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) [...]
20
Jul
Jul
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 [...]
20
Jul
Jul
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 [...]
30
Mar
Mar
Updated 28 July 2022 Parsnips can be mashed with potatoes, roasted with other root vegetables in olive oil, butter and herbs or as a sauce for pasta. Yep that’s right! Here is a seasonal dish I created in about 2008 using freshly dug plump parsnips that our then neighbours, “The Lewises”, regularly shared with us. […]
23
Mar
Mar
Here is one of the dishes I cooked at our Cooking Demonstrations at the 2016 Tasmanian Garlic & Tomato Festival. It received an enthusiastic round of applause! This is a deliciously different Thai stir-fry dish using seasonally available cherry tomatoes, garlic, eggplant and fragrant Thai Basil, which I grow together with Italian Genovese Basil. They [...]
11
Mar
Mar
Easy healthy salad for summer or autumn. I’ve scored the cucumber for an artistic look but also for a practical reason, to expose the cucumber flesh to the marinade. Greek flavours mingle with tomatoes, olives, parsley and feta. Feta is optional if you wish. Enjoy this simple summer salad with grilled fish, barbeque chicken, lamb [...]
08
Mar
Mar
Fabulous flavours evolve here with the sage, garlic and chilli complementing the sweet pumpkin. You could also use sweet potato. Either slice or dice the pumpkin and create a savoury tart (refer to my Fig Galette recipe for the idea) or pizza topping. Not really a recipe but a group of fresh seasonal ingredients that [...]
08
Mar
Mar
If you want a meal for the family that is healthy and nutritious you can’t go past this Broccoli dish. It’s fresh, quick to cook and serve. And simply delicious and refreshing. Accompany with a freshly dressed salad. It might even get your children eating those 'little green trees'! The crisp crumbled Prosciutto, Pangrattato, pine [...]
04
Mar
Mar
Quick and easy! A simple and delicious avocado salad to accompany grilled chicken, meat or fish. Or serve as an accompanying dish in a vegetarian meal with roast sweet potato. Avocados are highly nutritious and provide an excellent source of vitamins and monounsaturated fats. The spices I’ve added to the dressing give this salad an [...]
02
Mar
Mar
A delicious way of preparing beetroot is to slow-roast it with garlic and herbs thereby enhancing and concentrating its earthy sweetness. Once you taste it cooked this way you may realise that this root vegetable is certainly underrated. Inspired by my Italian roots (excuse the pun) in this Insalata Barbe Rosse con Formaggio di Capra e [...]