Today I am back with a typical Italian recipe. This is a dish that well represents Lombardy, the region where I was born. Milan is very famous for its risotto and pumpkin is often used in our cooking. Gorgonzola, my favourite cheese ever, is a blue cheese originally from the town of Gorgonzola, very close…
Zucchini Flower and Stracchino Risotto
A few weeks ago, I went to the markets and managed to find some good deals. I bought a whole tray of artichokes for less than half the price they are usually sold at the grocery store and I was also lucky enough to find zucchini flowers. Zucchini flowers are very common in Italy and…
Burrata and Truffle Oil Risotto
Maybe not everyone is familiar with Burrata. It is a kind of fresh cheese typical of the Italian region of Apulia, in the south of the country. It is in fact a “composite” cheese as it is made of a mozzarella outer shell filled with soft mozzarella scraps and cream and then closed to form…
Minestrone
Having grown up in Milan, where winters are quite cold, I have had my fair share of soups. In fact, my mum would often make soup for dinner. My favourite has always been Pasta e Fagioli, but she has always made a fantastic Minestrone. Contrary to what it may seem, Minestrone is actually a pretty…
Bibimbap
The July Daring Cooks‘ Challenge took us to Korea, where Renata of Testado, Provado & Aprovado taught us to make bibimbap. This colorful rice dish can be customized to meet any taste, and is as much fun to eat as it is to say! Bibimbap (비빔밥), which literally means “mixed rice”, is one of Korea’s most…
Risotto with Zucchini and Pesto
I know some people find the idea of making risotto daunting. I have shared many risotto recipes on this blog and it is actually the dish I first learnt how to cook on my own, as it was my favourite dish. I was 6 or 7 years old, so as you can understand, making risotto…
Pomegranate Risotto
As you know, autumn has come to the Southern hemisphere. I can’t lie… I don’t mind it. I welcome the fresher air and the leaves changing colour on the trees. It is a beautiful season. And I LOVE autumn food: mushrooms, chestnuts, quince… pomegranates. In fact, pomegranates always put a smile on my face: I…
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…
SMOKED SALMON AND VODKA RISOTTO
Today’s recipe is the perfect dish to make for your New Year’s Eve dinner party: it’s classy and delicious and it is done in 20 minutes! We always have smoked fish during the holidays, both as appetiser and as part of a main dish like this one. I love smoked salmon, and Vodka goes really…
Salmon Nigiri
Homemade Salmon Nigiri brings the taste of Japan to your kitchen. With only three main ingredients, it’s an easy way to enjoy sushi without leaving home.
MUGHLAI LAMB BIRYANI
Grace, one of our talented non-blogging Daring Kitchen members, was our Daring Cooks’ August hostess who shared with us some of her family’s tried and true Bengali Biryani recipes – all of them delicious and all of them prepared fresh from our own kitchens! The first thing I thought when I saw this month’s challenge was…
GINGER SESAME CHICKEN
I always have chicken tenders in my freezer… they are very versatile, quick to cook and they always please the whole family. I love the fact that they are always moist and not dry. I have never seen these in Italy, where you either buy breast or thighs (or the whole chicken). I stumbled upon…
SPICY TUNA SALAD SUSHI ROLL
So here you have it. My first sushi roll ever. I decided to go the easy way and make a tuna salad roll as a first attempt and boy was it good! It is really easy and fast to make and it tastes delicious. You can make it as spicy (or as mild) as you…
SUSHI RICE
I have been wanting to try and make sushi at home ever since I started blogging, but for one reason or another, I always postponed this project. Since my eldest daughter started school, I have so little time to dedicate to the kitchen and with the days getting shorter, I leave all the “important” cooking…
PUMPKIN RISOTTO
Today’s recipe is from Lombardia, the region of Italy I grew up in and it is a very simple risotto made with pumpkin cream. As you know, it is autumn down here in the southern hemisphere… so what’s better than some pumpkin risotto to warm us up? Don’t you just love that orange colour? I…
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! …
HYDERABADI CHICKEN BIRYANI
Today’s recipe is definitely a special one. It is one of my favourite Indian dishes. Hyderabadi Chicken Biryani, like all the food of the area, is greatly influenced by the Mughals, Arabic, Turkish and Iranian food that use plenty of rice, wheat and spices.
SAUSAGE AND FENNEL RISOTTO
I don’t think I have said this before, but when I was expecting my eldest daughter, I used to have very strong savoury cravings and risotto was always on the top of my list! The great thing about risotto is that it is like a white canvas that you can paint with any flavour you…
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…
LEMON CHICKEN
Lemon chicken is one of the dishes I like to order when we have Chinese take-away. I love all sweet and sour dishes and whenever we order Chinese food, I always find myself ordering at least one! I have already posted about how to make your own Orange Chicken and Sweet and Sour Pork, so…
TALEGGIO AND APPLE RISOTTO
Today’s Regional Italian dish comes from Lombardia, the region of Milan. It is a delicious risotto made with one of the most famous cheeses of the area: Taleggio, paired with apples. Taleggio is a soft cow’s milk cheese made and named after Taleggio Valley (Val Taleggio) in the Italian Alps. It has a very strong aroma,…
BLUEBERRY RISOTTO
I know that this may sound like quite an unusual dish, but after making a delicious Strawberry risotto last year, I have been on the look out for some other fruit based risotto recipes. So, when I saw this beautiful Blueberry risotto, I knew I had to try it. I love the colour, so intense…
PAELLA MIXTA
Our Daring Cooks’ September 2012 hostess was Inma of la Galletika. Inma brought us a taste of Spain and challenged us to make our very own delicious Paella! Paella!!!!!!!!!! When I saw this month’s challenge I couldn’t have been happier. When I lived in Europe, Spain was my favourite place to travel to. I have been there…
PEAR AND GORGONZOLA RISOTTO
If you follow this blog more or less regularly, you already know I have a huge love for blue cheese. And to me, gorgonzola is the king of blue cheeses… I guess I am also biased as I was born not too far from a place called Gorgonzola, from where the cheese supposedly originates. I…
MASALA DOSA
The first time I ate a masala dosa I was still quite new to Indian food. I think it was the second Indian dish I had ever had (the first being tandoori chicken) and I loved it so much that it quickly became one of my favourite take-away dishes. More than 10 years have passed…
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…
