The Mid-August menu with gourmet dishes to amaze your guests
The feast of Ferragosto for Italians is a day in which we detach from everyday life, both in the case of young people and adults. Families gather and so do groups of friends, who enjoy a moment of well-being between good food, music, nights at the beach and fun.
If you spend this Ferragosto at home, in your garden and with many guests, but you want to avoid the classic Mid-August menu based on grilled meat, you are in the right place. Here you will find many ideas for gourmet recipes easy to prepare, to amaze your guests more than a starred chef!
Tuna tartare with mango sauce for the Mid-August menu
The summer season, especially the month of August, requires fresh and light food, so avoid a mid-August menu with dishes such as lasagna or parmigiana. Let’s start with the appetizer, which with some simple precautions can become a real gourmet dish.
In case you want to prepare a Mid-August menu with gourmet appetizers based on fish, a great idea could be the tuna tartare, which appeals to adults and children. To make the dish really tasty, flavor it with a fresh mango sauce. For this recipe you will need, of course, fresh tuna, which will be cut into small cubes and then seasoned with salt, oil and a little lemon juice.
To make mango sauce, the fruit will also need to be cut into cubes after peeling it. Afterwards, it must be cooked in a saucepan together with orange and lime juice, then flavoring with a teaspoon of brown sugar, with a little turmeric and ginger; The latter will be eliminated once the mango has been cooked for about ten minutes.
To create the sauce, blend the mango to the consistency you like. Place a tablespoon of mango sauce on the plate, then add the tuna tartare with the help of a pastry cutter. Complete the dish with a little grated lemon zest.
Beef tartare served as an appetizer for your party with family and friends
If you have decided to make a Mid-August menubased on meat, then you can propose the beef tartare. Take some fillet and beat it with a knife, about 80 grams per serving. Season the tartare with salt, extra virgin olive oil and pepper and place it on the plate with the help of a pastry cutter. Add an egg yolk to the tartare, being careful not to break it. Finally, garnish with chives.
Pasta with zucchini and pistachio pesto on burrata cream as a first course for your party
A first course that is perfectly suited to the summer heat and the Mid-August menu is pasta with zucchini pesto and pistachios on burrata cream. To make zucchini pesto, the vegetables should be finely chopped and then left to deprive themselves of their water for half an hour.
Afterwards, blend the zucchini with a clove of garlic, extra virgin olive oil, some cashew nuts and lots of grated pecorino cheese. Meanwhile, cook the pasta, which must be al dente. For the burrata cream, it will be enough to blend the cheese. Add the cream to the bottom of the dish, then the pasta previously sautéed in the zucchini pesto and finish with chopped pistachios.
Mackerel fillet on potato cream and confit cherry tomatoes
As a second course of fish in the Mid-August menu with gourmet dishes can perfectly fit the mackerel fillet on potato cream and confit tomatoes. To make this dish, simply season the mackerel with oil and salt and steam it for about 15 minutes. For the potato cream, make an onion bottom, then add the potatoes cut into chunks and finally a little vegetable broth.
Once the potatoes are ready, blend them and then strain them to remove lumps. Finally, prepare the confit tomatoes by placing them on a baking sheet without cutting them and seasoning them with salt, extra virgin olive oil and thyme. Bake them in the oven at 180 degrees for about 10 minutes, depending on the size of the cherry tomatoes.
Beef fillet with fig jam for meat menu
Let’s move on to the gourmet second courses for the Mid-August menu, but this time based on meat. Make your Mid-August menu really inviting with a beef fillet with fig jam. To prepare the jam, which will become a sauce to season the meat, just cook finely chopped shallot in a pan, to which a knob of butter has been put first.
Little by little red wine will be added, about 25 cl per 150 grams of shallots. Then about 6 figs cut into very small pieces will be added and the sauce will be cooked for half an hour. Meanwhile, you will need to cook the fillet with a knob of butter. Once ready, garnish the meat with the fig sauce.
Coffee crème brulee with Varnelli ice cream to impress your guests
To prepare this dessert for the Mid-August menu soak the coffee beans in milk for a day. After 24 hours, use coffee-flavored milk to prepare the crème brulee. You will need 25 grams of cornstarch, which will be dissolved with a little milk. Then pour half a liter of coffee milk into a pot and add cinnamon, lemon zest and 50 grams of sugar.
Bring the mixture to a boil. In a bowl beat 3 egg yolks with another 45 grams of sugar and then add the cornstarch. When the milk is ready, add it to the egg and sugar mixture. Then everything will have to be transferred back to the fire, turning to avoid lumps. When the cream is cold enough, sprinkle it with brown sugar and caramelize it.
The accompanying ice cream is made from meringue, then prepare it by beating the egg whites with sugar. Then the syrup will be needed. Once the meringue is finished, add the Varnelli little by little and then put it in the freezer.
