Only Recipes, by Alessandra Zecchini ©

I wish this was one of my creations, but I cannot take the credit: it is in fact an appetizer (but also served as a cheese course, or with a good  vino da meditazione  (meditation wine) that I first tried in my village in Italy ( Sestola , an excellent Parmigiano producing area) about 20 years ago. It was very fashionable then, and it may be still now for all I know, I am not sure, but it is definitely very original, and too good not to share! All you need is real Italian Parmigiano Reggiano Stravecchio (over 30 months aging), good quality creamy honey and good ground coffee (espresso quality). If you cannot find 30 month old Parmigiano, look for a 24 month, or you can try with a younger Parmigiano, but really, here you have only three ingredients, and the better they are, the best the end result. Cut the Parmesan into bite size chunks, spread with honey and sprinkle with ground coffee. The pairing of these three flavours really works. I used Airborne Bush Honey  be...

Elderberry Flowers Syrup For this you will need 1 l of water, 1 kg of sugar, about a dozen elderberry flower heads, 30 g of citric acid and 3 organic lemons (I picked some juicy organic lemons from Regina's garden).  Wash and cut the lemons and put them in a pot with all the other ingredients (or in a large jar, if you have it). Let this mixture stand for three days, stirring from time to time. Don't go over three days or it may ferment. After this time filter the syrup through a muslin cloth, squeezing the lemons and flowers well. Boil the filtered syrup for 5 minutes, removing any possible scam forming at the top. Cool down and filter again, through a finer cotton cloth this time.  Bottle and use as a cordial (it is very thirst-quenching), or to flavour desserts (like  panna cotta or  blamanche ), ice cream, fruit salads and berries. Elder flower Tea I am drying the remaining flowers for tea. Dry them in the shade and keep them for w...

Pick the flowers from a tree that it is not too close to the road and traffic, and has not being sprayed with chemicals. Shake and clean (no need to wash in water) the elderberry flowers to make sure that there is no dirt (or insects). Mix 100g of plain flour with a tsp of icing sugar and enough cold water to make a light batter (a bit like tempura).  Pick the flowers heads by the stalk and drop into the batter, and then into hot oil. Fry, turning once, until the fritters are golden and crispy. Dust with icing sugar and fresh elderberry flowers, then serve, hot or cold.  Photos and recipes by Alessandra Zecchini  ©

When I was living in London, over 20 years ago now, every eatery I went to (unless it was some sort of hippy/alternative/macrobiotic/ethnic restaurant) would have two hot veggie choices: vegetarian lasagne and cauliflower cheese. I am not joking: that was it! The vegetarian lasagne was usually frozen stuff, and it seems that most pubs and cafes ordered it from the same company (i.e. it always tasted the same!). The cauliflower cheese was either boiled cauliflower with cheddar melted on top, or baked cauliflower with a white sauce... and the consistency of porridge. Meat eaters pitied me and wondered why on earth I would choose to be a vegetarian. Things are different now, and there is more choice, but I am sure that lots of vegetarians still have nightmares about that bland 'cauliflower porridge'. Anyway, here is a version that is not too cheesy (but you can add more cheese on top if you like), and tastes good.  Cavolfiore al forno Ingredients 1 large cauliflower, plus...

You will need some ready made sweet Crêpes (about 9) and whip about 100 g of unsalted butter with one heap tbsp of icing sugar and a good dose of Cointreau (to taste!). Spread the butter cream on the Crêpes and top it with edible flowers from the garden (you can do this if the flowers in your garden have not been sprayed). I added a few Alpine strawberries (also from the garden) but any berry would work here, or some orange slices too, and  voilà! An instant cake that looks great, taste really good and takes no time!  Photos and recipes by Alessandra Zecchini  ©

More asparagus! For the pasta I used penne, and for the sauce: 1 onion 1 bunch asparagus 2 tbsp olive oil 1 glass white wine salt to taste 200 ml cream black pepper chopped Italian parsley Parmesan to serve (optional) Finely chop the onion and the asparagus spares (keep the tips aside). Sauté the onion and asparagus spares with the olive oil, when they start to colour add the white wine, then cover and simmer, stirring from time to time and adding a little water when necessary. Simmer for at least 30 minutes, better if longer: the onion needs to be really soft. Add salt to taste. Add the cream and then the asparagus tips and simmer for a few minutes until the cream bubbles. Add freshly ground black pepper, chopped Italian parsley and the penne pasta, cooked al dente and drained (a little of water from the pasta is good too for a creamier sauce). Serve immediately, with parmesan cheese if you like. Photos and recipes by Alessandra Zecchini  ©

These are much better than asparagus rolls (although I confess that I don't like asparagus rolls, I only eat them if I have to, i.e. I go to a 'high tea' and the only vegetarian sandwich are... asparagus rolls! High teas are not very imaginative in this part of the world). So yes, I like to boast that these are 100 times better than asparagus rolls made with buttered white bread!  I got the idea after doing  this  (another invention of mine :-)) and I though of adding a lightly steamed asparagus to each roll, and just a little Halloumi. For each roll you will need only one sheet of filo pastry, roll it up like a spring roll (closing the ends), brush with water (you can use melted butter or olive oil, but water is fine and no fat!) and bake until golden. Easy to make and I can assure you that these will go like hot cakes! Photos and recipes by Alessandra Zecchini  ©

When I was teaching Italian in Japan I once asked my students to tell me what was the typical Japanese dish they had for dinner, one answered ochazuke, and everybody laughed! Ochazuke meant that you lived alone, or your mum/wife was out for the night and you couldn't cook. Or that you run out of money! For homework they had to write a description of Ochazuke (in Italian) and the week after they came with their recipes and, most surprising for me, they all brought a sachet of flavoring for ochazuke, for me to try. The basic idea is to use leftover plain rice and top it with hot green tea, and then some toppings (and these where the sachets, a bit like  furikake , but with green tea added, so that you just needed hot water). Most of the students in that class were young and lived by themselves, thus the need of quick comfort food, and they always had left over rice, and possibly a sachet of seasoning. I got to love ochazuke, but rather than seasoning from a sachet I use some cho...