Can you believe that I had never made chocolate bark before?? I know, so weird, especially considering that I am a chocoholic! In my defence, I must say that it is not something we usually make in Italy. For Christmas, we mostly make nougat. But bark is so good, so versatile and, let’s face it,…
Lavender Sugar
I love the smell and taste of lavender. It reminds me of when I used to travel to the south of France with my parents. One of our favourite spots was Aix-en-Provence. We always stopped at the morning markets to buy beautiful bunches of lavender, hand-made lavender soap and all sorts of lavender perfumed items. …
Cookies and Cream Fudge
I made this Cookies and Cream Fudge to give to friends as part of this year’s Christmas hamper. It is so easy to make and it tastes amazing. My husband is a huge fan of Cookies and Cream anything, so he was over the moon when I made it. But he wasn’t the only one…
Creamy Coconut Liqueur #SundaySupper
This week, for #SundaySupper we are sharing recipes for homemade gifts to give to family and friends for the holidays. I LOVE this theme and I cannot wait to read all the recipes that my fellow bloggers will share. I am always on the lookout for new ideas. Like every year, this year too I…
Home-made Salted Caramel Liqueur
If you follow Manu’s Menu, you will remember that I decided to start a little series on home-made liqueurs in the weeks before the holiday season. The reason is simple: home-made liqueurs make the perfect Christmas gift, both on their own or as part of a Christmas hamper filled with different home-made goodies. On the…
Home-made White Chocolate Liqueur
Italians like to make things at home. This includes tomato sauces and preserves, pasta, sausages and smallgoods and, of course, liqueurs. Home-made things are better on so many levels. For one thing, you know exactly what went into your food and then everyone knows that food prepared with love always tastes better. I have always…
Sweet Popcorn Snowballs
I made these Sweet Popcorn Snowballs as part of the menu for my daughter’s 7th birthday party. As the theme was Frozen, I thought having edible snowballs would be a fun idea. These are easy to make and look quite nice. You can make them for a winter themed buffet or save the recipe for…
Olive and Walnut Mini Madeleines
Today I want to share with you the recipe for a great appetiser: mini savoury madeleines made with walnuts and olives. I saw these in an Italian food magazine and I just HAD to make them. Actually, I made these for Christmas and served them as one of our appetisers, with blue cheese and honey. …
DELIZIA ALL’AMARETTO
If you follow me on Facebook, Twitter or Google+, chances are you have already seen a picture of this cake. It was so delicious and it looked so pretty, that I couldn’t resist and gave everyone a sneak peek of it. We had if for our New Year lunch and it was very successful. It is…
PARMIGIANO REGGIANO TARTS WITH COTECHINO
If you follow Manu’s Menu quite regularly, you will remember me saying that Italians always have cotechino for New Year’s Eve. It is like having turkey for Thanksgiving… it’s a given and something that can never be missing from our table. I have shared with you a few recipes for it during the years… from…
COTECHINO WITH ITALIAN MASH POTATOES
As the last post of the year, I had to share with you a cotechino recipe. That’s because Italians always have at least one slice of cotechino on New Year’s Eve! It’s a tradition that I love to keep alive even down under. I often make my own cotechino (you can find my tutorial and…
PASTA BAKE – PASTA AL FORNO
MERRY CHRISTMAS everyone! I hope you are all having a fantastic holiday season, full of laughter and love. I hope you are spending more time with your family and friends and that you take some time to slow down and really savour each moment of this special time of the year. I am blessed as…
MANU’S PODCAST – THOUGHTS ON THE TABLE
I am thrilled to announce that today I am a guest on Thoughts on the Table, at my friend Paolo’s Quatro Fromaggio and Other Disgraces on the Menu! And the biggest news is that it’s a podcast – my first EVER! So, if you are curious to know what we sound like… head over to…
COFFEE AND VANILLA LIQUEUR
Like every year, I made some edible gifts to give my friends for Christmas. Last year, I had successfully made some Bailey’s Irish Cream, so this time I wanted to experiment with other flavoured liqueurs. I love Kahlua, so I thought I would try that. I found lots of recipes and in the end I…
MANU’S CHRISTMAS MENUS – BOOK GIVEAWAY
As many of you already know, I have recently published my first eBook: Manu’s Christmas Menus. The eBook contains 20 original recipes, divided in 4 menus, to help you bring Italy to your table this holiday Season. All recipes have step by step instructions and pictures and they have never been published before (so you…
MANU’S CHRISTMAS MENUS
Today is a big day for me. I can finally share with all of you a project that I have been working on for the last three months. It’s been hard doing all of it quietly as I am not very good at keeping things to myself when I am very excited about something. But…
HOME-MADE COTECHINO
A few months ago, I took part in a Daring Cooks challenge about salumi. At that time, I chose to make Salame Cotto, and it was a great success. That, and the fact that I regularly make my own Pork Sausage, encouraged me to try my hands at making another popular Italian meat product: Cotechino….
SALTED NUTELLA CHOCOLATE FUDGE
It is time again for the “Secret recipe club” reveal! I am sure you all know what the club is about, but for the few of you who still don’t know about it, here goes a brief explanation. It is a great concept… each month you are assigned a participating food blogger to make a…
WHITE CHOCOLATE PASSION FRUIT TRUFFLES
I told you I would not forget about you!! So here I am with a sweet tropical recipe: White Chocolate Passion Fruit Truffles! I love passion fruit and I think it goes very well with chocolate, especially the white kind, as its slightly tart flavour combines perfectly with the sweetness of white chocolate! These truffles…
CHICKEN BALLOTINE
For the April Daring Cooks Challenge, Lisa from Parsley, Sage and Sweet has challenged us to debone a whole chicken, using this video by Jacques Pepin as our guide; then stuff it, tie it and roast it, to create a Chicken Ballotine. Wow! What a challenge! I was absolutely thrilled when I saw it! I had never…
CASSATA SICILIANA
Happy Easter everyone!!! Today I want to share with you my family’s recipe for the most iconic Sicilian cake: Cassata! It is a delicious dessert made with sponge cake, filled with sweet ricotta and chocolate and decorated with candied fruits and royal icing. Even though nowadays you can buy a cassata throughout the year, it…
COTECHINO WITH LENTILS
Today I want to share with you a classic Italian recipe: cotechino with lentils. I don’t think there is a single household in Italy that will not serve this dish on New Year’s Eve. It is a huge tradition. Also, lentils are supposed to bring good luck and money in the new year, so we…
