Bell pepper, or capsicum as they are known here in Australia, are among my favourite vegetables. I have always liked them, ever since I was little. In summer, they would make a regular appearance on our table and I was always delighted. My mother would make them in many different ways and even though my…
Beet and Goat’s Cheese Salad with Mint Balsamic Vinaigrette
I love cheese. All kinds. Goat’s cheese in at the top of my list, together with Gorgonzola, Parmigiano Reggiano and Taleggio. I like it so much that I even learnt how to make it by myself, at home (click here to find out how to make your own Chėvre)! I love how flavourful and tangy it…
Salada de Bacalhau e Grão
Today’s recipe comes straight from Portugal. If you follow this blog more or less regularly, you will know I adore Portugal. I have been there only once, many moons ago, but I was never able to take it out of my head and heart. So, every now and then, I cook Portuguese food in an…
Patatas Alioli
Patatas Alioli are a typical Spanish dish. They can be served as a tapa or as a side dish to accompany roasts or fish, or… well, that will be my next post, so stay tuned! I think they are delicious. Like Italian food, Spanish cuisine is all about simple, hearty and high quality ingredients. That’s…
Tomato and Labneh Salad with Pomegranate Dressing
Today I want to share with you the recipe for a Middle Eastern inspired salad. I have just recently begun to explore what I call “the amazing world of salads”. It is amazing indeed. Growing up, salad was always lettuce (or tomatoes) dressed with vinegar, extra virgin olive oil and salt. Nothing wrong with that,…
Fattoush with Sumac Dressing
For March’s Daring Cooks’ Challenge, Ruth, Shelley and Sawsan asked us to totally veg out! We made salads and dressings, letting the sky be the limit as we created new flavors and combinations that reflect our own unique tastes. Ohhhh yesss! That’s exactly what went through my mind when I read about the challenge! It…
Green Bean, Tomato and Potato Salad
Today I want to share with you the recipe for a delicious and healthy side dish. This Green Bean Tomato and Potato Salad is very special to me and eating it always takes me back in time. My mum would often make it in summer when we were holidaying in Sicily. It is a very…
BRAISED FENNEL WITH RED WINE VINEGAR
Going through my Recipe Archive, I have realised that I don’t have as many side dish recipes as I should! So today I will share with you a very quick and delicious side dish, perfect to accompany both meat (especially pork) and fish: Braised Fennel with Red Wine Vinegar. It is a dish my mum…
COUSCOUS, OLIVE AND ORANGE SALAD
Ohhh I love couscous and I make it in all kinds of ways. My all time favourite is my mum’s (and grandma’s) traditional Fish Couscous, but I also make the pre cooked version and serve it as a side dish. And then there is leftover plain couscous. Which is like a white canvas that can…
SPINACH, ROCKET AND STRAWBERRY SALAD WITH STRAWBERRY VINAIGRETTE
I have seen quite a few recipes of salads that include strawberries lately and I was very curious to try one myself. I usually enjoy having fruits in savoury dishes and I think strawberries (and berries in general) make for fantastic savoury ingredients as they are slightly tart and not overly sweet. I have even…
COUSCOUS AND HERB SALAD
Couscous is one of my favourite side dishes. I love the fact that it is so versatile and that it can be easily turned into a light and healthy main dish for a weekday lunch. I usually make couscous to go with my Lemon Chicken Tajine with Olives or my LambTajine with Quinces and I sometimes have…
EASY EGGPLANT PARMIGIANA
Today I want to share with you my family’s recipe for Eggplant Parmigiana. It is a simplified and lighter version of the classic Parmigiana that has mozzarella inside and needs baking. This is a much faster recipe and I love to make it in summer, when I do not feel like turning on the oven…
RAITA
The first time I ate raita, I was in Mumbai. I was still quite new to Indian food (we are talking about over 10 years ago!) and everything seemed too spicy for me! That’s when I was served some raita… I loved it immediately as it was refreshing and cooling (the weather was also very…
CAPSICUM STUFFED FLANK STEAK WITH PUMPKIN CREAM
A little while ago I shared with you the recipe of my family equivalent of a Sunday Roast: Falsomagro and I have already talked about how hard it is to reproduce certain dishes when moving from one country to another (or to the other side of the world, like in my case). You can find all…
PUMPKIN AND FONTINA CROQUETTES
I found this recipe while browsing the Internet and it was love at first sight! I must admit I had only ever made croquettes out of potatoes, so the idea of being able to use pumpkin instead opened up a whole new world of possibilities! It is a delicious recipe that can be served either…
GRILLED FUJI FRUIT, SPINACH AND ROCKET SALAD
I have noticed that l don’t have enough recipes for side dishes on the blog, so I thought of remedying that and today I am going to share with you the recipe for a delicious salad. This is perfect for autumn, when fuji fruits are in season. In fact I have had this recipe in…
NAAN
I don’t think there is anything as hearty and delicious as home-made bread. Any kind of bread. The smell itself is soothing… My girls LOVE eating bread, so I try and make it at home as much as possible. Whenever I cook an Indian meal, I make naan, either with garlic or, like in the…
FAGIOLI ALL’UCCELLETTO
Today’s Regional Italian dish is from Tuscany and more specifically from the beautiful city of Florence. It is a very simple yet tasty recipe that can be served as a vegetarian/vegan main dish or, as it is common in Tuscany, as a side to barbecued Italian sausages. Fagioli all’uccelletto is an ancient recipe made of…
DOSA AND COCONUT CHUTNEY
Over the next couple of days I am going to share with you some South Indian recipes. Today I will show you how to make a “basic” dosa from scratch. Dosas are very thin and crispy crêpes, made from a fermented batter of blended lentils and rice. They are delicious and I can never get…
Roasted Chicken with Potatoes (Pollo al Forno con Patate)
The holidays can be busy, but Roasted Chicken with Potatoes (Pollo al Forno con Patate) keeps things simple, one pan, a few ingredients, and the flavour of home. This is one of the most classic Italian dishes, and I am surprised it took me so long to post about it! Besides being quite a common…
GARLIC NAAN
Naan is my favourite Indian bread… and I always order garlic Naan when we eat out. My girls love it too (they are both bread lovers) and as I have been baking much more bread since I started blogging, I had to try and make these at home. I have to say that they came…
HARI CHUTNEY
I have a couple of Indian recipes coming up for you in the next few days. Today I want to start with a basic chutney, one that can be used in many dishes and chances are, if you have ever eaten at an Indian restaurant, you have eaten this with some tandoori dish. It is…
EGGPLANT INVOLTINI
I think I have already said this but eggplant is one of my favourite veggie. You can make so many things with it and it always tastes so good! Today I am going to share with you the recipe for what has to be my all time favourite side dish (that can easily double up…
DAMPER
Here is what Wiki says about damper: “Damper is a traditional Australian soda bread prepared by swagmen, drovers, stockmen and other travelers. […] Damper is an iconic Australian dish. […] Damper was originally developed by stockmen who travelled in remote areas for weeks or months at a time, with only basic rations of flour, sugar and…
ROAST TOMATO, ROCKET AND MACADAMIA SALAD
This is the salad I served as one of the sides for my “Come have some Aussie tucker, mate!” party for Foodbuzz 24×24. It is one of those salads with fancy names that you could easily see on a café menu, yet it is very easy and quick to make at home. These are the…
FOODBUZZ 24X24: COME HAVE SOME AUSSIE TUCKER, MATE!
Even though I am Italian, I have been living in Australia for the past 6 years. I love this country so much that I have formally become Australian a couple of years ago and I consider myself Australian as much as Italian. Australia is a wonderful country where people from different cultural backgrounds live together. …
BALSAMIC, MAPLE & MISO GLAZED PORK SPARE RIBS WITH SWEET & SOUR CAULIFLOWER QUENELLES
Our April 2012 Daring Cooks hosts were David & Karen from Twenty-Fingered Cooking. They presented us with a very daring and unique challenge of forming our own recipes by using a set list of ingredients! Here they go: List 1: Parsnips, Eggplant (aubergine), Cauliflower List 2: Balsamic Vinegar, Goat Cheese, Chipotle peppers List 3: Maple…
