VANILLA PASTRY CREAM - crema pasticcera

This is my mother's recipe for the pastry cream, which I usually use as a lining for fruit tarts or as a filling for layer cakes. With fresh vanilla it's simply delicious!

CROSTATA ALLE FRAGOLE - STRAWBERRY TART...with a secret

A good fruit tart- crostata alla frutta usually is filled with pastry cream - crema pasticcera.

But if you want something lighter, or you simple don't have time to prepare the pastry cream, try to substitute it with jam. You won't be disappointed.

The one I prepared was with strawberries, bananas and....kiwi jam (homemade by my mother).

CROSTATA ALLA MARMELLATA

I haven't been writing for a while, but in the meantime I have prepared a lot of dishes that I want to share with you.
Let's start with a traditional Italian tart: the crostata alla marmellata (jam tart).
This is what we say the traditional homemade cake par excellence. The crostata (tart) is a tasty and above all easy to prepare recipe that you can stuff with your favorite jam (even better if homemade).

This tart is characterized for its typical lozenge decoration, but let your imagination run wild and invent new patterns, for example using cookie-molds or creating new forms to be distributed on the surface of the tart (as for the one that I baked).

QUINOA SALAD WITH PUMPKIN, FETA AND WALNUTS

Quinoa is incredibly versatile: you can prepare wonderful salads with whatever you have in your fridge. It's also easy and quick to cook: a healthy option when you are in a hurry. In just half an hour your meal will be ready!

Sformato di patate - POTATOES GATEAU WITH SPINACH AND PEAS

The sformato di patate or gattò,  the Italianization of the French ''gateau'', is a savory potato ‘cake’ made of mashed potatoes enriched with eggs, butter, grated cheese with a filling of cheese, ham or other cold cuts and vegetables.

Typically served warm, but not piping hot, it can be either a one-dish meal (piatto unico), if accompanied with salad, or an antipasto, if served in thin slices.

QUINOA SALAD WITH RUCOLA, WALNUTS AND GOAT CHEESE

Quinoa is a non-cereal that I discovered recently: just great! Rich in protein, fiber and minerals it cooks quickly and makes a great substitute for rice, couscous and pasta. Furthermore, quinoa is gluten free and perfect for people with gluten intolerance.
Quinoa can be used in the same way as rice, thus for warm or cold salads, savory cakes, soups or as your fantasy suggests you.

My first recipe with quinoa is a cold salad with rucola, walnuts, cherry tomatoes and goat cheese. An amazing and super healthy meal easy to prepare and to bring to your office for lunch!

TIRAMISÚ ''IN LEGGEREZZA'' - light tiramisú

I love tiramisú and I could eat it almost every day. But, as you know, with its indulgent cream with mascarpone, eggs and sugar it is a very rich dessert (and a nasty friend if you are trying to lose weight).
I wanted thus to prepare a lighter version, to eat without regrets. Replacing mascarpone with the freshness of ricotta and yogurt, I had a very balanced light cream, both in taste and in consistency, that made my tiramisú as good as the original one.

SMOKED MACKEREL SALAD WITH MUSTARD DRESSING

Last weekend I tried for the first time smoked mackerel, and I literally felt in love with it.
It is an oily fish, thus a good source of omega-3 fatty acids, that are important for our cardiovascular health because they help lower the levels of triglycerides and "bad" cholesterol in the blood.
With just a few ingredients you can have a tasty salad, perfect as complete packed lunch or dinner.

BRUSSELS SPROUTS WITH SPECK & ONION

If you like Brussels sprouts but you're fed up with eating them boiled, this recipe is for you.
Just one onion and some speck will liven up your plain sprouts. Even if you are not a fun of these small green cabbages it's worth to give them a chance. And you will love them!

MUSTARD SALMON WITH PEA&CELERY MASH

I was looking for a new idea to prepare a salmon fillet when I ran into this amazing recipe.
The original one calls for celeriac but I substituted it with celery and the result was really satisfactory! A simple way to liven up usual, plain mashed potatoes.
The salmon, then, covered with mustard, tasted fancy and delicious.
A surprisingly easy and quick recipe to prepare with just a few ingredients!

CHOCOLATE AND BEER CAKE

This chocolate and stout cake is sure to satisfy any chocolate cravings. This cake is incredibly moist and the beer gives it a multidimensional flavor.

Easy to prepare, with just a few ingredients, is a personal reinterpretation of a traditional chocolate cake. Just forget milk and use a good chocolate stout!...that you will also serve as accompaniment.

QUICHE WITH ASPARAGUS AND SPECK

This recipe is not only great as appetizer for a dinner with friends, or a light meal next to a big salad. It can also be packed and brought to work.

As usually, for this quiche I prepared my home made shortcrust pastry (see the recipe here), but if you are in a hurry you can use the frozen one. It will even more quicker and easier to prepare this delicious quiche with asparagus and speck. And if you don't find speck, you can substitute with ham, pancetta, mortadella or...salmon!

Orzotto with porcini mushrooms and sausage

Orzotto, or pearl barley cooked like risotto, is a specialty of the Friuli Venezia Giulia region, in the northeastern Italy. My recipe, however, combines together the flavors of that region with mine, the Veneto region. Sausage and dried porcini mushrooms, that I brought from Italy, match perfectly with pearl barley. The result is a warming up dish ideal for a cold winter day.

PASTA WITH ZUCCHINI PESTO SAUCE AND BROCCOLI

After the Christmas binges all what we need is simple, healthy fresh food. But this does not mean tasteless!

This pasta with zucchini pesto sauce, broccoli and walnuts is a light, healthy and fast but tasty dish to prepare.

TRONCHETTO DI NATALE - Christmas Log

A recipe to finish your Christmas lunch or dinner with an Italian dessert. The tronchetto di Natale is a very nice and attractive cake, that you can decorate according to your taste. 

I wish you all a Happy and Joyful Christmas with your family and friends!

PUMPKIN AND SAUSAGE LASAGNA

Believe me: this lasagna is awesome! It is a tasty but delicate dish, perfect to be served during the festivities of Christmas. It will be love at first bite!

BISCOTTI FROLLINI - SHORTBREAD BISCUITS

Shortbread biscuits: one dough that can be easily personalized with the flavors and and ingredients that you prefer.

Of course, I use a vanilla shortbread dough, but you can flavor it with lemon zest, almond or lavender.

This is an example of what you can prepare with only one dough:

- simple shortbread biscuits

- shortbread biscuits with jam

- shortbread biscuits filled with Nutella 

SAFFRON BISCUITS

Homemade biscuits are a special present for the persons you care the most. You can create lovely packages with one or different types of biscuits. 

This is why a few years ago I started to bake biscuits as Christmas gift. I like to try unusual recipes, with particular ingredients, as the one in this post that I found years ago on a magazine: biscuits with saffron. They are all but traditional: slightly sweet and savory biscuits - you will definitely love them!

ZALETI - Venetian Cornmeal Biscuits

This is a traditional kind of biscuits from my region, Veneto. Their name sounds slightly different depending on the area and the dialect: Zaeti, Zaleti, Xaeti....
These biscuits are prepared with simple and common ingredients, as the cornmeal (in Italian also called farina gialla) from which they take their name: Gialletti = Zaleti, small yellow things.

RAGÚ DI MIA MAMMA - BOLOGNESE SAUCE

This is my mother's  ragú alla bolognese recipe. To prepare a good bolognese sauce you just need three ingredients:
1. really good meat
2. really good tomato sauce
3. patience, patience, patience. An excellent ragú won't never be ready in 30 minutes!

You can make loads of it and freeze it (as I usually do). Just remember to defrost it in the fridge before heating!

Bear in mind that this recipe is the one that my mother usually prepares. For the original ragú alla bolognese I suggest you to follow Sorelli Simili's recipe (you can find it here, in English)