The Chic Chick – Pollo alla Cacciatora

You may have noticed that one type of ingredient has been absent from my first ten posts in this blog, i.e. carne. The simple reason for this is that I haven’t eaten any red meat for 15 years. It has actually been so long that I no longer remember why I stopped. However, as I…

A Happy Reunion – Spaghetti alla Puttanesca

Apart from the obsession with the perfect pizza, during my journey of discovering the secrets of the authentic Italian kitchen, I have mainly been trying to cook dishes previously unfamliar to me. However, today I yearned for a reunion with an old friend of mine: spaghetti alla puttanesca. I had some new Marks & Spencer’s…

Stunning Simplicity – Insalata di Melanzane e Menta

Sometimes the best things in life and cooking are simple. This is certainly the case with this salad. With little effort, the maximum yum (well, I guess yum really isn’t a word but it kind of rhymes nicely with maximum). It is a side dish to accompany fish or meat. I have tried this with…

Italian Fast Food – Baguette Facile e Veloce

Sorry about the misleading headline. To be honest, this recipe is neither fast nor really Italian (it is an Italian blogger’s version of a French baguette). What I find amusing the Italian definition of “fast bread”. It takes about 3.5 hours in total to make. Yet trust me, I know from my limited baking experience…

Shapeless Soufflé – Sformato di Funghi Misti

This time I had to resort to my favourite on-line dictionary to understand what this dish is in fact supposed to be. The results were “shapeless” and “a type of soufflé”. Right. Well, although the name “shapeless soufflé” is not exactly the most appetizing of the Italian kitchen, it is yet certainly worth a try!…

Toast to Success – Orecchiette al Limone

This pasta dish was recommended to me by a colleague of mine. He is a fellow Italy enthusiast and lent me the book “Oggi cucino io 4” which also included this recipe. It is a dish that can probably be categorised as the ultimate nightmare for many of today’s carb conscious people. Hence, if you…