I love savoury dishes much more than sweets, so I always make sure to have a few savoury options at parties as I know kids will need something more than sugary treats. I made this bread plait for Victoria’s Frozen party, to simulate Elsa’s long plait. It’s a soft bread filled with ham and mozzarella. …
Chicken Involtini with Prosciutto and Fontina
Chicken is definitely the kind of meat we eat the most. My children like it more than any other meat and even though I have always preferred beef, I now enjoy it too. Being that we eat chicken often, I am always looking for different ways to serve it, so it doesn’t get too boring. …
Ficelle Picarde
Today I want to take you to France with a traditional dish: Ficelle Picarde. It is a dish from Picardy in northern France, consisting of a savoury crêpe filled with mushrooms and ham, covered with either cream or béchamel sauce and cheese and then broiled. It is pure comfort food, something I really need during…
Beetroot and Ricotta Gnocchi with Gorgonzola
I have always love beetroot, a taste I share with my dad. I remember often buying it at the store whenever it was available. We would buy it cooked, ready to be sliced and eaten. My favourite way to eat beets was to make them into a simple salad with extra virgin olive oil and…
Stilton, Apple and Walnut Tarts
Today’s recipe is a delicious one. You all know I have a thing for blue cheese… so when I saw some Stilton at my local supermarket, I could not resist and bought it. I love to pair the strong flavoured Stilton with fruits. I often pair it with pears or peaches, but this time I…
Taleggio and Walnut Mezzelune with Parmigiano Reggiano Fondue
I love making pasta from scratch. Some people find making bread relaxing and soothing… to me making pasta has the same effect. I love kneading the dough and creating all kinds of different shapes. I was going through my pasta tutorial page a couple of days ago and I realised I do have quite a…
Crespelle Cake with Asparagus
The April Daring Cooks Challenge was brought to us by Joanna from What’s On The List. She taught us all about Pathiri and challenged us to create our own version of this inspirational Indian dish! Mmmm I know what you are thinking… “crespelle cake with asparagus” doesn’t sound very Indian. And it isn’t. Actually, Joanna…
Taleggio and Hazelnut Tarts
Cheese is probably my favourite food. I love to eat it plain, but I also enjoy cooking with it. One of the things I miss the most about Italy is the variety of cheese and cold meats available at the local supermarket. We are very spoilt for choice. We don’t only find Italian products, but…
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. …
Ras Malai
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…
ARANCINE WITH SPINACH
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…
HOME-MADE MASCARPONE
Today I want to share a little secret with you: mascarpone is probably the easiest cheese to make at home. Really. Anyone can make it and it only requires 2 ingredients: cream and lemon juice. I usually buy mine at the grocery store, but I must confess I am not totally happy with the mascarpone…
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…
