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 is the perfect salad for hot Summer days when you don’t feel like cooking, since the veggies – bell peppers and onion – can also be added raw instead of sautéed. I’ve used pearl couscous but you can use the plain one too for another no-cook option since it has to be soaked in hot water, whereas pearl couscous…
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…
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 super easy Summer salad is made with beautiful tomatoes and three different types of beans: Italian borlotti, Dutch spekbonen (a huge type of green bean) and broad beans. I’ve used udon noodles because I love them and I like to change my pasta type from time to time. You can of course use thick spaghetti or any other noodles, though…
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…
If you’ve never eaten cime di rapa (broccoli rabe and rapini for our American friends) you might find them difficult to enjoy the first time you try them. They’re quite bitter and they perfectly embody the “acquired taste” concept. In general, Italians tend to love bitter flavours: think of artichokes, wild herbs like dandelion greens and chicory – yes, we…
This soup is an ode to the colour orange and thanks to its warming ingredients is perfect for giving you a boost of energy when you’re feeling down and/or need some more vitality. The hot paprika provides a little hot zing and the lime juice adds a nice touch of acidity to the sweet main ingredients. We’re using three super…
Yes, another soup! I love soup and I hope you do too. This one is very easy to prepare and ready in no time: just make sure you cut the potatoes in small chunks and the cooking time will be reduced considerably. The broccoli needs just about 10 minutes to be nice and tender and while that happens you can…