The recipes

Montalbano's passion for cooking  is an expression of the history and culture of Sicily, in which the food acquires a very strong affective valence, synonymous with deprivation but also historical materialization of love, in this case the mother, who in her food its extension. Montalbano is often alone, far from suffering, Livia, his eternal Genoese woman, who lived almost like a hope, in the distance, a recomposition with things, with the world, with himself.

Food as a link to life, to a land, a culture, an expression of affection that is visceral in the ingestion of food the ritual of continuity, perhaps with the memory or the simple pleasure of enjoying life in one gulp. In all the books in which he stars Montalbano, the Sicilian cooking acquires a relevant role (thanks to the two characters Adelina, the maid, and Calogero, owner of the restaurant with the same name), because the inspector is a gourmet.

Below some Sicilian recipes
The Sicilian Cannoli

The name comes from the Vulgar Latin of the shrub cannoli " cane " , with hollow cylindrical drum , which was used in ancient times for various uses , even to contain food ingredients. It also tells of an ancient Sicilian custom carnival in which it was out of a cinnamon cream cheese instead of water . The cannoli , consisting of a scorcia frit must be crispy and then the cream cheese should be added at the end. The best pastries fill the cannoli at the time of sale .

PREPARATION : Prepare the casings , or buy them already made ​​, and then the cream cheese . To fill the cannoli is preferable to the dose of a pound of sweet ricotta , which is whipped with a fork with 500 grams of sugar , stretching with a little milk and flavor with vanilla and cinnamon : sieve and stir in 200 grams of diced candied fruit and pieces of chocolate. Stuff now wraps , sprinkle grit on the edge of pistachios, and whiten externally with fine powdered sugar. The casings are filled only at the time to be served : after a few hours in fact soften and lose the crisp. The cannoli, cassata with , are the desserts that qualify the most traditional Sicilian pastries . It was a typical dessert carnival , but today this at any time of the year

Gli arancini

The rice was brought to Sicily by the Arabs . 

 INGREDIENTS (for 6 people). For the arancini : 500 grams of rice , 150 grams of bread crumbs , 2 eggs , white flour, 50 g butter , 60 g of grated cheese , salt, pepper, chopped parsley. For the filling: 200 grams of meat with sauce, 50 grams of fresh peas cooked with onion, 100 grams of unsalted fresh Tuma goat pieces, 60 grams of grated cheese from Ragusa , olive oil for frying , a pinch of saffron. PREPARATION: Boil the rice in a quart of boiling salted water , cooking it over medium heat for about 15 minutes, stirring constantly , until it has absorbed all the water . Remove from the heat and quickly incorporate two beaten eggs, butter and grated cheese . Let it cool and , in the meantime , prepare the filling by mixing the meat ( previously chopped ) with a little ' sauce , a pinch of saffron, peas , tuma pieces and a bit ' of grated cheese . With wet hands , take a little 'rice , flatten it on the palm , depose a teaspoon of filling and richiudervi over the rice , resulting in a ball . Switch in flour, beaten egg and breadcrumbs then fry

Caponata o caponatina

Apparently its name derivas from the foods offered in the ' cauponae ' , taverns in the ports of Sicily, where they were initially cooked aubergines imported from the East . Eggplants that the noble classes considered bad and dangerous to give so much credit to the etymology (uncorrected ) of eggplant = malum insanum . The cooks of caupone transformed into juicy and delicious eggplant caponata and caponatine
Ingredients: 5 or 6 aubergines not too big and firm , 5 or 6 thick -fleshed peppers , green olives , a nice celery, two heaping tablespoons of capers, a large onion , 5 or 6 tomatoes cut into small cubes , two tablespoons sugar , white vinegar , salt and olive oil
PREPARATION: Put in a pan the diced vegetables are not too small , capers, finely chopped onion , salt , olive oil, olives and sugar. Cover the pan and cook over high heat. When cooked, add the vinegar and let it evaporate , still over high heat. You can serve it immediately . It's great as a side dish . Wanting to keep you put in glass jars ( squeaky clean and dried in a hot oven ) joining though, when it is still hot , a gram of salicylic acid per kilogram of caponata

Pasta with sarde

Ingredients for 4 people: 400 g of pasta ( razor clams , Perciatelli , or bucatini ) , 400 g of fresh sardines , wild fennel 200 g weds, 2 salted anchovies , 1 tablespoon pine nuts , 1 tablespoon of raisins, ½ onion , bread crumbs , 1 sachet of saffron , olive oil , salt and pepper.

PREPARATION: Clean and boil a bunch of wild fennel in salted water for 15 minutes from the boil, drain them ( keep the water aside) , squeeze , cut into thin pieces of 1-2 cm. Chop an onion and fry in half a glass of oil, add 4 salted anchovies cleaned and boned making undo with a fork , then 400 grams of fresh sardines (fully boned and cleaned) , salt, pepper, 25 grams of raisins, 25 grams of pine nuts , 20 g of crushed toasted almonds : mix gently , and then cook for 10 minutes. Add the fennel and a pinch of saffron , stir gently , reduce heat , and simmer for another 10 minutes. Aside from frying 8 fresh sardines , opened like a book without flour. In a fry pan to make 6 tablespoons breadcrumbs. Boil the pasta in the cooking of fennel and collect it very al dente . Season with sardines and fennel sauce , place in a greased baking dish , sprinkle with bread crumbs and cover with eight fried sardines . Bake at 220 degrees for 8-10 minutes