Only Recipes, by Alessandra Zecchini ©

One day long time ago I started adding coconut cream and fresh coriander to my pumpkin soup... and my life changed! The fact is that I always found creamed pumpkin soup a little... predictable? It always tasted the same to me! This time I also added some Vietnamese mint (one of the few herbs still alive in my garden) and the result was a fragrant pumpkin soup. Another thing that I have to say about pumpkin is that I hate cutting it! So this time I roasted the whole pumpkin first, in the oven, for well over an hour... can't remember really, but I was baking other stuff and I thought of putting in the pumpkin too, and after a while I added an onion, peeled. In the end the pumpkin was so soft that I could cut it with a spoon! I removed the skin and seeds and placed it in a pot with the onion. I added vegetable stock and then I blended everything. Finally I added one can of coconut cream and simmered it for 15 minutes. I turned the stove off, then I added some fre...

Here how I made a fondant frog on a lily pad, with natural colours (spirulina for green and berries for red). No words, just images, but feel free to ask questions :-) Photos (et all) by Alessandra Zecchini © Fin More flowers, tutorial with royal icing

Click here to read Part 6 of the Writing a Cookbook series.

To read more about writing your own cookbook, part 4 (Sing that Contract!) is here and p art 5 (Writing and Living) is here.

I have very little time to write on the blog these days, too busy working on the cookbook... so I would like to re-post this topic, since it it the most read post on this blog, and on my other blog also! According to the 'statistics' it get visits every single day... I cannot believe it! So many people are interested in making Halloumi (and RIcotta) at home? Do you? It is easy to make Halloumi and ricotta at home, no special equipment required except for a cheese or brewer termomether. I started with 2l of milk, full-cream and not homogenized (unfortunately not raw...) In a large stainless steel saucepan heat the milk to 32C (use the termometer) and then add the rennet (animal or vegetable). I used 2ml dissolved in 2ml of cold water, but if you use industrial rennet you may need less. Follow the manufacturers' instructions. Let the milk set for 45-60 minutes, covering the pot with a lid and keeping the temperature constant on 32C (you may like to place t...

During my last night in Milan, rushed for time and other things to do, I quickly cooked this pasta dish with my brother. The cime di rapa , also called rapini, are from the brassica family and you can also find them in Chinese stores (although not as pungent as the Italian varieties). Sorry about the photo quality, I took the pics quickly with my iPhone, and it was dark... Anyway, we washed the rapini, then cut the hardest stalks and set them aside. The leaves, flowers and thin stalks went into the frying pan with olive oil and garlic, and a pinch of salt. I also added half a glass of white wine. At the same time we boiled the water for the pasta. We didn't have orecchiette, pity, so we used penne (but use orecchiette if you can!!!). When the water was boiling we added salt and the pasta, and halfway through cooking (check on the packet for pasta cooking time) we added the rapini stalks (the ones we had set apart). When the pasta was nearly ready I picked up the rapini stalk with a...