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
It’s getting cold down here and when it gets chilly, I find myself craving for cheese… better if it is melted! I also like to spend some time in the kitchen making pasta with my youngest daughter (she is quite talented I must say) and the pasta we have the most fun making together is…
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…
MEAT FILLED APULIAN PANZEROTTI
I cannot believe it’s Carnevale time already! Didn’t we celebrate Christmas just the other day?? Anyhow, today’s recipe had to be related to this amazing festivity, which also happens to be the one I like the most. I soooo miss Carnevale… back in Italy we all dress up in masks and go around playing tricks and having…
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…
BEEF SCHIACCIATINA
This is one of my “go to” recipes for a quick, yet delicious mid week meal. Schiacciatina means “something small that has been pressed”, and it is basically a very flat burger made with only ground beef, Parmigiano Reggiano, salt and pepper. My mum used to make this often for me as a child. I…
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. …
PENNE WITH SALAMI AND PROVOLONE
Today I want to share with you one of my husband’s favourite pasta recipes. He loves salami and provolone, so when he first tasted these penne, he told me “this is the best pasta I have ever eaten”. Now, that’s a complement! It is very tasty indeed: salami does not require any “introduction”, but what…
RADICCHIO AND GORGONZOLA RISOTTO
First of all… HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! Today’s risotto is pure comfort food, a dish I often cook when I want to spoil myself… what better dish to start the new year with? It is very easy to make and it rewards you with great flavours. I truly believe that radicchio and gorgonzola were made to…
GREEN LASAGNE WITH STRACCHINO, ARTICHOKES AND SAUSAGE
When I think of comfort food, the first image that comes to my mind is a plate full of lasagne… no matter how they are made (with a classic beef sauce, with pesto or with any other ingredients), lasagne represent comfort food to me (and the majority of Italians). They are easily going to be…
