I made these Honey Glazed Baby Carrots as one of the side dishes for our Christmas Eve dinner. I love baby carrots as they taste sweet and delicious and this is one of my favourite dishes. It also helps that it is very quick and easy to make, which makes it the perfect addition to…
Buttered Potatoes
Today I want to share with you a quick side dish recipe: Buttered Potatoes. I often make these potatoes instead of mash when I don’t have a lot of time. They taste delicious and absolve the same purpose of mash: to soak up all the yummy sauce or gravy of the dish they accompany. And…
Ricotta Pancakes with Honey Butter
Autumn holidays are now over here in Sydney, but we had some fun in the past couple of weeks! One of the days, we decided to have brunch at home. My kids love pancakes. My eldest daughter calls herself the “pancake monster”, so you get the point. Truth is, I rarely make pancakes at home,…
Home-made Ghee
As you know, I like to try my hands at making things at home that you can get in the stores. I know it sounds a bit crazy… why on earth would I want to waste my time to make something I can easily get at the supermarket? Well, for one, you can control…
Pain au Chocolat
Last year I shared with you the recipes for how to make the perfect French Croissants and Pain aux Raisins. Well… today I am back to show you how to make the missing item to have on a French breakfast table: Pain au Chocolat, my kids’ favourite! I made these when I made croissants and pain…
Beetroot Pasta Hearts with Goat Cheese
As you know, I love to play around with pasta’s colours and shapes. With Valentine’s Day coming up in a couple of days, I thought heart shaped pasta would be in order. And to make it even more appropriate for the occasion, I thought of making it pink. You simply add some beetroot to your…
Passion fruit Béarnaise Sauce
This month, the Daring Cooks got a little saucy! Jenni from the Gingered Whisk taught us the basics of how to make the five mother-sauces and encouraged us to get creative with them, creating a wide variety of delicious, fresh sauces in our very own kitchens. I was really thrilled by this challenge! I make some sauces…
Gnocchi alla Romana
This month, the Daring Cooks challenged us to think inside the box – the icebox, that is! Audax taught us some really cool tips and tricks for stocking our freezers with prepare-ahead meals that can keep our taste buds satisfied even during the busiest of times. It is back to school time for many families in the…
Cucumber Sandwiches
The first time I had Cucumber Sandwiches, they were served as part of a high tea I attended with friends. To me, the idea of having savoury treats along with tea sounded quite weird. You see, Italians only have sweets with tea (mainly cookies or pastries), so the thought of eating a cucumber sandwich (of…
Home-made Puff Pastry
I am very excited about today’s recipe, as I will be showing you how to make puff pastry from scratch! For a while I have been debating whether or not to publish it on a separate post or just add it to my Techniques page where I share other basic dough recipes. The reason is that,…
Radicchio and Gorgonzola Tortelloni with Butter and Walnuts #SundaySupper
Happy Sunday everyone! Always more people are looking for meatless meal ideas, especially during Lent, so the fantastic people of Sunday Supper have come up with yet another great event: a fabulous Sunday Supper without meat! I must admit that while I LOVE my vegetables and I have grown up in a family where red meat…
PAIN AUX RAISINS
Remember that a few months ago I shared with you the recipe of how to make the perfect French Croissants? Well, today I am back with another French breakfast classic: Pain aux Raisins. During my frequent Parisian visits as a child, I would always have pain au chocolat for my breakfast, while my parents would…
CROISSANTS
In a “celebration” of past Daring Cooks and Daring Bakers challenges, Lisa challenged all of us to search through the Daring Kitchen archives and pick any one we’d like! The REAL challenge was picking which delicious recipe(s) to try! I must confess I was out-of-this-world-happy with this month’s challenge. And so much so as it…
CABBAGE AND TALEGGIO CRESPELLE
The weather is getting warmer in Sydney, though I always find it hard to think of September/October as “spring”. To me it’s still autumn, back to school season and the time during which to enjoy mushrooms, cabbage and pumpkin! I am hopeless, I know! So… before it gets even warmer down here, let me share…
RISO AL SALTO
Today I want to share with you a traditional recipe from the city of Milano in Lombardy, where I was born. It is actually such an easy dish to make that even calling this a “recipe” may sound a bit exaggerated. I have to say though, that it is probably the most clever way to…
SOLE MEUNIÈRE
Maybe not everyone knows this, but there is quite a bit of “rivalry” between Italy and France. We call them “our transalpine cousins”, but the truth is there is a lot of competition going on… and not only about soccer! Who has the best wine? Or cheese? Which cuisine is best? French people will tell…
STRAWBERRY CRUMBLE BARS
I know I have already said this, but how hard is it to get adjusted to living with inverted seasons?? It is so weird to think of Christmas as a summer holiday or Easter as an autumn holiday… in the same way, April reminds me of spring, sunshine and… strawberries. So, even though it is…
CANESTRELLI
I am sure that you will agree with me on this: food and memories are linked. When I eat something, my brain starts remembering things connected to the taste I am enjoying. This happens to me all the time. Since moving to Australia though this connection has become somewhat stronger. It’s probably because I can…
BREAD MALFATTI WITH BUTTER AND PUMPKIN CREAM
Last year, my mother gave me one of my grandmother’s cookbooks. It is full of notes and extra recipes that my nonna would pin down in all the white areas in between pages. I love it. I love being able to read her comments, I love being able to once again see her curvy handwriting,…
GORGONZOLA FILLED POTATO GNOCCHI WITH BUTTER AND SAGE
When I saw these gnocchi, I could not resist. If you follow this site, I am sure you know that yours truly is a gorgonzola-holic (?!) and just the thought of biting into soft pillowy potato gnocchi to find a gorgonzola treasure made my mouth water. I must admit I had never even contemplated filling gnocchi, but…
CHESTNUT GNOCCHI VALCHIAVENNA STYLE
Today’s Regional Italian recipe comes from the region I grew up in: Lombardy. To be precise, this recipe is from Valchiavenna, an Alpine valley to the north of Lake Como. It is a truly beautiful area and the food you can eat there is genuine and very much linked to the territory and local produce. …
MINT & POTATO TRIANGOLINI WITH BURNT BUTTER
Today’s recipe – Mint & Potato Triangolini with burnt butter – is about simple ingredients. Actually, come to think of it, authentic Italian cooking is often about simple ingredients. I really wanted to make some stuffed pasta, but I did not have a lot of time (nor the ingredients) to make a traditional filling for it. …
