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How to make your own Pesto alla Genovese
Pesto is one of those things that is so much better when you make it yourself rather than buy it in a store! I’m talking about the most common and famous type of pesto here: Pesto alla Genovese. This...
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Spinach Tartlets (Sformatini di Spinaci)
This is the second post in the series of recipes that I made for Conor’s visit. Are you curious what Conor has to say about his visit? Hop over to his blog to find out the connection between me and...
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Fennel Pasta
I had fennel left over after making fennel polpette using only the greens. I decided to use the fennel to make a Sicily-inspired pasta dish with raisins, pine nuts, and saffron. When I made this for...
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Bresaola
If you don’t want to cook but like to impress at a dinner party, bresaola is what you should look for in an antipasto. Bresaola is Italian air-dried, salted beef that has been aged two or three months....
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Cheese Ravioli
In 2007 during our first wine discovery tour through Italy, we visited Castello di Brolio in Tuscany and had dinner at the restaurant that was part of the winery. They served a tasting menu to showcase...
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Torta di Mele (Apple Cake)
As every year, for my birthday I baked to treat my colleagues. This year I made a pound cake, almond cookies stuffed with amarena cherries, and an Italian apple cake. Other than Dutch appeltaart (the...
View ArticleFennel Ravioli (Ravioli ai Finocchi)
These fennel ravioli are heavily inspired on these fennel ‘meatballs’ (polpette) that I discovered in Sicily at the great trattoria Tischi Toschi in Taormina. I prepare a lot of fennel, either in a...
View ArticlePasta con le sarde (Pasta with Sardines and Wild Fennel)
Pasta con le sarde is a very typical pasta dish from Sicily with a unique flavor. The main ingredients are pasta and sardines as the name implies, but also wild fennel (finocchietto). The latter...
View ArticleConchiglie alla Vaccinara (Pasta with Oxtail Ragù Sous-Vide)
Coda alla Vaccinara is a classic dish from Rome: oxtail stewed in tomato sauce. It is usually served as a secondo, but you can also eat the sauce over pasta as a primo before that. Another less common...
View ArticlePasta with Kale “in Saor” (Pasta con Cavolo Riccio “in Saor”)
Kale is called cavolo riccio (curly cabbage) in Italy, but it is not widely used. The closest type of cabbage that is common in Italy is the Tuscan cavolo nero.In the Netherlands kale is very common...
View ArticleZucchini Stuffed with Pine Nuts and Basil
It is really too warm to be cooking, especially to turn on the oven, but after hardly anything new for weeks I really felt like cooking something. The recipe for this filling is pesto-inspired, with...
View ArticleSpaghetti with Mackerel and Breadcrumbs (Spaghetti allo Sgombro con...
Bea has Sicilian roots and that clearly shows in the recipe for Vermicelli alle Alici con pangrattato dorato that she posted recently. Since fresh anchovies are not so easy to find around here and it...
View ArticleAsparagus Salad (Insalata di Asparagi)
This asparagus salad can be made with either white, green, or a combination of white and green asparagus. I made a Dutch-Italian version using a vinaigrette and lightly toasted pine nuts, combined with...
View ArticlePasta with Roasted Cauliflower (Pasta e Cavolfiore)
My favorite way of preparing cauliflower is slow roasting it. This gives the cauliflower great depth of flavor that is so much more tasty than steamed or boiled cauliflower. Cauliflower can be roasted...
View ArticleRisotto with Zucchini, Pine Kernels and Basil
The first time I prepared this risotto it was very much an improvisation because I had some zucchini that needed to be used up, and I regretted not taking photos for the blog. But it was a good excuse...
View ArticlePumpkin Puree with Almonds, Pine Nuts, Honey and Cinnamon (Doce de Abóbora)
In a restaurant in Évora in Alentejo, Portugal, I had a simple local dessert that consisted of sweet pumpkin puree with pine nuts, almonds, and cinnamon. It was quite nice and prepared something...
View ArticleMackerel ‘in Saor’ (Sgombro in Saor)
A classic and delicious dish from Venice is pesce in saôr, which does not mean ‘sour’ fish but ‘flavored’ fish (saôr comes from ‘sapore’). The recipe was invented in Venice as a way to preserve fish,...
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