Only Recipes, by Alessandra Zecchini ©

The precious mushroom is this one . I don't remember when was the last time I ate one, and fresh! Possibly 20 years???? In NZ I can find some super expensive dried ones from the French deli shops, but I never buy them. I prefer dried porcini mushrooms. And then, last Saturday, our friend Martina invited us to her place in the mountains, in the Adamello Natural Park . I like the sea, the lakes, the countryside, the cities and the hills, but most of all I love the mountains. At heart I will always remain a mountain person, and for me no food beats the mountain food, especially if you forage it! Well, foraging with a little bit of cheating this time! These were in Martina's garden, growing naturally under some trees. She left them there for us to find.... Ohhhh, I love mushrooms, and the Spugnola (the Italian name for morchella) is one of the best!!! Martina just cleaned them and cut them and cooked them in a pan with a little extra virgin olive oil, a little salt, and a little pa...

I have been making meringues, and I had two egg yolk left over. I also had few slices of this to finish. Carbonara requires pancetta or guanciale, in the UK most people seem to make it with bacon. I cut the vegetarian slices into small pieces and I fried them until crispy with olive oil, adding a very generous sprinkle of smoked salt and one of smoked paprika. They tasted like the crunchy smoked bacon I used to eat in the UK over 22 years ago,!!! (Well, I am not sure, I may have forgotten the taste of bacon!). I cooked the spaghetti al dente, drain them and put them in the pan with the fake bacon (and all the olive oil from the cooking, added plenty of freshly grated parmesan cheese, and the two egg yolk. Stirred. It was incredibly good and filling!!! Not an everyday meal, but once in a while...:-) Next I may try to work out a cheese-less and egg-less version...I wander how to do it!! Suggestions from vegan friends are always welcomed! Photos by Alessandra Zecchini©

Ingredients 4 zucchini 1 garlic clove 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 1 pinch salt 500 g rigatoni pasta 200 g ricotta (I used soft goat ricotta) Freshly ground black pepper Slice the zucchini and cook in a large frying pan with the garlic, olive oil and salt until soft but not mushy. Cook the pasta al dente in plenty of salted boiling water. Drain and add to the zucchini. Stir in the ricotta. Finish with freshly ground black pepper. Serves 4-5 Photo by Alessandra Zecchini©

I don’t have a mortar and pestle in this temporary kitchen. I never realized how much I relied on it until now, but improvising can be fun…well, sort of. For this dish I gently toasted one tablespoon of coriander seeds in a pan. Then I wanted to grind them, and I had to do it in a bowl with a wooden spoon!! Not so easy, I lost about half flying around the kitchen, and not so fine either, still, I was happy enough, and the smell was lovely. I decided to use other spices, one teaspoon of ground ginger, one of curry powder, a pinch of smoked paprika, and a pinch of hot chilli (maybe it is funny to use both smoked paprika and chilli, but I have a limited selection of spices, and I like to try everything). I sliced one small onion and sir-fried it with two tablespoons of vegetable oil. When the onion was translucent I added the spices and a pinch of salt. After a few minutes I added 250 g of small brown lentils, which I had washed and soaked for two hours, one carrot, sli...

Photos by Alessandra Zecchini© Recently I have visited Prato, in Tuscany. In the city centre there is the old Biscottificio Antonio Mattei , the original creator of the Cantucci, or Biscotti di Prato (simply known as Biscotti in many countries outside Italy). Mattei makes biscotti but also many other traditional sweet treats, and the recipes are patented, and secret!!!! Still, there are many versions of the famous biscuits, and here is mine, from my book Sweet As... Biscotti 150 g sugar 2 eggs 250 g flour 1 tsp baking powder 100 g unbleached almonds 1 tsp lemon or orange essence (optional) Beat the sugar and eggs together, then add the remaining ingredients. Work the mixture with a wooden spoon. When the mixture thickens, use your hands to make one or two long rolls, about 7.5 cm wide x 3 cm high, and bake in an oven preheated to 180°C for 20-30 minutes. Turn the oven off, then cut the roll or rolls into small biscuits with a bread knife and return them to the warm oven for a further...

To Love Bread is to Love Life I never throw away bread, I use it to make a variety of dishes, and in particular canederli, big bread dumplings typical of the North East of Italy. My mum used to make them often in winter for us, and serve them with broth. There is no fixed recipe, it depends on the kind of bread you have, and the other ingredients are always optional. I like to use a mixture of wholemeal and white bread, which gives best results, but any bread will do. Here I had some old white bread only, the resulting canederli tend to be a little pale, but the taste is good anyway. Break the bread and soak it with milk for a few hours. Add the milk little by little, or you may risk to add too much. When the bread is soft, mush with a fork and add some finely chopped parsley, some salt and pepper, and other spices, if you like. I like to add smoked paprika and smoked salt, and small cubes of leftover cheese gone hard. My mum used to add small pieces of speck, the smoked North Italian ...

I am away in Tuscany this week, so I don't have many opportunities to blog, sorry. I will try to be more active next week, in any case, here is as recipe (super easy) I tried last week, and really like it. For the Asparagus Rag ù I chopped the asparagus spears, put the tips aside and discarded only the very ends (the wooden parts). I chopped a small white onion and placed everything in a pan with olive oil. I cooked them for a few minutes and then I added Italian tomato passata sauce . I cooked the sauce for a little more, until the onion and asparagus spears were soft, and then I added the asparagus tips. 5 more minutes (the tips don't need long) a bit of black peppers, a drizzle of olive oil, and ready to serve! For pasta I used the gnocchi sardi from Grofalo, which I found to be particularly suited to this chunky sauce. If you aren't Vegan you can add some grated parmesan. Photos by Alessandra Zecchini©