Tag Archive for 'formaggio'

Cheese and spinach soufflé

cheese and spinach soufflé

cheese and spinach soufflé

Boy, am I glad Candida is back!!! The pressure has been taken off me at long last…;-)

This is definitely not a vegan recipe as it has cheese, milk and eggs in it, but hey! the days of cooking vegan are over for the time being. I’ve made this soufflé at least three times, combining various recipes from different sources. I can honestly say it has worked every single time. It has puffed right up and was cooked to perfection. Really quite spectacular!  People are scared of souffles and think they are ever so difficult to make but I beg to differ and would like to reassure you. I reckon that provided you get the right balance of ingredients, souffles are not more complicated than any other dish. Last time I made it I divided the mixture into 8 small ramekins instead of making a big one. That was also successful. So here it is. Follow the recipe and have a go. You”ll see for yourself how easy it is. Of course do bear in mind that souffles have to be eaten straight out of the oven or they will collapse so you need to get the timing right.  If you do I guarantee you will impress your friends! 😉 Continue reading ‘Cheese and spinach soufflé’

Baked cheesecake with blueberries

blueberry cheesecake

I love cheesecakes and I have tried many different ones, using a variety of  soft cheeses like mascarpone or Philadelphia. This one is particularly easy to make but it looks really professional so you could easily impress your friends if you produce one of these. It tastes even nicer the day after (you have to store it in the fridge in that case) so it’s ideal if you have people for dinner and you want to cook ahead. You can make it with other berries like raspberries or blackberries. But I love blueberries so that’s what I chose and I am now sharing with you. Strangely enough I have never seen a cheesecake on sale in Italy (I might be wrong. Do tell me if I am Candi when you get back from Russia) but they are very popular here in the UK and, may I add, in Austria and Germany where we had some delicious ones while we were there on holiday. The recipe is, once again, from Rachel Allen’s book called Bake. Continue reading ‘Baked cheesecake with blueberries’

Pear, roquefort and pecan nut salad

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’

Piattone in crosta

Una ricetta già postata nell’altro blog, ma la primavera sta arrivando e non posso lasciarmi sfuggire questo ultimo sprazzo di fresco e non proporre questo piatto cult della mia famiglia. L’altro giorno ho cucinato il piattone in crosta di sale. Piatto mitico per noi, perché è a base di formaggio (che ci piace tanto) e sembra fatto apposta per essere mangiato insieme chiacchierando, come la fondue, la raclette ecc. Un altro motivo dell’alto carico di affettività mosso da questo piatto è che la ricetta è di Gabriella, da sempre mio punto di riferimento culinario e non solo (!).  Come la raclette si abbina a patate bollite o al vapore (ben spazzolate e servite con la buccia) e sottaceti, soprattutto croccanti cetriolini. Se non si trova il piattone, perché si vive lontano dalla Lombardia, si può provare a sostituirlo con qualche toma o con una formaggella a pasta molle con una leggere crosta bianca. Continue reading ‘Piattone in crosta’