Christmas is here again with all its traditional events and recipes. It has become an enjoyable habit to give you some typical Roman dishes or a few recipes to try with every new issue of Nerone .
The recipes below are, of course, traditional Christmas and New Year recipes and I am sure some of you will enjoy trying them. Please mail us recipes typical of your home countries, as it would be a nice idea to print them and share your own culture with other foreigners in Rome. Moreover, as I enjoy cooking a lot myself, I'd love to have a go at making a traditional foreign dish! This could be the prelude to an international cooking festival that we could organise together some time! Enough chitchat! Here are some recipes and menus! Hungry? Then we're in business!

MENU:

December 24th
Anguilla Marinata (eel), Bavette al Tonno (pasta with tuna), Risotto alla Pescatora (rice with sea-food), Baccalà in Guazzetto (cod steamed in tomato sauce), Frittura di Pesce (mixed fried fish), Filetti di Baccalà (fried cod), mixed fried vegetables: broccoli, cardoons, artichokes and courgettes.

December 25th
Hen's broth made in Stracciatella or with Cappelletti, Fettuccine with ragù, boiled chicken, roast lamb with potatoes, puntarelle salad

December 31st
Zampone or Cotechino with Lenticchie (pork sausage and lentils)

TRADITIONAL CHRISTMAS CAKES
Panettone, Torrone, Panforte, Pangiallo, Panpepato, Pandoro, Ricciarelli, dried fruit, figs, dates, oranges and mandarins (the broken skin of which was once used to play bingo!)

RECIPES:

Bavette al Tonno
The Bavette is just a type of pasta that can be purchased in any supermarket. Calculate about 120g of Bavette per person.
The sauce is easy to make: you'll need garlic, olive oil, a tin of tomatoes, tuna, parsley, salt and pepper. That's it!
Crush two or three cloves of garlic between your fingers. Heat some olive oil in a pan, add the garlic and leave to brown. When the garlic is ready, add the tomatoes and then the tuna, salt, pepper and some more very finely chopped garlic. Leave the sauce on a gentle heat for about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, boil the pasta (check the box for cooking time), drain it and pour the sauce on top. Sprinkle some fresh parsley over it and... enjoy!

Baccalà in Guazzetto
It is best to buy the Baccalà ready for cooking otherwise you'll have to leave the dried, salted cod in water for two days, changing the water every hour! Fillet the fish and chop into big pieces. Put a chopped onion in a pan with olive oil and cook until brown. Add tomato purée and allow to thicken. Now place the pieces of cod in the sauce and leave to cook on a gentle heat. Be careful when you add the salt because the cod is already salted! Add some pepper, raisins and a handful of pine seeds.

Filetti di Baccalà
First prepare the batter, which is a mixture of water and flour. Dip a piece of cod in the batter and then drop it in hot vegetable oil to fry. Remove when it starts to get brown... it's delicious! Remember to add more vegetable oil while frying if necessary. Vegetables can be fried in batter in the same way (broccoli and cardoons need to be boiled first).

Stracciatella
For six people, you'll need about two litres of beef stock or chicken broth. Mix together four eggs, 3-4 tablespoons of semolino, 3 tablespoons of parmesan cheese, 1 tablespoon of finely chopped parsely, a pinch of nutmeg, salt and half a cup of cold broth. Beat the ingredients with a fork and then pour the mixture into the boiling broth. Keep stirring so as to break up the eggs. The stracciatella soup should be served well seasoned with a lot of parmesan cheese.

Puntarelle
The curly "puntarelle" are not very well-known, but they are typical of Roman cuisine at this time of the year. They are usually served with a salad dressing made of garlic and anchovy paste. Puntarelle are best bought in one of the street markets, for example, in Piazza Campo dei Fiori, P.delle Coppelle, Via Della Pace or Via Mario de' Fiori, and from a Roman vendor who knows how to cut them up. Then you'll need the help of some friends: agenerous one to pour the olive oil, a stingy one to measure out the vinegar and a wise one to add the salt! Then you add the chopped garlic and the anchovies (in pieces or, better still, in a paste). Finally, tie a big napkin round your neck as this salad is very difficult to eat without making a mess!

Cotechino e lenticchie
(pork sausage and lentils)
Chop and fry a medium-sized onion in olive oil. Once the onion is brown, add a tin of tomatoes, salt and pepper. In another pot, immerse the pork sausage in cold water and boil it. In a third pot, boil the lentils with a stick of chopped celery, a chopped carrot, a chopped onion, a clove of garlic and a pinch of salt. Add the boiled lentils to the tomato sauce along with a cup of water from the lentil pot. Leave on a gentle heat for some minutes and then add the half cooked pork sausage or stuffed pig's trotter cut into slices. Once the meat is cooked, the dish is ready to serve... and don't forget to wish good luck to your guests! Not as a reflection on your culinary skills, of course, but because of an old Roman belief according to which if you eat lentils on New Year's Eve, it will bring you money!
Since money is not as important as good health, don't forget that lentils are rich in phosphorus, iron and vitamin B1!
That's all. Don't forget to send us your recipes... and again, a Very Happy New Year to you all.