Archive for the 'rice' Category

Thai red prawn curry

Published by Lucina, on 7 maggio 2016 in Cucina regionale, English Recipes, fish and rice. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .
Thai red prawn curry

Thai red prawn curry

Hello hello hello and welcome back to me (and to messing about in the kitchen). I confess that not much experimentation has been going on in the last month or so.  What a lazy so and so. In my defence this is mainly due to the fact that I was in Italy for 2 weeks. When I get back from my holidays I am always out of the swing for a little while. This doesn’t mean I am not doing any cooking, you understand, but I tend to opt for the tried and tested. Anyway, enough trying to justify myself. And what’s wrong with being a bit lazy in the kitchen, now and again?. 😉 This recipe comes from the Jamie Oliver’s 30 minutes meals recipe book which I must admit, I haven’t used all that much. Anyway I was astounded by how good this curry tasted and how easy it was to make. I thoroughly recommend it. I slightly adapted it. For example in the original recipe Jamie uses two different types of prawns: the bog standard ready cooked ones and some raw ones. Well, bollocks to that. Too complicated! I went for the easy ready cooked option and ignored the raw ones, which incidentally made the recipe even easier. Also Jamie cooks sugar snap peas in the curry. I chose to serve them separately, hence they are omitted from the recipe. Continue reading ‘Thai red prawn curry’

Venere rice with courgette and prawns

Published by Lucina, on 4 febbraio 2015 in English Recipes and rice. 2 Comments Tags: , , .
Venere rice with courgettes and prawns

Venere rice with courgettes and prawns

If you have never come across this unusual rice let me enlighten you. Venere rice is a black/purply wholegrain rice which has only relatively recently become known. Originally from China, it is now cultivated in Italy too. Would you believe it was served at the Emperor’s of China court? Apparently it was called the forbidden rice as it was said to be a potent aphrodisiac (hence its name. Venere- Venus in English- was the goddess of love). Well, I can’t pronounce myself on that alleged property but what I will say is that it’s got a very interesting look and texture! AND it would seem it is rich in essential amino acids, fibre, phosphorous and Vitamin B5 and is full of minerals like calcium, iron, zinc and selenium. It has a high content of anthocyanins which are powerful antioxidants. So it would seem this amazing black  rice is very good for your health AND your love life! :-) Unfortunately it is not widely available  here in the UK. I managed to buy a packet in a wholefood shop in London but I have never seen it up North. In Italy, however, you can buy it in any well stocked supermarket. The recipe I am blogging seems to be well known as there are many on the web. I really enjoyed its nutty, unusual flavour and I thought the combination of prawns and courgettes worked really well. Continue reading ‘Venere rice with courgette and prawns’

Asparagus, broad beans and herbs risotto

Published by Lucina, on 1 giugno 2014 in English Recipes, Primi, rice and vegetarian. 1 Comment Tags: , , , , .

broad beans, asparagus and herbs risotto

This delicious risotto was made by my dear friend (and chemo buddy) Cairine who took pity on my broken leg (and on the fact I was home alone for the week ) and invited me over for dinner. What you must know is that cooking is not her forte (or so she says. I am beginning to doubt it, to be honest) so she was feeling slightly terrified at the prospect of cooking her favourite risotto to an Italian person  who, on top of that, runs a blog. But she needn’t be, as it was simply delicious! AND she used her iron cast pot (see photo below)! I helped her to stir it and to add the stock but she did it all on her own. The proof I really enjoyed it is that it’s now on my blog. So well done Cairine and thank you for the inspiration!! I’ll definitely make it again! By the way the recipe comes from the Riverford organic farm website. Continue reading ‘Asparagus, broad beans and herbs risotto’

Pumpkin risotto

Published by Lucina, on 23 marzo 2014 in English Recipes, rice and vegetarian. 0 Comments

pumpkin risotto

I love risottos  and this one is one of my very favourites particularly since I discovered a variety of pumpkins which is really nice and ideal to cook with. I  recently found it at a farmer’s market in Edinburgh and was pleasantly surprised as this is not the season for pumpkins. Perhaps they keep for a long time. Who knows? I had bpought it before at a local organic vegetable shop but unfortunately it is not that easy to get hold of. It’s quite small and it’s a light green colour.  The flesh is  dark orange and it’s really dense. Completely different from the watery consistency you get with the Halloween type of pumpkins (which are rather tasteless in truth). I gather this would be ideal to use to make the traditional American pumpkin pie, which I have never tried but it’s on my hit list. As the skin of this pumpkin is rather hard and woody and it would be very difficult to peel I decided to gently roast it in the oven first for approx. 40 minutes. Then I scooped the flesh out, chopped it up and used it for my risotto. Delicious! It was so creamy and tasty I decided not to put any butter in it. I have also tried making it with pearl barley ( a pumpkin  orzotto in other words) and it was equally nice. Continue reading ‘Pumpkin risotto’