Only Recipes, by Alessandra Zecchini ©

In case you don't know I have another blog, where I talk about travel, books and food; in the last travel post I talked about my trip to Austria, and Imogen and Günther's walnuts. Not only they gave me some red walnuts, but also some walnut oil. In the photo above you can see the walnut plantation (only one tree produces the red walnuts). I decided to make a walnut pesto for pasta. Using a mortar and pestle I mushed the red walnuts with a peeled garlic clove, then slowly I added some walnut oil, and some freshly grated parmesan cheese (this is optional, you can just use a little salt instead). The pesto was great! I cooked some pasta with rocket (I added the rocket leaves to the pot a few minutes before draining the pasta), and I used the pesto as a sauce. We really liked it and I'll definitely make it again! Photos by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Photo by Alessandra Zecchini© At present I am in Feltre , near Lamon , the home of the most f amous Borlotti Beans. There are many ways of making this soup, the important thing is to use good beans. Soak the beans overnight, then rinse and cook with plenty of water, salt, one carrot, one garlic clove, a celery stick and a bay leaf. When the beans are cooked blend half of them with the carrot and celery. Discard the bay leaf. Put the blended beans back with the rest of the beans and soup. Add the pasta (vegetarian can use egg pasta) and some fresh sage leaves. Simmer until the pasta is cooked. Separately fry a finely sliced onion with olive oil and add to the soup (this step is optional). Serve the soup with a drop of extra virgin olive oil and freshly ground black pepper. If you like add some parmesan cheese.

If you pick the tender young leaves of stinging nettles (using gloves, of course) you can make a variety of dishes. In Italy we use them to make fillings for pasta (like tortelloni) and pies, to make risotto, soups, as a side vegetable, or in frittata. The other day I made these croquettes. Pick only the tips, with the smaller leaves. The nettles need to be washed, and then boiled until tender. Once cooked they won't sting anymore! Then drain them (you can keep the water and use it as hair rinse against hair fall) and place them in a frying pan with garlic, olive oil and salt, and sauté them for a few minutes. Now they are ready to be eaten, but I went a bit further for the croquettes: When cold I mix them with two egg yolks and lots of bread crumbs, enough to get a paste that could be shaped into croquettes. (I removed the garlic, not everybody likes to find a 'surprise' in their croquette!) Finally I fried them in olive oil on both sides. Excellent hot, but they c...

A New Zealand Bush inspired dessert for Rick Stein One of the world’s most highly respected chefs, Rick Stein is to visit New Zealand this winter with his first ever theatre show on these shores – Rick Stein’s Food Odyssey – at Auckland’s ASB Theatre, Aotea Centre, on 4 and 5 August, and the St James Theatre in Wellington on 7 and 8 August 2010. You can find more details here . New Zealand Food Bloggers were asked to provide a recipe for the occasion, to celebrate New Zealand Food. But what is New Zealand food today? I am a recent immigrant, and cook mostly Italian food, so I cannot go for 'tradition'. The only tradition I have, in common with my immigrant predecessors, is foraging, an almost forgotten art. One of the things I love most about New Zealand is the bush, and those who wish to preserve it for future generations, to respect it, and to learn more about it. A few years back I went foraging with ranger Riki Bennett in the Waitakere Ranges, West of Auckland. The tou...

Usually I like to pair tomato with fresh basil, or with dried oregano. These are the flavours my palate appreciate. With rosemary? Up to now only when other vegetables where also present...just tomato and rosemary...well, back from London, hungry, late, empty fridge...except from some garlic and rosemary butter I had made before leaving (just butter, salt, and finely chopped garlic and finely chopped fresh rosemary, vegans can use vegetable margarine), and some tomato passata. In the pantry some rice and some organic vegetable stock cubes. I made a vegetable stock, then I put the garlic and rosemary butter in a separate pot, melted it and add the rice. When the rice was hot I added one glass of wine, and then some tomato passata, about one cup. I started to add the vegetable stock, from the smell I already knew that I had a winner! Maybe I was just hungry....noooo! I think that I will make it again! Tomato, garlic and rosemary risotto, why not! Photos by Alessandra Zecchini©

A few months ago I agreed to share my recipes with Petit Chef. I am happy to share recipes, if someone asks me. No problem. Petit Chef also claimed that this would increase the traffic to my website (not really, according to the statistics I get from two different providers) but this is has never been my purpose. I don't blog for money, I don't advertise, I don't earn money or anything else. I understand that Petit Chef has many adverts on its pages, I don't really care, if these stay on the sidebars. But I found this post, the introduction was taken from my blog (like all the photos and the recipe, of course), just...I didn't have the link for an ad of an Italian olive oil here. The link (which has nothing to do with the original post) has been added by Petit Chef (or who else???) and not by me, but put into my words, like if it was coming from me. Now, is this taking advantage of my generosity or not? If anyone is happy to comment please do, I love to hear your t...

Photo by Alessandra Zecchini© Ingredients: 2 medium eggplants rock salt 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 2 garlic cloves 1 chili pepper (optional) 2 cups Italian Tomato Passata salt to taste 500 g pasta serves 4-5 Cut two medium eggplants into cubes, place in a colander and add some rock salt. Let the eggplants sweat for 30 minutes, then rinse under cold running water. Set aside. In a frying pan put three tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and two peeled cloves of garlic, cut into halves. If you like it hot add the chili pepper too. Fry the garlic (and chili), then, before it becomes dark, add the eggplants. Fry the eggplants on low, when they become a little dry add two cups of Italian Tomato Passata. Cook until the eggplants are soft and the tomato sauce thick, add salt to taste, and one more tablespoon of olive oil. Use this sauce to dress pasta, here I used tortiglioni pasta.