Uncategorized – BringNonnaBack

December 18, 2020Uncategorized

ANTIPASTI NATALIZI

We love ANTIPASTI ( did you know? ANTI = before PASTI= meals )= Starters

Yes, we love Starters and Christmas is the time where creativity and fresh ingredients go together even more beautifully!

Nonna taught us that Less is More Always but I could not possibly just show one/two Starters ideas …..

PRONTI? Are you ready?

UOVA RIPIENE (Stuffed Eggs) MEAT-FREE

/OO-OH-VAH REE-PEA-EH-NEH/

3 Hard Boiled eggs

Tin of Tuna in water

3tbs Mayonnaise

1 pinch of salt

a few anchovies in olive oil

tsp of capers

6 cherry or plum tomatoes

Halve the eggs and gently scoop the yolk out.

Mix the yolk with the mayonnaise, the tuna and the salt until smooth.

Evenly fill the whites with the mix and decorate with the halved tomatoes (hat and nose), the anchovies (beard) and capers (eyes). Your eggs should resemble either a BABBO NATALE (Father Christmas) or a RENNA (Reindeer)

BRUSCHETTA DI RAPA (Beetroot Bruschetta) VEGETARIAN

/BROO-SKEH-TAH DEE RAH-PAH/

One small fresh baguette, thinly sliced

3/4 pickled beetroots, sliced

100g of goat cheese, sliced

handful of walnuts

balsamic glaze

honey

Place a small slice of goat cheese on the bread, add a slice of beetroot, drizzle some honey and place a walnut on top. Finish with a little drizzle of balsamic glaze

PROSCIUTTO E ASPARAGI (Parma ham and asparagus)

/PROH-SHOO-TOH EH AH-SPAH-RAH-JEE/

4/6 slices of Parma Ham

10/12 Asparagus, grilled and seasoned

1 large mozzarella, sliced

Lay a slice of Parma ham, place a slice of mozzarella and 2/3 asparagus. Roll the Parma ham and cut in half. Place your asparagus “trees” on a serving dish.

PERE E PROSCIUTTO (Ham and Pears 🍐)

/PEH-REH EH PROH-SHOO-TOH/

1 or 2 pears, sliced

2/4 slices of PROSCIUTTO COTTO, Cooked ham

1 mozzarella, sliced

toothpicks

Lay the Cooked Ham and place a slice mozzarella in the middle. Fold the ham four times like a little parcel, turn it over and cut the parcel in half. Place a couple of slices on top and secure with a toothpick.

BRUSCHETTA DI FICHI (Fig Bruschetta)

/BROO-SKEH-TAH DEE FEE-KEY/

One small fresh baguette

3/ figs, sliced with skin on

a handful of spinach leaves

balsamic glaze

Place a little drizzle of balsamic glaze on the bread, place a spinach leaf and a slice of fig on top. Drizzle a little glaze.

Pronti!!

Enjoy your ANTIPASTI and BUON NATALE A TUTTI 🙂

You can watch me make this recipe on my YouTube channel, hope you will like it and if you do, I hope you will share this dish with your friends 🙂

GRAZIE DI CUORE

October 14, 2020December 18, 2020pasta Uncategorized

PASTA VACANZA

/VAH-CAN-TSAH/

Holiday Pasta ☀️

A recipe inspired to my summers as a child spent in beautiful Sardinia ☀️🌊

It’s instantly bringing back so many memories that I will treasure forever

This is a fresh and versatile dish that can be eaten hot or cold; ideal for packed lunch your whole family would absolutely LOVE it

Ingredients:

BASILICO 🌿 Basil, handful

AGLIO 🧄 Garlic, one clove

PASSATA 🥫Plain Tomato Passata, 200g

OLIO EXTRA VERGINE D’OLIVA 🌿 Extra Virgin Olive Oil, 6 tbs 🥄🥄🥄🥄🥄🥄

SALE, Salt 🥄

200g POMODORI 🍅 tomatoes

Use a hand blender to blitz the tomatoes

Chop the garlic 🧄 and the basil 🌿 very finely. Pour the olive oil in a large pan and put on a medium heat. Add the garlic 🧄 and basil 🌿 and gently simmer.
Add the blitzed tomatoes, season and mix.
Add the the passata and stir. Cook on a low heat with the lid on for 10 minutes.
Bring 1.5 litre of water 💦 to a boil, add a tbs of coarse salt 🧂 and add the pasta into the water 💦.

Once the pasta is cooked, drain the pasta and mix it in with the sauce into a large serving dish.

Sprinkle some Parmesan cheese and enjoy

You can watch me make this recipe on my YouTube channel, hope you’ll enjoy and if you do, please share this dish with your friends 🙂

GRAZIE DI CUORE

BUON APPETITO!

May 31, 2020carne Uncategorized verdure

PEPERONI RIPIENI – Stuffed Peppers

Hot or cold, same day or the next… you are going to LOVE this dish ❤️

This is what us Italians call:

“UN PIATTO COMPLETO” a complete dish ☺️ it’s complete as vegetables and meat are combined together but there’s also a veggie option for my vegetarian friends 🌱

Ingredients

(Serving 4/5 )

4/6 peppers ( yellow/red or orange)

500g beef mince

One boiled potato 🥔 (medium size)

2 garlic cloves , one garlic clove finely chopped; the other clove left whole

Handful of fresh Parsley 🌱

Bread crumbs ( handful)

One egg 🥚

Olive oil

Salt, tsp 🧂

Plain Tomato Passata 300g

Dried Oregano 🌿 , tsp

Parmesan or cheddar

Vegetarian option ( Swap mince for Rice)

150g Plain rice 🍚 (boiled)

Handful of cherry tomatoes (diced)

Basil 🌿, handful, chopped

1 garlic clove 🧄, halved

Cappers (optional)

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 190 degrees

In a large bowl mix the mince with chopped garlic, chopped parsley, an egg and a handful of breadcrumbs. Add a tsp of salt 🧂and mix everything in.

Halve the peppers, take the seeds out and place the mince inside the peppers (starting with a tablespoon of mince first and keep filling the peppers until they are completely full). If you have some mince leftover you can make some meatballs and cook them in the sauce.

Place them on a tray and bake them for 20 minutes at 190 degrees

In a large pan add a couple of tbs of olive oil, add the oregano 🌿 and the whole garlic, put the pan on a medium heat. Add the passata 🍅, season with salt and cook on a low heat for 5 minutes.

Take the peppers out the oven, place them in the pan and keep cooking them in the pan, with the lid on.

Sprinkle some cheese and keep cooking until the cheese melts completely

Veggie option:

Boil 150g of rice.

Mix the tomatoes 🍅 ,capers, basil 🌿 and the rice together.

Fill the peppers and sprinkle some breadcrumbs ( breadcrumbs will avoid the rice to dry up once in the oven), drizzle with olive oil

Place the peppers on an oven tray and bake for 20 minutes at 190 degrees or until the peppers are softened

You can add some grilled asparagus or courgettes as a fresh side dish to go with it

Buon appetito ☺️

May 22, 2020May 22, 2020Uncategorized

PASTA AL TONNO E POMODORINI

…. As simple as that ❤️ A few fresh ingredients for a quick pasta dish that your whole family will love ☺️

TONNO /TOH-NOH/ 🐟

POMODORINI /POH-MOH-DOH-REE-NEE/ 🍅

Or we should also say : Protein, Amino acid, omega 3 , vitamin C, antioxidants, potassium, vitamin K ❤️

How does it sound?

Ingredients

300g Short pasta (Penne, Farfalle,Fusilli)

1 tin of tuna

A punnet of cherry tomatoes 250g 🍅(halved or diced)

1 or 2 garlic cloves 🧄 (finely chopped)

1 handful of basil, chopped

salt

3/4 tbsp olive oil

Preparation

Boil some water (1 litre) for the pasta, don’t forget to add a tablespoon of coarse salt in the water. Put the pasta into the water and cook for 10/12 (following the cooking time on the packet but do not overcook it ).

Put the olive oil in a pan on a medium heat 🔥 and add the tomatoes 🍅 and the salt 🧂

Cook for a couple of minutes and add the garlic 🧄, stir and add the tuna (make sure it’s drained).

Keep stirring. Cook only for a few minutes (the tomatoes need to stay a bit crunchy). Turn the heat off. Sprinkle the basil 🌿

The pasta should be ready by now. Drain it and pour the sauce into the pasta. Mix it together 💪🏻Pronto!

You can add a handful of fresh cherry tomatoes 🍅 some olives or some diced mozzarella ❤️ Enjoy……………….even the next day!

May 18, 2020Uncategorized

Risotto agli Asparagi e Limone

Hands up who loves Risotto?

We doooooo!!! It’s that kind of comfort food, creamy, warm and full of goodness beautiful food that will take you back to Italy, … the best way I would describe it is it’s like receiving a hug on a plate 🙂 and who doesn’t need a hug right now?

You can use any of your favorite vegetables but today we are using ASPARAGI /AH-SPAH-RAH-JEE/ Asparagus (a great source of nutrients, including vitamins A, C and K), with the freshness of a lemon.

Are you ready? PRONTI?

Serving 4 people

Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients

350g Arborio rice

500ml vegetable stock or 500ml hot water (1 gelatine type chicken cube to mix in the water)

white onion, half, finely chopped

50g butter

150g asparagus, sliced (tips left whole)

zest of one lemon ( do not grate the white pith which is bitter and should not be eaten)

2tbs extra virgin olive oil

handful of rest parsley, finely chopped

fresh parmesan, as much as you like!!!!!

Preparation

Place the butter in a non-stick pan and melt it on a low/medium heat, add the onion and simmer until golden , add the rice and stir it in. The rice will start roasting and it’s important that it doesn’t burn. Add the asparagus (just the stems, sliced) and mix them with the rice. Add half of the lemon zest and a pinch of salt, stir everything in. Have your stock ready and make sure it’s hot, alternatively melt the gelatine cube in the hot water and mix it thoroughly. Gradually add the stock in the pan and keep stirring the rice, repeat this until you have used all the stock. Add the tips of the asparagus and mix them in. The rice is starting to grow and absorbing all the liquid, add more stock if it looks too sticky or turn the heat up if it’s too wet, keep mixing it throughly. In a separate bowl mix the rest of the lemon zest, olive oil and the parsley and put it aside.

The rice will look creamy and will taste “al dente”.

Serve it with some fresh parmesan, shavings or grated and pour the olive oil, lemon and parsley dressing. Pronto!

P.S. Rice takes 14/15 minutes to cook, should you have used all of your stock and the rice feels still quite hard, I would recommend to add a little water but don’t over cook it! Never cook your rice for longer than 15 minutes !

April 30, 2020Uncategorized

Ali con i Peperoni e Bruschetta

So much flavour in a very simple dish made with a very few ingredients.

The secret? A very few ingredients 🙂

We love chicken POLLO /POH-LOH/ but we prefer to eat it on the bone and wings are one of the most flavourful part and fantastic for this delicious recipe.

PEPERONI /PEH-PEH-ROH-NEE/ not to be confused with PEPPERONI the sausage you put on pizza, except when you are in Italy of course, because if you ask for a Pepperoni pizza you’ll get a pizza with peppers on top. Yes! Peppers, beautiful peppers… red, yellow, orange!

So far we only have two ingredients: wings and peppers…..wait! that’s exactly what this dish is called!! The truth is that you don’t need to add anything else a part from 4 tablespoons of olive oil and a good pinch of salt.

To accompany the wings I would recommend a beautiful BRUSCHETTA AL POMODORO …. correctly pronounced /BROO-SKEH-TAH/

A little trick for you to master the best Italian pronunciation is remembering that the letters “C” and “H” together sound the opposite to English, CH = /K/ just like in the word CHIANTI (which I am sure you are familiar with)

So…are you ready? SIETE PRONTI?

🙂

Ingredients:

A packet of chicken wings (roughly 12 wings, halved as they will cook quicker)

3 peppers, red / yellow / orange (sliced quite chunky)

NOT green peppers

Olive oil, 4 tbs

Salt

One large non-stick pan with lid

A punnet of cherry tomatoes 🍅 (diced)

Garlic (finely chopped )

Fresh Basil 🌿 (finely chopped)

Bread ( baguette 🥖or any type of bread available 🍞)

Put a large non-stick pan on a medium heat, pour the olive oil in and add the wings. Add the salt, cover with the lid and cook for 10 minutes. Add the peppers and keep cooking for another 10 minutes, stirring every now and again. Add a little more salt if needed. Cook until the wings are golden and the peppers are soft.

In a bowl mix the tomatoes, garlic, basil, olive oil and salt. Let it marinade for 5 minutes before serving on slices of bread

BUON APPETITO, SONO SICURA CHE VI PIACERÀ 🙂

July 15, 2018July 15, 2018Uncategorized

Insalata di Tonno e Cannellini

Insalata Tonno e Cannellini

Servings: 4-5
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Summer we missed you so much! To celebrate the beautiful sunshine I would like to share a very simple and versatile salad dish that you can have as a starter, a main or a side dish. I learned that freshness and simplicity are always the key to a successful meal….most of all if you are feeding some hungry teenagers 🙂

I made this salad for a few events that I held in our local community, the exciting thing thing for children is to prepare all the ingredients and to assemble together but the best thing is that children (and grownups) LOVE this dish as it’s full of flavour, freshness and colours.

If you are a vegetarian and you don’t eat fish, you can leave the tuna out and add a handful of cherry tomatoes 🙂

Nonna has always taught us to keep our dishes simple and fresh, this recipe is just perfect for everyone to be eaten in a hot day like today.

Beautiful and fresh for lunch and dinner, this is perfect as a side dish for a BBQ

Ingredients

one red onion, chopped
400g Cannellini beans, rinsed
1 red or yellow pepper, diced
handful of fresh basil, chopped
3tbs olive oil
salt
2tbs balsamic vinegar

160g Tuna chunks in spring water
handful of olives ( I used Nocellara olives but any good quality olives will be fine)

Directions

In a serving dish mix together the cannellini beans, the diced pepper, the diced onion, the tuna, the olives, the basil, the salt, the olive olive oil and the balsamic vinegar.
Ready !!! 🙂
Enjoy on its own or with meat or fish

March 6, 2018Uncategorized

Pasta ai Broccoli e Pesto

Servings: “4”
Difficulty: easy
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Nonna has always taught us to eat as many vegetables as possible, Broccoli are some of our favourites and they are so good for you! Full of goodness and extremely tasty. This recipe is just perfect for everyone, you can eat it hot or cold 🙂

Beautiful and fresh for lunch and dinner, this is perfect for packed lunch too. Your family will love it!

Ingredients

350g pasta (short pasta preferably)
250g Broccoli florets
handful of fresh basil
handful of parsley
3tbs olive oil
salt, pinch
pinenuts, 100g
1 clove of garlic

Directions

Boil 1 litre of water in a large saucepan. Add a table spoon of course salt and add the pasta in. Follow the cooking times on the package and add the broccoli florets 4 minutes before the pasta is cooked.
While the pasta is cooking, use a pestle and mortar (or a hand blender will do the job too) and blend together the basil, parley, olive oil, salt, pine nuts and garlic. No nuts if you have a nut allergy. You can add a handful of parmesan cheese or a handful of fresh rocket.
Drain the pasta and the broccoli. Mix together with the pesto and ENJOY!!!

March 4, 2018April 22, 2020Uncategorized

Pane al Pomodoro

Servings: 4-6
Time: 2hr 10mins
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A fresh recipe perfect for the whole family.

Pane al Pomodoro: that beautiful texture, that unmistakable aroma.. it is one of the clearest food memories I have form my childhood. I was probably 5 years old when in the summer holidays with my brother and my cousins we all used to spend the day at my Nonna’s home, she would bake for us this beautiful bread, still one of our favourite dishes, Happy memories 🙂

Beautiful for lunch, dinner or as a snack, this is perfect for packed lunch too

Ingredients

500g strong white flour
300ml warm water
2tsp dried yeast
2tbs olive oil
1 tsp salt

Directions

Put the flour into a large mixing bowl and add the salt. Gently mix with a fork. Pour half of the water into another mixing bowl and add the yeast. Thoroughly dissolve the yeast in the water until the water turns into a brownish colour. Pour some of the “brownish” water into the flour and with a fork or your fingers mix it all in. Continue to add water a little at a time ( you will have to add the other half of the water), combining well until you have picked up all the flour from the sides of the bowl.
Add the olive oil. Once it is all combined, knead until you have a silky, smooth, elastic dough.
Kneading: Push the dough out in one direction with the heel of your hand, then fold it back on itself. Turn the dough by 90 degrees and repeat. Kneading in this way stretches the gluten and makes the dough elastic. Do this for about 4 or 5 minutes until the dough is smooth and stretchy. Work quickly so that the mixture doesn’t stick to your hands – if it does get too sticky you can add a little flour to your hands. Now your dough needs to rest.
Place it into a large bowl (you can use the same one you used for the flour), cover the bowl with a damp tea towel, this will avoid the dough once is proven to stick to the tea towel. Set it aside to prove (somewhere warm), this should take 1 hour and the dough should double in size. Now your dough is ready!
Preheat the oven to 220C/fan 200 degrees. Halve 150g of plum tomatoes and take out the seeds with a little spoon. Mix the tomatoes with a good pinch of salt, a table spoon of olive oil and a table spoon of dried oregano.
Tip out the dough on a lightly floured work surface and roll out into a round shape (or a square, depending on the shape of your baking tray). You may have to stretch it with your hands a little. Put it inside a non stick tray (alternatively you can use a baking sheet).
Push the tomatoes inside the dough leaving a little gap between each other, sprinkle a little more salt and pour 4/5 tablespoons of olive oil all aver your bread.
Bake for 15/20 minutes, until the bread in golden!

P.S. You can add different toppings: onion and balsamic vinegar, salt and rosemary or many more…

February 28, 2018February 28, 2018Uncategorized

MINESTRONE Soup made with all the leftovers

Minestrone Soup

Servings: 4 - 6
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Comfort food perfect for the whole family.

This what I call Comfort Food Italian Style, whether it’s cold or hot outside it will warm your family up or it’s delicious eaten cold too.

Nonna taught us NOT to throw anything away, this recipe is about using up all the leftovers in the fridge and in the pantry like fresh vegetables, pulses and even stale bread!! You can serve it with some home made pesto and home made crostini 🙂

Ingredients

handful of curly kale, washed and chopped
2/3 sweet potatoes (or ordinary potatoes), diced
1/2 carrots, diced
1 courgette, diced

2 celery sticks, diced
1 onion, diced
1 litre vegetable stock
1 tin chick peas
150 gr Spaghetti, broken into small pieces
salt

Directions

Put the olive oil in a large pan and simmer the carrot, celery, the onion and the potatoes on a medium heat
Add the salt and stir the vegetables. Add the curly kale, the stock and cook with a lid on for 15 minutes.
Add the chick peas and the spaghetti
Cook with a lid on for 15 minutes, add more salt and water if needed