Featured Recipe
Ossobuco
Friday, December 26, 2025| |
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Ossobuco, meaning "bone with a hole" in Italian, is on the menu today, because sometimes you just have to pamper yourself. Ossobuco is a traditional Italian stew made from cross-cut veal/beef shanks, garnished with a zesty gremolata and served with saffron risotto or polenta. The veal or beef shanks stewed in a stock of vegetables and spices, releasing an incomparable rich flavour. Admittedly, this recipe is time-consuming, so it’s perfect for special occasions or if you simply fancy spending some time in the kitchen. So get your apron out and let the cooking begin!
You will need an oven-safe roasting pan for this dish. Use a cast-iron pan in which you can first sear the beef shanks and stirfry the vegetables on the stove. Then transfer to the roasting pan to the oven, where they will slow cook for 2-3 hours until butter soft. If you don't have a roasting pan to hand, you can improvise and place the seared ingredients in a casserole dish. Serve the ossobuco with any side dish you like.
Giotto Torte
Wednesday, December 24, 2025| |
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Why have just one Giotto ball with your coffee when you can have a whole Giotto cake? This creamy cake is a dreamy combination of tender, nutty sponge cake and sweet cream filling with Giotto. For extra nutty and ‘mmm’ factor, the crispy mini hazelnut pralinens are not only added to the whipped cream but also used as a pretty decoration on top. And there are also lots of hazelnuts hidden in this easy sponge batter, which make the cake base wonderfully moist and light. Be sure to give the sponge base enough time to cool completely before decorating, as it is still very soft immediately after baking. How about an extra layer of chocolate? Spread some Nutella on the cake layers before adding the cream.
Fig and Hazelnut Amaretti
Saturday, November 22, 2025| |
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Nutty, chewy and fruity with a slightly crispy bottom, these naturally gluten free cookies enriched with lemon zest and dried figs are perfect accompaniment to coffee, tea, hot chocolate or ice cream.
Amaretti cookies are traditionally made with almonds, sugar, and egg whites. The name "Amaretti" comes from the Italian word "amaro," meaning bitter, a reference to the use of bitter almonds in the original recipe. But other nuts, like hazelnuts, walnuts or macadamias are great alternatives.
Yoghurt Castagnole – Italian Carnival Fritters
Wednesday, November 12, 2025| |
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Castagnole are traditional Italian carnival fritters, named for their chestnut-like shape. They're made with a mixture of flour, egg and sugar to which a little liqueur is added – usually anisette, rum or grappa and scented with citrus. These sweet dough balls are deep-fried until golden brown, resulting in a crispy exterior and a soft center. This recipe made with yoghurt makes them particularly soft and delicious. They are typically rolled in sugar while still warm. Castagnole are wonderful all on their own, but you can also poke a hole in them and fill with jam, nutella, pistachio cream or white chocolate cream. Like any deep fried food, they are at their best eaten the same day while still warm and soft because they get slightly drier after a day or two.
Peposo - Tuscan Black Pepper Beef Stew
Friday, September 19, 2025| |
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Peposo, peppery in Italian, is an Italian, or rather Tuscan stew consisting of beef, lots of red wine, garlic and plenty of pepper. Not only is it amazingly delicious, it also has a strong connection to Filippo Brunelleschi’s magnificent dome in Florence.
In 1400 Filippo Brunelleschi was responsible for the design and construction of the Cathedral’s dome (Duomo) and also for the management of the workers and their working times. He took his cue from the workers of the Impruneta furnaces to optimize the times of the lunch break and, therefore, the long climbs and descents from the Duomo’s very high scaffolding. He had two canteens built on scaffolding from where workers could eat without having to get off. According to some versions of the story, it was even Brunelleschi himself who came up with the idea of adding a generous portion of pepper to the meat. So that his workers could work even better after a well-seasoned meal.
There are many variations of this dish, some starting with a base of onions, crrots and celery, others richly infused with tomato. Many recipes also use the usual additions like rosemary, bay leaf, sage or garlic to the stew. But the authentic slow cooked stew is unpretentious and down-to-earth simple--pared back to the essentials. Just for key ingredients are needed: beef, peppercorns, and a generous amount of Chianti Classico.
I have included garlic in my version, but leave them out if you are not a fan. It is important to use a ridiculously large amount of freshly crushed black pepper. I used a mixture of 20 grams of long pippali black pepper and tellicherry black pepper. Use any other types of black peppers you prefer. Ciabatta is the classic accompaniment to peposo. However, any homemade bread, polenta or mashed potatoes are also delicious. If you like pasta or dumplings, go for it!
Amaretti Cookies
Thursday, September 11, 2025| |
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Amaretti are Italian almond cookies with textures ranging from soft and chewy to crispy. There are endless variations of this Italian classic, though they are traditionally made with bitter almonds, which aren’t available over here. So a little bit of pure almond extract should do the trick.
Amaretti are perfect to enjoy in many ways. You can pair them with coffee, tea, sweet wine or enjoy them as a snack or even as breakfast on the go. Don’t try to cut down too much sugar for the recipe, otherwise the cookies might not spread and crack beautifully.
Keto Chicken Piccata
Sunday, July 27, 2025| |
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Bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs, seasoned and pan-seared to perfection until the skin is golden crispy, paired with a bright, tangy, buttery sauce. A quick and delicious meal that can be on the table in 30 minutes.
Piccata is a quick and delicious Italian-American dish with Italian roots. Traditionally, it uses veal cutlets lightly dredged in flour, pan-seared and served in a lemon butter sauce and the name reflects exactly its preparation method. I tried a less traditional recipe with chicken thighs and omitted the flour-coating. You are welcome to use chicken breast or cutlets, lightly coated with seasoned flour, if you prefer.
Eggplant Rollatini
Saturday, March 29, 2025| |
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Eggplant rollatini, or involtini di melanzane is an Italian dish of thin eggplant slices that are grilled, filled with a luscious ricotta spinach mixture, rolled, smothered in a flavourful tomato sauce, topped with Mozzarella and Parmesan, and baked until the cheese is golden and bubbly. It’s naturally gluten free and low-carb friendly. Look for large, wide, straight-sided purple globe eggplants for this recipe, as the curvy ones are harder to cut into evenly thin slices. Use homemade tomato sauce if you can, but if you’re running short on time, quality jarred tomato sauce would work just as great.
Italian Sausage Meatballs with Risoni
Saturday, January 25, 2025| |
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If you are Looking for a hearty, satisfying and cozy meal, then this one pot dish is for you! The Italian meatballs use a delicious mix of ground beef and pork and get the amazing flavour from Italian sausage spice mix and Parmesan. They are then nestled in a rich tomato sauce with tender risoni pasta and served with extra fresh grated Parmesan. They are so delicious, and very easy and uncomplicated to prepare. If you don’t want to make the meatballs from the scratch, then use the Italian sausage mixture.
Melanzane a Funghetto (Sautéed Eggplants and Tomatoes)
Thursday, January 02, 2025Melanzane a Funghetto in Neapolitan, or eggplants cooked in the style of small mushrooms, a quick side dish that’s simple, quick to prepare and so delicious! You can serve them as a side, or with pasta or as a topping with shaved Parmesan for crostini. Although the name of this recipe contains “funghetto” which means “mushroom” in Italian, it contains no mushroom at all, it means that when the eggplant chunks are sautéed they look like little mushrooms and have the texture of mushrooms.
Semolina Tea Cakes with Walnuts and Balsamic Cream
Thursday, December 05, 2024| |
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These nutty semolina tea cakes are quickly mixed and baked using just a few ingredients. With date syrup and balsamic glaze in the batter, they are not too sweet but wonderfully caramelised with an intriguing tanginess. I used walnuts, but any other nuts will work beautifully. Balsamic glaze Balsamic glaze, aka balsamic reduction or cream, is balsamic vinegar that has been simmered until most of the water has evaporated away, leaving a deliciously thick, syrupy glaze with a bold flavour. You can easily buy balsamic glaze from any supermarket but if you have balsamic vinegar at home you can make the glaze yourself. For the amount needed for these tea cakes, simply bring 1 cup balsamic vinegar and 3 tablespoons of brown sugar (or honey) to boil. Simmer for 15-20 minutes until it has become syrupy.
Tegole Valdostane
Monday, November 25, 2024| |
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‘Tegole’ is the Italian word for tiles and when you look at the flat biscuits, this name is very appropriate. ‘Valdostane’ is a shortened form of Valle d'Aostal. These wafer-thin crispy nutty biscuits are tiles from the Valle d'Aosta, according to the name. They are made with a batter rather than a dough, and be sure to keep them in an airtight container to retain their delightfully light crunch. A perfect accompaniment to an espresso!
Biscotti Reginelle
Saturday, October 26, 2024| |
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Biscotti Reginelle, aka Biscotti Regina or Biscotti Inciminati, are classic cookies from Palermo (the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo), but they are popular all over the island of Sicily. They were named after Queen Margherita di Savoia, hence the name Biscotti Reginelle, which means Queen Cookies.
These delicious Italian cookies are not too sweet and are loaded with sesame seeds. The crunchy texture makes them the perfect accompaniment to coffee, hot chocolate, or sweet wine. To make these cookies even more authentic, use 100% of lard instead of a mix of butter and lard. Once completely cooled you can store these cookies in an air tight container for at least two weeks. They freeze well too.


