Livorno, Tuscany’s quintessential port town on the southernmost edge of the Ligurian Sea, possesses a colourful history and a cosmopolitan heritage. My kind of place. Its shabby historic quarter – known as the Tuscan Venice – is crisscrossed with jade green canals along which skittish brown boys manoeuvre their launches as they attempt to coolly navigate…
Category: Pies and Tarts
A Vibrant Mediterranean Tart with a Wild Garlic Salsa Verde
Yesterday’s rainy afternoon came over all productive with some contemplative baking alongside a backdrop of traditional Greek music. The result was this caramelised onion, roasted plum tomato and mozzarella tart garnished with rocket leaves, fresh basil and toasted pine kernels. When it came to supper time, we turned down the lights, turned up the music…
Auntie Nadia’s Ftayer Sabanekh
To help us feel connected during the current lockdown, my friend Meg from Feeding the Rest and I are trying out each other’s recipes, adding our own twist and adapting them according to what’s available in the food stores. Yesterday, I used one of her beloved family recipes for her Auntie Nadia’s ftayer sabanekh, a small savoury…
Roast Chestnut, Mushroom and Oloroso Sherry Tart
A nigh on perfect Andalusian tart for a bright autumnal Sunday lunch. All butter pastry encased around caramelised red onions, wild mushrooms, roast chestnuts, fresh lemon thyme and gently stirred with fragrant oloroso sherry and a generous knob of butter. I put some pieces of creamy citrusy Caerphilly cheese on top of this one just to…
Jerez Caramelised Shallot Tarte Tatin with Oloroso Sherry
It may seem crazy talking about Easter as we quietly start the dance with autumn but we’ve just returned from Italy and all I had in my kitchen was a pack of frozen puff pastry, some slightly bedraggled banana shallots and a half a bottle of Oloroso, the sweet robust fortified wine of Jerez de…
Cardamom and Dill 