Top Reads this month

Dreaming of long walks in the Tuscan countryside? Don’t know where to go next with your summer recipes?  We look at Florentine cuisine and the use of garlic, we survey a photographic overview of Italy, and we go to the Apennines, Lake Garda, Venice – and even Australia… Florentine: The true cuisine of florence Emiko […]

Southern Italian potato pie

New potatoes are abundant at this time of year and as well as being great boiled, they also bake very well. This layered potato pie will draw all the family round the table … Serves 2 – Preparation 15 minutes – Cooking 35 minutes Ingredients 450g new potatoes, scrubbed salt and freshly ground black pepper 2 onions, peeled, finely […]

Grissini del Relais san Pietro in Polvano

This wonderful grissini recipe was sent to us by our friends at Relais san Pietro in Polvano, Tuscany… Ingredients For the Grissini 500 g Focaccia mix flour 50 g Brewer’s yeast 40 ml Olive oil 220 ml Water To decorate: Sesame or poppy seeds ——————————————————————————————- Knead all the ingredients together well or mix using a bread […]

Risotto rice pudding with stewed plums

Risotto dolce con susine stufate Risotto can work as a dessert too. Here is a fantastic Risotto rice pudding with stewed plums, using seasonal fruit. ➤ Serves 2 ➤ Preparation 10 minutes ➤ Cooking 15 minutes 350ml milk 25g caster sugar 90g arborio or carnaroli rice 1 vanilla pod 75ml double cream 250g plums 1-2 tbsp water 3 amaretti […]

Pea, mint and mascarpone risotto

Risotto ai piselli, menta e mascarpone The pea, mint and mascarpone risotto is one of the great tastes of summer, and it works very well with this creamy cheese. ➤ Serves 2➤ Preparation 10 minutes ➤Cooking 20 minutes 150g peas, fresh or frozen 10 fresh mint leaves 500ml chicken or vegetable stock 1 tbsp olive oil 3 […]

Amaretto Semifreddo

Semifreddo al amaretto ➤ Serves 4 ➤ Preparation 15 minutes plus 4 hours freezing ➤ Cooking 5 minutes This delicious iced dessert, which is almost an ice cream but not quite (semifreddo literally translates as ‘almost cold’), is very easy to make and truly wonderful, combining both amaretti biscuits and the liqueur to make a very grown-up dolce. The cream […]

Baked mushrooms stuffed with spinach, Brie and walnuts

Funghi al forno ripieno di spinaci, brie e noci  ➤ Serves 4  ➤Preparation 10 minutes   ➤ Cooking 20 minutes 3 tbsp olive oil 4 field or Portobello mushrooms, wiped and stalks removed 225g baby leaf spinach 40g walnuts, chopped 100g Brie (or Blue Stilton), cut into small pieces salt and freshly ground black pepper mixed salad leaves and cherry tomatoes […]

Southern Italian layered potato pie

Patate al forno  New potatoes are abundant at this time of year and as well as being great boiled, they also bake very well – use them in this Southern Italian layered potato pie…. ➤ Serves 2 ➤ Preparation 15 minutes ➤ Cooking 35 minutes 450g new potatoes, scrubbed salt and freshly ground black pepper 2 onions, peeled, finely chopped […]