New Year’s Eve menu: 3 recipes and the right drink to accompany them

INGREDIENTS salt, pepper. Cook the bulgur in salted water following the instructions on the package. Drain it and leave it in the colander to dry well. Chop the spring onion and aromatic herbs very finelythen collect them in a bowl. Add the bulgur, lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil, pomegranate seeds and chickpeas. Then season with salt and pepper. Mix well and leave to flavor for at least 30 minutes before serving. You can arrange the tabbouleh in small single-portion molds, which you invert onto individual plates just before serving, garnished with other pomegranate seeds.

Börek (savoury herb cake).

INGREDIENTS lemon (grated zest), 2 eggs, olive oil, cumin powder, black sesame, salt and pepper. In a saucepan, brown the chopped onion with the cumin and 3 tablespoons of oil. Add the spinach, cover and cook 5 minutes, stirring often. Add the chopped aromatic herbs. After 5 minutes, turn off the heat and leave to cool (removing any water). Transfer to a bowl and add the cheeses, eggs, lemon zest, salt and pepper. Mix. Brush a sheet of phyllo dough with oil, lay out a second sheet on top and continue in this way until you have 5 greased and overlapping layers. Stuff with part of the filling, close and roll into a snail shape. Prepare the other 3 börek. Transfer the sheets to a baking tray covered with baking paper, grease them again, sprinkle with sesame and cook in the oven at 160° C for approximately 30 minutes. Serve warm sprinkling with other aromatic herbs.

Baklava with pistachios and walnuts

INGREDIENTS For the syrup 180 g sugar, 2 tablespoons lemon juice. Prepare the syrup. Pour the sugar, lemon juice and 250 ml of water into a saucepan over a low heat. When the mixture thickens, turn off the heat and let it cool. In a blender, chop the pistachios, walnuts, cinnamon and salt very finely. Butter a non-stick mold that can contain 5 well-rolled sheets of phyllo pastry, brushed with melted butter and overlapping, then add the chopped pistachios. Repeat the operation with the other sheets of filo pastry and finish with the pastry alone. Cut the baklava into squares with a sharp knife. Cook in a hot oven at 180° C for 30-40 minutes. Remove the cake from the oven and immediately pour in the cold syrup, allowing it to absorb deeply. Decorate with chopped pistachios.

Cinnamon and mint drink

INGREDIENTS FOR 4: 5 cinnamon sticks, 3 tablespoons of sugar, 1 liter of water, 1 organic lemon peel. Alternatively, for a hot mint tea: 3 teaspoons of green tea leaves, 2 tablespoons of honey, 1 sprig of fresh mint. Bring the water to the boil with the cinnamon, lemon zest and sugar, and cook for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat, remove the cinnamon sticks and filter the liquid. Let cool. You can serve the drink warm or cold after keeping it in the fridge for a few hoursin glasses decorated with mint leaves. The alternative. A hot (but not too hot) mint tea. To prepare it, boil 1 liter of water. Place the green tea leaves, mint leaves and honey at the base of a teapot. Pour the almost boiling water over and mix well. Let it rest for a few minutes, then filter directly into glasses. Garnish with fresh mint leaves.

A festive table for New Year’s Eve dinner. ROBERTO CAVALLI HOME plates, placemats, cutlery, glasses and candles, COLTELLERIE BERTI1895 knife, ZAZI embroidered sheepskin, POTAFIORI flowers, ELISENDA panettone. FRUTTETO LENTINI MILANO collaborated.