Only Recipes, by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Ingredients 100 g butter, cubed 150 sugar 1 tbsp hazelnut butter 3 eggs 250 g self rising flour 200 ml milk 60 g dark chocolate, cut into small piaces icing sugar to dust Beat the butter with the sugar, add the hazelnut butter and keep beating. Add the eggs, one by one, followed by half of the flour, then the milk, then the remaining flour and milk. Keep beating until light and foamy. Spoon (don't pour, just spoon delicately) inside a non stick 20 cm round baking tin, well greased with butter. Top with the chocolate (it will go down inside the cake during baking). Bake at 180° for about 25 minutes. When cold dust with icing sugar. This cake is soft and it smells divine! Photos by Alessandra Zecchini ©

.... Mozzarella di Bufala! 500 g! Recipe? Absolutely not, something so perfect should not be cooked, we just ate it with a tomato salad... Oh I will miss Italy! :-)

The eggplants come from my aunt veggie garden, and they really look like eggs! The chili is from a pot on my mum's kitchen window. Even if these days I am not eating from my own garden I am taking advantage of theirs. Put the chili and garlic in a pan with olive oil, fry for a few minutes and then add the eggplants, cubed. Stir often until the eggplants start to colour. Add a little water and salt and cover with a lid. Stew the eggplants, stirring often and adding water if necessary, until they are soft. At the end add half a cup of chopped parsley, a little olive oil and, if you like, some more chopped garlic and even chopped chili (but only if you like it super spicy!). Cook and drain the orecchiette pasta and then dress with the eggplants. Delicious! Photos by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Tomatoes are naturally sweet, and if they have a little acidity you just need to cook them for the right amount of time to take that away. This is something my father used to make often, in summer, when the tomatoes were a little too red to be used in salad, but not as mushy yet to be made into a sauce. Cut the tomatoes in two halves. In a frying pan place some olive oil and then a clove or two of garlic. When the oil is hot add the tomatoes, cut side down. Add salt and dried oregano. Slowly fry the tomatoes (about 10 minutes) until they start to brown. During this time do not turn them over, but move them delicately around the pan so that they won't stick. Do not add water. Then turn them and cook them on the other side for a few more minutes, until they start to break. Now they are ready and caramelized and you won't believe the taste!!! In fact I suggest that you clean the pan with a slice of bread!!! Photos by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Use big sage leaves, wash them and dry them with a tea towel. Place a little mozzarella onto half of the leaves and cover with another leaf. Make a batter with one egg, one tbsp of flour, a pinch of salt and two tbsp of beer. Dunk the sage 'sandwiches' into the batter and then fry in hot oil on both sides. They are so good you won't believe it!!! Photos by Alessandra Zecchini ©