 of its brochure "uses an interactive program to organize and plan the journey".

The "special" child started the project in March 2004 and has still not completed it.
And it forgot where the money went.

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