If you have read my latest post, you will know that I am hosting this month’s challenge at the Daring Cooks! I chose to challenge my fellow daring cooks to make Arancine from scratch, including risotto! I also shared 3 different recipes with them: Arancine al Ragu’, Arancine al Burro and Arancine agli Spinaci. The…
THE DARING COOKS’ JANUARY 2014 CHALLENGE: ARANCINE
This month’s challenge is very special for a few reasons. For starters, our hostess, Manu, graciously stepped in with very little notice and created an entire amazing challenge in pretty much no time at all. Secondly, Manu managed to do all of this while publishing her very first e-cookbook. Seriously, you simply must check it…
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…
PROSCIUTTO AND PARMIGIANO REGGIANO GOUGÈRES
I made these Gougères for my daughter’s birthday party and my husband said they were amazing. I really liked them too and I also liked the fact that they can be made in advance and frozen… I am always on the lookout for these kind of recipes when planning parties and get-togethers. I am not very…
PIZZA STICKS
These are addictive! They taste like pizza snacks… I have bought some of the ready made pizza snacks here in Sydney and I must admit that these sticks are even better and, being home-made, you know what you are eating. They are as easy to make as cookies and I am sure that if you…
SUN DRIED TOMATO PALMIERS
Palmiers, also known as Elephant Ears, are usually sweet pastries, but I love little savoury treats for parties… they are the ones I usually turn to, since I don’t have much of a sweet tooth. These were no exception: yummy and very easy to make. And they also looked quite pretty, which doesn’t hurt, especially…
CARAMELISED RED ONION AND TALEGGIO PASTRIES
As you know, cheese is probably my favourite food. I like all kinds of cheeses and I often eat them plain, with bread or crackers for lunch… but I also love to cook with them and make all sorts of savoury and sweet dishes. Today’s recipe is utterly delicious: I find it simply irresistible! I…
WHITE CHOCOLATE AND AMARETTI CHEESECAKE SHOOTERS
Today’s recipe is very simple and quick to make. It is another one of my easy recipes that help me finish off leftovers. I had a little cream and cream cheese that needed to be finished quickly, so I whipped up these white chocolate cheesecake shooters. I added some amaretti cookies that I had in…
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…
GRILLED RADICCHIO WITH GORGONZOLA SAUCE
Today’s recipe is very simple and quick to make, and it makes for a very tasty and elegant appetiser, or even main dish if you increase the quantities. I love it and make it often for a quick and satisfying lunch. I had it for the first time at a restaurant in Milan and it…
Homemade Mascarpone
Soft, spoonable, and lightly rich, Homemade Mascarpone works well in tiramisù, layered desserts, and smooth, creamy fillings for many desserts.
ZUCCHINI AND BLUE CHEESE SAVOURY PASTRIES
As I wrote in my previous post about the Pizza flavoured Savoury Pastries, Italian birthday parties always have some sort of savoury pastries in the menu. After taking care of the kids with Pizza, I though I should make something more suited for the adults (even though, let me tell you that many of the…
PIZZA FLAVOURED SAVOURY PASTRIES
Italian birthday parties always have some sort of savoury pastries in the menu. I remember my mum buying a huge tray filled with all sorts of what we call “rustici” (small puff pastry parcels filled with different goodies) at our local bakery. I have always had more of a savoury tooth rather than a sweet…
PARMIGIANO REGGIANO COOKIES
I love savoury cookies and I love cheese! I had been wanting to make these cookies for a very long time and I finally got a chance for my daughter’s party! These taste AMAZING… so much better than the cheese crackers you buy! These are made with Parmigiano Reggiano and anything tastes better with the…
SMOKED SALMON AND PROSCIUTTO CRESPELLE SNAILS
For my daughter’s 6th birthday party, I wanted to make a few savoury items as well. As the theme was fairies and nature, I thought of playing around with shapes. My first thought was to make sandwiches and cut them into cute shapes, but then I changed my mind as I wanted something a bit…
RICOTTA CROSTATA
After showing you how easy it is to make “ricotta” at home, I thought I would also show you an additional way to cook with it. I love ricotta, both in sweet and savoury dishes. Sicilians are famous for their ricotta desserts and I must admit I love sweet ricotta. It is lighter (also in…
HOME-MADE RICOTTA
A few months ago, my friend Sawsan from Chef in Disguise challenged the Daring Cooks to make our own cheese. She gave us a few recipes for cheese and at that time I chose to try my hands at making Chèvre. On the side though, I tried to make ricotta as well and I was…
Trofie with Taleggio and Zucchini
Soft Taleggio warms into a velvety sauce mixed with blended zucchini, coating Trofie with Taleggio and Zucchini in a light, creamy cheese flavour that fits weeknight meals.
CHICKEN SOFFICINI
Today I want to share with you the recipe of chicken sofficini. If you follow Manu’s Menu, I am sure you will remember my recipe for Ham and Cheese Sofficini – fried pastries filled with ham and cheese, typical Italian comfort food. Well, during my summer holidays in Sicily, I would eat a lot of fish……
CRESCENTINE – TIGELLE
For this week’s Regional Italian recipe, I want to take you to the region of Emilia-Romagna, a culinary heaven. Suffice it to say that it is the region where Balsamic Vinegar, Mortadella, Prosciutto di Parma and Parmigiano Reggiano are produced… just to mention a few of the amazing delicacies that this region is famous for. …
PARMIGIANO REGGIANO PANNA COTTA
I know I know… I am sure you are thinking that I must have gone mad. Yes, Parmigiano Reggiano is a cheese and Yes again, Panna Cotta is (usually) a dessert. But hear me out. What is panna cotta made of? Basically, cream. To which we add flavours, milk (sometimes), gelatine and sugar. If you…
SPINACH, PEAR AND TALEGGIO STRUDEL
I have always had a thing for cheese… and Italy, like France, is the cheese lovers’ paradise. There are so many different cheeses and they vary from region to region (and sometimes from town to town!). You could spend years tasting all of them. And I like them all. Hahahaha Taleggio is very high on my…
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…
SAUSAGE AND SMOKED SCAMORZA STUFFED EGGPLANT
Today’s recipe is pure comfort food. As days get shorter and the weather gets cooler down here, I do feel the like cooking some hearty and comforting food. I love vegetables, but my husband is a carnivore and he’s never fully satisfied with a vegetarian dinner. This recipe satisfies the whole family as it has…
PORCINI RISOTTO
I always have great fun experimenting with risotto. I like it so much that it was the first thing I ever cooked all by myself as a teenager. Today’s risotto though is a classic Italian recipe: Porcini mushroom risotto. I must warn you: if you like mushrooms and you have never eaten porcini, please do! …
HOME-MADE CHÈVRE
Sawsan from Chef in Disguise was our March 2013 Daring Cooks hostess! Sawsan challenges us to make our own homemade cheeses! She gave us a variety of choices to make, all of them easily accomplished and delicious! Yessss, you read that right: one of my best blogger friends was this month’s Daring Cooks hostess! I was…
HONEY AND GORGONZOLA PIQUANT TERRINE WITH BALSAMIC GLAZE
If you follow this site, you know how much I like cheese and that, of all cheeses l like Gorgonzola the most. I easily find Gorgonzola dolce here in Sydney, which is the creamier and milder version of it, but to come across the piquant version… well, that’s much harder. So when I saw it…
