vegetarian – 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

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 !

July 16, 2018September 25, 2018verdure

Melanzane -Vi Amo- I Love You

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
Time: 35mins
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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

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.
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)
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.
Pronte!! Enjoy them hot or cold, I love them either way

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…

January 29, 2018Uncategorized

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!

January 26, 2018February 13, 2021Uncategorized

Pesce in Padella Facile-Facile

Ahhhhh you are going to love this recipe!

It’s quick, easy, wholesome and full of the Mediterranean goodness that both my Mum and my Nonna always rave about, I can hear them say ” We are not on a diet, we eat a variety of foods and we make sure we use all the foods that are good for you: fruit, vegetables, fish, fats, proteins…… “.

My Nonna is 96 years old, her sisters are all between 80 and 85 years old, my Mamma is 70 years old, my great aunt is 98 years old and I even had a great uncle who lived till he was 104.

I can see now what they have been telling me all my life, it is definitely not a diet, it is a way of life that I am lucky enough to have experienced and I am going to treasure forever.

Thanks to what they taught me I am now teaching my children to enjoy food just like I did as a child, but not just my children need to know what type of food is good for their heart, what food prevent diabetes, obesity, dementia and other serious conditions.

So this recipe has got a little bit of everything, a subtle combination of white wine vinegar and tomatoes, garlic and bayleaf and a little bit of wine ( POCO VINO) …. all those flavours are going to make any fish dish extremely tasty.

It takes me back to my childhood in Sardinia, my beautiful island in the South of Italy, and somehow I hope with this dish I am taking you there too……

Serving 4 people

Ingredients

4 pieces of any type of white fish

handful of cherry tomatoes, halved

handful of bayleaf

1 garlic clove, peeled and halved

50ml of good quality white wine vinegar

50ml of red wine

50ml extra virgin olive oil

100ml tomato passata

pinch of salt

fresh basil

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Preparation

Put the oil, garlic and bayleaf in a large pan. Simmer and add the fish. Season the fish with salt. Cook on a medium heat for 3/4 minutes. Pour the wine in and let it blend in with the fish, add the passata and gently mix with a spoon. Pour in the white wine vinegar and cook on a low heat for another 10 minutes. Add the tomatoes and cook until they soften up. Sprinkle some fresh basil and season with more salt if needed. Pronto!!

Serve with some roast new potatoes and a mozzarella salad, your family will love it 🙂