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Melanzane -Vi Amo- I Love You

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What’s your feel good food? That kind of food that can lift your spirits immediately, that doesn’t only feed your body but your brain 🧠 too with positive vibes and awesomeness 😍 Everyone has one, no matter what our age is, we all have that special food that we crave, that we love and that will put a smile on our face straight away 💕 mine has to be MELANZANE 🍆 /MEH-LAN-TSAH-NEH/ Aubergines 🍆 I would choose them over everything else 💚 here they are:  “Baked Aubergines with Garlic Breadcrumbs” 👌🏻super easy, fresh and delicious 💚 this is a vegetarian dish that can be eaten hot or cold, with rice, with a fresh salad, even in a bun as a substitute to burgers 🙂

 

Melanzane - Vi Amo - I love You

  • Servings: 4-5
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Nonna has always taught us to eat as many vegetables as possible and no many people are familiar with aubergines, please give it a try and let Nonna know what your feedback is 🙂 this recipe is just perfect for everyone to be eaten hot or cold. 

Beautiful and fresh for lunch and dinner with a side dish or just on its on

Ingredients

  • 2 aubergines, sliced (1.5cm thick) 
  • 100g of home made breadcrumbs – great to use some stale bread and make your own breadcrumbs… as you know we don’t waste any food 🙂 
  • 1 garlic clove, finely chopped or crushed
  • handful of parsley, finely chopped
  • 4tbs olive oil
  • 2tsp salt  

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven at 190 degrees. Slice the aubergines length ways (1/1.5 cm thick). Place them on a non stick tray, sprinkle a pinch of salt and some olive oil (the olive oil keeps them moist). Bake for 15 minutes.
  2. In a bowl, mix together the breadcrumbs, the garlic, the parsley and a pinch of salt. Mix in a little olive oil and a table spoon of water ( it’ll be easier to spread the breadcrumbs)
  3. Turn the aubergines over and with a teaspoon place the breadcrumbs evenly on each one. Add a little more salt and bake for another 15 minutes until golden.
  4. Pronte!! Enjoy them hot or cold, I love them either way

 

 

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Insalata di Tonno e Cannellini

Insalata Tonno e Cannellini

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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

  1. 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.
  2. Ready !!! 🙂
  3. Enjoy on its own or with meat or fish

 

 

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MINESTRONE Soup made with all the leftovers

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Minestrone Soup

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

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

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Hello my friend, I am going to take you to my little island….

The day I asked my friend Anita to come with me to Sardinia for a short visit I did not realise that that trip would have meant so much for both of us. For me it meant that my beautiful country with its food, its history, its traditions and its way of living would have been such a source of inspiration. For my friend it meant that the way of eating and enjoying food would have changed for good for her and her family.

Here is how she experienced Sardinia:

Sunday

The first word that sprung to my mind as we drove up the winding road through the green mountains and along the coastline of turquoise waters: PARADISE!!

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The beautiful blue sky and temperature of 26 degrees at the end of the summer, 2 and a half hours flight from home, I instantly felt relaxed.

Sitting with Lara and her Mum Gina in the garden, drinking -Yes you’ve guessed it, coffee, very traditional when passing time with friends and family, they would pop by and have a good chat and a strong cup of coffee.

 

Surrounded by olive trees, cactus plants and fresh herbs, I was excited to experience the real Sardinia. What better way than to stay with my friend Lara and her Mum at their B&B Le Colline di Morimenta and live and eat as they do.

 

Whilst we relaxed Gina busied herself in the kitchen preparing lunch -here she is the Queen and the Boss of her kitchen. Sat around the table together we enjoyed goat stew, pasta in sauce and fried aubergines in breadcrumbs. I could instantly taste the freshness and the quality of the food.

We were also joined by Lara’s friend Thomas and his two children from Germany, who also have a passion for fresh healthy food and he has come to experience the Mediterranean diet and get some great ideas to share.

Later we dropped in on neighbours who welcomed us all into their home offering coffee, cakes, lots of conversations and laughter.

For our evening meal we all joined in preparing a lovely banquet of fresh prawns, aubergines, salad, pasta and lots of water and a few glasses of local wine. Even though I felt I’d eaten so much it was all very healthy and no need to snack in between meals. I am starting to realise why they have such a healthy diet and the highest level of centenarians.

 

Monday 

Today we all came together in the kitchen to make ravioli, one of their favourite dishes. It was absolutely delicious, all freshly made and another opportunity to chat and laugh together.

 

After lunch we headed to the beach. As I walked around the corner I was greeted by pure white sand and crystal clear aqua sea. It was absolutely stunning! Families would often go down to the beach and bring lunch, fresh fruit, pasta dishes and plenty of water.

 

Tuesday

After breakfast I joined Lara and Gina on their trip to the local supermarket for ingredients for today’s lunch and dinner. Straight away I noticed the amount of fresh fruit and vegetables, all the colours and the quality was amazing, the meat and fish were so varied and so much choice. There seemed to be so many aisles of fresh produce and one aisle of treats. If only our supermarkets were like this I think there would not be so many people eating the wrong foods.

 

Lunch was pork steak and salad. I got to sample some ‘mortadella’ and gorgonzola which Lara says is her favourite food when she comes home. I tried fennel for the first time also, sliced and drizzled with a little olive oil, squeeze of lemon and pinch of salt. I didn’t know fennel was so good for your digestive system. I’ve always walked past this vegetable not really knowing what to do with it. You can also add to soups and stews.

Mediterranean food, lots of water, sun, family around the table taking time to talk to each other is such a good life recipe we should all be able to enjoy!

My time here is Sardinia is something I have thoroughly enjoyed and have gained some knowledge of how to cook fresh healthy dishes that are simple to prepare. Taking time to sit at the dinner table and talk to each about the days events without gadgets taking centerstage.

I hope to bring some of my experience to my family, unfortunately I cannot bring home the sun but if I can feed my family some heathy wholesome food with a touch of Italy they would feel the sun shining through.

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Risotto allo Zafferano e Asparagi

 

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This is a little different to my previous recipe 🙂

It’s my first cooking video and I wanted to share it with you.

I am cooking for my friends and I am Bringing Nonna to their home sharing with them all her precious advice.

I must say it was harder than I thought, being in front of the camera and trying to be as natural as possible….. Hope you’ll enjoy 🙂

 

Serving 3 people 

 

Ingredients 

250g Arborio rice

800ml Vegetable stock

pinch of salt,

knob of butter

tbs olive oil

half onion

handful of asparagus, sliced

a tsp saffron

 

Preparation 

Place the butter on a no-stick pan, the olive oil and melt in on a low heat, add the onion and simmer until golden. Add the rice and stir it. The rice will start roasting and it’s important that it doesn’t burn. 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 asparagus  Sprinkle the saffron and mix it throughly. Cook for another 2 minutes. The rice will look creamy and will taste “al dente” . Serve it with some fresh parmesan, shavings or grated. Pronto!

 

 

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My first trip to America…

This post is going to be a touch different from my previous ones, of course it’s going to be about food ( I’ll be bringing Nonna back to my American table for the next 2 weeks while I will be staying here in Florida) however it’s going to be about Language as well! Language? Why would language have such an impact on my trip? We all speak English, don’t we? Well we do but when you have a strong Italian accent and your American friends are not used to it, every word I say has an American equivalent and muddling up words can be rather entertaining at this point……

Our American friends Richard and Judy are just awesome!! (am I getting Americanised here?) They are wonderful people and fun to be around. I am thrilled that they took the time to come to see us from South Carolina (8 hour journey) and my first trip to America is going to be even more special with them here  🙂

Judy is an excellent cook and she prepared us some beautiful meals. We are staying in a villa with lots of space, a swimming pool and a huge kitchen. It’s so hot, it almost feels weird wearing all my summery clothes!!! The A/C is constantly on, we are all drinking fresh OJ and the kettle makes a funny noise!!! Words like “Kettle” with my accent can sound like something completely different… The Kettle is on! I said to Judy this morning. She looked at me a bit puzzled and she said: What casserole Lara? (Laugh Out Loud!!!!)

We couldn’t stop laughing and for dinner we are having Pork Casserole to commemorate our little misunderstanding! Brazato di Maiale (BRAH-SAH-TOH DEE MAH-YA-LEH) is one delicious dish and I am looking forward to tasting Judy’s recipe.

So our first day was filled with laughter, fun, language lessons,  food, supermarket touring and some relaxing time around the pool. I’ll have to tell my Nonna that I bought some extra virgin olive oil and espresso coffee, she always thought America is too far away for the olive oil and coffee to get here…. she is only 95 years young  🙂

We are vacuuming instead of hoovering, we push shopping carts instead of trolleys, we fill the car with gas instead of petrol, we watch TV instead of Telly, we change the channels with the clicker, we don’t do the washing up (well I don’t anyway!!!) we wear panties, we take a shower (sometimes we jump in the shower too) we talk on a cell and we are ALL SET ……

 

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Fun Pasta

It’s Tuesday again and I have another quick and super tasty recipe for all the Mums out there who are probably very busy planning another full-on week……..This is extremely simple and tasty, I called it Fun Pasta as it’s “Child Friendly” and fun to eat hot or cold ( pack lunch ready for tomorrow too……..thinking ahead!!!!)

P.S. This recipe is dedicated to an old friend of mine, who knew how much I enjoyed cooking since we were both studying at Uni and in those days food was not a priority!  Grazie Lukino 😉
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Ingredients

300g Short pasta (Penne, Farfalle, Fusilli)

1 large courgette (finely sliced )

1 tin of tuna

10/12 cherry tomatoes (halved)

1 medium red onion (finely chopped)

1 handful of basil, chopped or rocket

salt

2/3 tbsp olive oil

Preparation

Boil some water 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).

Put the olive oil in a pan and add the onion, courgette and salt. Cook for 5 minutes and add the tuna ( make sure it’s drained). Keep stirring and gently add the tomatoes and the basil (or the rocket). Cook only for a few minutes. The tomatoes need to stay crunchy.

The pasta should be ready by now. Drain it and pour the sauce into the pasta. Mix it together, add some parmesan cheese, Pronto! Enjoy……………….even the next day!

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