A Super Simple Squash Soup like this is going to be perfect for the cold Autumn and Winter days. It’s made with just four ingredients – onion, garlic, squash or pumpkin and potatoes – and a bit of seasoning. I then pureed it to obtain what we Italians call a vellutata (smooth and “velvety” soup). If you use fresh bay leaves…
This banana bread recipe is a fantastic way to use very ripe bananas. If you, like me, let your bananas go too ripe too often, “save” them by making this moist and naturally sweet bread! It’s a recipe from my cousin Silvia who’s an enthusiastic baker. She made this for me when she was visiting Amsterdam and we’ve been exploring…
I usually drink my coffee with oat milk and a few days ago I discovered I had finished it without buying a new carton so… what to do? Make my own plant-based milk, of course! I had a lot of roasted and peeled hazelnuts, probably my favourite nuts of all, so I decided to give them a try. The result…
After preparing my hazelnut milk (see recipe) I had some pulp left which I didn’t want to throw away, so I decided to make healthy-ish cookies by adding some almond flour, plus ground linseed instead of eggs. This way they’re not only gluten free but also totally plant based. I say healthy-ish because they’re sweetened with Medjoul dates and just…
What do you do when you have half a bag of pre-cut salad wilting away in your fridge? You make a veggie frittata! And not only because it’s been zero waste week (last week). At home I often cook with what I have in my fridge and there are always a few sad veggies that need to be used quickly…
This salad is usually made with couscous, one of the many wonderful ingredients you can find on Sicilian menus. Couscous is part of the island’s tradition because over the course of the centuries Sicily got influenced by many different cultures and the Arabic one was one of them (see the history of the Emirate of Sicily). Couscous is typical of the…
This is a super easy baked ricotta that is perfect as a little appetizer and even as a complete meal, for example with a good side dish and a salad. I served it with a side of grilled courgettes drizzled with good extra virgin olive oil and lemon juice and it was a delicious antipasto. It can be eaten hot…
Who’s ever bought a a watermelon that wasn’t sweet? Everybody, I guess. 😀 Watermelon is a wonderful fruit and can be beautifully sweet, but if you get yourself a bland one, then there’s no fun in eating it just like that. Tossing it is not an option, in my home, so I usually juice it and mix it with other,…
This chilled soup is a wonderfully refreshing dish for the warm Summer days. It’s a bit similar to a Spanish gazpacho but the taste is richer and more intense thanks to the roasted bell peppers which give it their distinct flavour. If you want to enjoy all the wonderful healing properties of tomatoes, raw garlic and basil don’t make it…
I adore Vietnamese spring rolls and I make them regularly with classic ingredients. I usually dip them in soy sauce with chilli and sesame oil, only this time I decided to prepare them with an Italian touch and a special dip sauce prepared with tomato puree and balsamic vinegar. For the filling I chose grilled chicken, shrimp, raw red beetroots,…