Author Archive for Lucina

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Salsa verde

Published by Lucina, on 18 aprile 2011 in English Recipes and sauces. 2 Comments

salsa verde

If you ever need to jazz  up some vegetables like cauliflower or boiled potatoes why not try this flavoursome salsa verde (sorry folks I’m sticking to the Italian name here as the English translation- green sauce- conjures up images of witches’ potions…)?  I had a cauliflower I needed to use last night and wanted to do something more to it than just steaming it (how boring is THAT?). I have a problem with cauliflower. I only like it in a rich bechamel sauce with loads of cheese on the top but that can be quite heavy, as well as time consuming to make.  (Actually I have made some nice soups with it too but still it’s not my favourite vegetable. If anybody out there has some interesting cauliflower recipes PLEASE send them my way). Anyway….. I decided the time had come to make some salsa verde.  In Piemonte it is traditionally eaten with boiled meats. My mum, who was from Turin, used to make it quite often. I reckon it could go very well also with steamed white fish. There are many different variations for this traditional sauce. I changed one of the usual ingredients (gherkins) for another (olives) . The truth? I didn’t have any gherkins in the house! :-( Still, the result was a very tasty sauce indeed! Continue reading ‘Salsa verde’

Leek and feta cheese omelette

Published by Lucina, on 12 aprile 2011 in English Recipes and omelettes/frittate. 3 Comments
leek and feta cheese omelette

Sometimes time is the essence, particularly when you have a demanding  job (am I right, Candi?). Cooking anything too complicated is simply not an option when you get home from work dog tired  but it’s still nicer to rustle something simple up and prepare your food from scratch than buying a ready made meal and sticking it in the microwave. Much healthier-and cheaper. This is where a nice omelette (frittata in Italian) can do the job very nicely, thank you. It requires minimum effort and if you can get hold of some  free range eggs and organic vegetables it can be tasty and wholesome too. I have made many different ones. With mushrooms, spinach, courgettes, onions…. This particular omelette it’s especially nice because it combines the sweetness of the leeks with the saltiness of the feta cheese. It’s a favourite of mine. Continue reading ‘Leek and feta cheese omelette’

Pear, roquefort and pecan nut salad

Published by Lucina, on 4 aprile 2011 in English Recipes and salad. 3 Comments Tags: , .

pear, roquefort and pecan nut salad

Now that the nice season is about to start (at least we hope! This is England after all…) and the days are getting longer and warmer what is better than a nice salad? I LOVE trying different combinations and often order one when I eat out, particularly in the summer. To be honest it’s difficult to go wrong with salads and you can be very imaginative when creating one, if you wish. The days of  the bog standard lettuce, tomatoes, peppers and cucumber are over, I am sure. The one I’m sharing with you today is a firm favourite of mine ( I ADORE blue cheeses!!!). You will have probably come across it before . I am not claiming originality. Even so, this blog is all about what REAL people actually cook. Right? And this is what I made the other night. I really like the combination of the sweetness of the pear and the saltiness of the roquefort cheese.  By the way in Italian there is saying that goes “al contadino non far sapere quanto è buono il formaggio con le pere” (literally translated it means: don’t let the peasant know how good cheese with pears is”). I doubt there will be any peasants amongst our readers hence I’m safe! He he. As to what the saying really means….well…. have a guess people! Continue reading ‘Pear, roquefort and pecan nut salad’

Apple strudel in filo pastry

Published by Lucina, on 29 marzo 2011 in Dolci and English Recipes. 11 Comments Tags: , , .

apple strudel

And after Candi’s budinasso here’s another recipe for those who have a sweet tooth (=i golosi). I made it for my husband’s birthday as he had requested something not too heavy, based on fruit (I confess that these are my favourite types of desserts). What better than an apple strudel, then? Mind you, this is not the traditional one as it’s made with filo pastry, which is rather flaky and crunchy in texture and not what you would find in Austria. Still it is very good. I used a recipe I found on the BBC Food website and slightly adapted it. The secret with filo pastry is to make sure to brush each individual layer with plenty of melted butter. Or it will stick together and you’ll end up with a stodgy mess. Continue reading ‘Apple strudel in filo pastry’

Lamb tagine with prunes and apricots

Published by Lucina, on 24 marzo 2011 in English Recipes and Meat. 2 Comments Tags: .

lamb tagine with prunes and apricots

This is in “memory” of the trip to Morocco Candi and myself went on last year. I love Moroccan food  and for Christmas my lovely sons gave me a fabulous proper red tagine pot (see picture). I decided to christen it the other day by making a tagine with lamb. You might be wondering why I keep on using lamb in my recipes. Well…..it’s because I have done a bulk order of organic  lamb meat via the same vegetables delivery outfit. But you have to spend a minimum of £25, so I have a few pieces in the freezer. Not that I mind as it’s my favourite meat! My sons also gave me a cookery book  (Tagine, spicy stews from Morocco by Ghillie Basan) and it’s in there I found this recipe, which I have slightly adapted. The result is a very moorish , rather  sweet dish as it has quite a bit of fruit in it. It is really tasty and it would probably gain by being made in advance and reheated! I served it with some plain cous cous, to which I added flaked toasted almonds. Continue reading ‘Lamb tagine with prunes and apricots’

Cream of Jerusalem artichokes soup

Published by Lucina, on 20 marzo 2011 in English Recipes and Soup. 4 Comments Tags: .

Jerusalem artichokes

Hands up who has ever come across a Jerusalem artichoke… Well, if you had asked me a week ago what Jerusalem artichokes looked like I wouldn’t have had a clue as I have never used them in cooking before. I thought they were a type of artichoke, judging by the name….I know now, as I found them in my weekly veggies delivery (they must be in season, then), that they look NOTHING like an artichoke!!  As you can see from the picture, which I took to enlighten other ignorant people like me (I have still got a long way to go, haven’t I?), they are a root vegetable and  look like a cross between a potato and ginger . And by the way in Italian they are known as topinambur. Weird by name, weird by nature it would seem…  I had heard of topinambur but, again, I wouldn’t have known what they were and I most certainly wouldn’t have made the connection with the Jerusalem artichoke.  The things I am learning doing this blog! I do believe they eat them in the Piemonte region (with bagna cauda, for example, which is a hot dipping sauce made with oil, butter, anchovies and garlic)  but I am not sure how widely used they are in the rest of Italy. Perhaps Candi will enlighten us.  Anyway,  faced with a bag of what looked like ugly, gnarly potatoes, I started consulting my cookery books and trawling the internet for ideas on how to use these bizarre looking vegetables. Continue reading ‘Cream of Jerusalem artichokes soup’

Spinach and ricotta pancakes

Published by Lucina, on 15 marzo 2011 in English Recipes and Primi. 4 Comments Tags: , , .

spinach and ricotta pancakes

You must have worked out by now that I am a ricotta fan as the last recipe I posted also featured this cheese. The Italian name for this dish is crespelle di ricotta e spinaci. I made it last Tuesday, which was shrove Tuesday ( martedí grasso in Italian), as that’s the  traditional day in England to eat pancakes. The way to eat them here is with a squeeze of lemon juice and a sprinkling of sugar but I fancied something savoury and more substantial. I know it’s a bit of a faff to make the pancakes but the homemade ones taste so much nicer than the ready made ones. Plus you can make them in advance and stuff them at a later stage. There are many recipes for the batter. I used the one I found in the Silver spoon recipe book or Cucchiaio d’ argento, which is the legendary bible of Italian cooking. It used to be owned by all good Italian housewives in the past. Not so sure that’s the case anymore ( Candi, please comment). It has been translated in English and I confess I have both. But enough chatting and let’s get cooking… Continue reading ‘Spinach and ricotta pancakes’

Lemon and ricotta cake

Published by Lucina, on 11 marzo 2011 in Dolci and English Recipes. 4 Comments Tags: , , , .

lemon and ricotta cake

And after the uber healthy recipe from Candi, here’s one with somewhat “naughtier” credentials. Not for people who are slimming, I am afraid.  Mind you, you can’t be good ALL of the time, can you? You have to transgress on occasions. Or how boring would life be? Plus, let’s not forget, a balanced diet is a cake in both hands, as I’ve read somewhere! Ha ha. Anyway, I made this lovely cake a few days ago for yet another book group (the Italian ladies one, this time. You will have guessed by now that I LOVE reading as well as cooking) and it went down a treat! It is made with ricotta  and lemons (the zest. Use untreated, unwaxed ones). It is really moist and utterly delicious. I found the recipe years ago in the BBC Good Food magazine. I have baked it many times and it has never failed me. And it’s so simple to make! If there are any girls out there wanting to impress without much of an effort try this one…. Continue reading ‘Lemon and ricotta cake’

Polpettine d’agnello con sugo di pomodoro

Published by Lucina, on 7 marzo 2011 in English Recipes. 4 Comments Tags: , .

The title of this recipe translated in English would be “mini lamb meatballs in tomato sauce” but I thought the Italian name sounded so much nicer so I used that instead…. Clever, don’t you think? After all this is the tactic posh restaurants use, is it not? Call your dishes with foreign names (usually French) and they immediately sound more sophisticated and expensive. Never mind if people don’t have a clue what they are eating. :-)   Anyway, I hadn’t made meatballs in a very long time and last night I decided I fancied some. Don’t ask me why. I had some organic lamb mince in the fridge I had to use so I thought I would have a go. Making polpette (or meatballs) takes me back to when I was a child and I was watching my grandma cooking. She often made them and yummy they were too. I used to help her to mix all the ingredients and loved every minute of it. Although I have made them with lamb you can use beef mince too. The recipe is enough for 3/4 people. Continue reading ‘Polpettine d’agnello con sugo di pomodoro’

Root vegetables soup

Published by Lucina, on 2 marzo 2011 in English Recipes. 9 Comments Tags: , .

I love a good soup, me! And I often cook one in the course of a normal week. Particularly in winter. There is nothing better, on a cold, wet day (sorry, this is England! ) than a bowl of homemade soup, sprinkled with parmesan ( lots of it ! I AM Italian after all) and  accompanied by some nice bread. And they don’t require any great culinary expertise either. Even a man could cook one, provided he knows how to peel a vegetable ( he he, this is a joke in case it is not clear.. )!  But seriously I  really can’t understand people who buy them ready made as they take no time at all.  I often throw in my pressure cooker whatever vegetables I have available and BINGO! We have soup! The last one I made was particularly nice so I’ve decided to share it with you.

Continue reading ‘Root vegetables soup’