Italian cuisine is incredibly popular all over the world. This is not surprising, because for Italians, cooking is a real art. Chef Alexey Kambulatov agreed to reveal the secrets of cooking not only incredibly tasty, but also healthy dishes. He has developed a menu for a balanced healthy diet, represented by dishes from 14 national cuisines of the world. Each of them is the author's rethinking of the classic recipe. Thanks to the special methods of preparation and the replacement of some ingredients with low-calorie ones, such food becomes an excellent dietary diet.
Lemon pearl barley risotto with mint
Risotto is a traditional Italian dish made from round rice, which is characterized by a high content of starch, the most common carbohydrate in the human diet. To make risotto more dietary and healthy, it is enough to replace rice with barley - so this cereal, rich in vitamins and amino acids, in such an unusual Italian version acquires a completely different fresh taste.
As a rule, salt is added to the risotto during cooking. However, in the author's execution of recipes, salt is basically excluded, which makes it possible to make dishes healthier and allows you to get the natural taste of natural products.
Ingredients:
- Pearl barley - 300 g
- Lemon - 1 pc.
- Onion - 1 pc.
- Mint - a handful
- Cheese (hard, grated) - 150 g
- Vegetable broth - 1 glass
- Olive oil - 2 tablespoons l.
Preparation:
- Heat olive oil in a deep frying pan. Cut the onion into small cubes and fry lightly.
- Rinse the pearl barley well, dry and mix in a pan with onions and celery. While stirring, slowly pour in the broth.
- Grate the lemon zest on a fine grater. Squeeze out the lemon juice.
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Mix half of the cooked cheese (75 g), some of the mint leaves, zest and lemon juice, whisk and pour into the pan.
Stir well, cook until tender and immediately remove from heat.
- Place in bowls, sprinkle evenly with cheese and garnish with mint.
Picaty Milanese (Breaded Chicken Fillet Medallions)
It should come as no surprise that a dish that, according to the traditional recipe, needs to be fried well in oil, has made it onto our diet food list. This meat dish can be made easy thanks to the use of dietary chicken breast, as well as the use of low-intensity frying and enzyme technologies - cooking at low temperatures using vacuum and steam, which allows you to preserve the naturalness and useful properties of the product.
Ingredients:
- Chicken fillet - 400 gr
- Hard cheese (grated) - 5 tbsp. l.
- Oregano - 1 tsp (can be substituted with dried basil, thyme, or a mixture of Provencal herbs)
- Lemon (zest) - 1 pc.
- Breadcrumbs or bran - 3/4 cup
- Egg - 2 pcs.
- Olive oil
- Tomato - 2 pcs.
- Onion - 1 pc., Garlic - 1 clove
Preparation:
- Cut the chicken fillet into small pieces, beat them to a thickness of 1 cm.
- Beat eggs with a whisk. Grate the lemon zest.
- For breading, mix crackers (bran) with grated hard cheese, lemon zest and oregano. Soak fillets in eggs and then roll in breadcrumbs. Add some olive oil and simmer for 5-6 minutes on each side.
- Peel the tomatoes and cut into cubes. Cut the onion into cubes and fry until transparent.
- Add tomatoes and garlic and simmer for 10 minutes.
Boscaiola pasta with light mushroom sauce
Pasta is a dough, which means that it is completely unsuitable for a diet? There is a little secret that allows you to make this popular and widespread dish healthier even at home! It is enough just to deviate a little from the traditional recipe and replace the flour for making pasta dough with less high-calorie semolina.
Ingredients:
- Porcini mushrooms - 100 g
- Olive oil - 1-2 tbsp l.
- Fettuccine pasta - 400 g
- Green peas - 200 g
- Bulb onion - 1 piece
- Minced veal - 100 g
- Butter - 60 g
- Garlic - 2 cloves
- Hard cheese - 60 g
Preparation:
- Peel the garlic and onion, chop finely. Chop the mushrooms finely.
- Melt olive oil and butter in a frying pan. Fry the onion and garlic until transparent.
- Add minced meat and mushrooms, lightly fry for 7 minutes. Add green peas, continue to cook, stirring occasionally.
- Boil the fettuccine and pour the mushroom sauce over the prepared pasta.
- Serve with grated cheese.
Photo: Getty Images
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