Cooking and recipes from a Nonna's Kitchen

Peccati al cioccolato has arrived

2012-01-22T02:54:00.000-08:00

Last year while in Italy I ordered two of Luca Montersino's books from Amazon in Italy. They were sent out quickly enough but it took me three weeks to have them delivered. So a couple of weeks ago, when I saw a that the maestro had published a new book I took the plunge and ordered it from Amazon Italy again. This time for a UK delivery. Guess what, it arrived in less than a week. That speaks volumes for the Italian delivery service.

I have been drooling over it since it arrived. Unfortunately, I haven't cooked from it as yet as, gulp, I am on a diet. High cholesterol and too much weight gain for the first time in my life! Aghhhh! I won't bore you with the details.

Needless to say that with this inspirational book in my grasp I want to cook and I want to cook all of the lovely fattening things in it too. What I love about Montersino is that he hardly ever does the mundane. It is not just a rehash of all the cakes available in other chocolate cookery books. These creations are all his own. The pancake wrapped log is amazing. It slices to reveal beautiful rings of chocolate mousse and pancakes with chocolate cake and other goodies.

As yet, this book is not available in the UK. Montersino books in general are cheaper if you buy them from Italy even with the postal charges. It is also in Italian, so please don't buy it if you can't read Italian. I would hate for you to have to drool over the piccies and not be able to create anything.

Lucca Montersino. What can I say.

German Friendship Cake - part 2 - Cooked.

2012-01-10T03:22:00.000-08:00

Well.... the cake is cooked. Here it is in all its glory.

It's probably not the most promising looking cake I must admit. It's brown and plain.

However, the smell while it was cooking was divine and I couldn't wait for it to be cooked so that I could eat it.
So, not being silly and waiting for it to cool down or anything sensible like that, I cut it. For photographic purposes you know.

The taste was as good as the smell promised and I do advise that you go ahead and make one. I have some spare starter of course.

The most popular post on this blog. - Torta Di Patate

2012-01-06T01:02:00.001-08:00

As seems to be the trend at the moment, I have been looking back over the popular posts in this blog and the one that wins hands down is this one for Torta di patate. Strangely enough it is the very first post that I put on this blog and I did it to stop my brother phoning me every other day for the recipe. So for all of those who don't want to scroll to the very first post on this blog here it is:

For my first recipe will go to the region that my parents come from in Italy, Parma and more locally Bardi. If there are any other Bardigani out there reading this then you will recognise this local speciality, as it's TORTA di PATATE. No Italian picnic is complete without a torta and in my region they even have feste to this torta.

To make a fairly large torta, about 45cm x 30cm, there's no point in making a small one, you will need:

2kg of floury potatoes. My mother used King Edwards but Maris Piper are good too. Don't bother with new potatoes as they tend to be gluey and not good.
2 leeks, white and green cleaned and chopped fairly small
a piece of lardo to fry the leeks. Failing this and in a British kitchen that is fairly likely use some Fatty bacon chopped. Do not use smoked bacon the flavour is wrong in this dish.
1 packet of cream cheese.
A handful of freshly grated Parmesan.
1 or 2 eggs depending on how dry the potatoes are
Some cream remember that this is an Italian recipe so the quantity that I will give is: as much as you need.

For the pastry

250gm plain flour
75gm butter
water salt.

Make the pastry by rubbing the butter into the flour and add enough tepid water to make a softish dough. Roll out to line and overlap a shallow tin.

Steam the potatoes because if you boil them they will be wet and in some cases disintegrate. Mash them and put aside.

While the potatoes are boiling you can fry the bacon or lardo if you are lucky enough to get it and then add the leeks and continue to fry until the leeks are soft. No need to colour the leeks.

Add to the mashed potatoes with the rest of the filling ingredients. mix well.
pile into the lined pastry dish and level out. Flip the overlap pastry over the torta and pat down
Cover the torta with an egg wash or if you are feeling mean then use milk.
score the top with the back of a fork to make a criss-cross pattern.

Cook in a fairly hot oven until it is well cooked underneath. Cover the top to prevent burning if necessary. In Italy it would have been cooked in a bread oven after the bread had been cooked and the oven had cooled.

Hope that you like this.

German Friendship Cake

2012-01-05T12:20:00.000-08:00

Many of you have no doubt heard of this particular cake and I Googled it to find that there is even a large 'fan' club of cake makers. Basically it is a cake or even a process that starts with you being given a starter by a 'friend'. Needless to say, I have been given a starter. I hope that there is not a collective grone going on from my readers. Although I suspect that those who have been given one will be doing just that.

Another thing that I discovered is that there are many posts on looking after the starter and keeping it alive but as far as I could see, not too many of the actual cooked cake. So I thought that I would give this whole process a go and make a cake.

I was given a starter about a week before Christmas and as Hubby and I were going away for Christmas we took the thing with us. Well you have to don't you. It needed stiring and feeding and it also needed to be kept warm so no leaving at at home. You can guess what happened..... I left it behind. So on the day that I was supposed to cook it I was left with no starter. I am rapidly beginning to understand all of the posts on keeping the starter going.

Not to be outdone by a bowl of frothing mess, I opened my cookery books and found one for making the thing from scratch.

This is what you need to do:

Starter
280g plain flour
15g fresh yeast... if you don't have fresh yeast than a teaspoonful of dry yeast is fine.
445ml water

Throw the lot into a non-metallic bowl and mix well. you should have a sticky batter. Cover with a damp tea towel and leave on the kitchen work surface . Each day, give it a stir and recover with the tea towel. You will need to re-dampen the towel. Now three days later your starter is ready to use.

You are now on day 1 of the process. I kid you not.

Watch this space. There is more. We are still 10 days away from making the cake.
Are you beginning to uderstand why the finished cake does not figure large?

Welsh Cakes In Italy

2011-12-03T13:51:00.001-08:00

I know that this seems a little odd, but Welsh cakes cooked and eaten while they are still warm are wonderful. So why not eat them in Italy? From the picture of my wonderful grandaughter you can see that she can't wait to get stuck in.

Wesh cakes are really very simple to make and require very little in the way of equipment. I made these in a very heavy, large fryingpan, even though, traditionally, they are made on a bakestone.

To make about 36 (it depends on the size of the cutter) you will need:

200g self raising flour

100g butter

90g fine sugar

2 eggs

50g raisins. (traditionally currants but I prefer raisins)

Rub all of the ingredients, except the egg together as if you are making pastry. When you have fine breadcrumbs add enough beaten egg to bind the mixture. You are going to roll it out so it should be the consistency of pastry or even scones. When it is about 1/2 cnm thick cut out into rounds.

Cook on a heated bakestone. Cook one side first and then flip over and cook the other. You will need to control the heat other wise the cakes will burn.

Enjoy!

Pear and Almond Tart

2011-11-22T03:43:00.001-08:00

Pears and almonds are really a match made in heaven. It is not that the flavour explodes in your mouth as some things do, it is more of a subtle pleasure that lingers and please. It leaves you longing for more and what better can you have from food that you make?

This little lovely is made from pears that I had bottled myself when we had a glut of them earlier on this year and they were waiting for me to transform then into this delicious tart.

The pastry is my usual.
200g plain flour
120g butter
60 caster sugar
1 egg.

The method is standard and I am not going to bore you with the details. Roll out and line a deepish 8 inch tart tin. About 24cm. You will have pastry left over so please do not try to use it all as the pastry will be fat too thick. You can freeze the left overs and use for something else. Mince pies come to mind as we are approaching Christmas.

For the filling
1 tin of pears in natural fruit juice. If you have bottled your own so much the better but if not these are good too. Strain well or you will make a soggy tart! Put onto the pastry base.

Topping

1 egg

the weight of the egg (in the shell) in butter, ground almonds and caster sugar.

a few drops of bitter almond essence (do not be tempted to puyt more, it really is very strong)

Put all of the ingredients in a bowl and beat until all has been amalgamated and smooth. Top the peards and smooth. Sprinkle with some flaked almonds if you have them but it is not then end of the world if you don't.

Cook at 180 C for about 30 mins but do check as all ovens are different.

Enjoy

Torta Parisina after Luca Montersino

2011-11-08T11:44:00.000-08:00

Luca Montersino, just has to be one of the most talented and amazing chefs around at the moment. I bought three of his books when I was in Italy this year because I couldn't resist them. Could anyone? The following cake is not exactly as he made it because it was devised for prople who are alergic to wheat and thankfully I don't have that problem. I converted the recipe back to traditional ingredients and this is the result.

The recipe will follow shortly, so if you have stumbled upon my blog then please call back to see how to make this cake.

For the Peaches:

Take 3 ripe peaches and put them in a bowl that is large enough to cover them with boiling water. Now boil your kettle and pour over the peaches. Leave for a few minutes and remove from the water. If you have left them long enough the skin will peel off easily.

Slice into eights and put them into a saucepan with a sugar syrup of about 50g sugar to 100ml water anf the juice of half a small lemon. Simmer for about 5 minutes. Leave to cool in the syrup. Drain and they are ready to use in your pie.

Start by making the pastry with

200g of plain flour

120 g butter

50g caster sugar.

1 egg

Rub all of the ingredients except the egg together to resemble fine breadcrumbs. Mix in enough egg to bind. Form into a ball and refridgerate for about 30 mins to firm uo the pastry.

Just one more bruschetta

2011-10-29T14:32:00.000-07:00

If you liked the last bruschetta then you may also like this one which is yet more luscious and delicious.
To make this little beauty, Nigella's phrase I know but I think wuite appropriate here, You will need to have some roasted peppers. These are really easy to do. Now I know that you may have seen them roasted over a gas flame and charred until the skin comes off, but there is an easier way. Smear them with oil, put on a non stick baking sheet and cook in a very hot oven until the skin blisters and turns black. Take out of the oven and leave to cool. It make not one iots of difference if you cover them or not, the skin will come off if they have blistered and that is very important. When cool skin the peppers, remove the seeds and cut into strips.

Cook your bruscetta in the usual way, smear with garlic flavoured olive oil, top with rocket, pepper slices and then thin slices of taleggio. Flash under a hot grill to melt the cheese and enjoy.

Coffee and Walnut Layer Cake

2011-10-18T14:40:00.000-07:00

This latest recipe is a real classic. The walnuts are ready and perfect for making this cake. I do believe that the fresher the walnuts the better the cake and this one was made with walnuts from the tree that overhangs the terrace in front of the house so you can't get any fresher or more local than that.

In essence the cake is a variation on a Victoria sandwich, the simple difference is that you add some ground walnuts to the cake mix befoer cooking. That is the walnut part. the second and most importand but is the coffee buttercream which is used to sandwich the layers together.

Fig and Ricotta Bruschetta

2011-10-15T01:16:00.000-07:00

In June, we were luck enough to pick up a case of figs for E3. That really is the truth. There were about 40 figs in the case so we were able to gorge ourselves for a few days. One of the wonderful things about having a glut of figs is that it allows you to experiment on recipes that are usually too expensive to try out. So, as expense was no object, try out we did and we came up with this gem.

Cut the figs into quarters and toss in some balsamic vinagrette.

Toast your thickly cut slices of good quality Italian bread. Not ciabatta though. It is constantly touted as the Italian bread to use but quite honestly it is too full of holes to make bruschetta and good casareccio bread is far better. When the bread is toasted brush with a cut clove of garlic and some good olive oil.

Mash up the ricotta and spread on the bread add some peppery rocket and top with the figs. drizzle with balsamic vinegar and enjoy.

Amaretti and Chocolate Marble Cake

2011-10-12T01:08:00.002-07:00

This post starts with a stern warning.

Hands off this cake until the day after you have made it!

Honestly, it will taste far better on the following day when the flavours have had the time to develop and the cake will soften up a bit.

Don't you love the fabulous yellow colour of the cake. It's made with Italian eggs. I made it in Italy and the eggs there are a wonderful yellow. Nigella always uses them but I have no idea how to get them in the Uk. More's the pity as would love to have that colour on my cakes here.

Tis cake is a simple creamed sponge cake, but what makes ir different is the addition of melted chocolate to one half of the mix and the amaretti soaked biscuits distributed throughout the mixture.

Rum Custard Tart

2011-10-10T02:28:00.000-07:00

This little custard tart is deceptive. It is small and cute but it is packed full of flavour and delicious as only a classic tart can be. I wanted to make something like the Portugese custard tarts that look fantastic but when I make them the puff pastry push the filling out and ruins the effect. So I opted for a more classic tart and this is what I've come up with.
Sweet Pastry

150 g flour

½ teaspoon baking powder
75g softened butter
50g sugar

Make the pastry by rubbing the ingredients for the pastry together and add a little water to bind.

Roll out and line a greased, pastry shapes. As you may have guessed I used my silicone ones as I love them.
Bake the pasrty cases blind. You only need to colour them slightly. Not too brown. The oven should be about 180.

Now for the filling:
To make this good and rich you will need
4 egg yolks
3 tbs sugar
two tbs dark rum
250ml whipping cream I made these in Italy and there is cream period - and there is no distinction between double and whipping. I am guessing that what is available is only whipping.

Add the sugar, and rum to the egg yolks and, mix well to break down the yolks.
Warm the cream to just below boiling point and add to the egg mixture mixing well.
Pour the mixture in to the part cooked cases and return to a medium oven until they have taken on a golden tinged.

Cool, dust with icing sugar and enjoy.

Millefoligie of frutti di bosco

2011-10-03T13:37:00.000-07:00

When I was in Italy this summer I did a lot of cooking but not a lot of blogging. I had to feed the family for much of the time so I sort of saved my posts up so that I could put them on the site in the autumn when I had the time. The time has arrived, but I won't inundate you with posts as I will save them up. One of the best things about cooking in Italy though is the light when taking the photographs. it is so much better to take a photograph on a sunny day than a dank day in the winter in Britain.

This pudding is so easy to make and I must admit that I did rather cheat as I used a bought puff pastry.

So, roll out your pastry or, if it is ready rolled place it on a baking sheet and prick well with a fork. Dust with icing sugar as this helps to disguise that it's not home made and makes it taste better too. Cook at about C200 for as long as it takes to brown well. I don't like flabby pastry so cook until nice and brown. Press it down if it has risen too much. When cool cut in half so that you have two long strips.

For the filling. Make up a packet of instant custard with about 2/3 of the water than it says on the packet. Stir in a level tablespoon of sugar and a teaspoon of vanilla extract. Leave to become completely cool.

Whisk up 250ml of whipping cream or double cream and when it is at the floppy stage stir into the cold custard. Spread over one half of the puff pastry and top with the remaining pastry.

Spoon the fruits of the forest over the top.

To make the fruits of the forest topping, I picked whatever I could fine and mixed it with as much sugar as I thought that it needed to make it acceptable. I like mine sharp. It also depends on the ripeness of the fruit. The ones that I used were fairly sharp. Heat gently to dissolve the sugar and then set aside to cool. Store in the fridge if you are going to keep it for awhile.

If you don't want to put the fruit on the top, you can serve it on the side. it will still bring a smile to a little girl's day.

Torta di Zucchini or Zucchine or even Courgette Tart

2011-09-28T12:32:00.000-07:00

Why both names? Well in Italy, depending on the region it could be either. To the uninitiated in the realms of Italian words, a courgette.

This pie comes from a little book that I bought a couple of years ago and it is full of regional recipes and this one became a firm favourite this year as we had out usual glut of zucchini and we were on the look out for any recipes containing zucchini.

You will need:

Make the filling first.

1kg of grated zucchini. I used one large zucchini. This works better than several small ones as you really need the moisture that is contained in a large fruit.

200g of uncooked rice. Do not be tempted to use cooked

3 eggs

100g of freshly grated parmisan

salt and pepper to taste

Mix all of the ingredients up in a bowl and then get on with the pastry.

Pastry:

300g plain flour

50g butter
1 tsp salt
tepid water

Rub the butter into the flour until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add enough tepid water to make a smooth dough and then roll out 2/3 of the dough straight away to line a tin about 40cm x 20cm. This does not need to be exact. Leave an overlap all around the tin so that you can flip it over the center .

Fill the pastry with the filling. It will be very liquid. Use it all. Do not strain out any of the liquid.

Roll out the remaining pastry and cover the top of the mixture. Flip the pastry over the center piece and put into a hot oven about C190 for about 45 mins. It should be lovely and brown on top and perfectly cooked underneath. If it is not leave in the oven for a few more minutes.

Enjoy!

Brown Sugar Cupcakes

2011-03-04T11:58:00.001-08:00

This recipe for brown sugar cupcakes is a fantastic recipe as it has the flavour of caramel without the faff of having to make it so go right ahead and make some.

The other day I bought a cup cake book from TX Max. I couldn't resist the bargain and I must say that it is one of the best books that I've bought in a long while. This recipe is an adaptation of the one that I found in the book.

Ingredients for all of those who want to make this.

200g Plain Flour

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

125g Butter at room temperature

125 Sugar (half granulated and half muscovado)

2 large Eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

125 ml milk

Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Line a 12 cupcake pan with paper liners. This will give you very largew cupcakes. Alternatively line about 18 medium size cupcake pans.

Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a large mixing bowl. In another bowl beat the sugar, butter, and vanilla for 1 minute on medium speed. Scrape side of bowl with a spatula.

Add eggs and milk to the mixture and beat for 1 minute on medium speed. Scrape bowl again. Beat on high speed for 1 minute 30 seconds until well mixed. Fold in the flour mixture.

Spoon cupcake batter into paper liners until 1/2 to 2/3 full.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Cool 5 minutes in pans then remove and place on wire racks to cool completely.

Once cupcakes are completely cooled, frost with the brown sugar topping.

Ingredients for topping

1 oz cornflour
1/2 pint milk
3 oz butter
6 tsp muscovado sugar
few drops of vanilla essence

Method

- Mix the cornflour with a little of the milk to form a smooth paste.
- Bring the rest of the milk to the boil.
- Pour the hot milk over the cornflour paste.
- Return to the heat and bring to the boil.
- Cook for 3 minutes.
- Cream the sugar and butter together.
- Gradually whisk in the cornflour mixture.
- Add the vanilla essence.
- Allow to cool.

Swirl over the cupcakes and top with caramel sprinkles.

Could anything be nicer?

2011-01-10T11:59:00.000-08:00

Bacon is my ingredient of the day as I had some particularly nice, lightly smoked bacon and I really didn't just want to grill it. So the yummy scrummy rolls that you see below are the things that I came up with.

Cooking the bacon this way made it into a substantial meal and while I was eating them, I decided that they would make a really tasty starter. I do, however, think that one per person is enough as they are really filling.

The bacon that I used was thickly sliced. Too thin and it will fall apart.
To make the stuffing
100g finely chopped mushrooms. Let me tell you, that the Magimix could have been invented just for this.
1 Medium Onion, finely chopped.
125g of fresh white breadcrumbs (ideally, these are best if the bread is a day or two old)
100g Butter
4 tablespoons of fresh parsely, fairly finely chopped
Grated zest of a lemon
1 egg
Pepper, but go easy on the salt as the bacon is usually salty.

To make the stuffing

Fry the onion in half the butter until lightly brown.
Fry the mushrooms in the remaining butter until dry. Add the onions and mushrooms to the the remaining ingredients and mix together well.
Divide the mixture between the bacon and roll the bacon up with the seam underneath.
Bake in a hot oven until brown.
Serve with a mixed salad and enjoy.

Cherry and Chocolate Mile High Pie

2010-11-16T12:10:00.000-08:00

Cherry and Chocolate Mile High Pie! If that doesn't set your mouth watering then nothing will.

This pie was born on a day when we had been lucky enough to buy lots of cherries for a song or in reality 5 kg for E5. Now if that's not a song then nothing is. we gorged on them for a day or two and then I just had to make something with them. I don't know if you know this, but black cherries freeze really well and this pie was made with defrosted cherries.

100 g ripe black cherries (fresh or defrosted frozen)
2 tbs sugar (you may need less if the cherries are very ripe and sweet)
2 tsp of cornflour
250 g mascarpone
100 ml double or whipping cream
2 tbs sugar
1 tsp vanilla
grated chocolate
1 cooked pie shell (about 24 cm in diameter.

Mix the cherries with the sugar and the cornflour and cook gently in a shallow saucepan until the juices run from the cherries and the sauce thickens. It will thicken more as it cools.
Beat the cream, sugar, vanilla and mascarpone together until the mixture is firm but not too hard. you are aiming for soft peaks here.
Fold into the pie case alternating with the cooled cherry mixture.
Sprinkle the grated chocolate over the top.
Enjoy.

Polenta hot cakes

2010-10-10T13:39:00.000-07:00

How many of you have made polenta and not eaten it all? Have you then tried to do what all of the trendy magazines tell you to do? Fry it that is. Did it stick in the pan? I'd be surprised if it didn't. Mine always does and I've even tried to deep fry the stuff.

Well these polenta hot cakes may well be the answer to your dreams and you'll even make polenta just to have them.

There isn't a recipe as such. All that you need to do is add 1 egg and enough plain flour to make a dough that you can roll out. If you have lots of polenta then add two eggs. If you have more than that , then all I can say is, 'don't make so much.' A little salt may be needed if the polenta was underseasoned.

When the dough is rolled out to about 1cm thick, cut it into rough squares and fry in vegetable oil until crispy.

I served them in the photo with stracchino cheese and fresh asparagus but the are wonderful with bacon and tomatoes.

Enjoy.

Torta di Ricotta my way

2010-05-30T23:25:00.000-07:00

Torta di ricotta is an Italian version of cheesecake but it a very light one compared with the usual American version. In the picture you can see a fairly yellow cheesecake and this is because the eggs in Italy are a beautiful yellow colour and all of the things that are made with them look delicious.

This kind of cake often has pine nuts sprinkled on top but, while I like pine nuts on things, they are expensive in Italy and I prefer almonds so that is what I used.

What you will need:
Pastry
150 g flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
75g softened butter
50g sugar

Filling:
250g tub of ricotta
grated rind of 1 orange
100g sugar
100ml double cream
3 medium eggs
1 teaspoon of cornflour
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
apricot jam
flaked almonds
icing sugar

Make the pastry by rubbing the ingredients for the pastry together and add a little water to bind.
Roll out and line a greased, deep flan dish. I used an 8 inch dish that was about 2 inches deep.
Bake blind for about 15 minutes and remove from the oven. When the pastry case has cooled a little spread a thin layer of jam on the base.

For the filling
Bring the cream to scalding point.
Blend the sugar the eggs and the cornflour and pour on the hot cream, stirring well to avoid getting any of those so annoying lumps.
Add the ricotta, the grated rind of 1 orange and vanilla essence and mix quickly together to get a smooth cream.

Pour over the jam lined pastry and sprinkle with as many flaked almonds as you like.

Cook at 160C for about 30 mins. The cooking time really will depend on your oven. What you need to aim for is a filling that is set but still slightly wobbly. It will set up as it cools.

When cool dust with icing sugar and enjoy.

Chocolate and Apricot Muffin Cake

2010-04-13T06:23:00.000-07:00

Chocolate and Apricot are two of my very favourite ingredients along with muffins so what could be better than this scrummy cake? An easy to make one!

So the wish for an easy to make cake is granted and this is what you'll need:

250g self raising flour
125g soft butter
125g sugar
2 eggs
a couple of spoons of milk or more, depending on the consistance of the batter.
100g chopped dark chocolate
100g chopped dried apricots
a few drops of almond essence.

Put all of the dry ingredients into a bowl and mix together
Melt the butter and add the egg and the milk.
Pour over the dry ingredients and give it a swift mik to blend the ingredients but please do not over mix otherwise you'll have a heavy stodge of a cake. Now is the time to add a little more milk if you think that the batter is too dry.
Pour the mixture into a greased shallow tin aboput 10 inches by 8 inches. The bigger the tin the thinner the cake. If you would prefer a deeper cake then cook in a smaller tin but remember that it will take longet to cook.
Bake at 170 C for about 45 mins, or until brown and dry in the middle when tested with a skewer.
When the cake has cooled dust with icing sugar and cut in to squares.

This cake is wonderful with a cup of tea or coffee for a mid morning break.

Strawberry Cheesecake

2010-01-08T10:37:00.000-08:00

A couple of weeks ago we had a party for my grand daughter's second birthday. As I had lots of cooking to do for the party, so, the things that I made had to be put together fairly quickly and this cake, may look complicated but it is really easy to make.

Many of you may well have seen a cake similar to this one in patissierie shops. They are called fraisiers. The filling is usually a butter cream but this one has my trusty cream cheese filling which whips up in a trice and tastes divine.

First you will need to make the sponge. Get together:
2 eggs
80g castor sugar
70g self raising flour
A few drops of vanilla extract.

To make the sponge:

Preheat oven to 165C/fan, 185C, 350-375F. Line 2 X 8 inch sponge tins
Seive the flour.
Whisk the eggs and then whisk in sugar. This is best done over a pan of simmering water to give the eggs plenty of volume. When the mixture leaves a trail it is ready.
Fold in flour and divide between the 2 tins., or if you don't have 2 tins, in one deep tin and when the cake is cooked and cool slice it in half.
Remember that you don't want a deep cake as it will only hold the filling which is the star of the show.

To make the filling:

Put all of the ingresients in a bowl and whisk until light and fluffy. It's that easy!

You will also need a large punnet of strawberries and some raspberried for the middle. These can be frozen.

To assemble:
Put one round of cake at the bottom of the spring sided tin and sprinkle with the kirtsch. put a little of the cheese mixture in the tin and then line the outside of the tin with the strawberries. Make sure that they are all about the same size. If they aren't trim to size. You should have the cut side of the strawberries outermost. Fill the space in the middle with the cheese mixture, the raspberries and press the remaining cake on top. Sprinkle with yet more liquere and put in the fridge to firm up. This should not take more than an hour.
Sprinkle with icing sugar and serve.

Buon appetito.

Almond Croissants

2010-01-08T01:56:00.000-08:00

Don't you just love almond croissants? They are the prize of the flavoured croissants as far as I am concerned and as far as my husband is as well. So it's a good thing to know that they can be reproduced easily and far more cheaply than those in the supermarket. However, you will need to rely on the supermarket for the basic butter croissants that are used here. I haven't gone the whole hog and made the croissants myself.

I don't know if you are aware of it but almond croissants were originalt produced by French bakers to use up stale croissant that they didn't want to dump. Someone had the bright idea of filling them with a frangipain mixture and the almond croissant was born and thank God for that is all that I can say.

These almond croissants are really easy to make and this recipe will make the filling and the topping for 6.

6 stale croissants... buy the reduced croissnts that the supermarket sells off. They are perfect for this and so cheap.

Filling
1 egg
70g of ground almonds
70g butter
70g caster sugar
a few drops of bitter almond essence
flaked almonds for the topping.

All you need to do is mix all of the filling ingredients, except the flaked almonds, together until you have a smooth paste.
Slice the croissants in half horizontally and fill with the croissant mixture. Be sure to keep some back to spread on top of the croissants and then sprinkle with flaked almonds as shown in the picture above.
Cook in a medium oven about 180 degrees C for about 10 to 15 mins. watch them as you don't want te mixture on top to over cook. The filling should still be a bit soft. It will continue to cook for a few minutes even when taken out of the oven. See the picture below.
Now, if you can resist and I do recommend that you do, leave them alone for about 10 minutes. This will allow the filling to finish cooking and the croissants to cool down to an acceptable temperature. They are not good if they burn your mouth.

Enjoy.

Annolini in Brodo

2009-12-06T14:24:00.000-08:00

In our house, as in many Italian houses we will be having a pasta course of annolini in brodo. They are small pasta parcels that are filled with a fantastic mixture of stracotto and cheese which is an intense and wonderful flavour.

These have been a tradition for as long as I can remember. As a matter of fact a Christmas meal would not be the same without them.
I am not going to pretend that they are not labour intensive as they are, but like the tortelli they can be made in advance and stored in the freezer until needed.

First of all you will need to make the stracotto which translates as over cooked or extra cooked.
Start off with a good size piece of brisket. No need to worry if you have too much as you can eat the extras and enjoy every mouthful. You will need at least 1 kilogramme.

1 large onion.
2 or 3 cloves of garlic. It all depends on how big they are. they will cook for ages and the taste will mellow while they cook so don't skimp.
1 carrot.
1 stalk of celery.
1 Knorr stock cube. I bring mine back from Italy and I use gusto classico. It has a good flavour and does not fight with the flavour of the meat.
250g butter. Yes, that much.
A couple of glasses of white wine.

What you will need to do:
Fry the meat in a little butter, add the onions and continue to fry gently until the mixture is brown.

Add the carrot which you have peeled and cut in half along with the the halved celery.

Pour over the wine and add the garlic and stock cube.

Simmer gently and I do mean gently for about 5 hours. If you have the oven on low then it will sit quite happily in a very low onen for the same time.
It will be ready when it falls apart.

To make the filling you will need these extra ingredients.

Parmesan cheese Use as much as you think that you need. I generally tase mine and see. the cheese also tends to dry the filling so if you think that your filling is too wet add more cheese.
2 to 3 eggs
Fresh breadcrumbs

Make the pasta in the same way that I described in the Tortelli section and
These will fill us so much that the turkey course that follows will be picked at rather than devoured.

Apple Custard Tart

2009-11-28T07:01:00.000-08:00

I seem to remember having read somewhere that the dessert that men usually choose is apple tart and they no doubt eat it with custard. So in this tart they get both of their favourites in one slice.

Pastry:

120g plain flour

75g butter

60g sugar

1 egg

I'm not going to bore you with the method for making pastry. You know what to do.

Line an 8 inch tim with the pastry and bake blind until light golden brown.

Filling

2 largish apples. I used renette as I was luck enough to have them growing on my tree, but you can use russets. 3 will probably be about right as they are small. I clean and slice the apples and put them in a layer on a microwave proof dish. Cover with cling film and microwave until just soft. If you do this your apples will stay golden and not brown.

2 eggs

50g sugar

1/4 litre of single cream

1 dessert spoon of cornflour

What you need to do:

mix the ecc, sugar and cornflour together. There is really no need to whisk them and all that faff. It really will not make any difference to the final; custard.

Heat the cream to just below scalding point and add to the egg mixture. Beat well while adding the cream. This is important as you risk curdling the eggs if you don't mix it really well while you're adding the hot cream. Return to the heat to cook the custard until it thickens but not so much that it curdles. The addition of the cornflour should prevent this. Allow to cool slightly.

Pour the custard into the cooked pastry shell and cover with a layer of cooked apples.

Return to the oven for about 15 minutes to brown the apples and custard.

Cool before serving. Slightly warm is so good.

Kitchen in Italy

2009-11-28T06:44:00.000-08:00

Earlier on this year many of you who watch this blog were subjected to my ramblings and photos of my kitchen come living room as it was renovated. So.... here are the latest photos. They were actually taken in September but I've not had time to add them to the blog until now.

There is much dust to be seen as it took ages for the dust from the work to settle. We washed the floor twice a day and it just never seemed to get better. Perhaps by next year it may have settled!

All I need now is some new cushions and perhaps even some curtains.

Figs have finally arrived

2009-09-12T12:21:00.000-07:00

Figs have finally arrived and what better way to serve them than with Parma ham, pancetta and speck. This makes a wonderful simple meal when paired with crusty bread and good wine. ENJOY.

Cavalli Bardigiani

2009-09-12T12:17:00.001-07:00

Look at what we've been waking up to in the mornings. These are the famous cavalli Bardigiani. Pity that the owner doesn't look after then well enough. They have been roaming freely and trampling over anything in their path. This picture was taken from my bathroom window.

Aubergine or Melanzane Ravioli

2009-09-06T08:43:00.001-07:00

Many of you who visit this blog will have seen that I've made stuffed past before but today I want to present you with the latest recipe that has come into my repetoire. It came about principally as I had an aubergine that needed to be used and I thpought what the heck and gave it a go.

You will need:

For the filling
1 large, and in Italy they are large, or two normal sized aubergines.
250g of ricotta cheese that you will have to drain
5 tablespoons of parmisan cheese
4 basil leaves chopped
1 large clove of garlic chopped and about
3 tablespoons of olive oil

To make the filling
Peel the aubergine and chop into small dice, about half a centimetre. I then pput them in a plastic bowl and microwaved them for about 4 mins on high power until they were soft. Drain away the water that they give off in cooking.
Now heat the olive oil in a frying pan no need to brown the aubergines and chopped garlic. Leave to cool.
Add the ricotta and parmesan cheese, salt pepper and dome dired breadcrumbs if the mixture is too wet. Remember that a wet mixture will make the uncooked pasta soggy and it won't hold together to pick up and cook.

For the pasta:

400g of 00 flour

4 medium eggs.

Make the pasta as I have explained in earlier recipes.

I'll finish this recipe when I've got more time later on today.

Ricotta Pancakes

2009-09-02T05:06:00.000-07:00

These pancakes are simplicity itself to make. So this is what you need to make approximate 12 pancakes. 3 per person is a good serving.:

125g of ricotta cheese

1 egg

100g flour

1 heaped tablespoon of sugar

grated rind of half a lemon

50g of melted butter

milk, see the methood for how much to use.

1 teaspoon of lievito per dolci, if you can't get this then use baking powder.

Now get cooking.
1. Break the egg in to a bowl and add the ricotta, the melted butter, the grated lemon rind and the sugar. Mix well then add the flour and the raising agent.
2. Beat in the flour with enough milk to make a thick batter. Remember that this batter has to retain its shape in the pan. It should only spread enough to form rough circles in the pan.
3. On a medium flame heat a heavy based pan and add a little butter. When the butter is ready drop dessertspoons of mixture into the pan. You will only be able to cook about 4 pancakes at a time. Remember that they will spread and rise. When the pancakes are golden brown on one side tip over and cook on the other side. Adjust the heat if the pancakes are cooking too quickly or too slowly.
I served these pancakes with lightly cooked fresh blackberries as they are in season at the moment, and they are growing in abundance about 50 metres away from the housebut they work well with most fruits.

We've Moved the Kitchen

2009-09-02T04:18:00.000-07:00

We've moved the kitchen and, not a moment too soon. After years of having to use a kitchen that I hated we've moved it. Not too far away, I know, but far enough to catch the light and for it to be more user friendly.

It is a bit smaller, but the left over units are now in my cantina so they will be used. You'll see the rest of the improvements as we do them.

Chocolate and Coconut Cake

2009-08-24T04:05:00.000-07:00

This cake is a very special one as I made it for my son-in-law. While he was here with me earlier on this summer he put in a request for a Chocolate and Coconut cake, but I couldn't make him one as I didn't have a suitable recipe. Now that everyone has gone home, I have the time to experiment and this is what I've come up with. I'll make it agin when I get home, but for the moment, he will just have to look and drool.

Ingredients:
For the chocolate

egg75g self-raising flour

75g sugar

75g butter10g cocoa

Put everything in a bowl and mix well to form a stiffish sponge.
Put the mixture in to an 8cm round tin and cook at 180C for about 20 mins.Cool the cake.

For the Coconut layer
1 packet of instant custard mix.

2 heaped tablespoons of dessicated coconut

1 dessertspoon of sugar

Make the custard as directed on the packet and then add the other ingredients. The coconut should thicken the mixture quite considerably and then it can be spread on the cooled chocolate cake.

For the chocolate coating:

100g of plain chocolate

50g butter

1 tablespoon of golden syrup

Gently heat these ingredients together until they become a thick paste. When cool enough pour over the cake and spread over the sides.Put in the fridge to cool and then slice abd enjoy!
This cake is best stored in the fridge as it has custard in the centre.

Sono in Italia

2009-07-25T11:37:00.000-07:00

Just to let you all know that I am in Italy again and raring to go. New recipes and experiences will appear soon so don't dispair.

Apple and Blackberry Tart

2008-11-01T16:23:00.000-07:00

There's nothing so yummy on a cold autumn evening as warm tart and custard and, I think that, Apple and Blackberry Tart is about as comforting as it gets so please try this recipe and join me in a large piece.

For the filling:

2 large bramleys

250g blackberries

sugar to taste

1 dessert spoon cornflour.

Start by making the filling as it is best if it has cooled down before it is put into the pastry shell.
Mix the cornflour with a little water and set aside.
Peel, core and slice the apples. cook to make a puree. You can do this any way that you choose, but my method is to put them in a microwave proof bowl, cover with cling film and cook until they break down. This way you will not get burnt apples and it's easy.
Stir in the cornflour mixture and mix quickly.
Add the blackberries and sugar to sweeten to your taste. Set aside to cool while you get on with the pastry.

For the pastry:

150g plain flour
100g self raising flour
140g butter
60g caster sugar
1 egg
water to bind the mixture.

Place the flour into the bowl of a food processor, followed by the cold butter.
Turn the processor on and pulse several times until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.

Turn out into a bowl and add the egg. If the mixture is still too dry, add some water. Be careful not to overwork the pastry.

Turn the pastry out onto a clean, floured work surface and, with floured hands, bring together to make a smooth dough, but don't knead.
Shape into a flattened ball, wrap in cling film and refrigerate for about 10-15 minutes.

Remove the pastry from the fridge. On a clean, floured work surface, roll it out with a floured rolling pin until it's slightly larger than the flan ring. Using the rolling pin, lift the pastry and lay it over the flan ring.
With your fingers, lightly press the pastry into the sides of the ring. Run a rolling pin over the top of the ring and pull away the excess pastry at the edges. Using your fingers, gently press the pastry up to slightly build up the height of the pastry at the edges.

Pour the filling into the pastry base and cover with a disc of pastry that you have rolled out from the remaining third of the pastry.

Bake in the center of the oven until golden brown.

Leave to cool a little before cutting. if you don't he filling will ooze out.

Cannelloni filled with Broccoli and Ricotta

2008-10-25T14:14:00.000-07:00

These broccoli and ricotta cannoli are just the thing to fill you on a cold autumn night and as that's what we're going to have in the next few weeks, you'd better get cooking straight away. They also freeze well so you can make them up to the pre-bake stage and freeze until you want them.

What you need to make these for 4 people:

12 sheets of lasagne pasta. You can use fresh of dried.

1 large head of broccoli

250g ricotta

100g freshly grated parmesan

salt. pepper

1 egg

fresh breadcrumbs if needed

I tin of tomatoes

1 medium onion

1 clove of garlic

Hot chicken stock

1/2 pt of white sauce

What you do:

Steam the broccoli until tender and then mash roughly.

Add the egg, ricotta, parmesan, salt and pepper and enough bread crumbs to make a soft mixture. You don't want it to be sloppy as you will have to roll it in the pasta.

Now make the tomato sauce, by frying the onion and garlic in a little oil until lightly golden brown. Add the tomatoes and and about half a tin of hot stock. Simmer gently for about an hour until the sauce is reduced, season to taste.

Cook the lasagne sheets until soft enough to roll. Drain and lie them out on the work surface.

Divide the filling equally between the pasta sheets and then roll up. Make sure than the fold is under the cannelloni so that they do not open while cooking.

In a large roasting pan or baking pan that will hold the cannelloni in one layer add about 2 large spoons of tomato sauce. The tomato sauce should not be too thick. Place cannelloni side by side in the pan leaving a tiny space between each cannelloni. Cover with additional tomato sauce and the white sauce.

Sprinkle the parmesan cheese over top. Bake the cannelloni for about 1 hour.

Raspberry Cheesecake Cupcakes

2008-10-03T13:11:00.000-07:00

Yumm, yumm, yumm. these just have to be tried to be believed. They are basically a cupcake with a topping of sweetened cream and cream cheese in equal quantities. I tend to sweeten to taste, I don't like things too sweet. Just enough sugar to contrast with the sharpness of the raspberries. Whip them all up together and pipe onto the cupcake. Fill the center with a compot of raspberries that you have thickened with a small amount of cornflour.

Tea Time Scones

2008-07-13T10:20:00.000-07:00

The sun has been shining today and that really is a surprise, even though it is July. It's the time of year that you should expect a guarantee of sunshine but this year the weather has been dreadful So by way of a celebration we are having tea in the garden with the speciality of the British cream teas: scones.
This one is brimming with cream and home made jam which makes anyone, even those with iron wills, unable to resist taking a mouthful.

To make these scones you will need:

225g/8 oz self-raising flour

1/4 tsp salt

50g/2 oz butter

50g sugar

1 egg

100ml milk, plus extra to glaze

Preheat the oven to 220C/425 F/Gas 7. If you are using a convection/fan oven drop the temperature 25 degrees. Grease a baking sheet.
Sift the flour and salt together in a large bowl. Rub in the butter and sugar until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Make a well in the flour and break in the egg gradually pour in most of the milk, mixing quickly with the tips of your fingers as you pour. DO NOT ADD ALL THE MILK AT ONCE. You should get a soft but not wet dough. It should look rough. If the dough is too wet it will expand sideways instead of rising straight up.
On a lightly floured board, gently bring together the dough and roll or press out until it’s 2.5cm/1 inch thick and stamp out into rounds. I used a 4cm/2 inch cutter and made 7 rounds. In between each stamp, dip the cutter in flour and with a firm shake downwards release the scone directly onto the baking sheet- try not to press with your fingers or you will misshape the dough. It is also important to cut directly down into the dough, if you twist then they will rise unevenly. Another important point is to roll the dough out evenly. If the dough is on a slope before you cut out the scones, then the finished scone will also be like a downhill ski slope.
Place on the baking sheet and brush with extra milk. Depending on size bake for 15-20 minutes, or until risen and golden.

If you've made them the right way then this is what they should look like. If you haven't then who cares if they are a bit lumpy as they will taste good even if they look like a landslide.

Almost Store Cupboard Ham Pie

2008-06-18T07:12:00.000-07:00

This pie is great because it is so simple and can be made from a tin or good quality ham when you have very little else to feed a fair number of people.

Firstly you need to make the pastry:

250g/9oz Plain Flour

125g/4.5oz cold unsalted butter, cut into 1cm cubes

2 egg yolks

2 tbsp ice water

heaped tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

Put the flour and butter in a dish, and put the dish in your freezer for 10 minutes. Stir together the yolks, salt and water in a cup, and put the cup in the fridge.When the time is up, tip the flour and butter into a food processor, add the sugar and pulse to combine, it will look somewhere between sand and porridge oats. Pour in the egg yolk mixture and pulse till it looks like it's on the verge of coming together (stop just short of it binding). You may need to add more water. Turn the dough out and mash together with your hands. Once it is all bound together, cut it in two, wrap in cling film, and let rest in the fridge (generally about half an hour, but will keep in there for a couple of days I think). If you are using it for two batches, cut in two evenly. If you are making a springform cake tin pie, then cut one piece slightly larger then the other (one for the base, one for the top).

Ingredients to make the pie filling:

500g tin of ham from Marks and Spencer. Don't buy one of those awful tins of ham made from reformed pieces. the better the ham, the better the pie.

125g mild cheddar

250g cream cheese

1 medium onion, fried until soft

2 tbsp chopped parsley (optional) I didn't use any in the pie in the picture as I didn't have any at the time.

1 or 2 eggs, lightly beaten, it depends on how soft the mixture is

freshly ground black pepper

1 heaped tbsp dried breadcrumbs

To Make the Pie:

Cube the ham and pulse in a food until coarsely chopped.

Transfer to a bowl and then add all the other ingredients except the breadcrumbs. Preheat to 200c/400f, and put in a baking sheet. Roll out the larger disc of pastry to cove the bottom and sides with a few cm of overhang. Sprinkle the bottom with breadcrumbs, then fill with the mixture. Roll out the rest of the dough to make a lid. Fold the overhang over and seal by pressing down with the tines of a fork. Just before baking glaze the pie with the milk salt egg combo, and stab it here and there with the prongs of a fork to make steam holes.Bake at 200c/400f for 10 minutes, then turn it sown to 180c/350f and bake for a further 45 minutes. Leave the pie to cool at least 10 minutes, but 25 is better.

Chocolate Verrines

2008-06-18T04:35:00.000-07:00

My cousin, Martine has come to stay with me and has brought the latest in food crazes from Paris. These are 'verrines' which are basically beautiful small glasses which are filled with delicious foods. They can be savory or sweet, but I've decided to start with something sweet.

These cute little desserts are basically a chocolate mousse that is piped on top of amaretti biscuits that have been soaked in chocolate liqueur. Can you ask for better? The chocolate leaves on the top and mint chocolate leaves from Green and Black. Could you ask for easier or better?

Ready to Drink

2008-06-02T01:26:00.000-07:00

Some of you may remember that I had a glut of mirabelle plums last summer. One of the things that I did was put some of the plums in alcohol and sugar. The jars were left untouched over the winter, probably because I was in the UK and unable to sample, (nothing like a thousand miles between you and temptation). Now I can say that it is well and truly ready to drink and even though I say so myself it's delicious.

The photograph was taken from the balcony of the house at the end of May.

The recipe :

All that I did was take a large jar. About 2 liters is good. I filled it with as many mirabelles as I could... push them in... then I added white sugarup to about the half way mark. Don't put too much sugar or your liqueur will be too sweet. Shake it down as it will tend to stay on the top. Now comes the exciting part. I filled the jar with 95% pure alcohol. Don't think for a moment that your finished product will be that strong. The plums will leech out their juices and mix with the alcohol making it much weaker. Leave to dissolve in a dark place. Shake the jar every day to help the sugar dissolve and when it is dissolved and the mirabelles are starting to shrink. However, taste a bit first. leave it longer if it still taasted of raw alcohol. Do not store in the light as the produce will turn brown rather than the amber colour that you see in the photo.

Do not throw away the plums as they are fantastic served in small glasses or over vanilla ice cream.

Cinnamon Almond Ring Coffee Cake

2008-04-06T09:20:00.000-07:00

This is a superb recipe that I got from the following site.

http://www.cookscountry.com/recipe.asp?recipeids=3843&bdc=46116&extcode=L8CN1BG00

It's all explained there so there's no need for me to go into detail, except to say that the filling was so runny that I had to add more almonds to stop it running off the dough.

It's delicious with coffee and even on it's own when no ones looking. I suggest that you keep it in the cupboard out of sight. Saying that it does not keep fresh for longer than a day or two so bake when there are lots of people coming around for brunch.

Lemon Curd Cake

2008-01-03T12:01:00.000-08:00

I must admit that I have a weakness for lemony things as well as sweet things so this lemon curd cake ticks all of the boxes for me and luckily enough most other people in my family like it too.

This cake is basically a victoria sandwich that is cooked in a tin that is bigger than the usual so that the end result is thin rather than thick. I make a 2 egg sponge and cook it in an oblong cake mold 27cm x 17cm. i have one of those fantastic silicone ones that never have to be greased and that the food pops out of without effort.

Sponge Recipe:
110g (4oz) Butter
110g (4oz) Caster Sugar
125g (5oz) Self-raising Flour
2 Eggs
1 tsp Grated Lemon Rind

Preheat oven to 190°C: 375°F: Gas 5.
Beat together the butter and sugar until light and creamy.
Add the beaten eggs gradually with a little of the flour.
Fold in the remaining sieved flour and add the flavouring.
Mix in about a tablespoon of water as this makes the cake lighter.

Turn the mixture out into the oblong tin.
Bake for 20 - 25 minutes.
Turn out on to a wire rack to cool.
When cool cut in half widthways. One half will be the top of the cake while the other will be the bottom.

To make the lemon curd:

Makes three 1 lb (350 ml capacity) jars
Ingredients
grated zest and juice 1 large juicy lemon
2 small eggs
4oz (110 g) caster sugar
2oz (60 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into small lumps
1 level teaspoon cornflour

Begin by lightly whisking the eggs in a medium-sized saucepan, then add the rest of the ingredients and place the saucepan over a medium heat.
Now stir continuously, using a wooden spoon, until the mixture thickens – about 7-8 minutes. Next, lower the heat to its minimum setting and let the curd gently simmer for a further minute, continuing to mix. After that, remove it from the heat.
Now pour the lemon curd into the hot, sterilised jars, filling them as full as possible, cover straightaway with waxed discs, seal while it is still hot and label when it is cold. It will keep for several weeks, but it must be stored in a cool place.

For the filling:

The lemon curd as made above and 1/4 pt of double cream.

To make the filling mix the cold lemon curd with whipped cream. and fill the sponge. Dust with icing sugar and cut into squares. You can cut them small to kid yourself that you are not having too much but then you can always eat two or even three.

Chocolate and Hazelnut Bars

2008-01-03T10:55:00.000-08:00

This recipe has been adapted from the one given by Rachel Allen in her recent book. I found it on the BBc web site. I've made some changes as I thought that her recipe was too sweet so here is my version.

For the chocolate base:

200g/7oz butter

50g/2oz cocoa powder

200g/7oz caster sugar

2 free range eggs, beaten

225g/8oz plain flour

For the hazelnut caramel layer

125g/4½oz butter1 x 397g/14oz tin condensed milk

2 tbsp golden syrup75g/3oz caster sugar

125g/4½oz toasted and halved hazelnuts

For the chocolate topping

200g/7oz dark chocolate, chopped

1 tbsp sunflower or vegetable oil

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 160C/325F/Gas 3 and line the base of or grease, a small Swiss roll tin measuring 20x30cm/8x12in.

2. In a medium sized saucepan over a medium heat, heat the butter for the chocolate base, stir in the cocoa powder and then the sugar and mix until smooth.

3. Remove from the heat and stir in the eggs until mixed and then the plain flour.

4. Spread the chocolate base over the prepared tin and bake in the oven for 20 minutes until firm on top.

5. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool while you make the hazelnut caramel layer.

6. In a medium-sized saucepan over a medium heat, melt the butter and then add the condensed milk, golden syrup and sugar.

Turn the heat to low and stir continuously for 12-15 minutes until the mixture is dark caramel in colour (do not let it burn).

7. Remove from the heat and stir in the nuts. Spread evenly over the chocolate base and allow to cool.

8. Melt the chocolate in a bowl sitting over a saucepan of simmering water. When it is melted, stir in the oil and then pour over the caramel layer and smooth out, leaving to cool and set.

9. To serve, cut into squares. These will keep for a week in an airtight container.

Minestrone

2008-01-03T07:13:00.000-08:00

Once the colder weather starts the first thing that I want to appear on my plate is a dish of warm minestrone. If I am really truthful I don't even have to wait for the cold weather as this is one of my favourite soups, ney foods. It's the perfect comfort food and has the benefit of several things: it's healthy, filling and it's easy to make. What more can you ask for.

Once you have the basic ingredients it will also let you throw in a few random vegetables without having a major strop. So for the basics.

There is no need to sweat the vegetables as you will be cooking this soup slowly and the flavours will have time to develop.

Simply put a pan of cold water on the hob and add to it as you go along. The amount of water varies according to the number of people that you cook for. Let's say about 2pts for 4 people.

To this add

1 medium onion,
2 sticks of celery
1 bay leaf
1 carrot
1 small potato approx 120g. Don't get too precious as it can be slightly bigger or smaller.
1 large vine ripened tomato or failing this about 1/3rd of a tin of tomatoes.
A few stalks of flat leaf parsley

I don't even bother to chop the veg up finely. You will soon see why.

Bring slowly to the boil and allow to simmer gently for about 1 hour. This is no hardship as there will be a lovely smell in the kitchen. Now use a potato masher and give the veg in the pan a bit of a bash. Don't make them too fine as you still want to identify them. They should just be broken up.

You can now add any variations that you have. I like to add a handful each of:

cauliflower florets which have been cut small
peas, frozen are fine but fresh are better
finely chopped dark cabbage
precooked borlotti beans.

Do not add swede, parsnips or turnips as they will not make a good soup.

Allow the soup to simmer until these vegetables are cooked and then season to taste with salt and pepper and a stock cube if you have one.

Add a small handful of small pasta per person and cook until soft.

Serve with a drizzling of extra virgin olive oil and lots of freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

Enjoy!

Sugo con Fungi Porcini

2007-10-24T07:54:00.000-07:00

Well, I have to start the recipe ball rolling with what is probably the classic of all the Italian sauces. Some people may think that it's tomato but I think that it's the porcini sauce. However, this one combines porcini and tomatoes so you get the best of both worlds.

Ingredients:
1 Onion diced finely
1 clove of garlic
1 handful of dried mushrooms
2 to 3 tablespoons of tomato puree
1 glass of white wine
Stock cube

To Make the Sauce:

First you will need to soak the dried mushrooms in about 300ml of boiling water. This needs not be too precise. A bit more or less is hardly crucial. Set aside for about 20 mins by which time the mushrooms will have plumped up. Strain but keep the soaking liquid as you will need it for the sauce. If any dusty bits remain in the bottom of the soaking dish then throw them away.
Chop the drained mushrooms into medium size pieces. No need to make them too small as you want to see that you are eating a mushroom sauce after all.
Now fry the onion and the garlic slowly in oil until they soften and turn a golden colour. This should take about twenty minutes. you will give the sauce a good depth of flavour if you do it this way.
Turn up the heat and add the chopped mushrooms. Fry for about 2 minutes and then add the white wine. Bubble up until the alcohol has boiled off and then add the mushroom soaking liquid.
Now add the tomato puree and turn the heat down to a very gently simmer.
Do not cover. The pan should be about 2/3rds full. This will evaporate as it cooks. Allow to simmer gently for about 2 hours, checking from time to time that it is not drying out.
Taste and season with the stock cube and salt if necessary.
Use this sauce with freshly cooked pasta and sprinkle generously with freshly grated parmesan.

Do you have any porcini recipes favourites?

2007-10-15T03:00:00.000-07:00

If you do why not send me the links and I can compile a list for everyone to use.
I'll be posting mine in the next submission.

The Porcini are Finally Here

2007-10-15T00:58:00.000-07:00

At last the long awaited porcini have arrived. The season here abouts has started very late this year as it's been too wet and cold to bring out the mushrooms. However here's the proof that they have decided to grow.

This photograph was taken in my garden in the UK so all the Italians who don't believe that porcini grow anywhere other than the hallowed ground of Italy, look with envy at the evidence.

As you can see the porcini grow to be quite large here as they are left in the ground to do so. In Italy they wouldn't get the chance. The only problem with the large porcini is that they are darker when dried so it is better to pick them small as they remain light and don't colour the risotto too much.

Once they have been picked they need to be cleaned and sliced.

The slices are about 1cm thick. They have to be this thick as they are nearly all water and if you cut them too thin they will be so papery that they will crumble to nothing.

To dry them you will need warm Italian sunshine, or failing that a fan assisted oven with a low temperature of 50C. Lay them out on the rungs of the oven trays and wedge the door open slightly. I use a wooden spatula. the aim is to keep the temperature low and not to cook the mushrooms. After about 12 hours like this the porcini should be dry. If you feel them damp in any way leave them longer. they must be bone dry to keep. They should be stored in an air tight jar or they will absorb moisture and go off quickly.

Late Summer Vegetable Bake

2007-10-04T12:20:00.001-07:00

The next dish that I've made is one that is really useful when you get a glut of zucchini(courgette) and aubergines. Now I know that aubergines are not usually plentiful in British gardens but zucchini are so buy the other items from the supermarket.

You will need:

1 aubergine

3 or 4 tomatoes. It depends on the size of your tomatoes.

1 onion, sliced

Parmesan cheese

2 courgettes

Olive oil for frying the onions.

The first thing that I want to say is that I am not over fond of frying aubergines as I think that they soak up so much oil that the pleasure of eating them in lost in a sea of grease. What I do is slice the aubergines and put them on a microwaveable plate. Cover with cling film and cook until soft. The time that this takes will depend on the power of your microwave. Leave them aside until ready. Do the same with the zucchini.

Fry the onion until soft.

Skin and slice the tomatoes.

Make up the dish by putting layers of alternating vegetables in an oiled, oven proof dish . Cover with a layer of Parmesan cheese and bake in a hot oven for about 30 mins. Most of the vegetables have been pre-cooked so it does not take too long. It should be brown and bubbling like the photograph.

Serve as an accompaniment for grilled meat.

Maiale in Umido

2007-09-02T06:01:00.000-07:00

This recipe for maiale in umido is a family classic. It's easy to make and delicious to eat. I would even advise you to make too much and freeze the spare meat to eat at a later date. This was my mother's standby. We all used to love it when she made it as it was so tasty.

Just one point for those who can't speak Italian, maiale is pork.

For two people you will need:

2 good size chops
1 glass of dry white wine
1 clove of garlic. I usually use smoked garlic as I find it sweeter than the ordinary stuff, but if you can't get it the usual will do.
1/2 stock cube.
1 teaspoon of finely chopped rosemary.
Par-boiled potatoes: as many as you feel that you can eat.

Fry the chops in a large pan that has a lid. You will need to put the lid on later.
When they are brown, add the chopped garlic and a few seconds later add the white wine and allow it to bubble up to cook off some of the alcohol.
Add the crumbled stock cube and if the dish is too dry then add a half glass of water. Cover and allow to cook until the chops are almost tender.
Add the par-cooked potatoes and stir around without breaking them up.
Sprinkle the rosemary over the top.
Put the lid back on and allow to cook gently until the potatoes and meat are tender and ready to eat.
Serve as seen in the photograph. You will see that there is very little sauce, but what there is is very intensely flavoured and delicious. Italian food does not tend to come swimming in sauces.

Crostata di Marmellata

2007-09-01T08:54:00.000-07:00

In many parts of Emiglia Romagna you will see this little tart in most pastry shops. Translated it simply means ‘jam tart’. Don’t let that fool you because this is not a children’s tea time favourite but a tart that is suitable for all ages and it will disappear all too soon. It’s probably the brandy in the jam that makes all of the difference. You need to have the presence of mind to hide some in the cupboard so that you can savour some all for yourself when everyone has gone and you can sit down with a cuppa or a glass of sweet, sparkling, white wine. Bliss.

To make this tart you will need to start by making ‘pasta frolla’ or sweet pastry as it's known in Italy. Now, if I am honest there are as many versions of this as there are homes in Italy. Everyone will have their little twist on the recipe. Most of the recipes in books will tend to have a far higher ratio of sugar than I use here. They also have less butter. What I do is make a fairly rich buttery pastry, to which I add a teaspoon of lievito ( Italian baking powder ). I tend to use the Paneangeli make and unlike the manufacturer’s instructions, I add it to the flour rather than at the end which is what they tell you to do. I can’t see how it will mix in properly if you do that.

Ingredients for Pasta Frolla

200g plain flour. If you can get ‘00’ flour this is the best.
120g butter
90g sugar
1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk if you need extra moisture.

Grated rind of half a lemon

Start by creaming the butter, lemon rind and the sugar. When you have creamed the mixture for about 5 minutes, beat in the egg.
Mix in the flour and lievito until the mixture comes together and forms a soft dough. You are not going to roll this dough out so it does not have to be too firm.
Remove about 1/3rd of the dough and set aside. You will use this to make the top later. Press the remaining 2/3rds over the base of a 30cm buttered baking tin.

Now the Jam
You can buy the jam for making this tart in Italy. It is called prunellata and it usually has a picture of a crostata on the jar so that you know that you are buying the right thing. The thing that marks this jam out from all others is that it's sharp. I love it and so do most of my friends. It needs to be sharp to prevent the tart from being too sweet. If you can’t get this jam, I suggest that you buy a morello cherry jam. If you do, however, substitute the brandy with kirsch.
For a tart of this size you will need about 400g of jam. Add two tablespoons of brandy to the jam and mix well. Spread over the base of the tart, leaving about 1 cm of pastry uncovered.
Now roll out the remaining pastry into long sausages and, starting with the edges of the tart, create a lattice over the top of the tart as shown in the photo.
Cook in a medium oven until the tart is cooked and golden brown. Leave to cool in the tin and when cold, dust with icing sugar and cut into pieces and serve.

Chicche Della Nonna with Fresh Tomato and Basil Sauce

2007-08-19T05:58:00.000-07:00

I won't start by saying that these are quick. They aren't. They take time, but, having said that they are quick to cook. Don't forget that these freeze really well so it's worth making lots even if you are only two of you. They make a fast meal when you're in a hurry and so much better than the bought ones.

Start by making the sauce which you can set aside until you need it. The day before is fine. Just remember that it contains fresh cream so it will not last forever.

This is a quick and easy sauce that has the advantage of being easy to freeze and it uses basil in a way which keeps the taste fresh. No mean feat with basil as it usually looses its taste very easily.

To make the sauce:

500g of skinned and chopped fresh tomatoes, If you are going to make this sauce with British tomatoes then choose the ripest that you can get. Failing that 1 tin of good quality tomatoes.
1 small onion of shallot,
50g of butter, 1 tbs oil,
150ml cream,
a small bunch of fresh basil. Do not use dried.
1/2 a stock cube - Knorr, gusto classico
salt and pepper:
To make the sauce:

Fry the onion in the oil and butter until it is a light golden colour. You do not want to brown it too much as it spoils the colour of the sauce. Neither do you want the onions to be under cooked so cook them slowly.
Add the chopped tomatoes and bring to the boil. Turn the heat down to a simmer and cook slowly for about 30 mins. Add the stock cube and salt and pepper to taste.
Whizz up with a blender and then return to the pan. Add the cream and the chopped basil and stir through. Keep warm without boiling. This is a lovely sauce. Just you wait and see.

To make enough chicche for 6 people:
800g of potatoes
400g of spinach
400g of plain flour
300g fresh ricotta
2 eggs
salt
Wash, peel and boil the potatoes. Drain well and mash well to get rid of any lumps.
Wash the spinach well and cook in a pan with only the water clinging to the leaves. This will only take about 5 minutes. Alternatively, put the spinach in the pressure cooker and bring to pressure. Switch off and leave to come too normal pressure. When you open it the spinach will be cooked. Drain well and squeeze until you can get out as much water as possible. wet spinach do not make good chicche.Chop the spinach as finely as possible. you can use a mezza luna or failing this put it in a decent food processor and chop until it is really fine.
Put it in a bowl and add the eggs, the ricotta the potatoes and mix well. Add enough of the flour to make a soft dough that holds together. You may use all of the flour of slightly more or less than that given, it depends on the wetness of the potatoes and the flour.
Put in the fridge for about an hour. This will make it easier to work.

Flour the work surface well. Cut of pieces of the dough and roll out into thin sausages about 1cm thick and cut off pieces of about 1cm in length. You can cut them shorter as is the tradition but life is too short and they taste the same whatever size that you make them. Having said that, too big is no good as they do not cook properly.
Set aside while you use up the rest of the dough. I tend to store mine on a Teflon mat that I bought in Tesco. It's great as I can also use it to freeze the chicche and it releases them without having to over flour the sheet.
put the oven on and a bowl that yo can put the chicche in to keep warm.
Cook the chicche in lots of boiling water. By this I mean at least 3lt. Do not cook them all at once. You will have a dreadful mess if you do.
The chicche are done as soon as they rise to the top of the water. Do not be tempted to cook them for longer as they will turn into bullets.
I cook about 20 at a time. Put the chicche in the oven in the pre-warmed bowl. This will keep them warm while you cook the rest a few at a time.
Dress with the warm sauce and lots of Parmigiano. Lovely.

2007-08-18T05:27:00.001-07:00

This is one of the simplest creams that I know of and luckily enough it is also delicious.

To make this ambrosial cream take:

250ml of whipping or double cream
250 ml of Greek yogurt - full fat. Don't bother with thin skimmed stuff
a few drops of vanilla essence
about two tablespoons of sugar - use more or less according to the degree of sweetness that you enjoy.

Whip the cream and then fold in the yogurt vanilla and sugar.Put in a bowl and leave for a few hours to stiffen up. Eat with poached fruit. In the photo you will see that I served it with poached mirabelle plums. Yumm!

Torta d'Erbe

2007-08-14T08:14:00.000-07:00

This is yet another way to use the spinach beet that grows so abundantly in the summer months and have the advantage of tasting delicious. This is also a perfect pie for a vegetarian. As you can see from the photo of the spinach in the orto, there is lots, and that's after I picked the stuff that I used.

In the region where I come from there are feste to this torta. Well let's face it in Italy there are feste to just about anything. The other day, while to drive through a place called Farini d'Olmo, I was amazed to see advertised a festa to tractors. No doubt there would be food, dancing and lots of wine. Not while on the tractor, I hope.

For the filling:

About 750g of spinach after it has been stripped from the stalks.
100ml approx of olive oil. This does not need to be extra virgin.
150g of Parmesan cheese, grated
2 eggs
Salt and pepper
2 tbs plain flour

Strip the spinach from the stalks and if you feel industrious then use them in another dish. I usually just compost them as I really don't know what to do with them. I then slice the spinach and dry it in a salad spinner. This helps to get rid of any excess water which will spoil the torta.
Now put the spinach in a bowl with the rest of the ingredients and mix well. You will be surprised by the way that the mixture decreases in volume.

Now, I know that this contains raw eggs but I tend to taste the mixture to assess the seasoning. If there is not enough salt or cheese, add some more. It's your torta. Just remember that it is not a quiche and should not contain too many eggs.

You might have thought that you had too much before but now you will see sensible proportions. It will reduce even more while it cooks.

The pastry is made in a similar way to the pastry for the torta di patate. This may not seem much pastry but it will be rolled out thinly. Using very little fat and tepid water will allow you to do this.

250gm plain flour

75gm butter

tepid water
salt.

Make the pastry by rubbing the butter into the flour and add enough tepid water to make a softish dough. Roll out to line and overlap a shallow tin. The tin should be about 30cm x 40cm. If you don't have one of these then use a few smaller ones, I do as there are only two of us now. Empty nest and all that.

Pile the filling into the ready lined tin and cover with a sheet of thin pastry. Remember that the pastry has to be as thin as pasta. Fold the side edges over the central disc and press down lightly. You can egg wash the top but i don't tend to do that as I brush with milk instead. I once tried to brush with oil but this made an over crisp topping that I didn't much like.

As an alternative you can make two round torta. Each tin will be about 30cm in diameter.

Cook in a hot oven. 230C or gas 7. It should be well cooked underneath or it will go soggy. I hate soggy pastry. Cover the top if browning too much. Allow to cool for about 10 minutes before eating. This avoids burning your mouth. As if!

Buon appetito!

Mirabelle Plum Tartlettes

2007-08-14T06:01:00.000-07:00

As some of you from the Italy Magazine may well know I have been blessed and perhaps cursed by a glut of Mirabelle plums. When I first saw them on the trees I couldn't believe that I had been so lucky. They shone golden and tempting in the afternoon light and I couldn't wait to eat them warm from the tree. I had pictures of Elizabeth David's descriptions of eating apricots warm from the tree on my mind. Well. I'm glad to say that that delight did not fall short of the expectation and the ripe plums were honey sweet and delicious.

Where does the curse come into the equation? There are so many. It is impossible to eat them all so the great cook in of the plums had to begin and I have started with these delectable little tartlettes to whet your appetites.

First the pastry
150g plain flour
90g butter
1 egg
50g sugar

Make the pastry by creaming the butter and sugar until soft and white. Beat in the egg and then add the flour and lievito. Mix together to form the pastry. If it is too soft then add a little more flour. This should not be as firm as a traditional pastry as it will not be rolled out, but pushed into the tartlette cases instead. Now proceed to do just that.

Divide the pastry into approximately 12 pieces and pat each piece into shape in the tartlette tins.

I've become a convert of the silicone bakewear that has flooded the market in the last few years. It is easy to use, the things that you bake in it don't stick and it is easy to wash. End of discussion as far as I am concerned. Another advantage for using silicone bakewear for making these tartlettes is that they can remain in the cases until cool. They can then be pushed out without having to resort to a knife to prise them out. This is especially good for rich pastries.
Remove the stones from about 24 plums and push, skin side up into the pastry. I didn't bother to sugar the plums as they take their sweetness from the pastry and I like a little sharp contrast to the pastry.

Bake in the oven at about gas mark 5 until they are golden brown.
Remove from the oven and when cool enough take out of the cases. Do not do this too soon as the pastry is rich and will break when warm.

Dust with icing sugar, or if in Italy, buy the sugar that is sold for dusting as it will not melt. Now eat them. But I didn't need to tell you that, did I?.

Tortelli di Erbette

2007-08-13T00:50:00.000-07:00

This is another traditional dish from the Parma region and one that I have eaten all my life. It was an easy one for my mother to recreate in the UK as all the ingredients were readily available and even if she couldn't get ricotta cheese all those years ago in the 1960's she could substitute it with cream cheese. In those days she also had to use the ordinary plain flour that was on sale in the corner shop as the influx of imported flours now available was a dream of the future.

Tortelli may be readily available in the supermarkets but it is not a patch on the home made variety which was kept for feasts not eaten as an every day food. Some things are special and the ready made stuff is ordinary so, in my view, is not worth eating. Real tortelli takes time to make. I won't kid you that it is quick but it is worth it. You will taste the difference and that is not a plug for Sainsbury's.

This recipe will make enough for 4 people.

So we start with the pasta:

3 medium eggs, use the best organic free range eggs that you can get if you want your pasta to be a good bright yellow colour.
300g of '00' Italian flour. This is soft flour. It says tenero on the pack. This means tender or soft. I've heard some UK cooks telling TV audiences to use hard flour. Ignore this twaddle.
1/2 a teaspoon of salt.

Throw the lot into a food processor and process until it resembles a rubble. Pour out on to a work surface and kneed to get the mixture together. Do not be tempted to add water, even though it may seem dry to you. Wrap the dough in cling film or put in a small plastic bag and put to rest in the fridge for about an hour. You will be amazed at how the dough has softened up after its rest.

While the dough is resting get on with the filling.

You will need about 1 Kg of Spinach beets. Use ordinary spinach if this is unavailable. Weigh before thae stems are removed. I tend to like my tortelli green, if you prefer more cheese then alter the proportions.
250g Ricotta cheese
1 egg
100g grated Parmesan cheese, grate it yourself. Do not buy the ready grated.
1/teaspoon of salt
A pinch of nutmeg. I hate nutmeg so I leave it out. I tell you this for authenticity only.

Clean the spinach in plenty of water and cook in a pan with only the water clinging to the leaves. This will take only a few minutes. Drain and squeeze out as much of the water as possible.
Do not be tempted to skimp on this as it is important. A wet filling will cause the pasta to disintegrate. Not good. What I do is put on a pair of clean latex gloves and squeeze as hard as possible. Latex gloves are good as they stop the spinach from staining your nails. It takes days to get the stain out. Stained nails may be good on old style Nonna's but this modern one likes to keep her nails clean.
Put the spinach in a food processor along with the rest of the ingredients and pulse until the mixture is thoroughly amalgamated. You should have a semi-soft mixture. It should not be sloppy. If it is too soft add more grated parmesan or dry bread crumbs. Set aside.

Now the fun begins.

Cut the pasta into about 4 pieces. use 1 and keep the other three under wraps to stop it from drying out.

Put the machine on its widest setting and pass the pasta through the machine a minimum of 12 times, folding it in half each time. You will see that the pasta becomes firmer and pliable as you do this. If it is not then pass it through the machine again. Do not stint on this for if you do the pasta will develop holes when you try to make it thinner. Do not flour the pasta as this will alter the proportions and the pasta will not stick together when you come to make the tortelli

When you feel that the pasta is ready to make thinner start reducing the width of the rollers and pass through the machine to make a long thin length of pasta. This time there is no need to fold. I tend to go down to the last but one width and pass it through the machine twice at this thickness. That's about right on my machine but you can experiment with yours. Not all pasta machines are the same.

I am lucky enough to own a ravioli tray, see photo, which I line with pasta, fill and cover with another sheet of pasta. I then press it down and the tray will put the cutting lines in the pasta.If you have not floured the pasta surface you will have no trouble getting the pasta to stick. There will be no need to use egg to make the pasta stick. That is a faff invented by TV cook. No one in Italy does it. I speak with no authority at all except that of having watched my mother and aunts make this sort of thing so very often.
If you are clever you can press the pasta down with the rolling pin that comes with the tray but I can never seem to be able to do this so I turn it out onto a floured surface and I cut it out along the lines with my pasta wheel. I then transfer the tortelli to a floured surface, this stops them sticking, and get on with the next lot.

To cook the pasta
Put about 3 litres of salted water in a large pan and bring to a rolling boil. Throw in about half of the tortelli. It is not good to overfill the pan. Cook for about 5 mins until the pasta is cooked. Do not fall for the UK rubbish of 1 minute as there is a double thickness of pasta on the join and this takes time to cook.. Try one and see what you think. If it is cooked to your liking strain well and eat, if not cook for another minute. Keep these warm while you cook the rest.

To serve brush with melted butter and sprinkle generously with grated Parmesan cheese. About 100g will be enough betweent eh 4 servings. Do not use flaked cheese, these tortelli need the cheese to come into contact with the pasta. Enjoy.

Sausage and Beans

2007-08-11T12:30:00.000-07:00

Today I decided to make my husband's favourite supper dish: borlotti con salsicia, or sausage and beans. This is no hardship as it's also one of mine. As much as I like fine dining I also like good hearty food and this dish certainly is that.I started by going down to the Orto to pick the beans which as you can imagine are plentiful here in Italy in August. They then have to be shelled and cooked. Don't ask me how many per person as it depends on your appetite. What I tend to do is pile them on a plate. If they look about right I go with that.

Put the beans in a pan or pressure cooker if you want to be quicker with a stick of celery, a fresh tomato, an onion, halved,and a carrot.Do not put in any salt at this point as it will toughen the skins. Cook until starting to go soft. In the pressure cooker this tends to be about 5 minutes but be careful. I am not too sure how long they take in a pan as I never cook them that way. It also depends on the age of he bean. Fresh from the garden they will probably cook quicker than if they have been hanging about in a supermarket stall.Try tham after about 30 mins.
Cook until almost but ot quite soft.

Now cut the sausage into rounds. I used salamini sausages as they are my favourites. If you use lugnaega sausage cut into 6cm lengths ie. about half a sausage.Fry the sausages until nice and golden brown, deglase the pan wit5h some white wine and add some stock cube. I like the Knorr, gusto classico but use your favourite.

If you would prefer you can cook the lot in a pressure cooker. Just start by frying the onions and then add the sliced sausage and when they are brown add the wine. Add the other ingredients and enough water to cover and cook on high for about 5 mins. easy but not quite as refined as cooking separately.

Another thought! Cut down the cooking by using a can of beans. You cook the sausages as outlined above but only add the beans when the sausages are throughly cooked. Not as good as fresh beans but if you are in a hurry it will do. This is a modern day Nonna giving you instructions after all.

Torta di Patate

2007-05-15T20:38:00.000-07:00

My grand daughter is eight months old and I have suddenly realised that I am a Nonna. This has given me something of a shock. I can't really be that old can I? I certainly don't think that I look ancient like my own Nonna. No black headscarf for a start. However, being a nonna has now given me the opportunity to write up the recipes that I have acquired over a life time. Now I don't need to ask Nonna, everyone can ask me.

My recipes will be mainly Italian as every good Nonnas will be but they will have a sprinkling of Welsh as I live in Wales and a dash of anything else that I have liked.

For my first recipe will go to the region that my parents come from in Italy, Parma and more locally Bardi. If there are any other Bardigani out there reading this then you will recognise this local speciality, as it's TORTA di PATATE. No Italian picnic is complete without a torta and in my region they even have feste to this torta.

To make a fairly large torta, about 45cm x 30cm, there's no point in making a small one, you will need:

2kg of floury potatoes. My mother used King Edwards but Maris Piper are good too. Don't bother with new potatoes as they tend to be gluey and not good.
2 leeks, white and green cleaned and chopped fairly small
a piece of lardo to fry the leeks. Failing this and in a British kitchen that is fairly likely use some Fatty bacon chopped. Do not use smoked bacon the flavour is wrong in this dish.
1 packet of cream cheese.
A handful of freshly grated Parmesan.

1 or 2 eggs depending on how dry the potatoes are

Some cream remember that this is an Italian recipe so the quantity that I will give is: as much as you need.

For the pastry

250gm plain flour

75gm butter

water salt.

Make the pastry by rubbing the butter into the flour and add enough tepid water to make a softish dough. Roll out to line and overlap a shallow tin.

Steam the potatoes because if you boil them they will be wet and in some cases disintegrate. mash them and put aside.

While the potatoes are boiling you can fry the bacon or lardo if you are lucky enough to get it and then add the leeks and continue to fry until the leeks are soft. No need to colour the leeks.

Add to the mashed potatoes with the rest of the filling ingredients. mix well.

pile into the lined pastry dish and level out. Flip the overlap pastry over the torta and pat down

Cover the torta with an egg wash or if you are feeling mean then use milk.

score the top with the back of a fork to make a criss-cross pattern.

Cook in a fairly hot oven until it is well cooked underneath. Cover the top to prevent burning if necessary. In Italy it would have been cooked in a bread oven after the bread had been cooked and the oven had cooled.

Hope that you like this.