I have recently been invited by the charming Jill to write a guest post for her beautiful site, Mad About Macarons… She has just created a section on her site to publish recipes that require egg yolks. The reason is simple: the more egg yolks you use, the more egg whites you are going to…
TUNA DIP – ANTIPASTO DI TONNO AND AN AWARD!
The first time I have ever eaten this dish, I was at a restaurant in Milan with my husband. It was supposed to be a very good restaurant, yet we were not that impressed with it… the only dish worth remembering was this tuna dip that we had as entree. We actually liked it so…
PIADINA AND CRESCIONE – MARCO’S RECIPE
A few days ago I made and shared with you the recipe of my first piadina: Homemade piadina with prosciutto, stracchino and rocket. When I shared it on my Facebook page, my friend Marco Drudi, who is from the area in Italy where piadine come from, kindly shared with me his family recipe! The ingredients…
BEIJINHOS DE COCO – COCONUT KISSES
This is not an Italian recipe. It is a Brazilian coconut sweet usually served during birthday parties. My husband ate this at work as one of his ex colleagues was Brazilian and brought it to share with all the co-workers… and as always when my husband likes some food, he asks me to replicate it….
Farfalle with Salmon (Farfalle al Salmone)
Creamy pasta nights always feel better, and Farfalle with Salmon brings together soft pasta, salmon, and a smooth sauce that works well for an easy dinner.
EGGPLANT PATTIES – POLPETTE DI MELANZANE
What I love about eggplant is that they are so versatile and they are sweet inside with a slightly bitter skin. I use them in many dishes, probably because of my Sicilian origin (yes, Sicilians do eat lots of eggplant!). This is my mom’s recipe for what we call “polpette di melanzane” (eggplant patties). They…
HOMEMADE PIADINA WITH PROSCIUTTO, STRACCHINO AND ROCKET
Piadina (Wiki) is a very traditional bread/sandwich from Romagna (Wiki), a historical area that corresponds to the south-eastern portion of the Emilia-Romagna region. Piadine make very tasty sandwiches and they are often filled with cheese (squacquerone or stracchino are among the favorites), cold meats and/or vegetables. The filling that I prefer is the most classic…
CHOCOLATE AND COCONUT TARTELETTES
Last year I was looking for a good chocolate tart recipe and I came across this Rich Chocolate Coconut Tart. The moment I saw it, I knew I had to try it even though the shell worried me… it looked so hard to make and so delicate. Instead it was really easy to make, so…
AWARDS GALORE!
When I checked my blog this morning I found a comment from my fellow food blogger Priyanka from BUON APPETITO telling me that there was an award waiting for me in her blog. That immediately put a smile on my face… who doesn’t like to receive an award? So I went to check it out…
ONLINE BAKE SALE FOR JAPAN – THANK YOU!
I am sure you all know that Manu’s Menu took part to the Online Bake Sale organised by Sabrina from The Tomato Tart to raise money for Japan. The Bake Sale took place on March 30th and 31st. The aim was to raise $2,500 for Second Harvest Japan, the main food bank of the country…
COTOLETTE ALLA MILANESE
Cotolette is a typical dish from Milan. The original recipe is slightly different than mine as I do not usually fry mine in butter, but I use vegetable oil. This is the version that my mom and my grandma have always made and it is the one that I make regularly at home. The traditional…
Potato Frittata (Frittata Di Patate)
Crisp potatoes, eggs, and Parmigiano come together in this Potato Frittata. Cooked slowly in a pan and turned for a golden finish.
ONLINE BAKE SALE FOR JAPAN – MANU’S MENU SNEAK PEEK
As many of you already know, Manu’s Menu will take part to the Online Bake Sale for Japan organised by Sabrina at The Tomato Tart. More than 90 food bloggers around the world have come together to support the initiative. Each of us will bake one or more goodies that will be put up for…
CRUMBED PORK INVOLTINI PALERMO STYLE – INVOLTINI DI MAIALE ALLA PALERMITANA
This is a dish that I learnt from my dad. He is from Palermo and all the dishes of Palermo that I know to cook, I have learnt from him. He has in turn learnt them from his mother and grandmother, so they are all family recipes, handed down from generation to generation. One of…
SPAGHETTI WITH MULLET ROE – SPAGHETTI CON BOTTARGA DI MUGINE
I have to admit that I have just recently discovered this dish, at least in the way you are going to read below. As you know, my family is from Sicily and the area around Trapani is well renowned for its tuna products, among which the famous tuna roe (bottarga di tonno). It is an…
SPECK AND FONTINA ROLL
When we were still living in Italy, one day my husband came back from work saying: “I have eaten a fantastic thing at work today. It was a puff pastry roll stuffed with cheese and speck. You should try and make it at home!”. When I heard “speck and cheese”, I was sold, he didn’t…
MARZIPAN – MARTORANA
This is a traditional Sicilian sweet made with almond meal. When my parents were kids, children in Sicily would get presents for “all souls day”. The dead people of the family were seen as “friendly ghosts” who would come back home on the night of “i morti” (“the dead”) to gift the new generations with…
SFINCIONE PALERMITANO
This is another traditional Sicilian dish. This time we are talking about Palermo. For people who like food, Palermo is paradise. People really enjoy their food and there are so many great dishes, that it is very hard to choose what to eat! My dad is from this wonderful city and I have been lucky…
JAPAN – HOW WE CAN HELP
Maybe you do not know this, but my family and I were scheduled to leave for Japan on March 28th. We had been planning this holiday for over 2 years and my husband and I had been dreaming about visiting the “Land of the rising Sun” for a long time… We had planned our itinerary…
Panna Cotta Tricolore
Creamy layers of strawberry, vanilla, and mint panna cotta inspired by the colours of the Italian flag, this Panna Cotta Tricolore looks almost too pretty to eat!
STRASCINATI “TRICOLORE”
This is the second dish from the menu that I have come up with to celebrate the 150 years of the Unification of Italy. It is the main dish of the theme menu and, like the entree already published -“Tricolore salad”- it also has the colors of the Italian flag: white, red and green. This…
“TRICOLORE” SALAD – INSALATA TRICOLORE
To celebrate the 150 years of the Unification of Italy I thought of creating a special theme menu. In the next few days I will post 3 recipes (an entree, a main and a dessert) with one thing in common: they will all have the colors white, red and green in honor of the Italian…
FRIED ZUCCHINI FLOWERS – PLAIN OR STUFFED
Zucchini flowers are a staple in my kitchen. I love them and buy them whenever I find them! The first time I made them for my husband he thought I was joking… “I’ll never eat flowers”, he told me straight away. So, I let him be… and started making them. Once ready, I brought them…
MANGO LASSI
This is definitely not an Italian recipe!! Lassi is a yogurt based Indian drink that can be savory or, like in this case, sweet. I had never drunk lassi before meeting my husband; actually I have to admit that I knew very little about Indian food before. He introduced me to many new ingredients and…
CASARECCE WITH TUNA AND LEMON TOPPED WITH GARLIC BREADCRUMBS
This is a very simple, yet flavoursome pasta dish. I ate it for the first time many years ago at a family friend’s house (Laura) and I have been making it ever since. What I love the most about this pasta is the contrast between strong flavours (lemon and garlic) and between textures: the softness…
CHIACCHIERE
This is a very special time of the year for all Italian children: it is “Carnevale”. It is the time to dress up as a princess or a super hero and go around town to play tricks on people or throw coriandoli (round shaped paper confetti) in the air. There are many famous Carnevali in…
BAKED PORK SCALOPPINE WITH GORGONZOLA
This is another one of my favourite dishes since childhood. Have I already said that I love gorgonzola (and any other blue cheese for that matter)? Well… I could eat it on anything, even as a dessert (yes, I do have a couple of aces up my sleeve on this)! This dish though is very…








































