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Showing posts with the label Recipes

Stained glass Christmas Cookies

I usually make  stained glass  cookie windows for the cookie house at Christmas, but this year I didn't get round to making a cookie house (you can find a recipe  here  with step by step images if you like) so I made some cookies, just for fun! All you need to do is cut out the cookies with a central pattern and fill the hole with some crushed candy. The candy will melt while the cookies are baking, and harden as they cool.    Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini  ©

Christmas Fruit Platter with Balsamic

Traditional Balsamic Vinegar of Modena goes well with fruit, and there is also a Balsamic cream you can buy which is less expensive and ideal to decorate plates.   Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini  ©

Risi e bisi coi baccelli - Fresh pea risotto with pea pod broth

Peas are a precious crop for me, I don't like to buy big bags of frozen peas like everyone seems to do in New Zealand (and other countries), it makes them feel 'cheap' and 'common' and an everyday boring side veggie... In fact I think that in so many years of blogging I have posted only one recipe using frozen peas and it is  here  (cooked with some foraged onion weeds - so the point of that recipe was to have a very low cost dish). I like my fresh peas and I like them to be the main player in a dish, like for  risi e bisi,  a traditional risotto dish from Veneto, Italy. And the best part of growing them? Is to keep the pods, and as I am a NO-FOOD-WASTE advocate, to use them to make stock, which will be the base of the risotto. So shell the peas and keep the pods, wash them well and place them in a pot with water (I used about 1.2 litres of water for a basket of peas) and rock salt and simmer for at least one hour. You can also add a little parsley or celery l...

Plum and strawberry smoothie

This is the season for plums, and we also have a few last strawberries in the garden, enough to add to smoothies and make them sweet! In fact I love the fact that plums are a little tart, but they do benefit from the strawberry sweetness. As a base I used half apple juice and half coconut water. Perfect breakfast! And now a few things from my garden! Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini  ©

No waste post: Japanese style pickled radishes - and eat the leaves too! Plus a Vegan Japanese dinner with produce from my veggie garden

I picked some lovely radishes from the vegetable garden, did you know that you can eat the leaves too? They are full of nutrients, as well as delicious! Wash the radishes well, then cut in halves (or quarters if big), keeping attached some of the centre leaves. Set the outer leaves aside to use later. These are the radishes (with the tender centre leaves) ready to pickle. Add some salt, I used Japanese unrefined salt because I had it, but ordinary kitchen salt is fine. Put another bowl over the radishes and then a weight on top (a rock, or anything heavy that you may have in the kitchen). Leave for a day and night, move the radishes from time to time if you like, to get them pressed. They will put out lots of water and create a brine. This is what they will look like the day after. Put into a jar with their brine and keep in the fridge (they will last a couple of weeks... maybe more but I don't know, we eat them quite quickly! And n...

Two variations on Caprese Salad

Caprese with edible flowers and Caprese with tree tomatoes and two basils Caprese is probably one of the world best known salads (and antipasto), and there are many variations, so here a couple more: Caprese with edible flowers I used red and yellow cherry tomatoes, and mozzarelline (the cherry size), plus added some edible flowers (borage and dianthus from my garden, organic of course). Add small basil leaves too before serving, if you like. Suitable also for a cocktail party, and ever so pretty! Caprese with tree tomatoes and two basils I used a mixture of vine tomatoes, cherry tomatoes and semi-dried tomatoes, mozzarelline (but you can use regular mozzarella cut into slices or pieces) and green basil and purple basil leaves. Dress with olive oil and salt. A filling salad or light lunch. Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini  ©

Red Beetroot risotto with Parmigiano Reggiano and Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale di Modena, step by step

   This is a super risotto, I am so proud of it!! I made the recipe many years ago for a magazine but I used shaved Parmigiano, but I think that cut into chunks is better. Start like for all good risottos, with plenty of butter and a chopped onion (I used a red one to keep the colour scheme!). When the onion sizzle add the rice (I used arborio) and stir well: for a good risotto the fat at the beginning is important so make sure that the rice absorbs well the butter. Make really hot to the touch.  Boil and peeled three small/medium beetroots (or a very large one) and cut into cubes. Add the cubes to the rice and stir until hot. Remember that the rice has to be hot before you add the stock! Add the stock (vegetable in my case) ladle by ladle, and stir often, adding more stock when needed. The risotto is ready! Wow, look at the colour! Cut the Parimigiano Reggiano into small chunks with a Parmigiano knife. Get your Balsami...

Caprese Salad with red impatiens flower dressing

You know I love eating flowers from my garden (they have to be organic), impatiens have a mild rucola flavour and are perfect for salads. The red ones are the best, I think.  Pick the flowers and then place in cold water to rinse. Put them on a tea towel to dry, then mix with extra virgin olive oil and salt to make a dressing. Leave a few for decoration.   Assemble your tomato, mozzarella and basil for a nice Caprese salad then drizzle with the dressing.  Enjoy! Have a great week! Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini  ©

Gluten free almond shortbread biscuits - Biscottini al burro e mandorla senza glutine

Ingredients: 100 g ground almonds 100 g sugar 100 g butter (at room temperature) 50 g rice flour plus some for dusting candied cherries (optional) Mix all the ingredients and make into a dough, then make some small balls, walnut size, roll them in rice flour (otherwise you will get some flat biscuits when they bake in the oven) and place them on a oven tray lined with baking paper. If you like add a piece of candied cherry on top. Bake at 160 ° for about 20 minutes, but check the oven often as they can bake quickly (depending on size). Let them cool down completely and then enjoy. They keep well in a container, but if you want to store them for longer bake them a few minutes more. And now the flowers from my garden (old photos, most of these flowers have gone now...) Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini  ©

Schiacciata con pomodorini - cherry tomato schiacciata, and a meal from the garden

I had a great summer of red and yellow cherry tomatoes, the reds are always the best for flavour, but the yellow are pretty to look at and I like a contrast of colour on my plate, so why not! This schiacciata is easy as it doesn't need muck kneading. For the schiacciata: Place 300 ml warm water in a large mixing bowl, add 2 tsp active yeast granules and 1/4 tsp raw sugar. Wait 5 minutes then add 500 g high grade flour and 1 tbsp wheat gluten flour, plus a good pinch of salt. Mix well then dust with four, cover with cling film and let it rise for 2 hours. After 2 hours place a little olive oil on your hands and then gently mix the dough, pick it up and place it on a baking sheet cut so that it will fit you over tray (I have a 90cm oven so one long tray is good for me, for a standard oven divide the dough into two pieces). Roll the dough to cover the baking paper and then place on the baking tray. Brush with more oil if you like, then cut the cherry tomatoes into halves and pla...

Crema Bruciata, or Crème brûlée, with nectarines, plums and cherries

The original recipes comes from my book Sweet As... ,  my own recipe which doesn't require steam baking in the oven and includes nectarine slices. Plum slices and cherries were also added here, and the result was delicious!  In Italy we also call this  crema bruciata , but  crème brûlée  is most commonly used now as it sounds sophisticated :-). To make the crème you will need one egg yolk for each 100ml of cream and 1 tbsp of sugar, for this recipes I used 5 egg yolks (thus 500ml cream and 5 tbsp of sugar) and I filled 8 ramekins, plus I had a little left to fill three miniature ones. Of course if you don't put any fruit on the bottom you will need more crème. It is up to you how much fruit you put in, generally I just line the bottom of the ramekins with 4-5 think slices, this time I think I overdid it (thus the leftover crème) sicne stone fruit season is not long in NZ, and I wanted to use more fruit than crème! Don't use watery fruit and remo...