Only Recipes, by Alessandra Zecchini ©

I though a lot about this, I am not the type to 'deconstruct' dishes, but I wanted to try.  The resulting spinach puddings are really soft but perfectly set and stable, the feta sauce easy and yummy, and the filo 'crackers' complete the dish perfectly, so you will make an impression with your guests! Ingredients For the savory spinach mini puddings: 500 g chopped frozen spinach Water 100 ml milk 2 tbsp grated parmesan cheese 3 eggs Salt to taste Salted butter to grease the ramekins For the Feta Sauce: 100 g feta A sprig of oregano (or a pinch of dried oregano) A little milk and hot water For the Filo Crackers: 5 sheets of film pastry Salted butter, melted, to brush Boil the spinach with water, then drain but do not squeeze. Put the spinach in a bowl and blend with an immersion blender. Add the milk and blend again. Add the parmesan and eggs and blend again. Taste for salt then add salt. Grease 8 ramekins with butter...

No fuss eggplant and chickpea tajine Slice 2 eggplants and sweat them with salt for 1 hour. Heat a couple of tablespoons of extra virgin olive in the tajine pan, and sizzle 2 cloves of garlic (cut into two lengthwise), a few coriander seeds, a few cumin seeds, chili flakes and rock salt. When the spices start to jump around the pan add a roughly chopped onion and when the onion is translucent (not brown) add the eggplant sliced (rinsed). Sauté for 5 minutes, stirring, and then add the content of a can of chickpeas (with their liquid) and a handful of coriander leaves (or parsley, if you don't have/like coriander).  Now cover with the Tajine top and simmer on the lowest setting for a hour or so. At the end the eggplant will be a mush, and the chickpeas incredibly tasty. Add some smoked paprika if you like it hotter. Serve on couscous dressed with extra virgin olive oil and freshly squeezed lemon juice.  Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecch...

Sauté one finely chopped shallot with a tbsp of extra virgin olive oil. Add the stalks, chopped, of a dozen asparagus, stir for a couple of minutes and then add a glass of leftover bubbly and an organic veggie cube (I only use  Rapunzel ). Let the wine evaporate then add two cups of frozen peas. Add more bubbly if liquid is needed. When the peas are cooked add the asparagus tips and some mange tout or sugar snap peas. Stir quickly to lightly blanch the asparagus tip and sugar snap peas (you still want them very green and crispy). A feast of different textures and greens, and a perfect side veg. Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini  ©

Yes I know, I keep publishing cupcakes, but hey, I love them!! And this idea works so well I really wanted to share it! The fact is that the figs of the old tree up our driveway are always too small to make an "impression". They are nice, but never big and juicy and even if they get that way (the ones on the top branches that get all the sun) the birds get to them, not me! So I usually cook them in a cake, but this idea is prettier! Make you favourite vanilla cupcake batter (I use  this one  - but without the pine nuts), and then fill the cupcake cases only half way up. Insert a whole (small and firm) washed fig in each one and the bake. At the end you can just sprinkle with icing sugar. I can assure you that you will be pleased! Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini  © I am "recycling" this recipe for November 's   Sweet New Zealand , hosted by  The Kitchen Maid , I think that it is a good idea and needs to be shared!!!  ...

Oh yes, yummy yummy. At home we love crèmes, especially Arantxa and me (Max prefers chocolate puddings, but even he approved this one!). 3 eggs (medium-small) + 2 heaps tbsp sugar + 250ml cream + 1 tbsp of  dried mandarin segments  (put these in only at the end when the crème is thick and velvety). Remember to mix well while simmering so that the eggs don't curdle, some people find it easier to make the crème at bain Marie (double boiling) but I just use a low flame and good whisk. Pour into 4 glasses. Before serving add whipped cream, shaven dark (really dark) chocolate and some more segments of dried mandarines, which are crunchy and will create a nice contrast with the creamy texture underneath. To me, heavenly!! I am entering this recipe in the monthly blogging event Sweet New Zealand this month hosted by lovely Sue . Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini  ©

I am trying to eat more wholemeal pasta, something that I am not really used to. But for some reason I like wholemeal spaghetti, as long as they have a rich creamy sauce, like this one! Toast a handful of pine nuts in a frying pan until they start to get brown and oily. Using a mortar and pestle mush half of them with a clove of garlic (peeled), a few leaves of basil (not too many, this is not a Genovese pesto) and then thin everything down with extra virgin olive oil. Add a few tbsp of ricotta and adjust with salt and pepper to taste. Cook the wholemeal spaghetti al dente, then thin the ricotta sauce with a little hot water from the spaghetti pot. Drain the spaghetti and mix in the sauce. Top with the remaining pine nuts, and with some parmesan cheese, if you like.  For a vegan version instead of ricotta you could add some soft tofu: the pine nuts, basil, olive oil and garlic should be able to flavor the tofu sufficiently (unless you are one of those crafty pe...

Nama choco are my favourite Japanese chocolates, to make them I followed  this  recipe from talented blogger Nami of  Just One Cookbook . Basically it is the same recipe for chocolate ganache: two parts good quality chocolate to one part of cream, and this time I used Whittakers  Dark Cacao  62%. Brake the chocolate with a knife and then melt with the cream over a pot of water at  Bain Marie . Pour into a rectangular/square container, smooth the top and refrigerate. When set cut with a warm knife, rinsing the knife in hot water and drying it between each cut. Yum, the chocolates already look yummy as they are!! At this stage you should dust them with cocoa, but after doing that I added some colour. Mostly I used  Fresh As  powders: passion fruit, pineapple, strawberry and blackcurrant. Then I used some  Fresh As  dried blueberries slices, and some spirulina powder (green tea would go well too!). So all the col...