Home made white lasagna for the Easter table

It is the beginning of the first week of Spring and, in the range of crops at the food store, we might find the asparagus that can be chosen as privileged ingredient of several dishes… More

A delicious dish for the Springtime table

Days are flowing towards the good season and, on the wave of staying at home, let’s try to focus on the delicious dishes we can prepare around Easter time. For lunch, today I made some… More

Stay at home, listen to Mozart and enjoy cooking

Staying at home in these days is a good opportunity for spending more time with family. For this reason, let’s cook something appetizing for our loved ones. We need good local potatoes, asparagus, garlic, onion,… More

Shall we make a zucchini tart?

Hello! On this second week of June we are going to bake a tasteful zucchini tart, which perhaps would turn to be a delightful appetizer for our Summer “al fresco” dinners in the verandah with family and friends or a fantastic snack for the children. Let’s do it!

As for the ingredients to make the tart, we need: 250 gr all purpose flour, 100 gr hot water, 100 gr extra virgin olive oil, a coffee spoon of sea salt, a coffee spoon of baking powder.

Let’s mix and work the ingredients all together, until we have a homogeneous mixture, which we leave to rest just for the time we will slice and steam (for about 10 minutes, or less) a couple of fresh zucchini.

Once zucchini are lightly soften but still “al dente”, let’s season them in a dish with an emulsion based on extra virgin olive oil, few drops of apple cider vinegar, hints of garlic, black pepper powder, citrus thyme and mentha leaves.

Back to the tart mixture. Make a disk of it. Help yourself with greaseproof paper and a rolling pin. Place the disk in a baking tray and make a layer with zucchini.

Add sweet rings of red onion (I used Tropea onion) and bake the tart for 45 minutes in the oven (200°C).

About 10 minutes before the tart is done, let’s add some cheese. I had some smoked caciocavallo cheese on top, which tastes very good with the sweetness of the onion and the zucchini.

Serve the crisp tart warm or cold. Any way it is a delightful dish for the Summer season.

A variation for the filling of the tart might be this gorgeous velouté sauce prepared with 200 gr robiola cheese, 100 gr spinach leaves, 4 small zucchini, a scallion, 800 ml broth, extra virgin olive oil, sea salt and pepper.

Chop scallion and stew it in extra virgin olive oil. Add chopped zucchini, spinach, broth. Cook zucchini until they will be soft. Work all ingredients and the robiola cheese in a food mixer and make a velvet cream. Use the cream as the filling of the tart and .. bon appétit! 

Crisp single crust polenta pie topped with broccoli, sausage and sweet Tropea onion. It tastes so good!

Hello, it’s a new week and it is time for a new recipe! Cooking polenta does not belong to the culinary tradition of Apulia, in Southern Italy, the region where I live. However, this ingredient, which is very much used in the North of Italy, pairs very well with home fresh produces and products from my area and with those that I chose yesterday at the food market. So, let’s try it!

In the kitchen, last night, I enjoyed cooking a delicious meal, which is pretty simple to prepare, even though it takes between 90 and 120 minutes of your time to be ready and to serve to your guests.

Starting with a good frying pan, where to pour some extra virgin olive oil to heat, then add sweet rings of onion (on the occasion, I chose gorgeous red onions of Tropea), small cherry tomatoes, pieces of a good local sausage made of minced pork and veal.

As soon as the oil starts hissing in the pan, add a hint of garlic and a pinch of oregano. By the flavoury taste of each ingredient present in the pan, your mouth will start watering.

Then, it is the turn for steamed broccoli.

You can watch the video I made to see how gently they cook with the other ingredients. All of them must have a very short cooking time in order to save their “crispness” for the palate. Once the ingredients that go on top are done, let’s work on with polenta, which will be the crisp base for the single crust pie.

Boil some salted water and, out of the cooker, pour gently the necessary polenta flour for making a smooth, soft, creamy mixture.

Help yourself with a whisk to crush every crumble of polenta and make it like velvet.

Pour the polenta in the frying pan with some extra virgin olive oil (not too much!) and, with a wooden spatule, prepare the base for the pie.

While the polenta base cooks, its surface will start coming solid.

After 30 minutes, turn the polenta base upside down, in order to fry also the other side and have it homogeneously golden and crisp.

Almost in the end, add all ingredients on the polenta pie crust and some grated smoked caciocavallo cheese on top. Cover the pie with a lid for few minutes to melt the cheese.

Serve the polenta pie warm.

Enjoy the dish with a glass of your preferred wine and “bon appétit”.

Thank you and until next recipe!

🌱🌼🌱🌼🌱

Cocoa or vanilla daisy pastries?

daisy short pastry

Hello! We are enjoying warm Spring days, which are getting longer and longer. Sometimes, after dinner time, it might happen you want to enjoy a glass of fresh milk and perhaps a light dessert in front of a good reading. The following recipe of small daisy pastries is for those who, like me, love to bake simple genuine tastes at any time of the day. Of course children would love them too!

As for the short pastry:

• 250 gr all purpose organic flour
• 100 gr sugar
• 1 pod of vanilla
• 1 egg
• 100 gr butter
• a sprinkle of salt
• 2 or 3 spoons of cocoa powder
• a sprinkle of cardamom
• vanilla icing sugar

As for the filling:

use what you have in your pantry, or what you like best. I used some home made apricot jam for the cocoa daisy short pastries and “nutella” cream for the vanilla daisy short pastries.

First of all, make the short pastry by mixing well and very fast the ingredients all together. Only in the end, add the cocoa powder and a sprinkle of cardamom, right after you have split the mixture in two portions, in order to have two different tastes, that is vanilla and cocoa. Leave the short pastry to rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Start with the vanilla short pastry. Help yourself with a rolling pin and greaseproof paper and get a thin (2-3mm) layer. Make small daisies with a mould and spread “nutella” cream on the surface of the daisy, then cover it with an other daisy. Do the same work with the cocoa version of daisies, spreading their surface with apricot jam. The daisies go in the 170°C oven for 10/12 minutes.

Out of the oven they will be deliciously fragrant with a warm melting filling inside. Serve them with vanilla icing sugar on top.

Now, can you tell which tastes you like best, vanilla or cocoa? Thank you and wishing everybody a good new week!

daisy short pastry

Spring in the kitchen

A dish has to talk to you. Indeed, all senses have to be activated to feel its vibrations. Even though you are not a chef, but, of course, you love cooking, it is a full experience around the dish, first of all as executor of the dish, by choosing ingredients properly at the food market and in the elaboration of the recipe, secondly as gourmet, by tasting the dish. What is more, small variations in the way you cook a dish, make you feel like an artist painting a canvas each time in a different way, in order to express creativity and going little further with culinary experiences.

For the Sunday lunch, I chose to cook big sized, bronze drawn “paccheri” pasta prepared with two different sauces and the following ingredients:

sweet cherry tomatoes, extra virgin olive oil, leeck, onion, crème fraîche, minced pork and veal, nutmeg and black peppar, local baked black olives, basil.

• As for the execution of the recipe, first of all, let rings of leeck hiss in extra virgin olive oil, then add the minced pork and veal in the pan. Pour the crème fraîche after a couple of minutes and keep on cooking until it boils and the sauce becomes thicker. A sprinkle of salt and nutmeg at the end.
• Then, it is the turn of a light tomato sauce prepared with fresh tomatoes. At the food market, I chose cherry tomatoes because of their sweetness, which is a good pairing with the white sauce just described above. Help yourself with a needle and pierce every tomato you are going to put in the pan. Once they will start to fry lightly in some extra virgin olive oil and chopped onion, they will cook gently for few minutes in their own juice. Add a sprinkle of sea salt in the end.
• Cook paccheri pasta into boiling water for 14/15 minutes or at least for the time suggested on the package and, please, do not forget to add a sprinkle of sea salt.
• Before serving the dish, add some baked black olives, few leaves of basil, cherry tomatoes and black peppar powder on top.

The dish will taste very good. Thank you and wishing everybody a good new week! 🌸✨🌸✨🌸✨

A warm jam apricot dessert

Hallo! It is the first Sunday of May and we want to prepare a delicious dessert for the afternoon.

Here we have some home made delicious apricot jam, a good burrata stuffed with cow milked ricotta cheese, cardamom, leaves of mint.

Heat the apricot jam in a bain marie for a couple of minutes, then spread it on a plate, add the small burrata, a sprinkle of cardamom, leaves of mint. Enjoy the dessert with a warm cup of coffee or tea.

Hallo! Es ist der erste Sonntag im Mai und wir möchten ein köstliches Dessert für den Nachmittag.

Hier haben wir hausgemachte leckere Aprikosenmarmelade, eine gute Burrata, die mit Kuhmilchen Molkenkäse gefüllt ist, Kardamom und Blätter von Minze.

Wärmen und verdünnen Sie die Aprikosenmarmelade in einem Bain marie für ein paar Minuten. Dann streichen Sie Aprikosenmarmelade auf den Teller, unter Zugabe von der kleinen Burrata, einer Prise Kardamom und Blättern von Minze. Genießen Sie das Gericht mit einem warmen Kaffee oder Tee.

Fast, easy and delicious composition

Soon it will be May and days are filled with beautiful light longer. I find that staying in the open air and working in the garden be invigorating. It is almost time for dinner and this composition of crisp vegetables paired with a warm creamy goat milked tomino cheese on soft flat bread might be very fast to be prepared and a delicious dish to be served and enjoy by sitting in the verandah. Would you like to join for dinner? You are welcome ✨🌷✨🌷✨🌷✨

Bald wird es Mai sein und die Tage sind länger mit schönem Licht gefüllt. Ich finde, daß es belebend ist, im Freien zu bleiben und im Garten zu arbeiten. Bald ist es Zeit für das Abendessen und diese Komposition von knackendem Gemüse mit einem warmen cremigen “Tomino” Ziegenkäse auf weichem Fladenbrot könnte sehr schnell zubereitet werden und ein köstliches Gericht serviert werden, um in der Veranda zu genießen. Möchten Sie zum Abendessen mitmachen? Bitte ✨🌷✨🌷✨🌷✨

The genuine habit of baking home made bread

There is a good fragrance of home made bread in the kitchen tonight. Actually, it is almost one year that this genuine habit of baking home made bread has taken place in my kitchen. More precisely, about once or twice a week, the kitchen looks like a small bakery, where I enjoy to make and bake different kinds of flavourful bread. Today, I baked some “panzerotti” or “calzoni”. It is leavened dough stuffed with fresh tomatoes sauce, a sprinkle of oregano, mozzarella and cow milk ricotta cheese. In my region, that is Apulia, in Southern Italy, you can bake this delicacy in the oven or fry it. It is an excellent snack, which both children and older children would love to bring with in a basket as an excellent snack for a picnic or for a party in the garden. I hope you will enjoy to try. Thank you!

Spring in Stockholm between Nature and Art

In April, it may happen that after an afternoon flight plunged into an amazing painted sunset lighted sky, a smooth evening landing at the Stockholm airport of Skavsta and a reinvigorating night rest, you will start your next first day in Stockholm having breakfast in front of a snowy, almost “Christmassy aired”, fluffy view. You, then, realize that is an invite to go out to enjoy and to be part of that landscape. It is a magnificent gift of serendipity that nature offers you before, in just few hours, perhaps in the same day, letting you immerse yourself in the rhythm of Spring and its mesmerising light, filled with new leaves, gems in bloom and food for the soul.

Almond bread: an old family recipe on Easter Monday

It was a very special Easter Day, which was spent, most of it, between writing and talking to members of the family and friends. Besides, according to the culinary traditions of my family at Easter time, last night I enjoyed baking a fragrant almond bread ideal to be served at any coffee pause throughout the day or to bring with as a dessert for a picnic now that Spring has come.

The ingredients of the recipe to make the almond bread are:

• 170 gr cake and pastry flour
• 100 gr sugar
• 75 gr butter
• 3 eggs + a yolk to paint on the surface of the bread
• 250 ml of white wine
• a coffee cup of Alchermes liqueur
• 100 gr peeled almonds
• 50 gr hazelnuts
• the peel of a lemon
• a sprinkle of salt
• 2 cloves
• 8 gr baking powder

1. Start with beating one egg and an albumen with 25 gr sugar and the Alchermes. Then, add 50 gr minced almonds and the hazelnuts, a couple of cloves and work all together until you will have a fluid creamy mixture.
2. Prepare a second mixture made of flour, one egg and a yolk, a sprinkle of salt, the butter (at this proper, my aunt, who used to enjoy baking this bread and to deliver it to neighbours and members of the family, would have add lard instead of butter), the rest of minced almonds mixed with sugar, the peel of a lemon and the wine. Add the baking powder and work the mixture just a couple of minutes in order to have all ingredients well combined.
3. Divide the mixture in two parts (help yourself with a rolling pin and little flour) and make two layers for your greased, floured baking tray.
4. Place the first layer in the baking tray. Please, do not forget to make 1 cm border with the first layer all around the baking tray.
5. Pour the cream made with the first mixture and then add the second layer on. Seal hermetically, paint some yolk on the surface of the bread, make some decors with a knife.
6. Place the almond bread in the oven and bake it slowly and gently for about 50 minutes (160°C).
7. Decor your almond bread for the right occasion, serve it with a couple of spoons of vanilla cream or some ice cream or enjoy it with your preferred drink.

A good Easter Monday and safe new week to everybody! Thank you 🙏💖

Cups of pâte sablée, ricotta cream and red fruits at Springtime

Hello! Up on the trees new gems are in bloom and everywhere it is the fragrance of earth and green. Let’s start this first Sunday of Springtime by preparing some small cups of pâte sablée, which we are going to fill with a light ricotta cheese cream and decor with red fruits.

The ingredients we need are: 125 gr of flour, 70 gr of butter, 50 gr of caster sugar, a yolk, a sprinkle of salt, seeds of vanilla, cow milk ricotta cheese, red fruits.

1. Work a mixture of flour and small cubes of butter with your hands.
2. Add the caster sugar. Using the caster sugar will help to make a more compact mixture.
3. Then, it’s the turn of a yolk and a small idea of sea salt.
4. Mix until the ingredients are all together and then leave the pâte sablée to rest in the fridge for a couples of hours.
5. Work the mixture without adding much flour, in order to have more humidity, and make little discs of pâte sablée, then place them in buttered moulds.
6. Prod the surface of each cup with a fork and cover it with a piece of greaseproof paper. Then, add a handful of dried pulses.This will help the surface of pâte sablée to bake well without rising much.
7. Bake the cups for about ten minutes (180°C) or at least until they get a golden color.
8. As soon as they get cooler, help yourself with a sac à poche and fill the cups with ricotta cheese cream (prepared with cold cow milk ricotta cheese, seeds of vanilla and some sugar).
9. Decor with red fruits on top.

Your children will love to have these delicious cups any time you are going to prepare and serve them as a genuine light snack. Wishing a beautiful Spring to everybody and, please, keep on staying safe! ❤

In Stockholm Archipelago

Some time ago… it was an amazing sunny Sunday in Stockholm. The snow was melting and everywhere you could breath the crisp mesmerising atmosphere of early Springtime. It was a great chance for my first boat tour in the Archipelago.

Down here it is a video made of some images, which, during the navigation, my camera captured, both of the magnificent green nature landscapes of Stockholm Archipelago and of the beautiful architecture for company buildings and graceful family homes by the water, along the rocky coasts line. Enjoy it! ❤

Curly ribbons of home made fresh nettle pasta

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  Ribbons of home made fresh nettle pasta

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  Ribbons of home made fresh nettle pasta

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  Ribbons of home made fresh nettle pasta

Hello! We’re almost in the middle of February and for those, who enjoy gardening, it is time to help nature, starting to prepare the soil for the new Spring dress. On the ground, in the garden, among sleeping plants and trees, it is pretty common to find some growing plants of nettle to uproot. The nettle is a wild stingy herb, well known since ancient times, for its peculiar texture, the production of natural fibre and healthy benefits. Often, it is also used in the kitchen for making home made pasta, which turns to be a delicate dish worth to try.

Portions provided here can be for a couple of people. First of all, wash the tender stingy leaves of nettle in cold water thoroughly (be careful, use gloves!). Secondly, cook the nettles into boiling water for few minutes. Add a sprinkle of salt in the end. Thirdly, strain from the water and work the nettles in a food processor to have a thick mixture. Fouthly, mix 160 gr of processed nettles with 70gr of organic wholemeal flour (I used local ground stoned Senatore Cappelli quality) and 80 gr of yellow semolina. Since the nettles have water in their own texture, it shouldn’t be necessary to add more water for the kneading process. No eggs are necessary, since, according to Apulia culinary traditions, we do not use eggs in home made pasta making. Besides, we like to have a very light pasta dish. Add little more flour, if necessary, for a well compact mixture. Fifthly, make sheets of pastry (help yourself with a nonna papera machine, positions n. 3 or 4 for thickness) and then long stripes of nettle pasta, which you will roll up around your finger for having curly ribbons like I did in the picture. Then, leave the nettle pasta to rest for 5/6 hours or for a night.

At lunch or dinner time, the curly ribbons will take only 2/3 minutes into boiling salt water to be cooked “al dente”. I served them warm with a fresh moist tomato sauce and a sprinkle of pecorino di Pienza cheese. Of course you may serve with a different sauce you prefer.

Wishing everybody to enjoy this delicate dish, which perhaps might be an inviting, very simple, romantic idea to prepare by yourself for your loved one on Valentine’s day. ❤

Bread rolls, focaccia and green vegetables: are you hungry?

Just few days more and soon, January will fly away. It is pretty cold outside, but now, more than ever, it is beautiful to have a walk in the middle of a silent nature. On the one hand, the earth is having a little rest, on the other hand, it is also preparing, in its own precious case, the new gems to wear at Springtime.

At this proper, even in Winter season, of course, it is possible to choose among a plenty of good vegetables for making inviting meals. Here there are a couple of easy culinary ideas you might like to try and develop if you want to have something appetizing throughout the day, perhaps for your coffee pause or as a tasteful snack or appetizer, just before dinner.

First of all, prepare a dough mixing 250gr of flour (125gr all purpose flour+125gr wholemeal bread flour), about 10/12gr yeast, a sprinkle of salt, a sprinkle of sugar (to help the ricing process) and the necessary warm water to make a thick and very soft dough. Then, cover the dough with a clingfilm and leave it to rest for about 6 hours.

As vegetables for the filling of the focaccia, I chose leaves of chard and cabbage. In a pan, cook gently and only for few minutes, in extra virgin olive oil with rings of leek and an idea of garlic, the chopped chard (please, remove the hard stem), the cabbage and, right in the end, add a sprinkle of salt, pepper and cubes of smoked bacon. The vegetables must be crisp.

Once the dough is ready, you can bake for example some simple bread rolls in the oven (250°C) until you see their golden puffy surface. (I used a baking tray for muffins, helped myself with a soup spoon and little water in order to dip it in and then fill the moulds with the dough). Stuff your bread rolls with the ingredients you like best.

If you prefer to try a tasteful focaccia, pour a layer of dough in a buttered baking tin, add the filling of vegetables, smoked bacon and some cubes of Emmenthal cheese. Make a second layer of dough for covering the filling, drops of extravirgin olive oil on the surface and in the oven for about 20 minutes (220°C). Serve the focaccia fluffy and warm, enjoy the taste and a good weekend to everybody! ❤

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  Bread rolls and focaccia dough

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  Vegetables for the focaccia

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  Vegetables for the focaccia

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  Bread rolls

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  Bread rolls

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  Focaccia

Fragrances of chocolate to start 2021

Christmas season is at the end with religious celebrations on this January 6th 2021 and, in Italy, children love in particular way this holiday and wait with great enthusiasm and wonder for the arrival of “la befana”, a folkloristic character of the ancient tales, that is an old lady flying on a magic besom to bring toys to them.

On this occasion, we have prepared some little disks of excellent fine 70% dark chocolate with a range of tastes of dried fruit and spices on top. Because of the choice of ingredients, these delicacies might be a different version of “mediants au chocolat”, which represent an ancient tradition for the French pâtisserie.

For preparing them, you need chocolate (250g), the one you like best, be dark chocolate, or white or milk chocolate. Choose and chop some dried fruit (100gr) to top on the disks: we used apricots, almonds, pistachios, hazelnuts, sesame. Then, mix these latter all together. Temper the chocolate and when it reaches the right temperatures in the process, use a soup spoon to make small disks on greaseproof paper sheets, then sprinkle the chosen dried fruit, adding cinnamon, cardamom, hot pepper powder on top. Place your chocolate disks in the fridge to get them cooler. Then, out of the fridge, remove them from the greaseproof paper sheet and serve them with a good cup of warm tea or coffee to your guests. It would be a good idea to store them accurately in a tin box and keep in a cool place for 4-5 days.

Many thanks and now let’s enjoy a long walk in the new year. Stay safe, everybody! ❤

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Welcome 2021

Hello! We welcome 2021 with hopeful heart both for ourselves and for humanity. Actually, the best wish and gift to the world for the new year would be the final defeat of pandemia together with the overthrowing of the disheartening but necessary, safe, constant use of face masks and all other health, sanitary precautions taken as preventive measures against sars-covid 2 in line with what has been taught us during the last year. Let’s think more about the return to a renovated more normal social life and the new endless possibilities to hug all members of family and dearest ones, especially those at a ripe old age or those, who are in weaker health conditions, since they are considered easier target for sars-covid 2.

While waiting to celebrate 2021, we made a thick batter, which was left to rest and swell for about 12 hours. In our mind there were some puffy appetizers belonging to the local culinary tradition at Christmas time. The batter was prepared with about 350 gr of flour, 6,5 gr yeast, a sprinkle of sea salt and all the necessary water to make a thick, soft, airy batter. In Apulia we love these puffy fritters and we enjoy to have them prepared with several different ingredients, according to personal tastes or following the traditional tastes of the families.

First of all, we fried some fritters with no other ingredients inside. Later on, we will enjoy those fritters as snack or dessert with a local homemade syrupy must reduction (mosto cotto), which is the result of a slow boiling process of grapes. To fry the batter, help yourself with a wet soup spoon for plunging and frying in very hot peanut oil. Then it was the turn of mixing steamed romanesco broccoli in a small portion of the batter and then fried. At last, we made some pizzaiola fritters with chopped olives, capers, tomatoes, anchovies. Before mixing these ingredients with the batter, put them all together in a small bowl, add little salt and a sprinkle of oregano. Please, do not pour their juicy liquid in the mixture otherwise it might turn to be dangerous because of the hot oil. Serve the warm fritters to your guests by pairing with a glass of your preferred wine or spumante and .. wishing a good year to everybody! ❤

Gott nytt år

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  Gott Nytt År

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  Gott Nytt År

Christmas, Tolkien and a warm cup of creamy zabaione

Merry Christmas, everybody! It is time to sit by the fireplace, in good company of a beautiful book written by J.R.R. Tolkien and posthumously published for the first time in 1976, “The Father Christmas Letters“, while enjoying the pleasure of tasting a warm creamy zabaglione prepared with a hint of Armagnac, a sprinkle of cocoa and tiny slivers of dark chocolate on top. The recipe of zabaglione is simple and you need only very few ingredients for enjoying this delicious cream.

Ingredients for 4 people: 6 yolks, 50 gr of icing sugar, 4 soup spoons of Armagnac, a knob of butter, a tea spoon of (bitter) cocoa, a tea spoon of tiny slivers of dark chocolate.

Heat in a bain-marie yolks, icing sugar and armagnac. Beat the ingredients for at least 15 minutes by using a blender. When the cream is thick, add a knob of butter. Remove the bowl from the cooker and the bain-marie, keep on beating and whip the zabaione for more 15 minutes. Serve the warm cream in cups, add a sprinkle of cocoa and slivers of dark chocolate on top. Enjoy it!

Many thanks. I hope you all are well and wish a beautiful Christmas day. Please, stay safe, everybody. God Jul! ❤

First Sunday of Advent in the kitchen

Here we are, Christmas is knocking at the door again and we already know it will be a very special season for all of us. Even though it won’t be often possible to behave as usual, that is expressing our love by hugging members of family and loved ones, we wish all of them to be safe and in our heart as always. In the mood to keep everybody closer to our thoughts and in the respect of a long family tradition for cooking and baking at Christmas time, we had a cosy first Sunday afternoon of Advent in the kitchen and made a delicious soft heart of vanilla and chocolate to have with a warm cup of tea. As you will see the recipe is pretty simple and it will be a delicious dessert loved by children and “older children”. Ingredients we need:

100 gr castor sugar (make your own), 2 eggs, 175 gr flour, 100 gr butter, 40 gr almonds meal (make your own), 60 gr crème fraîche, 8 gr baking powder, 2 soup spoons bitter cocoa, 2 soup spoons vanilla icing sugar, a coffee spoon of cardamom.

• Choose the cake tin you prefer and place it in the fridge for 30 minutes. Once you are to use it for the mixture, grease it inside with butter and sprinkle it with flour at first.

• Mix castor sugar and eggs. Add flour, butter, almonds meal, crème fraîche and baking powder. Mix and beat with energy in order to have a very smooth mixture. Help yourself with a fork or a whisk or even use a whisk beater machine.

• Pour the mixture in two different bowls. In the first bowl add cocoa and cardamom and mix all together. In the second bowl, add vanilla icing sugar and mix all together again. Add some milk if the mixture is too thick and it will turn to be more creamy and softer.

• First, pour the vanilla mixture in the baking tin, then add the chocolate mixture on the surface of the vanilla mixture. Be careful to not touch the baking tin along its borders. Add a sprinkle of almond slivers on the surface of the cake.

• Place the cake in the preheated 160°C oven for about 30 minutes. Once you see it looks golden, turn the oven off and leave the cake in it still for about 10/15 minutes.

This soft delicacy can be an excellent idea as a dessert served with a good warm cup of tea or coffee during a coffee pause or even after dinner paired with a spoon of vanilla cream.

Let’s enjoy the beginning of this Christmas season and wish a beautiful December month to everybody! ❤

Julgran

Ha en mysig första advent! ❤

Shall we take a walk?

Looking at pictures I took in Stockholm in the Autumn season, it just comes to my mind the strong desire of being there again. Indeed, temperatures have been very nice recently. Any way, while we wait for a vaccine and the right therapies, which should cross humanity over the dreadful pandemia and finally guarantee safer health conditions for everybody in the world, let’s try to live one day at a time, in the good effort of being in contact with nature as much as possible.

Shall we take a walk? Enjoy the video ❤

Warm shades of Autumn in the pot

Hallo! November is right behind the corner and, day after day, the Autumn season is offering us an extraordinary palette of tones, from pale golden yellows to bronzed oranges and browns, flaming reds and violets, till silver green and grays, which leaves wear once they start their mesmerizing, melancholic dance from the trees down along the sides of the streets. There is something soothing and mystic in their graceful pirouettes, which fills the air with beautiful, lively waves and serendipity. Autumn is also an inspiration for my kitchen and today, after a quick check at some family old food notes, I decided to prepare a couple of tasteful dishes we enjoy to make at this time of the year. So, in the garden, where temperatures are still around 20°/22°C in these days, I chose herbs like tender bay leaves, sage, rosemary for a bouquet garni to add in the pot together with the other ingredients for a rich stew. The dish of small bites of tender beef and pork cooked in a special pot by the fireplace represents an old family gastronomy tradition, which once took many hours of slow cooking in the day before being well done. Nowadays, we are ready to serve this delicacy on our table in 2 or 2,5 hours. Starting with pouring some extra virgin olive oil in the pot, then I added the bouquet garni, a couple of small onions, some juniper berries (2 or 3), a couple of cloves, some garlic, the bites of young beef and pork in the end. As soon as the meat started hissing, it was necessary to brown it gently on every side, in order to seal the surface well and keep the tenderness of meat and its juices inside the bites. For this reason, I didn’t add salt and pepper until the end of the cooking process. After several minutes, I added some red local wine and kept on stewing. Finally, I added pieces of celery, carrot, local new potatoes, king trumpet mushrooms (Pleurotus eryngii), cherry tomatoes, then covered everything with warm water and brought to simmer for the time necessary to have a slow cooked well done stew. Salt, pepper and a sprinkle of parsley right in the end. I served this warm dish with some home made, broken in small pieces tagliatelle (noodles) cooked for less than 5 minutes straight in the broth of the meat. As for the mixture of tagliatelle, I used only hard wheat (Senatore Cappelli) flour, semolina and water and the outcome was an excellent, “al dente” cooked pasta.

Rosendals Trädgård

As already mentioned above and you can also see in the featured picture, I prepared also one more dish basically made with pumpkin. I was only a young child when I learnt from my aunt how to make it. After having steamed only for few minutes some thinely sliced pumpkin in order to soften it, I salted it. Then, I oiled and sprinkled with breadcrumb a pot and started making layers of pumpkin. Each layer had a sprinkle of breadcrumb and black pepper powder, an idea of garlic and sage, some small capers, few drops of extravirgin olive oil and apple cider vinegar. I left the pumpkin to rest for 15/20 minutes and then it was good to be served as side dish. Wishing everybody, who want to try to make these delicious recipes ‘Bon Appétit’!

A good All Saints’ Celebrations weekend and be safe, everybody ❤

Fast and easy: lamb chops in pistachio crumble

Hello, a new week on this Monday, October 12th, starts with a succulent dish made with delicious tender lamb chops in pistacchio crumble. The progress of the recipe will take less than an hour.

First of all, marinate the chops of lamb for about 20 minutes in some white wine (I used Chardonnay), adding a hint of garlic, drops of extra virgin olive oil, some pepper, rosemary, few juniper berries. (No salt)

In the meanwhile, steam fresh asparagus for few minutes and leave them crisp. You will add a sprinkle of salt and good extra virgin olive oil only in the end, when you are going to serve the dish on the table.

Prepare a simple decoration of small tomatoes for the plate you are going to use for serving the lamb chops.

Sprinkle the lamb chops with pistacchio crumble and sea salt, fry them well in good olive oil or peanut oil until they will have a golden surface and the meat inside will be rose-colored and juicy.

Serve the dish very warm with tomatoes and asparagus or add some other vegetables you prefer.

Enjoy the dish, stay safe and wishing a good new week to everybody. Thank you! ❤

Autumn and the good fragrance of small puff pastries and apple

There was a good fragrance of Autumn this morning, on Sept 30th, in the kichen. We said hello to Autumn by baking ready made puff pastry in the shape of small squares filled with pieces of excellent moist golden apple, sprinkled with a handful of sugar, chopped hazelnut and pistachio, flavoured with vanilla and cinnamon.

The ingredients in the puff pastry squares were previously slowly and gently stewed for less than 15 minutes in a couple soup spoons of water and a couple spoons of Amaretto di Saronno. No lid was necessary in order to let Amaretto di Saronno to dry off.

Then, the small puff pastries went in the oven for about 15/20 minutes until they got swollen, light and their surface was golden and crunchy. Puff pastries with apple are an excellent snack to serve at any time of the day, at breakfast, for a coffee pause, or even after dinner as a dessert with a good cup of coffee, tea or milk. By the way, you may add as ingredients also pine-kernels and raisins. Wishing everybody a good start with Autumn season and please, stay safe ❤

Puff pastries and apples

Puff pastries and apples

Låt oss fira hösten

“Hösten är den andra våren när varje löv är en blomma.” – Albert Camus

Höstlöv

Autumn 2020

“Every leaf speaks bliss to me, fluttering from the autumn tree.”

― Emily Brontë

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Vegetables soup at Summertime: a delightful refreshment

At the end of August it is pretty hot in Apulia, Southern Italy (some days temperature is around 40°C). Then, having more vegetables and fruit might turn to be a daily healthy habit in order to help feeling well. What is more, at the food market there is a rich colorful triumph among season vegetables and fruit to choose for preparing appetizing dishes. One of the simplest lightest dishes for these hot days is the soup of vegetables, which you can serve fresh. Down here I’m going to provide a short note with the ingredients you need and the description to make it. You are very welcome to try it, if it meets your personal tastes. Enjoy it!

A blueberry jam tart for your coffee pause

While it was and still it is pretty hot outside, we took our own time for preparing a tart with home made blueberry jam this afternoon. It will be an excellent dessert served as a snack in the middle of the day, even better with a cup of coffee or tea, or after dinner, or perhaps for the morning breakfast. The recipe has few ingredients and it is easy to make it.

Ingredients for preparing the tart: 300 gr all-purpose flour, 120 gr butter, 120 gr sugar, 2 eggs, about 9 gr baking powder, a sprinkle of salt, the grated peel of a lemon.

In a bowl, mix well flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, the grated peel of lemon. Add the butter in small pieces in the bowl, work it until it is homogeneously melted with the other ingredients. In the end, add the eggs and keep on working with your hands until you have a well done compact mixture. Save it to rest in the fridge for an hour.

Prepare a couple of sheets of greaseproof paper the size of the baking tray you are going to use for baking the tart. Out from the fridge, place more than half of the solid short pastry in the middle, between the two sheets and, helping yourself with a rolling pin, make a disk a bit larger than the size/diameter of the baking tray. Remove the upper sheet and fix the disk of short pastry in the baking tray. Spread the blueberry jam on the surface of the disk. Make long ribbons (about 5 mm high) using the rest of the short pastry and decor the tart. Bake the tart in the oven for 35/40 minutes 180°C. Serve the tart with some vanilla cream if you prefer or the way you like it. Many thanks and enjoy the weekend, everybody ❤

Blueberry tart to bake

Stockholm: Enjoy a majestic view from the romantic walking path of Monteliusvägen.

Hello! Looking back at these pics I took some time ago, it still seems to me to feel the vibrant atmosphere of my journey in Stockholm, where, it is easy to reach places by taking the subway and then having long walks for enjoying, with traveller’s heart filled with wonder, local art, architecture, food, design, nature and people. Here, in Södermalm, firstly I got to Bellmansgatan and to the bridge made of iron, where Mariahissen is. Then, just few steps away from there, I did enjoy the magnificent view of Riddarholmskyrkan on Riddarholmen and the whole Gamla Stan from the romantic walking path of Monteliusvägen.

At the moment, while we wait to be back soon on travel, let’s keep on being safe, by taking care of ourselves and of those around us. Thank you ❤ .

Glad Midsommar

Please, stay safe everybody and enjoy Summer days ❤

Along the Summer route

The small boat continued its journey, gliding smoothly, light and rapid on small waves that played chasing each other along the summer route.

Welcome June

“The poetry of the earth is never dead.”
― John Keats

Time for some relax and for enjoying long walks into nature. Wishing a good weekend to everybody!

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  Branta Leucopsis

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  Branta Leucopsis

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  Branta Leucopsis

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  Branta Leucopsis

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  Branta Leucopsis

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  Branta Leucopsis

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  Branta Leucopsis

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  Branta Leucopsis

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  Branta Leucopsis

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  Branta Leucopsis

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  Branta Leucopsis

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Zucchini flowers and Summer nuances for a picnic

Soon it’s gonna be Summer again and we love staying in the open air, living the cosy moments of conviviality with family and friends around a table or, even better, sitting on the grass for enjoying a picnic. At this proper, stuffed zucchini flowers, fried and served warm, might be an inviting and very welcome appetizer. Here to follow we have got the ingredients and few steps for the execution of the dish.

• 20 zucchini flowers
• 500 gr cow milk ricotta cheese
• 25 gr parmigiano + 25 gr rodez cheese
• 50 gr mortadella Bologna
• 10 green big olives
• flour and cold sparkling water for the batter
• peanut oil to fry
• salt and black powder pepper.

1. prepare the stuffing mixing the ricotta cheese, grated cheese, a sprinkle of salt and pepper, minced olives and mortadella.
2. Wash the zucchini flowers and dry gently them on a sheet of blotting paper.
3. Prepare a thick batter made with flour and cold sparkling water, add a sprinkle of salt and leave it to rest for 10/15 minutes.
4. In the meanwhile, stuff the zucchini flowers with the mixture (help yourself with a tea spoon) and accurately close them.
5. Warm the oil in a frying pan.
6. Dip each stuffed zucchini flower in the batter at first and then fry it in the oil.
7. Serve the stuffed zucchini flowers as entrée with a glass of wine you prefer and enjoy the picnic.

Zucchini flowers

Preparing stuffing for zucchini flowers

Stuffing for zucchini flowers: ricotta cheese, mortadella bologna, green big olives, grated parmigiano and rodez cheese, black pepper powder

thick batter made with flour and water

stuffed zucchini flowers before being fried

Small gnocchi made of semolina and green sparrows

During this Spring season, let’s keep on enjoying good genuine tastes in our dishes. Today, for lunch, I prepared a light soup with sparrows bouillon and home made semolina gnocchi.

Starting from the bouillon, I chopped eight (n.8) fresh green sparrows and started frying them gently in a sauce pan with a couple of soup spoons of extra virgin olive oil, small cubes of bacon, sliced onion and an idea of garlic. Five minutes later, I added some water (about half level of the sauce pan), three or four cherry tomatoes, a sprinkle of black pepper and little sea salt, covered the sauce pan with a lid and kept the bouillon cooking and boiling slowly for 30 or 40 minutes.

As for the home made semolina gnocchi, in a large pan, I poured 250 ml of milk (ingredients are for one person), let it boiling and then, slowly, I added 75 gr of semolina flour, a sprinkle of salt, and kept mixing and stirring in order to have a smooth velvet mixture with no clots, which, after (more or less) 20 minutes got well thick.

Far from the stove, I poured the semolina mixture in a small greasy bawl and, as soon as it was a little bit cooler, I started making and shaping small balls (gnocchi) on the wet palm of my hands. After that, I dipped gently the small gnocchi in the boiling bouillon made with sparrows only for three/four minutes and then, served them very warm in a bowl. I hope you will enjoy making this light and genuine dish and wish everybody bon appétit and a good weekend!

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  Small gnocchi made of semolina and sparrows

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  Small gnocchi made of semolina and sparrows

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  Small gnocchi made of semolina and sparrows

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  Small gnocchi made of semolina and sparrows

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  Small gnocchi made of semolina and sparrows

Rachmaninov and the pork in the pan

It was a bizarre weather today, since, after a warm and sunny morning, at dinner time, it seemed it was almost going to rain. Any way, there was a cosy atmosphere in the kitchen, listening to Rachmaninov and cooking some pork (prosciutto) and peppers. 1. Starting from a couple of peppers, I grilled them in the oven and, still hot, I removed their skin. Then, after making small stripes of them, I cooked peppers slowly for about 10/15 minutes in a pan with a couple of soup spoons of extra virgin olive, some capers, spicy local green olives, finely chopped fresh garlic. Besides, there I added an anchovy to melt and mix with the other ingredients in the pan. 2. As for the pork (prosciutto), firstly I chopped some fresh herbs from the garden, like rosemary and sage, together with garlic and spread them on the surface on both sides of the pork. Then, secondly, I placed the pork in a pan (moderate flame) with a couple soup spoons of extra virgin olive oil and some white wine and let it cook until the wine evaporated. Salt and black pepper right before removing the pan from the cooker. In the end, I served the pork very warm with peppers and a sprinkle of toasted breadcrumbs on top. By the way, peppers recipe might taste also really good as sauce for a dish of rice or pasta. The choice is yours. Many thanks and bon appétit.

Let’s make small zucchini boats and red onion sauce for dinner

The red onion hisses in the pan with a couple of soup spoons of extra virgin olive oil. This is to start preparing a red onion sauce to be served with small zucchini boats on your dinner table. Leave a couple of red onions frying gently for about 20 minutes. Then, add a leaf of bay and a clove to broaden the flavour. Melt a soup spoon of all purpose flour in the onions with half glass of white wine and leave this latter to evaporate. Add a sprinkle of sea salt and chili pepper in it. Remove the leaf of bay and use the minipimer to make a smooth sauce with onions. Only if necessary, add little more white wine, sugar and then place again the sauce for few minutes on the cooker to make it sweeter and thicker.

Ingredients for the onion sauce: 2 red onions, a clove, a soup spoon of all purpose flour, a leaf of bay, 2 soup spoons of extra virgin olive oil, half glass white wine, a sprinkle of salt and chili pepper, (some sugar if necessary).

As for zucchini, split each of them in half. Use a corer for removing the pulp inside and make little boats. Save the pulp, which you are going to use later on for the filling. In a pan, toast some breadcrumbs in extra virgin olive oil (a couple of soup spoons). Then, out of the cooker, add some milk to the golden breadcrumbs, mix all together soft and leave to get cooler. In the meanwhile, steam the small zucchini boats for 5 minutes and add salt in the end. In a bowl, make a mixture with breadcrumbs, add the chopped zucchini pulp, salt, an egg and small cubes of spicy provola cheese. Mix well and fill the small zucchini boats with the stuffing. Few drops of extra virgin olive oil on top and place the small boats in the oven for about 30 minutes (180/200°C). Serve them very warm with the sweet/spicy onion sauce. I wish everybody bon appétit!

Ingredients for the small zucchini boats: 3 or 4 zucchini, 1 egg, 200 ml milk, extra virgin olive oil, 2 or 3 soup spoons of breadcrumbs, small cubes of spicy provola cheese, a sprinkle of salt.

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Fotografiska

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There is a special place, which I like to visit in Stockholm and it is where I took these pics some time ago. That place is Fotografiska and there, you can have a dip into photography, enjoy a myriad of exhibitions and the art of several great artists coming from everywhere in the world, have a cup of cappuccino by the big windows while looking at the outstretched view outside. I hope some day, not too far, to have the wonderful pleasure to visit it again.

Glad påsk alla!

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Glad påsk alla ❤

A Tale from Nature

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  I was walking along a path in good company of my camera, when I listened to some birds cheerfully chirping.

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  It seemed they were having a great fun jumping and splashing, like in a dance, in a small puddle of water. Indeed, it was raining just little before my arrival there.

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  I became curious and got closer and they were so busy in their ‘funny conversation’, they didn’t realize I was there . Even an other couple of little sparrows, which looked a bit lazy or perhaps bored, was there, on the left side of the path, comfortably sitting on a bench and following the three of them. In that while, I guess nature was simply telling, in very small, few details, how beautiful the natural world is.

A gracious tulip to make Springtime

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  A gracious tulip to make Springtime

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  A gracious tulip to make Springtime

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  A gracious tulip to make Springtime

We are still in January and it is gonna take a little before milder temperatures. However, we can take good energy from the food we have even at Winter time, of course without forgetting that simple food is the best. At this proper, here it is a light genuine recipe of a cake for enjoying our coffee pause or to bake and serve to children as snack.

The ingredients are: 100 gr all purpose flour, 50 gr coconut flour, 75 gr sugar, 75 gr carrots, 50 gr dark (75%) chocolate, 3 soup spoons maize oil, 25 ml milk, 1 egg, vanilla seeds, 1/4 baking powder yeast, carrots to decor. Firstly, in a bowl mix both the all purpose and the coconut flour with the grated carrots and then add sugar, maize oil, the egg, vanilla seeds, the baking powder yeast and the milk. Secondly, once you have got a homogeneous mixture, pour it in a well greased and floured baking pan for cakes. Thirdly, dip small pieces of dark chocolate in the mixture and place the cake in the oven for about 30 minutes 120°/200° C, until you will see its surface becoming a little bit crisp. In the end, out of the oven, before serving the cake, decor it with small gracious tulips made of carrot and enjoy a piece of fragrant cake and a cup of good warm coffee or tea. What is more, you may add some vanilla cream on a side of the plate, if you prefer. Besides, this cake might be a wonderful idea for a children party or a light dessert after dinner.

To make little tulips, take a piece of carrot and make oblique cuts around it for creating petals, then cut the piece gently and use a toothpick for fixing the tulip in the cake .

Many thanks, I hope you will enjoy the recipe ❤

Choose a pattern for your focaccia: just the way you like it

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In the early morning, before going to work, you can prepare a soft mixture for a focaccia dough. You need the following ingredients: 500 gr all purpose flour, 40 gr extra virgin olive oil, 9 gr yeast and some sugar, (the tip of a coffee spoon) which will help the soft mixture to leaven, 300 ml water, 10 gr salt. Then, leave it to bubble and rise for four or five hours at least. At this point, you will make the focaccia by pouring the mixture on the oiled surface of a baking tray. Work on and stretch out the dough with the tip of your fingers. Cover the dough with a clingfilm and leave it to rise again for about 20 mins.

Then, choose to decor the focaccia by making a pattern with the delicacies you prefer and bake it in the oven 180°/200° C. Perhaps you can make an emulsion with water, extra virgin olive oil and sea salt and just paint it on the surface of the focaccia. Or you may choose to go for brie cheese, fried rings of leek, slices of sweet and sour bulbous of Leopoldia comosum (an inviting delicacy from Apulia culinary tradition) and a hint of thyme leaves. Whether in a way or in an other, your focaccia will taste very appetizing and much welcome by your table-companion. Enjoy it. Thank you.

Warm crisp crostini of bread and lentils to wish a wonderful 2020

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  Crisp bread and lentils for wishing a wonderful 2020

It is Tuesday morning, on the last day of December 2019. For the table of the new year and for wishing all the best in 2020, I prepared a soup of small lentils. In less than an hour it can be served to guests.

You need lentils (the proportions are according to the number of your guests), celery, carrots, onion, garlic, bouillon prepared with vegetables, tomato puree, parsley, extra virgin olive oil, curry, salt and pepper.

Firstly, fry a mixture of diced celery, carrots, onion in a pan with extra virgin olive oil. Then, add a clove of garlic, the lentils, a coffee spoon of curry, a tea spoon of tomato puree. (When you buy lentils, please, pay attention whether you can already cook them or you have to leave them in a bowl with cold water for a couple of hours right before starting with the cooking process). Once in the pan, leave the lentils for a couple of minutes to let flavors of the frying vegetables be soaked up by the lentils and then add the bouillon. Add salt and pepper. Cook the soup slowly for about 40 minutes. In the end, lentils should be tender and dried.

Serve the warm lentils on discs (crostini) of homemade bread that you previously made crisp in the oven for about 10 minutes, 200°C, with few drops of extra virgin olive oil on their surface. Add leaves of parsley to decor the plate. This dish could be an inviting idea for starters or a light warm soup.

Many thanks and wishing everybody a wonderful 2020!

Lamb chops and bell peppers, a colorful and tasteful dish for your holiday season table

The time of holiday season is flowing and soon we will enter the new year. This is time for some relax and enjoying the good company of family and friends. At this proper, today I prepared lamb chops and bell peppers for lunch. It is a colorful and tasteful dish, which I enjoy to make from time to time for its fragrances of Mediterranean herbs and I may recommend for your New Year’s Eve table. It is easy to prepare and your guests will appreciate it.

The ingredients for this dish are lamb chops, garlic, leek, breadcrumbs, some herbs like thyme, rosemary, parsley, grated parmigiano, a lemon, extra virgin olive oil, almonds, salt and pepper.

As first step, for preparing this dish, it is necessary to make little pieces of parsley, thyme, a clove of garlic and the peel of a lemon. In a bowl mix all these little pieces of herbs and garlic together with breadcrumbs, grated parmigiano, after you have added a couple of tea spoons of extra virgin olive oil and a sprinkle of salt and pepper.

Secondly, make cubes of red and yellow bell peppers and cook them in a pan with extra virgin olive oil, little white wine, garlic and rings of leek. Add a sprinkle of salt and pepper, some thyme and a soup spoon of rough minced almonds. Keep on cooking for about 20 minutes.

Third step: coat the chops of lamb with the mixture in the bowl made of herbs, breadcrumbs, garlic etc. and fry the chops until they will get a golden crisp surface.

In the end, serve the warm chops of lamb with the bell peppers.

Wishing everybody “bon appétit”, thank you and, most of all, may your 2020 be wonderful!

Home Made Fresh Pasta at Christmas Time

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Here we are! It’s the second weekend of Advent and, in the kitchen, on Sunday morning, we enjoy making fresh pasta. Actually, serving ravioli to guests at our Christmas table can be an excellent idea but we are going to use alternative ingredients for the stuffing, such as sheep milk ricotta cheese (250gr), parmigiano reggiano (50gr) and a pear.

• As first step we make a thin sheet of pastry. The manual pasta making machine (nonna papera) is the faster solution if you are in a hurry or you may use a rolling pin if you are familiar with it. The proportion of the ravioli mixture for a couple of people is 250g semolina, one egg, little oil, water. Of course, you can add ingredients according to the number of your guests. As soon as the mixture is done, leave it to rest for an hour.
• In the meanwhile, cut a pear in very small cubes, add a yolk, ricotta, grated parmigiano cheese and mix the stuffing for ravioli pasta.
• Then, make small discs of ravioli pasta, stuff them with a spoon of the cream made with pear, ricotta and parmigiano cheese, seal them hermetically.
• Cook ravioli in boiling salted water for few minutes and, as soon as ravioli come up on the surface of the boiling water, it’s time to strain them.
• Finally, serve them warm in a dish with melted butter, grated sheep milk cheese and papaver seeds on top.

Buon appetito and wishing everybody a good new week!

Hymn to Nature

“Tree

There is no other way than to become more tree.

Make it up with the soil. The soil: eternally the same.

The stones the same.

The gravel the same.

Nailed for all time to this: immovability.

To move in the tree’s direction:

deeper down.

Can a tree that loves storms become a storm?

The tree can do no other than to rend its crown.

Be shaken through by cries

the tree the nailed-fast soughing

born to be tree

drives its longing inward

into the form of tree.

The dark-shadowed grows broader. Broad

the pillar descends and without vertigo sings greater

towards the cloud its heart of leaves

rest for all that travels

safety for birds and for the seeds

forever in motion

deep in its innermost wood.

There is no way than to become more tree.”

Solveig von Schoultz

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Short pastry biscuits in the oven

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  Short pastry biscuits

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  Short pastry biscuits

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  Short pastry biscuits

This early Sunday morning it was crisp air outside and it was the perfect Autumn atmosphere for preparing and baking short pastry biscuits. The kitchen smelled of butter and almonds. The recipe is easy for making inviting crunchy biscuits to enjoy with a cup of coffee or tea.
Ingredients:
225g flour, 50 g almond flour, 160g butter, 100gr icing sugar, 1 egg (about 70gr), a pinch of salt.
Mix together flour, sugar, almond flour, cold butter. Add the egg and a pinch of salt.
Place the mixture in the fridge and leave it to rest for four hours.
Roll out the short pastry on the table, after fixing a sheet of greaseproof paper under it to help the short pastry work be faster and easier. Make your biscuits and bake them in the oven for few minutes. Temperatures can be between 160° and 180°, better if the oven is airy. Decor your biscuits according to your tastes or sprinkle icing sugar like dancing snow on the surface of them.
I hope your day was filled with love celebrating Father’s day .
Enjoy a new week!

Tasting new extra virgin olive oil in Apulia

The harvest of olives goes on in Apulia region, in the South of Italy, and, in full respect of our family tradition, in these days we looked for the new local productions of olive oil. We tasted among different kinds in order to choose those new extra virgin olive oils, which meet both cooking and gourmet requirements, for our annual supplies. In the end, our choice was for a very good quality biological extra virgin olive oil made with leccino monocultivar, which has only 0,2 acidity and herbaceous taste, and a second one, a blend that has more rustic attribute and it is made with “leccina”, “nociara” and “picholine” varieties of olives (0,5 acidity).

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  Tasting new olive oil in Apulia

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  Tasting new olive oil in Apulia

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  Tasting new olive oil in Apulia

Herbst am Mälarsee

Eine wunderschöne Schifffahrt vom Schloss Drottningholm nach Stockholm.

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  Herbst am Mälarsee

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  Herbst am Mälarsee

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  Herbst am Mälarsee

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  Herbst am Mälarsee

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  Herbst am Mälarsee

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  Herbst am Mälarsee

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  Herbst am Mälarsee

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  Herbst am Mälarsee

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  Herbst am Mälarsee

The apple orchards around Gripsholm Castle

There is a wonderful flourishing nature around Gripsholm Castle. A good chance while visiting the castle, during Autumn season, is to enjoy the view of beautiful apple orchards in the area.

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  Gripsholms slott

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  Gripsholms slott

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  Gripsholms slott

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  Gripsholms slott

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  Gripsholms slott

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  Gripsholms slott

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  Gripsholms slott

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  Gripsholms slott

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  Gripsholms slott

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  Gripsholms slott

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  Gripsholms slott

In Stockholm auf einem kleinen Boot

Segeln auf einem kleinen Boot entlang von Lichtwellen unter gemütlichen Stockholmer Gewölben.

Einen schönen Juli-Monat

Gentle sliding of boats

Suddenly it sounded like music and you could listen to the gentle sliding of boats sailing to your direction on the smooth surface of glistening reverberating waters .

Let’s make spaghetti for dinner!

  Hello, are you planning to bring authentic flavours of Italian cuisine to your table at the weekend? Indeed, a dish of pasta is the best way to cook like Italians and many people in the world love Italian pasta. At this proper, here there are some quick tips in order to choose a good quality product and cook pasta in the right “al dente” way.

  Let’s start by saying that a good quality flavourful pasta dish is made of:

1. The right choice of the main ingredient, that is pasta made of stone-grinding “durum wheat” flour. This particular flour, very rich in proteins, has the natural chemical properties for making the production of an excellent pasta possible (the mixture, made with only flour and water, is, for tradition, the simplest widely used recipe for making pasta in Southern Italy)

2. Pay attention when you choose your pasta pack, according to the recipe you are going to make. You may choose (trafilata al bronzo)”bronze drawn” pasta, if you want your dish have the taste of a magistral embrace with the sauce you are going to make for it. Please, look at the size, and minutes recommended for cooking the product

3.  Fill a pot with water and leave it on the cooker until water starts boiling, then add pasta and a sprinkle of sea salt. Wait for the time recommended on the pack, have a taste of pasta to be sure about the right quantity of sea salt and the cooking process be “al dente”. Strain pasta and make room to your gourmet inspiration for finishing and serve the warm appetizing dish to your guests. 

“Mantecare”

Pasta is excellent with a fresh tomato sauce. By adding leaves of basil in the end on this simple dish, you get the fragrance of Summer time

Buon Appetito, Guten Appetit, Bon appétit, Smaklig måltid, Enjoy your meal!