This is not a recipe for the faint hearted. It is not light and it is fried… but it is the most delicious of pizza’s! It is my nonna’s (grandmother) recipe and she used to make it for her children and grandchildren quite often. I actually do not remember her making a baked pizza ever……
Archives for May 2011
PINEAPPLE LAYERED DESSERT
This is a very easy dessert and you can make it in a matter of a few minutes. It is so easy to make that I made it for my husband’s birthday, the day before our second daughter was born (yes… they were born on 2 consecutive days!). You can make your own custard or…
SPAGHETTI WITH FISH SAUCE
This is another one of my mother’s recipes. It is very simple and very tasty. I love the delicate fish taste that gets in the sauce… yum! To make it, you need a very bony fish that is also very cartilaginous… any fish suitable to make soup is fine. I usually make it with red…
ZUCCHINI AND RICOTTA QUICHE
The other day some friends came over for lunch and I wanted to make something quick and tasty that could be prepared in advance, so that I could spend more time chit chatting with them instead of being busy in the kitchen. I like making all sorts of quiches, which in Italy are called “torte…
LAMB KORMA
Lamb Korma is one of my husband’s favourite curries. It is a delicious, creamy and mild curry. When cooked well the lamb is so soft that it should melt in your mouth. I have been looking for years for the perfect recipe for lamb korma and, as it often happens, I found it by chance. …
KASHMIRI PULAO
When we first moved to Sydney we did not know any good places to dine out in the city, so we asked around and received a few great suggestions. One of these quickly became one of our favourite restaurants: Abhi’s Indian Restaurant. The food is fantastic and some of their dishes are just plain delicious. …
STRAWBERRIES AND CREAM IN PUFF PASTRY CASES
When I was a child I didn’t like sweets made with puff pastry: they would crumble so easily leaving my hands dirty and sticky. Traditionally, Italians do not use puff pastry for sweets very often… I remember eating lots of it in France though. Well, I have grown up and the times when I did…
PUMPKIN AND BARLEY SOUP
My mom used to make this pumpkin soup often in autumn and winter, when pumpkin is in season in Italy. It is a comforting and tasty soup, perfect for a cold winter evening. If you are vegetarian you can make it without speck. If you do cook it with speck though, try and find the…
FOCACCIA DI RECCO
This focaccia is typical of a little town called Recco which is near Genoa, in Liguria. It is not the same focaccia that you would normally see. It is not thick and fluffy, as it is not made with yeast but it hides a very tasty and creamy “secret” inside: stracchino. Stracchino is a soft…
POACHED CHICKEN BREASTS IN A MINT SAUCE
This is a very fresh recipe, perfect for a summer lunch. In fact, the first time I ate it I was in Sicily and it was indeed summer. My aunt Daniela made it and I was really impressed both by the vivid green color and by the fresh yet delicate mint flavour. If you have…
MACARONS WITH WHITE CHOCOLATE AND MINT GANACHE
I must admit I had never attempted to make macarons before! Yes… you got that right! I have always been intimidated by how “precise” you need to be. Besides, I am not a “baker”. Mind you, I do bake occasionally (and I am doing more so lately), but I tend to use the stove more…
CHICKEN COTOLETTE WITH CHEESE AND A SHOWER OF AWARDS
This is the chicken version of my cotolette recipe with a couple of differences. In this case I coat the chicken with flour before putting it in the egg wash and crumbing it. And, above all, I add cheese to it. It is a very easy dish that your kids and you will love. This…
ROSE CHEESECAKE
Lately I have really felt like eating cheesecake. I had some cream cheese in the fridge, but I didn’t feel like making a fruit cheesecake. While looking in the pantry I saw a bottle of rose syrup that we bought from the Indian grocery store. We all love this syrup and we drink it diluted…
PENNE WITH ZUCCHINI AND SPECK
This pasta brings back lots of wonderful childhood memories. I still remember the first time I ate this pasta even though I was only 7 years old. It was a very cold winter evening and I was on a ski holiday, a “settimana bianca” (literally a “white week”) as we call it in Italy. We…
COUSCOUS SALAD
Couscous is one of those ingredients that I have always loved. To tell you the truth I have discovered the pre-cooked version only in recent years. My mom is from Trapani, a city in western Sicily that is renowned for the most delicious fish couscous on the planet. I have grown up eating (and enjoying)…
HUNGARIAN SAVORY PASTRIES – SALATINI UNGHERESI
These salty pastries (called pogácsa in Hungarian) are a recipe of a dear friend of my mom’s, Judith. She is Hungarian and used to make these often for me when I was a child. I like them a lot and they are very versatile: perfect for an afternoon snack or as an “aperitivo” before a…