Monthly Archive for settembre, 2013

Roasted red vegetables soup

Published by Lucina, on 29 settembre 2013 in English Recipes and Soup. 5 Comments Tags: , , .

roasted red vegetables soup

Now that the autumnal season is upon us it’s time to give birth to a new soup recipe. Soups are so cheap and quick to make and such an ideal thing to eat on a cold, wet, dull day. Even better if accompanied by some lovely bread! And better still if the bread is home made! :-) Speaking of which: I haven’t updated you lately on my bread making extravaganza but let me tell you that  my experiments in that department are going really well! My sourdough is still going strong and I’ve tried many new recipes. I will have to blog one soon!  Anyway, back to soups. This particular one is slightly more complicated than normal ones as before banging all your veggies in a pan you must roast them in the oven. But trust me: it’s worth it for the flavour! Plus, it’s hardly complicated to roast a few vegetables, isn’t it? So what are you waiting for? Have a go at this one, you soup fanatics. You won’t regret it! Continue reading ‘Roasted red vegetables soup’

Blueberry and lemon friands

Published by Lucina, on 22 settembre 2013 in cakes and English Recipes. 5 Comments Tags: , , , .

blueberry and lemon friands

I bet I’m not the only one that when faced with leftover egg whites puts them in the fridge in the vain hope of using them for something else in the near future, only to admit defeat and throw them away a week later , still unloved and unused. I have done it so many times it’s embarrassing to mention! I might as well throw them directly in the bin rather than having this ridiculous pointless charade to go through purely to spare me from guilt feelings (I hate throwing food away!). I have made meringues in the past, of course, but my repertoire in the egg whites department is pretty limited (I have been meaning for ages to make macaroons, for example, but haven’t had the courage yet). So when I chanced on this recipe from the BBC Good food website which actually requires egg whites, I made a note of it and promised to myself I would try it out next time I was left with the blasted things. As you will recall, this was the case after my disastrous attempt at making custard tarts (I was left with SEVEN egg whites!! Eeek!) . Well….unlike my somewhat disappointing tarts these dainty little cakes were fabulous! And really simple to make. Continue reading ‘Blueberry and lemon friands’

Sofficini fatti in casa

Published by Candida, on 18 settembre 2013 in Antipasti, sfizi, finger food... and Ricette in Italiano. 1 Comment

Tornata! Ma la cucina rimane lontana tra ospedale, lavoro e chilometri su chilometri macinati di qua e di là per la Penisola. Così comincio postando una delle ricette fubissime di Araba felice che ho fatto mesi fa e ha fatto successo a casa mia. Mi sono ripromessa di provarne altre versione e di non comprare mai più quelli industriali. Io li ho fatti in padella ma devo riprovarli al forno. Continue reading ‘Sofficini fatti in casa’

Egg custard tarts ( a misdemeanour)

Published by Lucina, on 14 settembre 2013 in cakes and English Recipes. 4 Comments

egg custard tarts

True to the spirit of this blog allow me to share with you a somewhat disappointing bake I did today. Even Tomik the cat is not happy about appearing in the picture as you can see. Well…I can’t always brag about my successes, can I? So let me share with you what went wrong in attempting to bake these egg custard tarts. Ok, I am being a bit harsh on myself as they weren’t a COMPLETE disaster BUT they were far from being perfect. VERY far. First of all let me tell you why I decided to bake them in the first place: it was the result of watching the Great British Bake off  programme on Tuesday (which I LOVE, by the way)! For the Italians reading this blog: this is the fourth series of a very entertaining reality TV programme shown on BBC 2. It’s actually one of the few things I watch these days. It inspires me to try new things never attempted before (I made bagels following one of the episodes in the previous series) and it’s highly entertaining. For anyone who has an interest in baking, that is. Every week the contestants have to bake three things: two that they have known about in advance and one they haven’t. The worst baker gets knocked out. This week the “secret” recipe (or technical challenge as it is called) was indeed egg custard tarts. Well…what could be difficult about them? They seem rather innocuous, right? WRONG! Continue reading ‘Egg custard tarts ( a misdemeanour)’

Spelt salad with feta cheese and crudités

Published by Lucina, on 7 settembre 2013 in English Recipes and salad. 0 Comments

Spelt salad with feta cheese and crudités

This is a lovely salad that you could make with rice, pearl barley, cous cous or, like in this case, spelt. In truth in a salad you can put anything you want (within reasons) but very often one tends to use the same old things. But there is no need to be boring! This particular salad is very filling and, apparently, very good for you (particular for the  the old intestines) as spelt is a super grain which has many health properties and it is easier to digest than other whole grains. I simply cooked the spelt then added what I had available. You could try different things, of course. Mozzarella instead of feta, or different raw vegetables. Whatever you put I’m sure it would work.  Continue reading ‘Spelt salad with feta cheese and crudités’

Spaghetti alla notte di san Lorenzo

Published by Lucina, on 1 settembre 2013 in English Recipes and pasta. 1 Comment

spaghetti di San Lorenzo

Ok, first of all I have to explain the title here. La notte di san Lorenzo, or saint Lawrence night, is the 10th of August which is when, in theory, you can see shooting stars in the sky. The Italians have dedicated a plate of spaghetti to it, can you believe? (and by the way, sorry if I’m 3 weeks late!) This dish however is not the traditional recipe but it’s my friend Carmelita’s version. She is a siciliana doc and she ensures me that this is what they eat for the notte di san Lorenzo in and around the city where she comes from, which is Catania. One day, a few weeks back, she came round my house and brought a gourmet tin of sardines as a present, complete with detailed instructions on how to make this particular sauce. How could I refuse to try it? The ingredients are very simple: tinned sardines, cherry tomatoes, olive oil, garlic and breadcrumbs. But the taste is out of this world. Honest! So this is a really simple, cheap and packed with flavours dish that even one of my University students could manage. You’ll be surprised how good and quick it is…. Continue reading ‘Spaghetti alla notte di san Lorenzo’