There’s a beautiful little restaurant high up in Amalfi where the tourists don’t care to venture. This is a good thing. Let them throng by the water’s edge in the packed overpriced ristorantes, trattorias, and osterie. Let them queue for mass produced gelato and garish bottles of limoncello. Let them sit elbow to elbow in…
Tag: Olive Oil
Livorno Balsamic-glazed Red Onion, Ricotta Salata and Olive Tart
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…
Pappardelle Lentil Ragù with a Parmesan, Garlic, Parsley and Lemon Sourdough Pangrattato
The sun languished high in the sky as we walked out of Assisi towards the beautiful Umbrian hill town of Spello renowned for its beauty and quietness where the interconnected weathered stone houses gently cling to the beloved side of Saint Francis’ mountain, Monte Subasio. Leaving via the Porta Nuova, past the striking Basilica di Santa Chiara…
Hawaij Spiced Cannellini and Borlotti Bean Soup with Spinach and Greek Yoghurt
At Carmel Market in Tel Aviv – Shuk Ha’Carmel – all life is laid out for you to savour. Hemp sacks overflowing with dried fruit and nuts, small mountains of ultra-fresh fruit, vegetables and bunches of herbs tied up with string, hundreds of tiny kiosks providing shade for spice masters, street hawkers, bakers, florists, fishermen and…
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…
Picasso’s Omelette Niçoise with a Classic Salade Verte à la Française
For Pablo Picasso, food was a central part of life. From the age of 17, he auctioned his sketches for around one peseta (about the same price as a bottle of house wine) to raise money for his supper at Barcelona’s El Quatre Gats (The Four Cats) restaurant – for whom he designed their classic menu and…
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…
Wild Garlic Chimichurri, a Vibrant Sauce for Spring
Here’s a simple little recipe for you that makes the most of wild garlic. Chimichurri, an essential part of Argentinean and Uruguayan cuisine is a simple herby garlicky sauce sauce/marinade that can be whipped up in minutes. It’s the perfect accompaniment to grilled vegetables, roast potatoes (as I’ve done here), steak, chicken and fish. Yesterday,…
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…
Minestrone alla Genovese with Pesto, a Lovely Soup for Spring Days
At the end of last week I took delivery of a large bag of amazingly fresh vegetables from Goodness Growing which I wanted to use quickly before their crunchy magic started to wain. Of course it’s too warm for heavy winter soups so I decided to make this (very loose) take on a classic Genoese…
Cardamom and Dill 