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.

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!

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)

CIAMBELLONE BICOLORE

The marbled ciambellone is a traditional Italian cake served for breakfast or afternoon tea. It's perfect soaked in milk, tea or coffee.

I used my mother's recipe but I made this ciambellone lighter using less butter, eggs and flour. The result? It's even more soft inside and fragrant on the surface. Delicious!

CROSTINI WITH CHEESE, PEARS AND SPECK

     


What I miss the most in The Netherlands is the Italian aperitivo: meeting friends before dinner for a glass of good Prosecco or a spritz usually accompanied by stuzzichini, such as olives, crisps, nuts, cheese, sauce dips, little quiches or similar snacks.

What about doing it at home? Yes it's possible, easy and you don't need particular ingredients: just have a look at what's in your fridge and use your imagination!

But remember: l'aperitivo (aperitif, from the Latin aperire, or "to open,") should enhance the appetite before a meal. It shouldn't substitute your dinner ;) 

When I opened the fridge to see what was in it, I found pears, cheese, speck, mustard and bread. Let's see together how to assemble everything.

PIZZA...from scratch!

Domenica...pizza! Yes, indeed, this is really Italian: going out for a pizza on Sunday.

But what about making your own homemade pizza?

The following recipe won't disappoint you!

It has been given to me by a master in pizza-making, a professional pizzaiolo.

Of course, it's not enough to have a good recipe: technique, patience and really good ingredients make the difference!

Let's see how to prepare pizza dough with this easy recipe and enjoy crispy homemade pizzas or even a pizzapane (a crunchy flat bread).

APPLE CAKE with cinnamon

This is my mum's apple cake recipe. In autumn, when there are the new apples of the season, it's always present in her kitchen. I love it: simple and delicious.
I decided, however, to make some changes and to make it even more tasty. I'm really proud of the result: this is not only an apple cake. This is an addictive apple cake!

Let's see how to prepare it.

BAVETTE ALLA CARBONARA

What shall I say about carbonara? It's a traditional Italian recipe, quite caloric, delicious...well, you already know that!
I can only add that the following recipe isn't the original one but it's my mother's version! For me (and my boyfriend) the best ever tried!

MOZZARELLA & POMODORO: the happiest marriage!

When pomodoro (tomato) met mozzarella it was love at first sight! During a sunny summer day, with the help of two witnesses, oregano and olive oil, they got married in Italy, the land of good eating.

This is the story of my caprese, a variation of the famous traditional Italian salad. The original one indeed is made with fresh basil, but when I tried it with the wild oregano that I received from a close friend, I really felt in love with this version!
The pungency of oregano matches perfectly with the sweetness of tomato and the fresh and delicate taste of mozzarella.

 This is a simple but incredibly delicious dish when made with the best ingredients and in the proper season. Summer is the best period of the year to eat caprese, because it is when you will enjoy it the most and the ingredients have the best flavor. Indeed, apart from 10 minutes, all what you need are tomatoes (the best would be a red fresh homegrown pomodoro), mozzarella or, if you are lucky enough to find it, a real mozzarella di bufala, genuine olive oil and Mediterranean dried oregano.

You can serve mozzarella & pomodoro as an appetizer or as a main dish. It's lovely in both cases ;)

TIRAMISÙ WITH PAVESINI...love at first taste!

The first recipe that I want to share with you is that of tiramisù.

This well known Italian dessert has played a fundamental role in my life. As a child, before discovering how beautiful it is to eat, I was the despair of my mother: I used to eat almost nothing and it was very difficult to feed me. Then she found out that I had a true passion for only two things: tiramisù and pumpkin gnocchi. As my mother usually says, I grew up with (or thanks to?) these two traditional Italian dishes.

Tiramisù has a very controversial history. Many Regions claim the creation of Tiramisù; however, its father was a chef working at the restaurant "Le Beccherie" in Treviso, a town near Venice, in the Region of Veneto.

There are different versions of tiramisù and many techniques to prepare it (everybody has his/her own).
The recipe you will find below is the one of my mother. It is really easy (you don't even need a scale) and lighter than the traditional one, because it uses pavesini instead of savoiardi (ladyfinger biscuits). Though, I can assure you that "my tiramisù" is very appreciated among all my friends...and not only!

One tip before starting: prepare your tiramisù in the morning and eat it the same day.  The fresher it is, the most you will enjoy it!

WAITING FOR THE FIRST RECIPE....

In less than three hours I will be back home for my "Italian holidays". While waiting for the boarding,  I cannot stop thinking about the recipes that I want to share with you.
I know which one will be the first (...a traditional italian dessert well known all around the world...and that is addictive for me!) and I have quite a few ideas for the following recipes.  However I really would like to hear from you what's the dish that you look forward to seeing posted!

Contrary to here, in The Netherlands,  a full fridge and a well furnished cupboard are waiting for me in Italy!

Let me know if there is anything in particular that I can prepare for you! 

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In the meantime, be ready to take notes of easy Italian recipes and more :)