In this post I wrote about a French expression 'le manque affectif'. It's an Italian one today and this is a bit more cheerful :)
The other day I was watching a cookery programme on telly (as I do) and I heard this very charming Italian expression, 'la bella figura'. I sort of guessed that it translates as 'a beautiful figure', but as I was watching this programme it became clear that it doesn't mean a good body shape. It seems that this is a way of life. It's not just about a beautiful figure but it's about cutting a beautiful shape inside and outside yourself.
Now, 'to cut' means a lot of things, and in this context it means more like making a form or a shape out of a solid piece of something. It's about making the best of yourself. Not only should you present yourself well but also think, act, and behave graciously. Knowing good manners, tact, and dignity is important to anyone. Mmm...I like this phrase very much!
In this programme one lady describes 'la bella figura' as making yourself and everyone around you feel good and as giving something to others - something personal, something you learnt.
What has this got to do with a food programme? Well, it was about Italian food. One Catholic priest opened this pub restaurant and its employees are ex-convicts. There they talk about 'la bella figura', and at the end of the programme this priest says something like, "The food here has one extra vitamin. It is called love."
Now, today's recipe - my favourite combo of salmon, spinach, and tomatoes. I can't get enough of it.
Ingredients (for 24cm tart tin):
(for the pastry):
160g plain flour
80g cold butter, cut into an inch cubes
(for the filling)
200ml crème fraîche
3 eggs
100-150g smoked salmon, roughly ripped
200g young spinach leaves, cooked
a handful of cherry tomatoes, cut in half
Preheat oven to 200C.
Put the flour and butter in a largish bowl and rub the butter into the flour with your fingertips until they start to resemble wet sand. Add a tablespoon of cold water and knead. Add some more water if the dough doesn't stick together. You don't need to knead the living daylights out of it. Just gently does it.
Place the dough onto a sheet of cling film of about 40cm x 40cm and lay another sheet on top of the dough. This way you don't have to mess with extra flour everywhere. Get a rolling pin and roll the dough to the size large enough to cover the bottom and the side of the tin.
Take off the top sheet of the cling film and turn that side down into the tin. Fit the dough into the corners of the tin gently. Leave the top cling film on the top and leave the tin in the fridge for about 15 minutes.
Mix the eggs and crème fraîche in a bowl and season with salt and pepper. Squeeze excess liquid out of the spinach. Mix half of the spinach and half of the salmon into the egg mixture.
Take the dough out of the fridge, remove the cling film, and tidy the edges. Pour the egg mixture and arrange the rest of the salmon, spinach, and tomato halves (cut side up) prettily.
Bake in the oven for about half an hour until set.