Only Recipes, by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Strawberries, nectarines, pears, blueberries and kiwi fruit, a drop of lemon juice and some coconut water. No sugar.  Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini  ©

1 large red beetroot, 6 large carrots, 4 stalks of celery, half a cucumber and 6 pears. Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini  ©

At the  Festival Italiano  I received a very special present from Naomi of  Aceto Downunder : a bottle of ABTM ( Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale di Modena ), the  extra vecchio  (25 years +). This  Balsamico  is the real thing, only sold in specially designed 100ml bottles, expensive but worth it, every drop of it. The first thing I made was this classic Italian salad: Rocket leaves (fresh from my veggie garden), shaved Parmesan, thin slices of crunchy pears, and a drizzle of ABTM. This salad is absolutely delicious, and perfect as an entree or a sophisticated yet easy and light summer main course. Thank you Naomi! Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini  ©

I love nashi pears, pity that the season is short... mostly I eat them raw, cut into thin slices, but since I had quite a few I wanted to make a quick tart. This is too easy! I just used one sheet of ready rolled vegan puff pastry, then I peeled and cut 2 big nashi pears and placed the slices on top. I finished everything with a dusting of icing sugar and placed the tart in the oven until the edges of the tart were puffy and golden. As a final touch I sprayed the tart with some  grappa spray . Nashi are good for cooking and baking because they keep their shape and don't become brown! This I will make again, it was even better than an apple tart, which is saying a lot (for me!). Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini  ©

Almost cake-pops because they look like cake-pops, but they are not made from cake! In fact these are Cape Gooseberries (therefore I am calling them Cape-pops :-)), dipped in dark chocolate. I left some plain, while I rolled the others in shredded coconut, ground pistachio nuts, and  plum powder  (my new discovery, I talked about it already in  here ). I let them set first at room temperature and then, because it was a warm day, in the fridge. These are gluten free too! But more to come... I had melted far too much chocolate for the Cape gooseberries, so I made a pie which, I must say, came out better than I had anticipated. But sometimes new discoveries are born out of chance, or leftovers! I had a few sheets of filo pastry left, I placed them into a 23 cm pie dish lined with baking paper, leaving the corners to spill out. I peeled and cut four pears and placed the slices over the pastry, then drizzled the lot with Frangelico liqueur....

Ingredients 3 eggs, separated 2-3 pears 100 g sugar 100 g butter 150 g dark chocolate 1 shot of Rum or a drop of Vanilla essence 200 g self-rising flour Usually I fold in the beaten egg whites at the end, but this time I wanted to experiment a bit, and also I wanted to coat some pear slices with meringue for decoration, so I started by whipping the egg whites. Coat a few pear slices with the egg white, then roll in sugar and place on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Then keep beating the egg whites and add the sugar, then the egg yolks. Melt the butter with 50 g of dark chocolate and add to the mixture. Then add the Rum (just a little, these cupcakes were for my kids also) or vanilla essence, and finally the self-rising flour. Fold in some pear cubes and divide between 12 cupcake cases. Bake at 180 °C for about 16 minutes, or until the cupcakes are cooked. Don't overbake them or they will become dry. R...

If you like juices you may also like this combo: 10 organic carrots, 4 organic juicy pears and a piece of ginger root. Serves 4 and it is super healthy! Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini  ©

I had some leftover red wine and so I decided to make a quick dessert. Peel 4 firm pears, but leave the stalk on. In a pot place one glass of wine and one glass of water, add 3 tbsp of sugar and one star anise. If you don't have star anise you can use a stick of cinnamon. Bring to boil and then lower the pears in. Cover and simmer for 20-30 minutes (depending on how firm your pears are, they should not mush!  Remove the pears from the pot and reduce the syrup until is thick. Pour over the pears and serve. They actually turned out redder than the photo shows, but it was late in the evening and dark, and the kitchen light made them look orange! And now a little cameo: My cat Marameo always finds different spots to sleep in, that shelf is where I usually keep my scales, and when it was vacant Marameo took her chance and grabbed the spot! I thought that she looked very sweet :-). Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini  ©