Spinach Pesto – Southern Italian Family Cooking.
Everyone loves pesto, whether it’s simply spooned through trofie pasta, spooned and stirred into a risotto, seductively drizzled over a tomato and fresh burrata salad starter or used as a topping on toasted bread, the uses are truly endless. This spinach pesto is a favourite of mine. I normally [...]
100% Italian Extra Virgin Olive Oil by Filippo Berio
Filippo Berio have released a fantastic new 100% Italian Extra Olive Oil. This Extra Virgin Olive Oil is a pure blend using olives from Italy only, making it: Intense Full flavoured Deep aroma of green olives and artichokes Lively with fruit taste of olives Hints of herbs, artichokes, ripe tomato [...]
Sacla` – Pasta alla Chitarra with truffle pesto.
SACLA` Truffle Pesto – Pasta alla Chitarra with truffle pesto. Pasta alla Chitarra al pesto di tartufo. Stinging nettles, soft fragrant herbs, freshly picked spinach, roasted peppers, sundried tomatoes, blanched asparagus and wilted cavolo nero (Italian black cabbage) are but a few ingredients that can make a delicious [...]
Spaghetti with Parma ham & lemon spritz
It seems that everyday our lives are always rushed, hurried and under far too much pressure. We seem to be running from one meeting to another or from one children's club to another, constantly watching the clock. Sometimes we need that instant meal when time is against us, the fix [...]
Parma ham filled peppers
A perfect pairing of baby sweet peppers and the delicate taste of Parma ham. Baked together they are a match made in heaven, the perfect Italian marriage. I love baking vegetables especially if they are filled with a warming and beautifully seasoned filling. These peppers are without a doubt a go [...]
Dinner at Giovanni Rana, London & the Introduction to Ciao Gusto.
There is nothing that pleases me more than to tuck into a bowl of fresh pasta, an arrangement of fresh salumi or the very finest of balsamic and extra virgin olive oil. Now the UK is to welcome 30 champions of Italian food that have quite rightly made their individual [...]
A Passion for Pasta by Carmela Sophia Sereno
A Passion for Pasta celebrates not only the 20 diverse regions of Italy but also the classic pasta that hails from each of these regions. It will give you the chance to remember your distant or most recent holiday to Italy whilst falling in love with new dishes or even [...]
Filled chicken breasts wrapped in Parma ham
Everyone has heard of 'Parma ham' in one capacity or another. Draped over fresh seasonal figs, served alongside a wider variety of cured meats and cheeses, nestled in a fresh lunchtime panino with roasted peppers and provolone or simply eaten as soon as you've purchased it whilst standing directly outside [...]
Seasonal Parma ham & fig salad
I think we are incredibly lucky in the UK to welcome in our four seasons. We know every year we will have a beautiful crisp and fragrant Spring , possibly a few days of sunshine - if we're lucky, certainty a wet and cold Winter and my favourite season being [...]
Soft polenta & sausage sugo.
Polenta echoes cucina povera cooking from the Northern plains and regions of Italy. Delicious when cooked and seasoned well whilst making a great alternative to pasta, potatoes and rice. Polenta - is gluten free and is very much a staple ingredients in my kitchen larder with two main varieties. One [...]
Prickly pear liquor – Ficatinicello
Prickly pear liquor – Ficatinicello Prickly pears are probably the most popular name for this cactus fruit , in my families regions of Molise and Puglia the dialect name is ‘ficatini’. However their birth name is ‘Fichi d’India‘. Oval in shape, and covered in spikes. Prickly is an understatement, [...]
Filled and fried zucchini flowers
Courgette flowers are delicate and delicious stuffed and filled with herbs and cheese, then dipped into a light batter and fried. I can't believe some still discard these. Simply pan fried in olive oil they are tasty and stirred through a summer risotto or pasta dish they add a pungent [...]