Only Recipes, by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Yes this is different! Just try it! But don't think that is something completely new! Where I come from in Italy they make a tart called Erbazzone Dolce, filled with spinach, ricotta, almond and flavored with an aniseed liqueur called Sassolino. Here in NZ it is difficult to find Sassolino so I use Sambuca. If you like the recipe for Erbazzone Dolce you can find it in  Sweet As , or it was recorded on Radio New Zealand (ages ago, when I was interviewed by Kim Hill on  Saturday Morning),  and the recipe is also on the Radio NZ website  here .  But the time instead of making Erbazzone Dolce I made a Spinach Frangipane: For the base: - 200g plain flour - 100g  butter, soft - 100g sugar - 1 egg  - tbsp sambuca Mix together and then spread (I couldn't be bothered rolling it, I spread it with fingers) into a 23 cm round baking tin  lined with baking paper.  The MT Challenge said that for the frangipane fi...

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  ©

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 l...