Pizza on a focaccia base

In the last post I gave you the recipe for focaccia, but what I didn't tell you is that this dough makes an excellent base for pizza.

All I did was roll it out thinner than the focaccia and top it with some:

tomato passata,
stoned olives,
thinly sliced chorizo
grated mozarella cheese
a few dried herbs: origano or thyme

Allow it to rise for about 30 minutes and cook in a very hot oven until brown and bubbling.

One of the advantages of pizza over all other doughs is that you don't have to leave it to get cold before digging in.

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

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.

Just one more bruschetta

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 quite 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 iota 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.

Fig and Ricotta Bruschetta

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.

Cannelloni filled with Broccoli and Ricotta

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

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.

Torta di Patate

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.