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VILLA CLOTILDE: About us
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Clotilde is the owner of the house and she loves cooking. Being Sicilian, since she was a child she has always been surrounded by traditional cooking. Sicilian cooking is an expression of the people, generous, tasty and with extremely rich aromas and flavours. It’s for this reason that at "Villa Clotilde" whether you stay just for a day or longer, we offer cooking lessons. This is not a formal lesson but more of a chat in the kitchen, where all of our senses are involved, because apart from watching, you will get your hands dirty, smell the aromas while cooking and finally eat what is prepared, perhaps with a nice glass of nero d'avola.
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A taste of Sicily::
 Jasmine Ice Cream
The Arabs were the first who flavoured snow from the "nivere" (ice houses) in the mountains to make real sorbets. The Sicilians made it their treasure, and from the Renaissance onwards, Sicilian ice cream became the most fashionable ice cream in Europe. The scent of jasmine, which is very common in the Trapani region, takes us back to the very first ice creams made on the island. However jasmine should not be confused with "scurzunera" which was used before jasmine. The "scurzunera" in fact derives from a wild plant that was used as an antidote for snake bites (in Sicilian “scursuni”). The flowers were used to flavour ice cream complemented by cinnamon.
Ingredients
for 6 people:
- 50 gr. of jasmine (only the flowers)
- 150 gr. caster sugar
- A small glass of rum
- 4 eggs (only the yolks)
Put the freshly picked jasmine to infuse in half a litre of water for a few hours, and filter it. Heat the flavoured water in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Then, pour in the sugar and let it melt, stirring continuously. Remove from the heat and let cool, add the egg yolks, the rum, stir and place in a container in a freezer or in an ice cream maker until a soft sorbet is formed. Serve.
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Sicilian Oranges
Oranges are grown and commonly used in Sicily, they are used fresh as fruit or in salads, or the juice is used to prepare drinks. The peel for example, is used to make candied fruit and the fruit to make jams. The best variety of oranges come from Franconte, Lentini, Oliveri, Palagonia, Paternò, Pettineo, Ribera, without forgetting blood oranges "sanguinelle" which come from Biancavilla.
ORANGE TART
Ingredients
for 6 people
for the pastry:
- 250 gr. of flour
- 200 gr. pieces of softened butter
- 100 gr. of extra fine sugar
- 1 egg yolk
- Salt
for the filling:
- 500 gr. of Sicilian orange marmalade
Sift the flour and salt onto a table, holding the sieve up as high as possible to give the flour an airing In the middle of the flour put half of the egg yolk and the pieces of softened butter. Use a round-bladed knife to start the mixing, cutting and bringing the mixture together. Carefully add warm water if needed. Finally, bring the mixture together with your hands to form a smooth ball of dough and leave to rest for 30 minutes. Divide the dough into two parts. Roll out one part of the pastry and line the previously greased tart plate. Pour the marmalade on the pastry and spread evenly up to two fingers from the edge. Sprinkle flour on the table and roll out the remaining dough and cut out a circular border and thin strips. Arrange the thin strips in a criss-cross design over the marmalade and press the border gently against the pastry lining. Brush with the remaining egg yolk and bake the tart in a moderate oven for about 30 minutes. Remove from oven and wait until it’s cooled before removing from dish.
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