The season for asparagus has started, and so it is time for a nice risotto. The delicate taste of asparagus calls for a recipe with few ingredients, which does not even include pepper. Parmigiano reggiano should be used with restraint. … Continue reading Asparagus Risotto (Risotto agli Asparagi)
This pasta and leeks casserole is Italian comfort food at its best. It is easy to prepare and very creamy and tasty. The flavor of the leeks is enhanced by slightly caramelizing them. I used mozzarella on top, but you … Continue reading Pasta and Leeks Casserole (Pasta con Porri al Forno)
Thanks to the warm weather we’ve had lately, Dutch white asparagus are available some weeks earlier than other years. I was shopping for a dinner party and had realized (1) that I wanted to add some more vegetables to the … Continue reading White Asparagus with Goat Cheese and Honey
If you are looking for something delicious and elegant yet vegan for your Christmas dinner, look no further. The holidays are often about eating a lot of meat, but this vegan dish has all the flavor and all the protein … Continue reading Delicious Vegan Pumpkin Ravioli
One of the questions that I get asked often is whether I always cook complex dishes, and what I cook when I get home from work. This is a typical example of something I whipped up when I came home … Continue reading Pasta with Runner Beans (Penne ai Piattoni)
Eggplant is a prominent ingredient in Italian cooking, and it is prepared in many ways. These eggplant balls are crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, with a lot of flavor, and are a great vegetarian appetizer or … Continue reading Eggplant ‘Meatballs’ (Polpette di Melanzane)
Red onions are the specialty of the town of Tropea in Calabria in the deep South of Italy. Red onions are even known as “cipolle di Tropea” throughout Italy. In and around Tropea you see red onions everywhere. The local … Continue reading Fresh Pasta with Red Onion, White Beans, and Pecorino (Fileja con cipolla di Tropea, Poverello bianco e pecorino del Poro)
Eggplant with tomato and basil are a classic combination. At La Tavernetta the eggplant was cooked in charcoal, which gave it a nice smoky twist, and the tomato was cooked slowly to intensify its flavor. As I didn’t feel like … Continue reading Smoked Eggplant with Buffalo Mozzarella and Tomato Confit
Pumpkin season has arrived. We did not have this pie during our recent trip to Italy, but the inspiration for it did come from Italy. Paola recently blogged about a pumpkin, gorgonzola, and pear tart. I have combined gorgonzola and … Continue reading Pumpkin, Pear, and Blue Cheese Pie (Crostata con zucca, gorgonzola e pere)
This is a recipe that I made on the same day that I read it on Paola’s blog, because I happened to have all the ingredients, and needed to use up the carrots. What better recipe to use for such … Continue reading Pasta with Carrots and Almonds (Pasta con carote e mandorle)
This dish was inspired by something we had in a restaurant in Corsica last year: roasted eggplant, zucchini, and bell peppers, that are subsequently baked with a generous amount of cheese. The Sardinian pecorino I used for my own rendition … Continue reading Baked Vegetables with Cheese
Due to the hot climate, Spain has many recipes for chilled soups. Ajoblanco (or Ajo blanco) one is from the southern Andalucia and a great way to use up stale bread, and quite filling. It is more traditional to garnish it … Continue reading Ajo Blanco (Spanish Chilled Almond and Bread Soup)
Stefano Arturi is an Italian food blogger who lives in the UK and has blogs in both Italian and English. He always has interesting traditional recipes and does a lot of research about the historical background of recipes. Recently he … Continue reading Scarpaccia Salata (Savory Zucchini Cake)
It is really too warm to be cooking, especially to turn on the oven, but after hardly anything new for weeks I really felt like cooking something. The recipe for this filling is pesto-inspired, with basil, pine nuts, parmigiano, and … Continue reading Zucchini Stuffed with Pine Nuts and Basil
You may have noticed I’ve been posting less lately, and that is because we’ve been having such extraordinary good weather. Summer in the Netherlands tends to be a hit and miss affair with often ‘four seasons in one day’, but … Continue reading Grilled Fennel (Finocchi Grigliati)
My Italian blogging friend Paola has dedicated her food blog (in Italian) to recipes and tips to avoid wasting food. Her recipes are always simple and tasty, and I often take inspiration from her. Like in this case, when she … Continue reading Fusilli with Fava Bean and Saffron Ragù (Fusilli al ragù di fave allo zafferano)
There are already several variations of pasta with broccoli on this blog, but this version stands out because it is literally not much more than pasta with broccoli. Other than those two ingredients, there is only water, salt, pepper, and … Continue reading Pasta with Broccoli
Yet another dish from our trip to Sardinia. We had brodo di cipolle e ravioli di percorino at S’apposentu, and this is my rendition of it. The dish is very tasty and elegant, yet only uses a few simple ingredients. … Continue reading Onion Broth with Pecorino Ravioli (Brodo di cipolle e ravioli di pecorino)
Kale is called cavolo riccio (curly cabbage) in Italy, but it is not widely used. The closest type of cabbage that is common in Italy is the Tuscan cavolo nero.In the Netherlands kale is very common and called boerenkool (farmer’s … Continue reading Pasta with Kale “in Saor” (Pasta con Cavolo Riccio “in Saor”)
Celeriac, also known as celery root, is a winter vegetable that is easily available here and so it ticks the boxes of seasonal and local. A great way to serve it is as a puree. Now you can make this … Continue reading Roasted Celeriac Puree
A charlotte is usually a dessert, where a mold is lined with bread, cake, or biscuits, and then filled with custard or fruit. In this savory version, inspired by an appetizer I had at restaurant l’Ardoise in Bastia (Corsica), it … Continue reading Eggplant Charlottes (Charlottes d’Aubergines)
Pasta is sometimes cooked in the way of risotto in Italian cooking, which means that it is cooked (or finished to be cooked) in stock. The pasta will take on the flavor of the stock, so this will give your … Continue reading ‘Risottoed’ Tagliatelle with Mushrooms (Tagliatelle Risottate ai Funghi)
Guess what’s in the photo? Celery? Look again, but more closely. It’s cardoon (“kardoen” in Dutch, “cardo” in Italian and Spanish, or “cardon” in French). It is closely related to artichokes, and that is also what it tastes like. It is … Continue reading Cardoon Gratin (Cardi Gratinati)
We love risotto and make it quite often. The nice thing about this recipe for bell pepper risotto is that no flavor is lost because the bell peppers are cooked in the stock that will be used for the risotto … Continue reading Bell Pepper Risotto (Risotto ai Peperoni)
In the previous post on wild boar with myrtle berries I promised to post the recipe for the side. For such an autumnal dish, I thought I’d choose an autumnal side as well. I decided to roast some pumpkin and … Continue reading Pumpkin, Lentils and Porcini Mushrooms
Bonifacio is the most beautiful town on the French island of Corsica in the Mediterranean. It is magnificently situated on a promontory of the limestone coast of southern Corsica. We were there about a month ago, and everywhere you looked … Continue reading Aubergines à la Bonifacienne (Eggplant Bonifacio)
I am on a mission to gain lean body mass, and this involves a lot of nutritious but at the same time tasty meals that I can easily take with me to work. Meals should be high in protein and … Continue reading Red Lentil Muffins with Indian Spices
Although primavera means spring, this is also a great risotto to make in summer. Also because in March and April, certainly in this part of the world, the vegetables used for this are not in season yet. There are many … Continue reading Risotto alla Primavera
These fennel ravioli are heavily inspired on these fennel ‘meatballs’ (polpette) that I discovered in Sicily at the great trattoria Tischi Toschi in Taormina. I prepare a lot of fennel, either in a salad, in pasta, or braised as a side. … Continue reading Fennel Ravioli (Ravioli ai Finocchi)
During our trip to Spain last fall we gorged ourselves on researched many different types of tapas. One very popular kind of tapas that you see everywhere is croquettes with various fillings. They are crispy on the outside and creamy … Continue reading Croquetas de Setas (Mushroom Croquettes)
