Ricette e Misfatti

Broccoli, feta and sundried tomato salad

Published by Lucina, on 28 giugno 2015 in English Recipes, salad, vegetarian and Verdure. 0 Comments

broccoli, feta cheese and sun dried tomato salad

broccoli, feta and sundried tomato salad

You must be impressed with me considering the amount of healthy stuff I have been blogging recently. Not a cake in sight for ages! What’s wrong with me, eh? Mind you don’t be fooled into believing I haven’t EATEN any cakes! I haven’t tried any new ones lately, that’s all. Anyway, to continue in this healthy frame of mind here is a new salad I made last week, which was packed with flavours and one I am happy to share. Definitely a nice change from your average lettuce, tomato and cucumber salad. The original one, from the Cookie and Kate blog I have already mentioned, is made using raw broccoli but I thought they would be too difficult to digest so I parboiled them for a minute and a half. Still plenty of crunch but easier on the old digestive system. You can substitute the feta cheese with black olives if you wish it to be dairy free. Continue reading ‘Broccoli, feta and sundried tomato salad’

Prawn and spinach curry

Published by Lucina, on 21 giugno 2015 in English Recipes, fish and Pesce. 0 Comments

prawn and spinach curry

Technically speaking this is a bit of a cheat as I didn’t make this curry. It was my youngest son Tom who cooked it for me when I went to visit him. I honestly couldn’t believe how good it was hence I am sharing the recipe with you! I am so glad that both my sons are interested in cooking (and good at it) as it’s such a useful skill to have, whether you are male or female. I always encouraged them to watch/help me while I was cooking when they were little. Something must have rubbed off then! I will definitely have a go at it myself in the very near future as it was delicious (trust me). I am not sure where the recipe comes from but here it is. By the way please note Tomik’s baby sister- Tomik being the china salt dispenser cat which always makes its appearance in my pictures-. Here you have the stripey purple version of it, which was a present from me to my son after my trip to Budapest a few years ago. Candi has the third one (the black and white one). Continue reading ‘Prawn and spinach curry’

Spicy sweet potato hummus

Published by Lucina, on 12 giugno 2015 in English Recipes, starters and vegetarian. 0 Comments

spicy sweet potato hummus

This is a fresh, zingy variation on the traditional hummus. I have made it a couple of times and it has gone down a treat. It’s dead simple to make (you basiclly whizz everything in a food processor). What is particularly nice about it is the lovely orange colour from the sweet potatoes. Ideal to have as part of a buffet or as a starter with some nice pitta bread or raw vegetables. I found the recipe on line from a blog called Cookie and Kate, which looks really interesting. I will have to explore it. There are lots of appealing vegetarian recipes. By the way, don’t worry if you only see me blogging at the moment. The reason Candi has disappeared is that she is having some family problems. But she will be back, I am sure!! Continue reading ‘Spicy sweet potato hummus’

Chickpea, mushroom and spinach curry

Published by Lucina, on 1 giugno 2015 in English Recipes and vegetarian. 0 Comments

chick pea, mushroom and spinach curry

I made this the other night in no time at all and felt very wholesome and healthy as a result. I am sure you can add different spices, etc. but I was in a hurry (this is the dreaded marking season!!) so I simply used curry powder. Much easier! The reason why I did this particular curry was that in my veggie box this week (yes, I started ordering organic veggies again but only once a fortnight!) there were mushrooms and spinach. What to do? I put the ingredients on google and got the idea for the curry. Voilà! Continue reading ‘Chickpea, mushroom and spinach curry’

Spaghetti with courgette, salmon and saffron

Published by Lucina, on 19 maggio 2015 in English Recipes and pasta. 0 Comments

spaghetti with courgette, salmon and saffron

If one wanted one could make a different pasta sauce every day of the year. Pasta is so versatile! And yet we invariably end up making the same sauces, week in week out. Am I right? All we need is a bit of inspiration. So ta dah! Here’s a quick and easy recipe for you to try. It was Manuela, my step mother, who made this lovely pasta dish for me, originally using pancetta. I substituted it with salmon, as I am semi vegetarian now, and I thought it worked very well too. Of course, you can use any kind of pasta you like. So what are you waiting for: it’s quick, it’s easy and it’s tasty! No excuses to make that boring bolognaise sauce or carbonara yet again! Continue reading ‘Spaghetti with courgette, salmon and saffron’

Chickpea, tomato and bread soup

Published by Lucina, on 5 maggio 2015 in English Recipes and Soup. 1 Comment

chickpea, tomato and bread soup

I haven’t blogged a soup for a while and, as you know, I LOVE soups. So the time has come to experiment again. Yes, I know, in Italy probably this is not the right time of the year to make soups (31 degrees in Sicily, apparently! GRRRRR!) HOWEVER this is England and, as you know, you can go from winter to summer and back again to winter in the space of a few hours. Lately the weather hasn’t been so great. In fact the other day the thermometer in my car registered 5 degrees, to my utter dismay!!! INSANE, considering it’s blooming May! So, to cut a long story short, a good soup is never out of place in this country. So here is an amazingly good one for you, courtesy of the mighty Ottolenghi. It has been recommended to me by my sister in law Stefania (thank you!). It’s ideal to make if you have any stale bread (better if sourdough) knocking about. I hate throwing food away , particularly if I have made it (read bread) with my own fair hands. In the last year or so I have made canederli quite a number of times in order to use bread which has gone past its sell by date (see recipe here). But this is an equally good alternative. It’s a cross between a stew and a soup and very filling it is too! One bowl of it and you won’t need much else. Plus you will feel holier than thou as it is very healthy indeed! Continue reading ‘Chickpea, tomato and bread soup’

Milk bread rolls

Published by Lucina, on 26 aprile 2015 in bread and English Recipes. 2 Comments

milk bread rolls

Although I continue baking my own bread I haven’t blogged a new bread recipe for a while now. In fact I haven’t blogged ANY recipes lately, the reason being I went away during the Easter period (Amsterdam then Italy) and, as you know, it’s really hard to get back into the swing of cooking after you have had a break. I tend to go for the tried and tested after a period of inactivity (read: holiday). It takes me a little while to get back into “experiment” mood again. Anyway, I made these rolls today which I had never made before and they were really nice. They are out of the Brilliant Bread book by James Morton (he won one of the Bake Off competitions a few years back). By the way, speaking of bread. My sourdough is now TWO years old. And going strong….:-) Continue reading ‘Milk bread rolls’

White chocolate, almond and raisin clusters

Published by Lucina, on 5 aprile 2015 in biscuits, Dolci, English Recipes and teatime. 3 Comments

Happy Easter everyone! Please note the three little bunnies keeping Tomik company. Aren’t they cute? I’ll blog something quickly. I went to a wedding today and everyone had to take something for the buffet. I kind of made these up taking inspiration from a Paul Hollywood recipe in which he used dark chocolate and peanuts. Anyway, they went down a treat so here they now are for your delight. Continue reading ‘White chocolate, almond and raisin clusters’

Baked mushrooms with ricotta and pesto

Published by Lucina, on 3 aprile 2015 in Antipasti, sfizi, finger food..., English Recipes, starters, vegetarian and Verdure. 0 Comments

baked mushrooms with ricotta and pesto

Here’s a nice, easy starter or indeed a light lunch, for you to try. And very simple too. I used 4 large field mushrooms but it works really well with small chestnut mushrooms. I really like mushrooms and this is an incredibly easy recipe to do. The reason why I decided to try it was that I had a bit of home made pesto left over. All you have to do is mix it with ricotta a bit of extra garlic, if you wish, some grated parmesan and presto! It’s done! The recipe comes, once again, from the BBC good food magazine. Don’t be put off by the not so very appealing picture. The taste is what you have to focus on, which is lovely. Ok, I know you can’t taste the photo but you have to trust me on this one. Continue reading ‘Baked mushrooms with ricotta and pesto’

Lemon drizzle cake

Published by Lucina, on 21 marzo 2015 in cakes and English Recipes. 0 Comments

lemon drizzle cake

Yes, sorry folks! Here’s another “naughty” cake for the delight of your taste buds. Not only that: another lemon based one, to continue with Candida’s theme. I confess I have been too busy at work to experiment in the savoury department but today a friend of mine came to visit to pick up her birthday present so I decided to make an effort and treat her to a slice of home made cake and a cup of tea. Well….you can’t beat that, can you, as a welcome gift. Lemon drizzle cake is very popular here in England and one of my favourites. I love anything lemony, in truth. This one has a lovely, crisp topping which you make by mixing lemon juice with sugar and then pour on top of the warm cake. Delicious! I found it on the BBC Good food website, which is a mine of good recipes. One of the readers said she substituted half of the butter for yoghurt to cut down on the amount of fat. Worth experimenting, I’d say. Continue reading ‘Lemon drizzle cake’

Ricette & Misfatti ↔ Recipes & Misdemeanors