Only Recipes, by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Caprese with Florence Fennel This salad is a Caprese with a twist: yes to the tomato, mozzarella and basil (all dressed with extra virgin olive oil and salt), but with the addition of Florence fennel. I was curious to see how it would go, usually I don't pair fennel with tomatoes, or with mozzarella, and especially not with basil! But it was truly a success, the flavours, the textures... the colours! A lovely salad or starter. Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini  ©

For this pizza slab I used this base recipe ( here ), but also added a tbsp of wheat gluten (these days I find that High grade flour is not 'strong' enough for making pizza). After 2-3 hours I rolled the dough on a large baking tray  (90 cm), then I put spinach (cooked and chopped) and feta on top.  I drizzled on top a little more olive oil and then I baked the pizza in the oven at 240°C for about 25 minutes.  Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini  ©

When times are busy it is good to take out same ready make furikake. Furikake is a Japanese style seasoning, usually used to top rice, but useful for other dishes as well. I found one that I really like:  Citrus Furikake from Pacific Harvest , (FYI, I have not been endorsed, payed or given free products by the company, but hey, if you have any free samples - vegetarian of course, do send them this way! :-). I love seaweed and this furikake is  a mixture of 5 seaweeds: naturally flavoured kelp, karengo, sea lettuce, ao-nori, wakame, plus sesame seeds and a nice citrus touch. At home usually we sprinkle it directly on rice, or make onigiri (rice balls), or use it on noodles, vegetables, and a variety of dishes. Here are two examples. Onigiri with furikake To make the onigiri cook some Japanese (or sushi) rice (rinse it first until the water runs clear). When the rice is still warm wet your hands with water, rub them with just a little salt, and shape the rice b...

The first time I used filo, long time ago now, I learned to spread melted butter every two sheets of pastry. It seemed a lot but I didn't have the courage to skip this step. Then I started to put less and less (only for baklava I keep using lots of butter, but then you only get a tiny piece so that is ok, I guess :-), or to use olive oil, which felt more 'Mediterranean' than butter. But filo pastry is very low fat in itself and I wondered if I really needed to use fat... this version has no butter or oil, and yet it tastes great!  Generally I use feta, spinach, garlic and cumin, or oregano. But while the  onion weed  abounds I thought "why not?", and made it with it. I picked, washed and chopped some onion weed, using the bulbs, stems, leaves and flowers. I mixed with 600 g of frozen chopped spinach (defrosted at room temperature) and a big block of goat feta. I used about 180 g of filo for this pie, half in the bottom, covered with the...

I like small things, even when it comes to food: small plates with small tastings, miniature bites, doll houses' type of things...  This is a 'fruit salad' that could be served at the end of a formal 'Japanese' meal, where presentation is important and fruit is often the only dessert, or at the end of a formal Italian meal (we also tend to have fruit rather than 'pudding'). For the dressing I used some  Aceto Tradiozionale Balsamico di Modena , not to be confused with  Aceto Balsamico di Modena  (they are two different products) and it goes well with all the fruit used here, including bananas. And to accompany, no ice-cream or similar, but I dared to be different and went for fresh petals... if you choose them go for pink, cherry or peach, and yes, they can also be dipped in the  ABTM  and eaten,  I did it (but I don't know many other people who regularly eat flowers like I do :-). Ingredients: for each person: 2 slices...