Gnocchi
Potato Gnocchi don’t come from one particular region in Italy, but they are more of a northern thing. A sort of pasta for potato lovers. They are fairly easy, although time consuming to make. You can...
View ArticlePasta with ricotta
Pasta e ricotta. This is a very simple dish, but delicious all the same. The quality of the ricotta is very important. You can of course make this dish with ordinary supermarket ricotta and the results...
View ArticleRicotta and mozzarella pizza
Pizza mozzarella e ricotta. From Puglia. This was cooked for me last week by the mother of a student. Hers of course was better, but mine wasn’t bad either 🙂 It is called a pizza here, but it is...
View ArticleLemon granita
Granita di limone. From Sicily. This is a very easy dessert. A granita is similar to a sorbet, but the texture is rougher and more grainy. The quantities are only a guide because it depends on how...
View ArticleCoffee granita
From Sicily. After lemon, this is one of the most popular flavours of granita. It is often served with a dollop of cream on top. 150 g sugar 500 ml water 4 cups espresso coffee Make a syrup by heating...
View ArticlePuglia style meatloaf
Polpettone pugliese. This is another recipe that I cook a lot. Other recipes cook the meatloaf in a tomato sauce, but this one roasts it dry. It uses minced veal, but if you can’t find it then minced...
View ArticleAubergine parmigiana
Parmigiana di melanzane. From Puglia. This is a really common dish here. It takes a bit of time to prepare, so it tends to be a celebration dish. It’s worth the effort though. Lots of people, even...
View ArticleOnion pizza
Pizza di cipolle. From Bari. This is another “pizza” that is in fact a pie or calzone. This can be made with “long onions” which I have never seen outside Italy, but this recipe uses white onions which...
View ArticlePanzerotti
Panzerotti. From Bari. These are one of the most famous and popular dishes from Bari. They are deep fried pockets of dough stuffed with a variety of fillings. Two of the most common are mozzarella,...
View ArticleOrecchiette with cime di rape
Orecchiette con cime di rape. This probably the most well known dish from Bari. Cime di rape are known as turnip tops in British English. It’s funny, but I’ve never seen turnips in Italy. It must be a...
View ArticleBergamo style Casoncelli
Casonsei alla Bergamasca. When I lived in Bergamo we used to drive up into the mountains once or twice a year to eat polenta taragna. The starter was invariably casoncelli, or casonsei in the...
View ArticleLimoncello granita
This is a very untraditional version of lemon granita. Limoncello is traditionally made in the south of Italy in the “toe” of the “boot” and is now very popular here and elsewhere. I once looked up the...
View ArticleChocolate salami
Versions of this dish are popping up all over the place at the moment. I don’t know the exact origin, but it is definitely not traditional. I had some a while back in a local restaurant and was under...
View ArticleWatermelon granita
Watermelon season is well and truly here. This is a very nice way to use it. Don’t be tempted to leave out the sugar as it makes a big difference to the texture. 1 kg watermelon flesh 50 g sugar …...
View ArticleStrawberry granita
This is probably my favourite granita. You can top it with cream if you like. I like to use it to top fruit salad. Like all granitas, it is very easy to make. 800 g strawberries 5 heaped tablespoons...
View ArticleFried sage leaves
Salvia fritta in pastella. From Friuli-Venezia Giulia. Around Italy the styles of eating vary quite considerably for a large meal. The basic form doesn’t change, how could it? 🙂 The unalterable form is...
View ArticleSpaghetti al cacio e pepe
Spaghetti al cacio e pepe. From Rome. This is another recipe that I cook a lot, but have never got around to posting. Spaghetti (vermicelli is a synonym for spaghetti) with pecorino and black pepper...
View ArticleHalf a million hits!
The blog has reached half a million hits! The first post was Pasta with courgettes and saffron butter on November the 3rd 2007. Now I’m averaging about 750 hits a day. Still very small, but I’m happy...
View ArticleMeringues with chocolate ice cream
Meringhette al gelato di cioccolato. One story about the origin of meringues is that they were invented in the Swiss town of Meiringen by an Italian chef named Gasparini. I quite like this story as I...
View ArticleTiramisu – Original recipe
Tiramisu is ubiquitous in restaurants within Italy and around the world. The translation literally is “pick me up”. Idiomatically it means something like “make me happy”. It is quite a recent invention...
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