Sylvia’s Asparagus Carbonara with Thyme & Crisp Prosciutto

Sylvia's Asparagus Carbonara
Here is another one of my favourite Spring recipes this time using asparagus in a thyme infused Carbonara sauce with pasta garnished with crisp Prosciutto. Obviously, if you don’t add the Prosciutto it makes a great vegetarian dish. Use good quality Penne Rigate (dry penne pasta with ridges) to hold the creamy asparagus sauce. My [...]

Sylvia’s Spring Asparagus Frittata

Sylvia's Asparagus Frittata
Asparagus heralds the arrival of Spring with spears standing upright on the green grocer’s shelves and farmer’s markets, or if you are lucky, in your own garden! My Aunt and Uncle who live part of the year in Friuli (north-east Italy) and the other part at the family villa and farm in Campania (south-west Italy) [...]

Sylvia’s Truffle Salad with Walnuts

Sylvia's Truffle Salad with Walnuts
If you've treated yourself to a truffle or two, here's a simple recipe idea to accompany a roast chicken, duck or thick grilled steak. Prepare a salad with York Town Organics Baby Cos and Micro Salad Leaves. I've also used Radicchio from my kitchen garden, a beautiful deep ruby-red Italian chicory I grow for the [...]

Sylvia’s Ribollita Tuscan Kale Soup

Sylvia's Ribollita Tuscan Kale Soup
Updated 13 August 2020 Ribollita is a Tuscan peasant style (vegetarian) soup made with bread, vegetables, cannellini beans and the essential ingredient is the robust green Cavolo Nero or Tuscan Kale. Ribollita in Italian translated literally means “re-boiled”. This very healthy soup has medieval origins as it is believed that servants collected the left-overs from [...]

Best Way To Truly Appreciate a Truffle

Sylvia's Tamar Valley Truffle Taster
This is the best way to appreciate a Tasmanian truffle. It is Winter. This also means it is Truffle time! This is the season to relish and savour a special winter indulgence. One of my most enjoyable culinary delights is creating new dishes with Black Périgord Truffles from Tamar Valley Truffles. Tasting a freshly dug [...]

A Piece on Pizza

A Piece on Pizza
Pizza is the famous Italian flatbread which has become almost ubiquitous after it was brought to America by Italian emigrants. It has developed an international food following with pizzerias all over the world baking this simple flat disc of bread with multi-cultural fervour. It has become a global food phenomenon and its simplicity and diversity [...]

Steve’s Garlic Infused Mash Potatoes

Sylvia's Tasmanian Blue-Eye Trevalla with Steve's Garlic Mash
This is a mash. But not just any old mashed potatoes. It's Steve's Garlic Infused Mash Potatoes! Fabulous with grilled steak with sauce, casseroles, lamb, chicken and even fish (as pictured above). Mashed potatoes are comfort food and wonderful for soaking up the delicious flavours from your plate, and for my husband Steve, making them [...]

Roast Cherry Tomatoes, Rosemary, Garlic, Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Mixed Heirloom Tomatoes and Garlic ready to be oven roasted
Roasted mixed heirloom cherry tomatoes are so versatile! They can happily accompany fish, chicken or even lamb. Use it to flavour freshly prepared Ligurian Handmade Pasta or add as a topping to Bruschetta (pron. brus-ket-a). I first prepared them this way in about January 2008 to accompany a Pink Ling dish. Here I have given you the [...]

Sylvia’s Kitchen Preserved Lemon Recipe Ideas

Preserved Lemon Potatoes Flathead Roasted Tomatoes Pesto
My Moroccan-style Preserved Lemons are handmade in Launceston, Tasmania using my own home grown lemons to my own special recipe that has evolved over 30 years. I make these Preserved Lemons about three times a year in small batches and in small jars. They are an artisan product, matured and ready for use. They have [...]

Tarragon Chicken with Cider Mustard and Cream

Brady's Lookout Cider Recipe
This beautiful chicken dish especially created to match the award winning Brady’s Lookout Tasmanian Premium Cuvée Cider, is inspired by French country cuisine. I have tried to capture the flavours of Normandy where cider is a specialty. Here I combine the delicate aromatic flavour of tarragon with their Premium Cuvée Cider which adds a note [...]