Only Recipes, by Alessandra Zecchini ©

This is my home recipe for a Vegan Monte Bianco so easy, (plus no cooking required) and one of my favourite desserts. Chestnuts are in my DNA, as they were the staple food of my ancestors, and mine to when I was little (we still have a chestnut wood in Italy). They are naturally sweet, low in fat and high in protein, but they are so difficult to find in NZ (please write to me if you have some!!). The original recipe calls for cream, but it seems that coconut cream goes really well with chestnuts too! Here are the ingredients: 1x 400ml can coconut cream, refrigerated for at least one day 1 drop vanilla 1 tbsp sugar 1 x439g Clement Faugier chestnut puree 1x 250g Clement Faugier Sweet chestnut spread Dark chocolate to grate (I used dark vegan Mexican chocolate) You can add a few drops of rum or Frangelico if you like. Scoop the coconut cream out of the tin (leave the water at the bottom) and beat until soft and foamy. Add sugar and vanilla. Set aside. Beat

Pick as many cowslip flowers as you can from a field and clean them gently, removing the green parts. Keep the best for topping and chop the remaining, adding them to eggs whisked with grated Parmigiano and a little water. Pan fry the frittata (I make several thin 'frittatine' if I have time) with a little olive oil. Cut the frittata into pieces and lay over a base of mixed salad. Top with the remaining flowers. You can add some Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale di Modena on top if you like. Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini  ©

These type of artichokes are called mammole,  the 'petals' are rounded and not as spiky like for  carciofi . But they are excellent cooked  alla romana . Cut the outer petals off until you get to the tender heart, leave a bit of the stalks, but peel them, and then immediately put them in water and lemon (so that they don't become black) to wash them. Finely chop plenty of Italian parsley with garlic and a pinch of salt, and use this to fill the centre of each artichoke. Place the artichokes in a pot, drizzle some olive oil in the centre of each artichoke and add a little water at the bottom of the pan (about 2 fingers). Cover with a lid and simmer on low for a long time (1-2 hours) adding water from time to time. Sorry I didn't take a photo of the final product, but you can find one  here . Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini  ©

I was back in the Italian Apennines recently and in the market I bought some fresh strawberries and some local ricotta which was so creamy it was almost like mascarpone, so I thought of 'marrying' the two. I marinated the strawberries with lemon juice and a little sugar for a few hours, long enough to make a nice sweet smelling strawberry joyce and enhance their flavour. Then all I had to do was to put a slice of ricotta in a dessert bowl and top it with the strawberries and their juice. Mmmhhh! It was so good I am still thinking about it! I also loved the colour combination, the red of the fruit with the snow white of the ricotta… which made me think of both spring and winter! In fact when I arrived in the mountains the fields and woods where full with flowers... …and after a few days I woke up in the morning to find everything covered with Spring snow! I was back in the Italian Apennines recently and in the market I bought some fresh strawberries an