Mario Matassa shares his verdure piccanti recipe, for preserving a glut of garden vegetables into a piquant pickle that will see you through till next summer. This zesty vegetable preserve is a superb way to utilise your abundance of summer harvest. It bears a strong resemblance to the traditional giardiniera, though the classic version is […]
Mario Matassa’s recipe for chocolate cheesecake with cantucci and mascarpone makes a rich Italian-style dessert, perfect for Christmas or any special occasion. There’s something about cheesecake that feels instantly celebratory, and this Italian-inspired version, made with cantucci biscuits, is no exception. Rich, chocolatey and layered with mascarpone cream, it’s a dessert that manages to be both […]
Stuffed sweet peppers with Italian sausage and cheese make a delicious starter or side in this recipe by Mario Matassa Discerning Italians will cast a disdainful eye on the perfectly symmetrical peppers that sit on supermarket shelves all year round. They’re pretty, but often quite tasteless. The misshapen ones, the ones that have been grown […]
This elegant chocolate ciambella (ring cake) is soft, buttery, and easy to make. Learn how to make it with this recipe by Mario Matassa… There’s something gently nostalgic about a ciambella; the rustic ring-shaped cake with a hole in the centre that earns its name from the Italian word for ‘doughnut.’ In this chocolate ciambella […]
This bruschetta recipe combines sweet grilled peppers with rich mascarpone and gorgonzola, making an irresistible Italian starter. Few things capture the spirit of Italian summer quite like peppers charred on an open flame. Their skins blister and blacken, their flesh softens, and the flavour deepens into something smoky, sweet and faintly addictive. Once peeled and […]
With this simple, step-by-step gnocchi recipe, you’ll soon be making a perfect traditional Italian meal with ease Jump to the recipe In the kitchen, few things bring as much pure joy and comfort as a bowl of steaming, homemade gnocchi. I love pasta, of course, but that’s a dish I eat as a staple. A […]
Indulge in classic cannoli filled with sweet ricotta, chocolate chips, and candied peel. It’s an easy recipe for authentic homemade indulgence in Sicilian style. Jump to recipe Cannoli are one of Sicily’s most celebrated desserts: deep‑fried pastry tubes filled with creamy, sweetened ricotta and studded with dark chocolate and candied peel. Crisp-edged and dusted with […]
These huggie biscuits (biscotti abbracci) combine light vanilla dough with dark cocoa for a crisp, buttery treat. Sweet, simple and perfect with coffee, they’re Italy’s most charming biscuit. For a country so devoted to coffee, Italy has surprisingly few biscuits made specifically to go with it. The abbraccio, meaning ‘hug’, is a joyful exception. One […]
Leave the cream in the fridge – Mario Matassa makes this spaghetti carbonara recipe in traditional Italian style, with simple, high-quality ingredients. The history of carbonara is very short. There’s no reference to it in cookbooks over 50 years old, at least not with this name. There are many stories, of varying credibility, which claim […]
This chocolate and mascarpone mousse is rich, elegant and irresistibly simple to make. With silky white chocolate and a pistachio crunch, it’s a proper Italian treat for dessert lovers. Chocolate might not be the first ingredient you associate with traditional Italian cuisine, but for many of us, it holds a very nostalgic place at the […]