Only Recipes, by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Roasted Veggies

2012-01-26T03:09:00.000-08:00

I was not sure if you post this or not... I roasted some veggies, pumpkin, potatoes (previously boiled but not too soft) and orange kumara with red onion... everything was drizzled with olive oil and the first two were seasoned with salt, smoked paprika, garlic, cumin seeds and just a little chili. The kumara and red onion just had salt and olive oil, and once baked I added some Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale di Modena. Everything was so yummy, but ... by mistake I must have deleted the image with the roasted veggies! I looked for it on my phone, it was gone, completely gone! I think that these days I am taking far too many photos with my iPhone, and to make space I need to delete a lot of them, and sometimes I delete them before downloading them!!! Yes, it is not the first time that something like this has happened :-(. Does it ever happens to you? And does anyone know how many pics I can have on my iPhone at any moment? I am so scared of overloading it... thank you and enjoy the pics of the 'raw' vegs!

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Kawakawa Tea

2012-01-22T12:02:00.000-08:00

Photo by Alessandra Zecchini©

Kawakawa tea!!!

I have many kawakawa plants in the bush around the house, the leaves are beautiful and make a lovely tea, and even an infusion used in Māori medicine for several ailments. The seeds can be used as long pepper (the plant is related to the pepper family) and if you like an extra tip, New Zealand bush inspired but created by an Italian (me :-), I use kawakawa instead of vanilla to flavour cremes and custards and panna cotta and so on. To give you an example have a look at my Flan with Kawakawa crème and Kahikatea berries!

But mostly I like to go into the garden/bush, pick a few leaves, wash them and pour hot water over them. One or two leaves per cup will suffice, the smell is truly delicious, and this is foraging at its best because everyone can do it! And of course I like to add a teaspoon of NZ honey.

Broken silverbeet bruschetta

2012-01-13T13:06:00.000-08:00

My silverbeet is not big enough to be picked, but I was working in the veggie garden and I broke one entire little plant by mistake. Well, I cut it right back, and maybe it will grow again. I sauté the leaves with olive oil, some onion weed (again) and a few black olives. A pinch of salt and pepper and some grilled bread for bruschetta, and lunch for two was ready, maybe unplanned, but ready!

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Eggs and... soldiers?

2012-01-10T08:34:00.000-08:00

More than a recipe this is a serving suggestion for breakfast! We like to have (free range) eggs and soldiers on Saturday morning, but even better if instead of 'soldiers' made with toast strips, we have thick grissini (Italian bread sticks). Just dip the grissini into the soft boiled eggs and enjoy!

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Spring asparagus steamed over a vegetable soup, and eating flowers

2012-01-03T05:16:00.000-08:00

Lots of people know by now that I eat flowers, but still, some think of it as a bit of a freak thing to do. But if you have a few edible flowers in your garden (absolutely organic, no sprays allowed) they just make your dishes look so pretty, and they are not merely a decoration, they can have flavour and fragrance too! I used onion weed flowers, which have a mild garlic/oniony taste, and nasturtiums, which are probably the only flowers that the general public in New Zealand seem to consder edible (some claim to use them in salads, but in all these years here I have seen more trendy talk than action, and still far too much coleslaw). My first borage flowers and a few little violets added perhaps little taste, but they are eye catching with their blue hues, and welcome on my plate anytime.

On a large plate I prepared a bed of baby spinach leaves and then I steamed some asparagus. To save time and gas I steamed the asparagus over the vegetable soup that I was cooking for dinner (so that I could make lunch and dinner at the same time). I meant to photograph the finished soup too, since all the veggies come from my garden, but I forgot. Anyway, it had my last cabbage, carrots, celery (mostly leaves), cavolo nero, broad beans (they are here, finally!) and onion weed (of course). It was a lovely soup, and I just had to add pasta and seasoning, all the rest was from my garden. Anyway, back to the asparagus salad: after steaming the asparagus I rinsed them under cold water and placed them over the spinach leaves. And then I added the flowers. For dressing I just added salt, extra virgin olive oil and Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale di Modena. I also think that a simple Japanese miso and sesame seed dressing like this one could go well. This was a light but satisfying lunch for two.

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Caprese with Florence Fennel

2011-12-26T09:07:00.000-08:00

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 ©

Pizza with Spinach and Feta

2011-12-19T04:35:00.000-08:00

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 ©

Two Recipes: Onigiri and Soba with Furikake

2011-12-15T02:12:00.000-08:00

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 balls with your palms. Sprinkle some furikake on top of each onigiri, or roll part of the onigiri onto the furikake for an even covering (but do not cover the whole rice ball with it, furikake is salty, and you just need a little bit).

Soba with Furikake

Super quick lunch: I cooked some bok choy like in here, and some soba like in here, but I didn't rinse the soba under cold water at the end: as soon as I drained the soba I mixed it with the hot bok choy, and then each diner sprinkled a bit of furikake on top. Simple, fast and the kids loved it!

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Low fat Spanakopita (with onion weeds)

2011-12-08T11:54:00.001-08:00

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 filling leaving a bit of a border, then I folded the borders in, and topped everything with the remaining filo sheets, tucking the borders under (like when you make a bed). I didn't spread any butter or oil between the filo sheets, instead I brushed the top and sides with water, so they didn't burn in the oven. This seems to be a common problem with filo pies, often the top gets really brown before the pie is cooked! I baked everything at 180° (fan) for about 30 minutes (didn't really check the exact time, sorry, but you can see it when is ready, the filo has colour underneath as well as at the top) and it was perfect!

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Japanese-Italian Fusion: Fruit Salad with Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale di Modena and Sweet New Zealand

2011-12-03T13:39:00.001-08:00

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 of banana (sprayed with a little lemon juice)

2 small balls scooped from a kiwi (green)

2 raspberries

2 small balls scooped from a kiwi gold (yellow)

1 tsp ABTM

cherry or peach petals

The utensils: a knife, a little scoop for the kiwis, a flower cutter for the banana (I used a Japanese one for cutting vegetables like flowers), small bamboo skewers. To assemble just look at the pictures. Serve with the ABTM.

I am entering this recipe in the monthly blogging event Sweet New Zealand, created by Alessandra Zecchini (yes it's me, but hey!! An extra chance to include my other link here!!) and this month hosted by the talented Bron Marshall. If you are blogging in NZ, or if you are a Kiwi blogger living overseas, please come and join us here!

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Tortelloni with feta and herbs step by step

2011-11-28T00:10:00.001-08:00

For the fresh pasta recipe just click here, for instruction on how to roll the pasta with a pasta machine click here, and to fold the tortellini just look at the pictures below. The filling was improvised: a bit of feta cheese, some breadcrumbs, and a few chopped herbs (Italian parsley, chives, basil, but anything goes).

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini, Artwork by Arantxa Zecchini Dowling ©

Two recipes with onion weed: Yudofu, and Chickpea Fritters

2011-11-24T22:33:00.001-08:00

I have been telling friends about onion weed these days, everybody seems surprised (and happy) that you can eat it, especially those who gave up growing spring onions because they seem to take so long for what you get. And onion weed is free and plentiful! I kept telling everyone to use it as a spring onion without realizing that most people here use spring onions just chopped in salad, and that'a about all! So now for more suggestions for onion weed, and spring onion! After reading about the creamy onion weed pasta sauce (here) you may like check this old post as well for more images of the plant and its uses, and in the photos above there are some more things I have been cooking this week.

On the top left my nabe (pot) with simmering Yudofu, one of my favourite tofu meals for chilly evenings:

In a capable pot I put water with some dried kombu (about a large sheet broken into 3-4 pieces), and a few dried shitake mushrooms to simmer, and after 20 minutes I added some soft tofu cut into squares, salt (I have a nice Japanese unrefined salt for it) carrot sliced to look like flowers, and onion weed (bulbs, stalks and leaves cut into 'longish' pieces). I added the flower just before serving. To tell the true the tofu should be then taken out of the broth and eaten with a sauce and relishes, but as a family meal we eat the lot in bowl, broth and veggies too, except for the kombu seaweed, which I discard.

The other three photos are of chickpea flour fritters: I chopped the onion weed (the whole plant, but kept a few flowers for decoration) plus I added some finely chopped spinach, chickpea flour, salt, water and a drizzle of olive oil. When the batter was ready I remember that I have lots of pitted black olives to use, so I chopped up a few and added those too. I fried the lot and the fritters were incredibly tasty! I will make them again, in the next few days, they are incredibly easy and the kids loved them.

These meals are vegan and gluten free.

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Pasta with Onion Weed Creamy Sauce

2011-11-21T11:20:00.001-08:00

If you like foraging onion weed is widely available, it is edible, and tastes very nice too. In fact when I discovered that I could eat it I stopped planting spring onions in the veggie garden, and started foraging instead. The weed has pretty white flowers and a strong spring onion smell. You can eat the flowers, the leaves, the stems, the bulbs... basically everything except the dirt!

One of the first things I make with fresh onion weeds is usually a nice raw sauce for pasta: just put the onion weed (every part of it) in the blender (leave out a few flowers for decoration) and blend with a little water, some feta cheese (Vegans can omit this and use a little tofu + salt and pepper instead) and some roasted cashew nuts. Add a little olive oil and toss into your hot pasta. This is a very filling dish and the sauce has a beautiful pale green colour.

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Kumara and Celery Soup

2011-11-16T16:48:00.001-08:00

This is such a classic NZ soup, everybody seems to know how to make this one: You just need some kumara (I used the red ones, peeled). Cook about 2 large kumara with 3 or 4 celery sticks (with leaves, most Kiwis do not add the leaves here, but celery leaves have lots of flavour and they are perfect for soup) in a litre of light vegetable stock. When the celery and kumara are soft blend well and serve. No need to add cream, in my opinion, but do if you like. Serves 4.

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Teapot Biscuits from Party Food for Girls

2011-11-12T14:05:00.001-08:00

photo by Shaun Cato-Symonds

Another extract from the book Party Food for Girls: Teapot biscuits! For the recipe and step by step decoration instructions please click here and scroll down.

In the post by NZ King of book blogs Graham Beattie, you can also find photo of the book launch and his article entitled

‘New Holland’s youngest author launches her first book, ‘Party Food for Girls

Extracted from the book Party Food for Girls, photos by Shaun Cato-Symonds, recipe and styling by Alessandra Zecchini and Arantxa Zecchini Dowling.

Decorated by Arantxa.

Chocolate Truffle Cupcake

2011-11-08T13:11:00.000-08:00

Photo by Shaun Cato-Symonds Recipe by Alessandra Zecchini ©

This is our Chocolate Truffle Cupcake, extracted from the book Party Food for Girls. Please click here to find the article on Yahoo Lifestyle, with the link for this recipe (chocolate ganache included). The book is available on Amazon.

Kumara dip

2011-11-04T23:27:00.000-07:00

Kumara, the New Zealand sweet potato, is a very Kiwi winter staple. There are different types of kumara, but the most common are the gold/yellow/orange ones, and the red ones. The reds look prettier, but if you peel them inside they are white, while the orange ones are still colourful under their skins.

Kumara are sweet and they mush and blend so well that I used them a lot when I was making baby food, years ago. The kids have progressed from baby food now, but I haven't stopped blending kumara: I am just adding more seasonings to it now :-).

Kumara dip

I used the orange kumara here, peeled. This is not a recipe as such, you can add what you like to your blend. Peel and boil the kumara, or roast them for more flavour. Blend with a couple of garlic cloves (peeled), salt and pepper, olive oil, lemon juice, and a fevourite spice (some examples are smoked paprika, cumin, coriander, or a mixture of all of the above if you like). Serve as a dip or with a plate of meze.

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Giveaway: Win two jars of Pohutukawa Christmas Honey

2011-11-01T01:50:00.000-07:00

Win two jars of Pohutukawa Christmas Honey, kindly offered

by J. Friend and Co. To enter please click here and follow the instructions!

Florence Fennels Cooked in Milk

2011-10-28T02:17:00.000-07:00

I don't do it often, but to cook Florence fennels in milk is a very Italian method, not really used much overseas (or at least, I haven't noticed it!). The fennels seem to acquire a really special taste when cooked in milk, and after this first 'stage' they are usually baked in the oven or placed under the grill, with or without toppings. A big tray would have several fennels, but becasue I only had three fennels I decided to add some lasagna sheets to make sure that they would not 'dry up' too much in the second cooking stage in oven.

Fennels Cooked in Milk

Wash three Florence fennels and cut like in the photo.

Gently (very gently) simmer the fennels in milk (about half a litre) until they are quite tender (about 30 minutes). Watch the pot at all times: the milk may boil out. Lift out the fennels, but keep the milk in the pot.

I didn't want to put the fennels straight into a pan, so I placed three lasagna sheets on the bottom (I used Barilla egg lasagna). Fennels on top, salt, pepper and parmesan cheese.

I made a sauce with the milk from cooking the fennels, I just added one tbsp of flour and some butter, salt, pepper and a little freshly grated nutmeg. Stir until you have a thin velvety sauce.

I poured most of the sauce over the fennels and the topped with three more lasagna sheets, which I covered with the remaining white sauce.

Bake everything at 180°C for about 30 minutes. Serves 3-4 and it is very very yummy.

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Twilight series cupcake decoration ideas (also good for Halloween!)

2011-10-24T21:29:00.000-07:00

Soon Breaking Dawn part 1 will be released in cinemas around the world, so here are just a few ideas to decorate some Twilight Inspired cupcakes. Click here for more images and info, and here for a complete Twilight Vegan Dinner Menu. Or for Halloween!

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Taro with Olive Oil

2011-10-23T03:04:00.000-07:00

Taro is the Polynesian staple, usually baked or boiled, it is quite starchy and very filling. Being Italian I like to use olive oil, so after cleaning, peeling, cutting and boiling my taro, I dressed it with olive oil, salt flakes and chopped spring onions. It was truly yum!!!

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Party Food for Girls at Mercato in Christchurch

2011-10-17T21:42:00.000-07:00

Meet us in Christchurch, at Mercato, for some tastings from our new book Party Food for Girls.

All the recipes in the book are suitable for vegetarians.

How to cut, eat, and drink, a fresh coconut: coconut water, flesh, vegetables salad, fruit salad, rice, and coco-chocolates

2011-10-13T17:45:00.000-07:00

Sunday morning Colleen and Charles brought us a bag of fresh coconuts. Of course I had to ask Charles to show me how to open them, and it was easier that I thought (just look at the pictures below). We didn't have any straws so I let the coconut water drip into a glass (getting about three full glasses for each coconut!). We all loved the coconut water, especially if we left the coconut in the fridge: fresh and chilled coconut water!

After drinking the water I got the boys to break the coconuts for me: Dad was good at breaking them, and Max at scraping out the flesh.

When we were in Niue Charles and Colleen came for dinner. Of course I made pasta, but I also made a variety of dishes with the fresh coconuts they brought me the day before. A tomato and coconut salad with cannellini beans, spring onions and olives, dressed with olive oil, lemon juice and sea salt flakes. Coconut rice (just boil the rice with coconut pieces in it, fantastic!), coconut chocolates: I dipped slices of coconut in melted 72% dark chocolate, and also mixed freshly shredded coconut in the remaining chocolate to make choco-coco balls. I made a big tray of these but I forgot to take a photo, se here were the leftovers... and the fruit salad with local papaya, banana, and coconut, a little brown sugar, lemon juice and rum. This I made a few times actually, it was too good! Charles and Colleen couldn't believe how many things I made out of their coconuts, they said that usually the drink the juice and then give the rest to the pigs. They have plenty of coconut. But I guess that for me this was luxury!

So what is a typical dish with coconut in Niue? In the market we tried the local coconut porridge, a warm mixture made with coconut, arrow root and a little sugar. It was different, not bad but not even my breakfast of choice. I preferred coconut bread, which is sold in all the bakeries.

But the best experience for me was to learn how to open and eat coconut at different stages of maturity, so if one day I will be ever stranded on a desert island I will be able to survive... as long as there are coconuts around! On our plantation tour Tony firstly gave us a coconut each to drink, these were very young coconuts and the water tasted different from the one we collected from Charles' coconut. Then Tony opened up some coconuts for us and cut some spoons out of the coconut shells. The younger the coconut the softer the flesh.

I was really surprised to learn that you can also eat coconut when the leaves appear: Tony called it coconut marshmallow, and in fact it was soft (but not as soft as a marshmallow) white and spongy, with a delicate sweet taste, a bit like eating a gigantic soft macadamia nut. This was a favourite with the kids. My favourite was the the stalk of the young coconut plant: Tony peeled and passed it over, crunchy, fresh and a bit like a coconut celery. I have eaten this before, it is called heart of palm, and in Argentina I ate it in sandwiches (it is called palmito there), in Asia I ate it in a variety of dishes, and in New Zealand I went on a foraging trip with a Maori forest ranger and ate the heart of a young Nikau palm (but much smaller than this stalk of coconut!). Nikau heart too taste a little like coconut.

So if you visit Niue make sure that you visit a plantation, the market, or have friends with lots of coconuts, otherwise just stop at your nearest coconut stall.

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Breadfruit Chips

2011-10-10T18:37:00.000-07:00

When we were in Niue Tony took us to a plantation tour, which was amazing (I will post more about it in the next few days). We returned to our guesthouse with a good stock of locale produce and the first recipe that I am proposing is with breadfruit. I heard a lot about this fruit but never cooked it (although I ate it before and found it quite bland).

Tony told me that I could bake it, boil it or make chips, and since I travelled with olive oil and some luxury salt flakes I decided to go for chips.

Breadfruit needs to be peeled and sliced, Tony peeled it with a machete for me. I cut it into thin slices and pan fried them with a little olive oil (not deep fried) and added some Welsh sea salt flakes. I served it as an appetizer, everybody love it so much that I made it again the evening after. First breadfruit experiment: successful!

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Carrot leaf fritters and Natural face mask and exfoliant

2011-10-06T13:28:00.000-07:00

Since chickpea flour can be mixed with just water and it will still bind like eggs do it is perfect for vegan recipes. For my Vegan fritters I used another overlooked green from my garden: carrot leaves. I always end up planting carrots to close, and fail to thin them when I should (I just don't have the heart to do it...) so I had to pick up a few little ones to let their sisters grow in peace. Baby carrots are great anyway, but what a waste throwing out all those pretty leaves! Then I read on the blog Galline 2nd Life (a blog that I enjoy a lot!) a recipe for a frittata with carrot leaves.

Carrot leaf fritters

I washed and roughly chopped the carrot leaves, made a batter with chickpea flour, water, salt and pepper, added a chopped red onion, and fried my fritters. In the end I topped them with some smoked paprika and a few sesame seeds. Good hot or cold.

Natural face mask and exfoliant

I discovered that chickpea flour can be used as a face mask and an exfoliant. The Indian lady that was serving me in the shop told me so, she gave me her recipe: a little chickpea flour mixed with natural yogurt and lemon juice, make a paste (last photo on the right, above), put it on your face like a mask, leave it for a few minutes and then rinse. She told me the she used it for acne, and it was the only thing that worked for her. I guess that vegans could omit the yogurt or use some soy one.

Well, I tried for my daughter, and myself, and I am very happy with it, especially because in the last few years, since after reading The world without us by Alan Weisman, I have been avoiding commercial exfoliants, as many seem to be made with synthetic polymers. There is a chapter in this book entitled Polymers are forever, you can actually read the whole chapter by following this link (although if you are the eco type I suggest that you read the whole book :-), but I can tell you that the sentence that most impressed me was this one:

“Can you believe it?” Richard Thompson demands of no one in particular, loud enough that faces bent over microscopes rise to look at him. “They’re selling plastic meant to go right down the drain, into the sewers, into the rivers, right into the ocean. Bite-size pieces of plastic to be swallowed by little sea creatures.”

From The world without us by Alan Weisman, Part II, Chapter 9.

I still remember rushing to the bathroom to check my exfoliant, fortunately it was St. Ives Apricot Scrub, which Thompson claimed to be ok (i.e. 100% natural) but I have not been able to trust ready made exfoliants ever since.

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Spicy broccolini flower fritters with chickpea flour

2011-10-03T17:59:00.000-07:00

Chickpea flour, also called gram flour, or besan, or garbanzo flour, is a wonderful product. It is gluten free, high in protein, iron and vitamins, and perfect for vegetarians. I payed $3.50 for a kg bag in the Indian store, and 1 kg goes a long way. My main reason for buying it was to make fritters, like onion bhaji, while the only Italian dish based on chickpea flour I am familiar with is Farinata, a kind of savoury pancake, so my repertoire was a little limited. Then the other day I was making some spicy marinated tofu, and I always have leftover marinade when I do this, so I thought of 'scooping it up' with a few veggies and the chickpea flour as a binder.

Broccolini flower fritters

I started with plain yogurt to which I added a little squeeze of garlic, some freshly grated ginger, a little lemon juice, salt, cayenne pepper, paprika, ground cumin, ground coriander... (well, use whatever takes you fancy really). Then I added a chopped red onion and, not having much more in the veggie garden, I picked up the broccolini that had gone into flower. I chopped them, and then added enough chickpea flour to get a paste that I could spoon into a frying pan with hot oil. Well, that went down a treat, I guess that you can fry any leftover veggie that way.

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Mango and Berry Pudding

2011-10-02T01:43:00.000-07:00

Something bright and colourful: I started with my fool proof recipe for mango and agar agar pudding (recipe here), and then I just added a few mixed berries to the mixture. It looked so pretty that I will definitely make it again.

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Three layers Bento Basket

2011-09-27T03:13:00.000-07:00

This is a three layer picnic basket, and I use it as a family size bento box. I got it from the Trade Aid shop and it is perfect for Japanese food: I put napkins, sake cups (or other drinks) and fruit in the bottom basket, then small plates and wooden Japanese bento picks in the middle basket (no chopsticks today, this is all food that you can eat with your fingers, but you can use the picks for the omelette), and the food in the top tray. There is a lid for the top and a handle to carry it. It looks very stylish.

Picnic giapponese in cesto a tre piani

To line the baskets I used some bamboo leaves from my garden, I cut some patterns in some of the leaves to make them more interesting. The food is: Ume Onigiri, Salad Sushi rolls, Nori Omelette, Edamame beans and garnishes.

Salad Sushi Rolls

Wash the sushi rice (or Japanese rice) several times in cold water, until the water runs clear, and then cook it by absorption. The doses are about 1 and 3/4 (three quarters) cups of sushi rice for 2 cups of water, but that depends on the type of pot. You need a pot with a good lid, or you will loose too much steam. I kind of regulate myself by ear now, since I know my pots and pans. Bring the pot to boiling point, lower the heat and simmer until all the water has been absorbed. Once the rice is ready pour it into a bowl and stir it with a wooden spatula, cooling it with a fan if you can. I then add some ready made sushi vinegar, about 2 tablespoons, but this is my personal taste. If I don't have sushi vinegar I use 2 tbsp of rice vinegar, a little sugar and a little salt (to taste, and I don't like to use too much sugar or salt!). Roll the rice with nori seaweed and the filling of your choice: I used carrots, takuan (Japanese pickled daikon) and rocket salad).

Foglie di bamboo come tovagliette

Onigiri

To make the rice balls cook some Japanese (or sushi) rice as explained above but do no dress with rice vinegar, leave it plain. Start working it when it is still warm: wet your hands with water, and rub them with just a little salt, then shape the balls with your palms, sticking a whole ume (Japanese pickled plum) in the middle while you are working. This time I put the ume not inside but on top, for visual effect, and added a violet (edible) for decoration.

Omelette alle alghe, palle di riso, sushi e fagiolini giapponesi

Nori Omelette

Beat 4 free range eggs with 1 tsp of vegetable oil and 1 tsp of soy sauce. Heat a large frying pan greased with vegetable oil and pour in the eggs. Lift the sides gently to allow all the egg mixture to run trough and cook. When the omelette is ready to be rolled place one or two sheets of nori (cut it to fit the surface of your omelette) then roll it put. Cut and Serve.

The edamame beans are just boiled, I have been promising the kids that I was going to get them some Mameshiba since they saw them in Cooking Gallery Blog (I love her blog and the kids do too!!). Well, any kind of bean and nut can be a Mameshiba now, but edamame are the best mameshiba for me!

Carrots flowers, takuan slices, pickled ginger and little containers for soy sauce complete the first tray (and a wasabi tube is also in the bottom tray, in case we need it :-).

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Dolomiti Apple Strudel

2011-09-23T01:00:00.000-07:00

This is my favourite apple strudel, once again from my book Sweet As..., page 20. I learned to make this from my mother, and I like it because it is 'rustic', not fancy like the patisseries' versions, and barely sweet: a real Dolomiti mountain food. In fact I prefer this to any other apple pie or cake or flan!

For the filling peel and slice 4 apples, add 1 tbsp of sultana, a few chopped walnuts (mine were from the South Island) 5 to 10 cloves (according to taste), 1 stick of cinnamon broken into two pieces, 4 tsp brown sugar, and the juice of 1 lemon.

For the pastry mix 200 g of flour with 50 g of butter (cubed, vegans can use margarine), 2 tsp brown sugar and 100 ml cold water. Mix well by hand and shape into a bowl. Refrigerate for 30 minutes then roll out into a large oval, as thin as you can manage. Spread the apples on top and roll up. Pinch both sides of the strudel and turn them in to resemble a gigantic croissant. Place on a baking tray lined with baking paper and bake at 180°C for almost one hour.

When the strudel is almost done the juices from the apples will start to come out: remove the strudel from the oven and with a spoon collect the juices and used them to coat the crust. Then place back into the oven for 5 or 10 more minutes (or until you are satisfied with it, I like it not too brown, my mother likes with a really crispy crust). The two little ends are quite dry (just pastry) and possibly I wouldn't offer them to guests, but when I was a child my brother and I used to get one each: we loved them, and we still do (although he is in Italy, so I can eat both ends!!).

Serving tips: my husband (the Kiwi) likes this strudel for pudding, with cream, but for me this is, once again, the perfect breakfast (no cream!).

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Oratia Apple and Sultana Cake with Rum

2011-09-19T23:52:00.000-07:00

I got a few more Oratia heirloom apples (and a few garden lemons too) from Sue, this is still the season for apples in New Zealand! First I made an apple cake, I like to eat apple cake for breakfast, and I took advantage of the fact that I had a German wwoofer staying with us to indulge: she also liked cake for breakfast, something that in New Zealand is not really done!

Apple and Sultana Cake with Rum

The base for this cake comes from my book Sweet As..., it is the base for most of my fruit cakes, and the original recipe is on page 28, where is used for a cherry berry cake. I start by mixing 4 eggs with 200 g of sugar, then I add 150 g of melted butter (salted), 250 g of self-raising flour, and the zest of one lemon (optional). In the meantime I peeled and cut 4 apples and splashed them with lemon juice. I also soaked 2 tbsp of sultana in a little Guatemalan Rum (Ron Botran, the best!).

I added the sultana and apples for last, and folded everything. I poured the mixture in a 23 cm round baking tin lined with baking paper, and baked the cake at 180°C for approx. 45 minutes.

When the cake was cool I decorated it with icing sugar and homemade sugar flowers, the German girl and my daughter really liked it, I guess that it was very 'girly'! Also it was perfect for breakfast (the rum is just a taste, no alcohol remains really!), probably I would not make it for a dessert or a special occasion, but definitely for more breakfasts (or after school snacks) to enjoy with a hot drink. There was some left when Kiwi blogger Sasa came to visit, I hope she liked it, she must be used to European having apple cake for breakfast!

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

How to make gluten free almond and chocolate fingers

2011-09-17T20:33:00.000-07:00

For these I used 200 g of almonds and 5 apricot kernels (enough to give the almonds a more distinctive flavour). If you like to know more about apricot kernels click here. I blanched everything in boiling water for a couple of minutes and then I removed the skins.

I placed the blanched almonds (and the blanched apricot kernels) in the food processor with 100 g of icing sugar. I processed the nuts but not into a 'flour', more like into a coarse mixture, like a crumble mixture. I stirred in one egg white (not need to beat it first, these are not amaretti biscuits), and then I shaped the 'fingers' with wet hands. More than baking, these biscuits need to 'dry', so I placed them in the fan oven at 180°C for 5 minutes, then I turned the oven off and let them dry until they were cold.

To finished I melted some dark chocolate (72%) and dipped one side of the biscuits into it. Once the chocolate had set the 'fingers' were ready. Perfect for tea and coffee, and very high in protein!

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

New Zealand Yams

2011-09-12T03:53:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I am really happy to be a vegetarian: it means that I don't have to try wild specialties like huhu grubs. Not that many New Zealaders would either, you can't buy them in shops (I think) and you have to forage for them in the bush (they eat rotten wood) or go to special wild food festivals like the Hokitika Wild Food Festival. But I found a better, and vegetable alternative, with New Zealand yams.

Yam are much bigger than huhu grubs, and I got the red and the apricot colour varieties, I thought that they looked really pretty. After boiling them the colours had faded, a lot, and the look was... well, like in the photo above. I left them on the kitchen bench and went to get the kids from school. As soon as they arrived home the went" "Huhu grubs????". No, they have never eaten them, but they saw them and know what they look like. They giggled a lot, they said that yams really looked like gigantic huhu grubs.

Just boiled they didn't appeal to me, so I roasted them with olive oil, smoked garlic, smoked salt, coriander seeds and a few chili flakes. Then I served them with some wasabi mayonnaise (just mayo mixed with a dash of wasabi) and they went down a treat. In this household my husband is the only one that has ever eaten huhu grubs, I asked him if the flavour was similar to these yams, he said: "No, these taste much better!"

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

How to Make Hazelnut Turkish Delights, and pistachio, and lavender, and...

2011-09-09T15:50:00.000-07:00

I have already explained how to make Rose Turkish Delight (Lokum) at home, it is pretty and pink, but I must confess that my favourite Lokum of all is hazelnut, so today I will show you this variations, and a few more. To start follow the recipe here.

Rose Turkish Delight

While the cornflour and sugar syrup are cooking shell and toast a couple of handfuls of hazelnuts. It is better to use fresh hazelnuts and toast them just before making Lokum, for a full hazelnut flavour. Years ago I also had a hazelnut essence which was great, but I cannot find it here, I think that one of the best places to buy it would be in Piedmont, in Italy. Anyway, even without hazelnut essence you can get the best out of hazelnuts if you toast them and use them within a few days. When they are still hot from the oven put them in a clean tea towel and shake and rub them well so as to discard the peel. If some peel stays on don't worry, it is edible, just not as nice. Crush the nuts roughly (I have a nut crusher that my Mother-in-law gave me as a present, very handy for these jobs), and when the Turkish Delight mixture is ready, instead of adding rose water and berries, add the chopped nuts. Mix well and then follow the same steps as for the basic recipe.

A few variations:

Pistachio: same as hazelnuts, but it is also possible to blanch the nuts to remove the skin (for greener pistachio). Almonds could go too!

Orange Blossom: Same as Rose, but add Orange Blossom Water instead or Rose Water, and no need to add berries to colour these: they should be clear.

Lavender: when you make the syrup add a few lavender leaves (yes leaves) and then remove them before pouring the syrup into the cornflour mixture. Your Turkish Delights will smell and taste like lavender. For colours add a few blueberries, they will melt in the hot mixture and give you a light lavender colour.

Lemon and other citruses: Easy, add lots of lemon juice and/or zest (or the juice of your favourite citrus fruit) when you make the sugar syrup (there is also lemon essence, if you like).

And then... endless, there is mint (but I am not keen on that one) and so many more, let me know if you make a special one.

Hazelnut Turkish Delight

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

How to make Rose Turkish Delights (Lokum), and Sweet New Zealand

2011-09-05T15:52:00.000-07:00

Rose Turkish Delights (Lokum)

Before I start I would like to say that I don't have a sugar thermometer, essential if you are really into confectionery, and that I didn't use much sugar for these Turkish delights. Many recipes use much more sugar, and it is not that I wanted to make a low sugar treat here (it is still pretty sweet), it is just that making it at home really makes me realize how much sugar there is already in my diet, and if I can have something with a little less... well, why not!

This method is 'home friendly' i.e. these can be made at home with very little effort and equipment, and the recipe comes from my book Sweet As... where I also have the recipe for lavender and orange blossom Turkish Delights.

Ingredients

1 l water

300 g sugar

2 tbsp lemon juice

100 g cornflour

1 tbsp frozen raspberries

1 tbsp rose water

icing sugar (very little) and cornflour (lots) to dust.

In a pot put half of the water (500 ml) with the sugar and lemon juice and bring to the boil. Boil it down until you get a light syrup (here those with the sugar thermometer will go to about 240 degrees, I just waited for the mixture to thicken a little). In another pot mix the remaining water with the cornflour, then bring to the boil and simmer, stirring, until the mixture thickens. Add the hot sugar syrup and stir well.

Now let the pot simmer, without stirring, for at least 30 minutes. More would be good, if you are patient, 45 minutes to one hour is more like the shops do it, but in a home kitchen looking at a bubbling mixture is a little worrying. Still, the more you cook it the harder your Turkish Delights. At the end add a tbsp of rose water, and to colour it, since I try not to use artificial colouring, a few raspberries. The berries will 'melt' in the hot mixture and the little seeds are quite pretty, I think. If you don't like the seeds, just pass the berries through a sieve, and adde the juice only. Pour the hot mixture into a square or rectangular tupperware or similar plastic container (easy to detach the solid block after it sets) and let it cool down and set overnight.

The day after tip out your 'candy' block and cut into pieces. I now understand why when you buy lokum it is full of white powder: it takes lots of cornflour to keep it! To dust it I use a mixture of cornflour and very little icing sugar: if you use too much icing sugar the sweet may 'sweat' and become all sticky! Another problem is humidity: it is very humid here in the Auckland bush, if your sweets seems too 'wet' after cutting them, place them on a oven tray and bake them at 50 on fan for a little to dry. Store them in layers divided with paper, and dust regularly with a mixture of cornflour and icing sugar to keep them dry. Eat within a few days. Turkish Delights are Vegan and Gluten Free. Next post will be about hazelnut Turkish delights :-).

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

I am entering this recipe for Sweet New Zealand #2, the New Zealand monthly blogging event, this September hosted by Allison of Pease Pudding. Please come and join us here.

Italian Style Mushrooms

2011-09-02T16:41:00.000-07:00

I like mushrooms but I find than champignons have very little taste. I guess that I grew up with wild mushrooms (and lots of porcini) so maybe I am a bit of a snob... still, champignons are easy to find and I tend to use them as a 'base', adding other dried mushrooms for extra flavour.

I had a handful of dried porcini and another of dried Chinese black mushrooms, and I soak them in water for 30 minutes. In the meantime I cleaned and chopped 400 g of champignons (I tend to discard the stalks of the champignons, not sure why, but I learned to do it ages ago in Italy and I keep doing it).

I heated some olive oil with a few cloves of garlic, then I added the champignons and some salt. I cooked the mushrooms until all their water was gone (abut 20 minutes) then I added the dried mushrooms and their soaking water.

After 5 minutes I added the content of a can of finely chopped Italian tomatoes, and some more water from rinsing the can (another 400 ml).

I let the mushrooms simmer, covered, for about one hour (yes that long) until almost all the liquid was gone. It may seem like a long cooking time, but it is winter after all, and it is nice to have a pot simmering on the stove :-).

At the end I added some fresh Italian parsley chopped with a clove of garlic, (about one tbsp in all). I served it with crescentine (as one of the fillings, usually I always have one hot filling for them), but you can use these mushrooms with polenta, pasta, and even couscous, or as a side dish, and they are wonderful as pie filler and to make mushrooms lasagna.

Vegan sweet bites

2011-08-30T02:34:00.000-07:00

Mango Agar Agar Flowers

Mango pudding is a staple at home, and the kids like to take it to school for lunch. For the lunch boxes I usually cut it into squares, but just for fun this time I used some little flower cutters. Agar agar is easier to shape and cut than jelly, and it is healthier too. The basic recipe for mango agar agar pudding is here.

Hazelnut Gold Chocolates

Toast some hazelnuts and remove the skins, then drop into some melted dairy free chocolate, the darker the better. Collect 3 hazelnuts at the time and let them set together (I also spoon just a little more chocolate on top to make it more like a proper chocolate). I had a very little edible gold paper left from an old job, so I sprinkled some on the chocolates. It didn't give it any particular flavour, I must say (maybe I had too little?), but it looked pretty and sophisticated :-). Unfortunately is was dark by then and the photo is not too clear, the flash also made the chocolate look less dark that it actually was. Still, everything got eaten pretty happily!

Roasted Chickpea Snack

2011-08-26T17:38:00.000-07:00

I am used to Italian cats eating almost anything, but New Zealand cats seem to be fussier, so I was very surprised when Marameo jumped on the bench to grab the cooked chickpeas that I was rinsing. I had to give her some, she could not wait, and ate them all. I gave them seconds and then she stopped bothering me. Strange cat!

With my remaining chickpeas, I wanted to make a spicy snack: this one from the blog of Araba Felice.

Smoked Paprika Chickpea Snack

The original recipe calls for:

400 g can of chickpeas,

1 tbsp flour

1 tsp sweet paprika, or your favourite spice (in my variation I used smoked paprika instead)

1 tsp salt, about

2-3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

I also added a few cumin seeds.

Rinse and pat dry the chickpeas, and mix with the other dried ingredients until the chickpeas are nicely coated. At this point I left the chickpeas in the bowl for about 30 minutes so that the flour and spices could really get 'caked' around each chickpea.

Pour the olive oil on a baking tray (no baking paper), add the chickpeas and roll them around so that they are not one on top of the other. Bake at 200°C, rolling them on the tray again from time to time to make sure that they get crispy all over. The original recipe says 30 minutes, but my canned chickpeas were quite small, I though, so 20 minutes were sufficient. Serve as a snack, warm or even cold (I think that they will go well with beer so I will make them again when my husband is back!)

But this time I just put them on the table for dinner (we didn't have time for a pre-dinner drinks, I rarely do during the week anyway, and without the husband organizing the drinks) so the chickpeas became 'part' of the meal, which was Indian: basmati rice with silver beet panir and flat bread, and mango lassi to drink. We ate the warm chickpeas with our fingers, but we also put them on our rice with the curry, and they were great! Thank you Araba Felice :-)

Yogurt Soufflé Glacé

2011-08-23T02:18:00.000-07:00

The original recipe is from Loredana and you can find it here (in Italian).

The ingredients from Loredana:

3 egg whites (About 100g)
200 g icing sugar
100 ml water
200 ml cream
250 g plain yogurt
1 tbsp fruit compote

First you have to make an Italian meringue base. I must confess that I really enjoy making Italian meringue, possibly because it is not something that I see here in New Zealand. Beat the egg whites really stiff, in the meantime make a syrup with the water and icing sugar (I never used icing sugar for the syrup before, so this was a new one for me!). I don't have a sugar thermometer (didn't I say this already?? A few times?? Yep!) but you see, Loredana in her original recipe doesn't talk about temperatures, she just says to make quite a thick syrup. Ahh, a real home cook! I made my 'thickish' syrup, and I wish that I could explain it better, but it is that stage when the syrup just start to get a little white and you can smell candy floss. Pour the hot syrup slowly into the egg whites and keep beating until they are cold (see first photo below on the left). In the meantime whip the cream, fold in the yogurt, and then fold with the Italian meringue.

Wrap some baking or cooking paper around the ramekins, leaving about 5 cm border at the top, and securing them with kitchen string (large photo below on the right). The idea looked pretty but... I don't really have the right ramekins: they are not straight but open up at the top, even if very lightly, and although they looked pretty with a kitchen string ribbon... after the first one I secured the others with Sellotape :-P!! I filled the ramekins with the soufflé mixture and I placed them in the freezer.

Next the fruit compote. I heated a few frozen raspberries with a tsp of sugar and mashed them into a sauce. When the soufflés were set I removed a little from the centre and ate it. I loved this step. Place the soufflés back into the freezer until serving time. Finally it was time to serve my soufflés glacés so I filled the holes with the fruit sauce (second image on the left), removed the paper and decorated the tops with a raspberry, a violet (edible) and mint tips. Because there is so much sugar, air and fat in these soufflés, they don't freeze into a block of ice: they are firm yet soft. I will make them again, but smaller portions (here I made 4, but they were rugby player's portions, I think that I should use smaller - and straighter ramekins, and make 6, or even 8) and I will try to use less sugar next time (the boy complained that they were too sweet for his), just to see what happens.

This is my entry for the Sweet New Zealand blogging event.

Tiramisù ai Frutti di Bosco e Nuvole

2011-08-17T17:30:00.000-07:00

I saw the name Cloudberry in the New Yorker, it wasn't a recipe, just an article with someone ordering Cloudberry Gelato in Aspen. I like the name, it reminded me of a Tibetan restaurant in London years and years ago where all the dishes had something to do with clouds, dragons or heaven. Astrofiammante just told me that the cloudberry is yellow, this one? Incredible! I planted it in my garden years ago, made lots of leaves and not a single berry! No yellow berries for me, so I changed the name of this dessert to Cloud-berry Tiramisù, or maybe it would be better to call it Berrycloud Tiramisù... and as I had some friends over for crescentine, I decided to also test my new dessert, and its name, on them :-).

A little edit, I added an Italian name to the dessert, the translation sounded really romantic.

Tiramisù ai Frutti di Bosco e Nuvole

Cloud-berry (or Berrycloud) Tiramisù

Ingredients:

1 heap cup of mixed frozen berries (use the real cloudberries if you have them!)

2 tbsp whisky (a good one)

1 tsp sugar + 3 tbsp sugar

1 packet of savoiardi biscuits

3 large free range eggs

300 ml cream

Cocoa to dust

Friends for sharing, including one who can clean the bowl in the end.

Place the frozen berries in a bowl with the whisky and 1 tsp of sugar. Let the berries defrost at room temperature, they will make lots of juice. Strain and collect the juice to soak the savoiardi. Use only half of the savoiardi, making your first layer in a 20 x 20 cm square and at least 5 cm high (or similar size rectangular) serving dish. Place all the berries over the biscuits, but leave some berry juice aside for the second layer of biscuits.

Please note: it is important not to over-soak the biscuits or the base will be too soft. Just dip them quickly on one side only (the sugary side is better), and place them in the serving dish with the soaked part facing up: this way the juices will slowly go through the biscuits.

In the meantime separately whip the egg whites, then the egg yolks with 3 tbsp of sugar, then the cream.

Whip everything well, the egg whites should be really stiff, the egg yolks really pale, and the cream like a cloud. Finally mix all three together and give them a final whip (not a fold, but a good whip!). Pour half of the cream mixture over the red savoiardi biscuits, then make a second layer of savoiardi dipped in berry juice (always dipping one side only, and placing them on the cream red facing up). Cover with the remaining cream mixture and place in the fridge for a few hours. Before serving dust the 'cloud' with cocoa. I would say that it serves 12, but we were 7 and most had seconds, so it all went.

The name was approved but be warned, these are the side effects:

Salad Rice Paper Rolls

2011-08-14T00:24:00.000-07:00

Bored with the same side salad? Can’t get the kids to eat it? Maybe you need to roll it up! I did this because I had a few sheet of rice paper to use, just about a dozen, not enough to make a meal, but enough for some fun side veggies.

Ingredients:

Cooked green beans

Cooked carrot sticks

Mesclun salad

Rice paper

Sweet chili sauce to serve

Follow the instructions on how to soften, fill and roll the rice papers here.

Btw, these were a hit with the kids, they like salad, but they had more fun eating it this way.

Miso Ramen with Rice Vermicelli

2011-08-11T14:00:00.000-07:00

I collected the last bok choy from the garden, they were just baby bock choy, but the snails weren't going to wait for them to grow up! Baby bok choy is perfect for ramen soup.

Ingredients for 4 bowls of ramen: 8 dried shitake mushrooms, 1 small carrot, 4 baby bok choy, 1 pinch salt, 1 pack rice vermicelli, miso paste, 4 eggs.

I cooked the shitake mushrooms first in 1 litre of water with a small pinch of salt, when they were soft I added the carrot, sliced, and the bok choy. I simmered everything for 5 more minuted and then I collected the vegetables and kept the stock in the pot. I added the miso to the stock and kept it hot but not boiling.

In the meantime I cooked the rice vermicelli in hot water (they just take a couple of minutes) drained them and divided them between 4 bowls. I arranged the vegetables on top and then I added a raw egg for each bowl. I poured the hot miso over and served immediately. The egg white will cook with the hot stock, but the yolk will remain soft. If you prefer not to eat raw egg just add a boiled egg (halved) instead, or for a Vegan variation substitute soft tofu for the eggs.

Pizza al Trancio with cherry tomatoes, olives and artichokes

2011-08-07T14:52:00.000-07:00

Since recently there has been some talk about bloggers' getting payed or sponsored, I better just say that I didn't get payed, not receive canned tomatoes for writing this :-). As it happens tomatoes are not in season in New Zealand (you can buy them, of course, but they taste bad, are very expensive, and I don't know where they come from). So I use Italian canned tomatoes from Mutti. As a matter of fact I have been using Mutti since I left Italy, when I could find it, that is! It was ok in London, more difficult in Japan, and now I can get it in New Zealand and my pantry is a bit like the one of an Italian immigrant: dry pasta and canned tomatoes better came from Italy!

For this pizza slab I used the canned cherry tomatoes. I made the 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, then I put the canned cherry tomatoes on top. This way when the dough rises the tomatoes stick to their places. If you put them on just before baking they may roll off.

After 30 minutes (the dough had risen quite a bit) I added the tomato juice from the can, salt, olive oil and oregano. I baked the pizza in the oven at 240°C for 15 minutes, then I added black olives, cheese (I used edam, as I didn't have mozzarella) and artichokes in oil. I put the pizza back into the oven for other 10 minutes. Ready!

Canederli with Cheese and Onion Sauce

2011-08-03T22:27:00.000-07:00

Canederli (Knödel in German) is something my Mum made often when I was a child. There is no strict recipe because they are made with left-overs, and the base is left-over bread. But here you can find my basic recipe, with step by step instructions. I really prefer them in a broth, but the other day I wanted to make them with onions and cheese, I didn't think of publishing them on the blog as the photos are not exactly pretty, but my husband loved them! He said that he actually preferred them served this way! Once again left over bread was put into good use!

Canederli with Cheese and Onion Sauce

Prepare the canederli and cook them in a light vegetables stock (instructions here). Peel and finely slice 4 onions (white or brown) and simmer them slowly with a little olive oil and salt. I cooked them in my Le Creuset pot, on low and keeping the lid on, for about 45 minutes. I added a little stock from the canederli from time to time, but just a drop. When the onions were as soft as butter I added the canederli (cooked and drained, keep the stock to drink!), grated some edam cheese on top, added a sprig of fresh sage and put the lid back on for 5 minutes. Then I served them, with lots of sauce. Yes, they were perfect and filling for a winter evening!

Homemade Labne Balls

2011-07-31T00:35:00.000-07:00

Labne cheese is basically strained yogurt. I use Cyclops organic yogurt (green top) which I find to be the best for making labne. Use think plain yogurt which is just yogurt (no added gelatin or other thickeners).

To strain the yogurt I used a cotton cloth, not too fine, but finer that a muslin cloth or cheese cloth. Tight well and hang in the fridge with a container underneath to collect the liquid. Leave it for at least one night and one day. Two days if you can.

Here is your labne: you can spread it on bead, or spoon it on salads or hot food or nachos, but what I like best is to make little labne balls. Oil your hands with olive oil and shape small balls (about the size of a walnut). Add some more olive oil, salt and herbs or spices, like cumin seeds, coriander seeds, chili flakes, garlic, bay leaves, pepper, smoked salt, or anything that takes your fancy! I also like to roll them in dukka! If you fill a jar with olive oil to completely cover you labne balls, and add a few peeled garlic cloves, it will last several weeks.

Chocolate sandwich biscuits

2011-07-26T17:16:00.000-07:00

In case you don't know Tim Tam is possibly New Zealand most popular biscuit. I like the idea of a biscuit sandwich with chocolate, but I wanted a 'lighter' version, homemade. I set to work with my 10 years old Max, using as the base some plain water thin crackers (my favourites!). In the centre we just put some hazelnut chocolate spread (you can find Vegan chocolate spread in health food shops) and then we made little biscuit sandwiches. We placed the 'sandwiches' in the freezer for 30 minutes, then we dropped them in melted dark (72%) chocolate (once again, if you are vegan look for vegan dark chocolate). Max loves dark chocolate but found dipping the biscuits in the hot stuff a bit too hard, so he took the photos for this step. Let the chocolate set at room temperature and then, if it is a hot day, store the biscuits in the fridge.

The verdict? This is too easy, and too tasty to be allowed!!!!

Red Beetroot, Carrot, Feta and Coriander Salad

2011-07-21T00:55:00.000-07:00

Red Beetroot, Carrot, Feta and Coriander Salad

Wash and boil the red beetroots until you can easily pierce them with a knife. Let them cool down and then peel them (keep the peels aside to colour the eggs later on). Cut them into cubes., then add a grated carrot, cubed feta cheese, chopped fresh coriander, olive oil, lemon juice (optional) and salt and pepper to taste.

With this recipe I take part in the event Weekend Herb Blogging (number 292). The creator of WHB was Kalyn di Kalyn's Kitchen, followed then by Haalo, Cook (almost) anything at least once, and then by Brii, Briggis recept och ideer for the Italian version. Thank you also to this week host Erbe in Cucina.