Pea Soup...

served lukewarm with crunchy cubes of carrots and onions, Pesto sauce and Parmigiano Tuilles (Sprinkled with Coconut rapè) to garnish...

is a lovely light lunch choice on a hot summer day!

Basket of Bread

It is always pleasing for a customer being welcome with a little present...a lovely basket of bread...while it's looking at the menù...

This is just an idea of different kinds of bread you can delight with people coming to your restaurant...

Triangles of Onion Focaccia (dough aromatized with rosmarine and sage), Walnut chip Twists (same aromatized dough), Poppy seed Knots made from milk bread with lemon zest and Fennel seed Croissants from the same dough...

Bomboloni...

direttamente dal surgelatore....

Ne avevo preparati molti un giorno, (troppi!), così decisi di surgelarne alcuni, pronti per essere fritti dopo un ulteriore lievitazione...

Risultato...

Coconut Muffins...

Improved Recipe!!!

Coconut Muffins...

...made for my dear friend Roxy as a present for her birthday together with a marvellous whole organic Pecorino Cheese..., these are the kind of present we like giving each other on special occasions and often...

Waffle Liegi

...prima prova con risultato davvero soddisfacente...

Tozzetti con Nocciole

Very Savoury Muffins

...una versione di muffins salati, con pecorino sardo spalmabile, prosciutto di casa nostra e timo per aromatizzare... Morbidissimi, ma molto molto saporiti...un po' troppo per i miei gusti... 

Gelato alla Vaniglia con Mirtilli Sciroppati...

...su cestino croccante allo Zenzero...

Continuo a cucinare con la sola mano sinistra...

Black Muffins

...wonderfully tender and moist muffins...

with a double dose of chocolate, one from cocoa powder and the other from chocolate chips...

Gelato ai Fichi...

...Cannella e schegge di Cioccolato..

...senza l'uso della gelatiera...ed addirittura con una sola mano, la sinistra, dato che ho la destra immobilizzata a causa di una frattura...

Ma non rinuncio alle mie cucine, quando ho un altro braccio da sfruttare...

 

Broken Shoulder Pizza

...although I've got the right shoulder broken and a very annoying sling, I don't give up make my Saturday Pizza, only by the left arm (that is getting stronger in this conditions) and...
...look at this...



...figs, green tomatoes, Speck, Stracchino cheese (fichi, pomodori verdi, Speck, un po' di Stracchino) and lots of Passion...YAMMY YAMMY!

Seasonal Fruit&Yogurt Pudding

Fruit is one of the most important ingredient in this dessert. Essential is having 1 kg of fresh and ripe fruit, whatever kind you prefer...

I've used pears from my garden, so sweet and juicy!... leaving the skin on as it's thin and  absolutely free of pesticides...

Natural yogurt in the batter is also important for the texture... Ground cinnamon and some plain chocolate give this pudding personality...

I liked to serve it with whipped cream and my home made custard...

You may want to know more details, so, please, ask me...

Desert Roses

Don't they look like beautiful flowers growing on the desert sand...?

Infact, they are lovely little cakes, made with simple ingredients and enriched with some raisins and chopped walnuts. They're friable and nicely fragrant inside and have a crunchy corn flake coat... good with the morning caffelatte or a cup of tea...

Pear&Nutella Tart

...where my homemade pastry is the scenery for the perfect marriage between the juicy and sweet pears of our garden and the Nutella (Italy favourite)...

Ingredients: h.m. pastry made with 200 gr all purpose flour, 100 gr softened butter, 1 egg+1egg yolk, pinch of salt, grated lemon zest; 500-600 gr pears (sliced), 5 tblsp Nutella,

sour cream(and yogurt) sauce made with 200 gr sour cream (or 100 gr s.c.+ 100 gr yogurt), 2eggs, 3 tblsp sugar, vanilla aroma.

Make the pastry: beat butter until soft, add sugar and mix. Add eggs, salt, some grated lemon zest. Finally, add flour and make a stiff dough. Knead lightly. Refrigerate for 30 mins at least.

Place sliced pears in a bowl with a tblsp of sugar and few drops of lemon juice.

Prepare the sauce, beating eggs with sugar. Add aroma, salt and sour cream or s.cream+yogurt mixture.

Now, line a 24 cm flan tip with the pastry. Spread Nutella on the base. Arrange pears on top, in a layer. Pour the sauce. Sprinkle some Demerara sugar and graund cinnamon. Bake for 35 mins in hot oven, until the pastry is golden brown.

Once made this Tart, I had spare sliced pears and sauce, though any Nutella left... So, I made a black pastry for another similar Tart with only a layer of pears and the sour cream+yogurt sauce on top...

The ingredients for the black pastry:

200 gr all purpose flour, 100 gr butter, 70 gr sugar, 1 egg+1 egg yolk, 15 gr cocoa powder, pinch of salt

M&D PIZZA...

Making Pizza last Saturday, I had the idea of a different topping, as if  Margery &Dennis would have come along for dinner...

I virtually offer you a slice of the Pizza, dear Family!...

...with Mozzarella and Stracchino cheese, slices of grilled aubergines and fresh tomatoes, Bresaola and stripes of melon (added after baked)...

for You, my Dear Ones!!!

Torta Yoghy Sandwich con Salsina alla Menta...

Punto di partenza di questo mio dessert domenicale è la semplice Torta allo Yogurt dei 7 vasetti (famosissima!)...(la ricetta nel post di sotto, in inglese)...

Ho solo variato il tipo di yogurt, dovendo utilizzare 1 vasetto di Vitasnella alle ciliegie, prossimo alla scadenza ed ho variegato l'impasto con dello sciroppo puro di menta...

Metà di questa torta, morbidissima e dal delicato aroma di menta, è andata ai miei suoceri, che la mangeranno a colazione, come loro sana consuetudine...

L'altra metà, l'ho farcita, come un panino, con una macedonia di pesche+pere (tagliate finemente e condite con zucchero e poco Rum) ed una salsina cremosa alla menta, utilizzata anche come accompagnamento.

Per fare la salsina alla menta, ho utilizzato:

1 bustina di Tortagel Paneangeli, 150ml di acqua, 1oo ml di sciroppo di menta, 1 cucchiaio di zucchero, 250 ml di panna montata.

Ho preparato la gelatina, seguendo le istruzioni sulla bustina, servendomi però di una miscela di acqua-sciroppo di menta, a cui ho aggiunto un cucchiaio di zucchero. Dopo una decina di minuti, ho mescolato, cucchiaio dopo cucchiaio, la panna montata. Ho quindi refrigerato la mia cremina, per farla rassodare.

Yoghy Cake Sandwich with Creamy Mint Sauce

...starting point for my Sunday dessert, the 7 Pot Cake, a simple yoghurt cake (very famous recipe!), only varying the kind of yoghurt (cherry yoghurt) and mixing some pure mint syrup to the batter...

Here are the ingredients:

3 pots of all purpose flour, 2 pots of sugar, 1 pot of melted butter, 1 pot (125 gr) of  natural yoghurt, 1 pinch of salt, grated lemon zest, 3 large eggs, 15 gr bag of baking powder.

I use the yoghurt pot for measuring the other ingredients.

Start by beating the egg yolks with the sugar. Add a pinch of salt, some grated lemon zest, the melted butter,...then, the yoghurt. Finally, fold in the flour+baking powder sifted and the egg whites (beaten until foamy) and incorporate.

Pour the batter into a springform 26cm tin, lined with oven proof paper... then, sprinkle 4 tbsp of pure mint syrup over the top and with a spatula, draw swirls through the batter to distribute it casually.

Bake for 30 minutes to 180C°.

I've given half of this soft and delicately mint flavoured Cake to my Parents in law, who will have it for breakfast, as their healthy habit...

while I've made a sandwich with the other half... filling it with a peach+pear salad (fruit, thinly chopped, sweatened and flavoured with few drops of Rhum) and a creamy mint sauce, (salsina cremosa alla menta:translate from the above post) that I also used to serve it.

My Favourite PIZZA

This is not the BEST PIZZA (in the world!!!)...but simply MY FAVOURITE ONE...

It's because I MAKE IT, every saturday, like a sort of ritual... starting from the dough...using the best ingredients, the toppings my husband and me prefer, baking it in the best of the ways...

and filling it with my LOVE...

MAXY Mimosa Cake

The image of this cake will always reminds me of the lovely Sunday with Roxy, Maxy and the little sweet Emma...

...a very Special day, our first meal together, after eight years we'd known...

a day, we'd been thinking about for all that time, a day, several times planned and postponed, like worried it wouln't have been yet the "right time"...

However, the Desire of something, I believe, makes it always Special and even more valuable...though, very often, you feel so excited that you can't manage everything as you would like...

Infact, I  would have taken a picture of Maxy at the barbecue, or one of Emma playing with the soap bubbles... I would not have forgotten a toast to that day, so much wanted!!!

Anyway, I will surely keep anything in my heart...

I love to call the cake, the MAXY Mimosa Cake...because it was Maxy asking for it on the occasion of our meal together... He doesn't like all kinds of cake...but, looking at him eating the ones he prefers, it is really pleasing...!!!

We all liked this MAXY Mimosa,... but, I won't forget to thank Maxy for the gorgeous grill (lamb and pork cutlets, sausages, beef steak) !!! Specially for Me, who love meat, it's been a great enjoyment !!!

Talking about the cake...

it is basically a Sponge Cake (24cm springform pan), cut in three layers.

The first two layers, moistened with some pineapple juice, scattered with chopped pineapple slices in syrup and spread with Chantilly Custard. The third layer, once removed the brown peel, is crumbled  all over the cake to get the "Mimosa Effect".

When I served myself a big slice of the cake, I sprinkled on the top, drops of  original Coconut Caribbean Rum...MARVELLOUS!

For the Sponge (Pan di Spagna), the Custard Sauce (Crema Pasticcera) and for the Chantilly Custard Sauce, please, translate from the below post or contact me...