Only Recipes, by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Personally I am not a great fan of pavlovas, but they are so easy to make and a good way to use egg whites, so once or twice a year a make one. This is my easiest recipe so far. Ingredients:  3 egg whites  1 pinch of salt 1 tbsp white vinegar 1/2 tsp cream of tartar 200g white sugar Start the evening before. The most important ingredient is egg whites, use free range and possibly organic eggs for egg whites that have lots of proteins and beat into perfect standing peaks! Start beating the egg whites at high speed with a pinch of salt. Add the vinegar, then the cream of tartar, then the sugar (I add this in three-four goes, but quickly). Don't need to use caster sugar if you are beating at high speed and if the egg whites are really stiff. Sometimes I forget the cream of tartar so I add it after the sugar, nothing has ever happened. Some people add vanilla, but I like pavlova to smell and taste of meringue, not of vanilla! The vinegar takes away that...

There is no much to this dish really, just soft tofu with grated ginger and avocado (add wasabi and say sauce) plus some pickles, mostly bought except for the cucumber  (recipe here) . The exciting thing for me here are the bamboo platters! I have some bamboo in the garden and it is shedding leaf sheaths. I love those fancy bamboo disposable dishes that you can buy in home stores, so I though of making my own. To clean the sheaths I just placed them in the dishwasher! Some rolled up a bit, but after a couple of days they were flat again! The dishwasher took away the dirt but some black stains remained, which makes me wonder how ecologically they treat the commercial plates, since they are so pale and spotless! But now I can make my own and doesn't matter if they are a little stained, they are natural and lovely to look at! Photo and Recipe by Alessandra Zecchini  ©

… chestnut fritters! And you only need three ingredients: Italian chestnut flour (which is naturally sweet so you don't need to add sugar), sultana (optional, but traditional!) and oil for frying! These are full of protein, gluten free, and perfect for breakfast, or snack, hot or cold. I love them after a gym workout and the kids like to put them in their lunch boxes. They are very filling, plus they last a few days, if you don't eat them all at once! Mix the chestnut flour with enough water to make a batter (same consistency as hot cakes), add the sultana.  Drop full spoons of batter in the hot oil and fry on both sides until nice and brown. Drain excess oil with kitchen paper Enjoy!  Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini  ©