Deep in the heart of of the Quartieri Spagnoli – the Spanish Quarter – in the centre of Naples sits a tiny family-run restaurant called Hosteria Toledo. It’s one of our favourites and our go-to place when we arrive in this glorious chaotic city. The family are justifiably proud of their long-held faith in the generous…
Tag: Naples
Neapolitan Ragù of Cannellini Beans with Fragrant Rosemary and Amalfi Chillies
One of the most popular flavours of Neapolitan cooking is peperoncino, the local red chillies that you will see threaded along lines of string and hung across the windows of the teeny tiny domestic kitchens of Naples, and all along the Amalfi Coast, in order to dry in the sun. They are used throughout the year to…
Paulo’s Creamy Cannellini Bean Dip with Parsley and Sicilian Lemon
‘Shopping at the Dandelion Co-op made me feel European. Very Audrey Hepburn as Sabrina in Paris. River picked out goat cheese to spread on crispy-crusted French bread for the picnic, and olives, and a jar of roasted red peppers, and a bar of seventy percent dark chocolate, and a bottle of sparkling water. He bought…
Neapolitan Roast Potato Puttanesca Salad
Naples is everything that you want it to be: imagine crumbling walls plastered with dusty images of Maradona and Sophia Lauren juxtaposed with billowing lines of washing. Everything is slightly chaotic and the air is thick with the aromas of sea, baking bread, melting cheese, ripe peaches, church incense and Vespas. Neapolitan cuisine matches the…
Pignasecca Borlotti Bean & Fig Salad with a Tarragon and Greek Yoghurt Dressing
I have a new love, he is called Napoli and I miss him deeply. Nothing can quite prepare you for a city that mashes up everything that you expect from it with a totally unexpected quiet elegance. It was the street markets in particular that called to me like the ancient and beguiling sirens of…
Italian Herb-marinated Bocconcini
In spring, the meadows of Parque del Monte Subasio near Spello in Umbria are smothered with a carpet of flowers and aromatic herbs; over 80 specimens of them in fact. It is here that peasants used to come after the harsh winter to forage for seasonal pops of flavour to brighten their soups, stews and rustic…
Cardamom and Dill 