A beautiful bowl of love for early spring evenings, this beautiful aniseed-based broth with lightly braised haricot beans, tomatoes, courgette and fennel is seasoned with a really good Spanish sherry vinegar, chilli and fennel seeds but it’s the punchy mojo verde – a garlicky green herb and garlic sauce originating from the Canary Islands –…
Tag: Sea Salt
La Cecìna Toscana, a Fermented Chickpea Flour Pancake with Rosemary
In pre-Covid times, it always amazed me that having eaten breakfast in England we can be enjoying a late lunch in Italy looking up to the sun and taking in the aromas of the streets: jasmine blossoms and linden trees fighting for our olfactory attention against smokey Vespas, buttery patisserie, melting chocolate, over-ripe peaches, the…
Umbrian Barley, Cavolo Nero and Lemon Soup with Pesto alla Genovese
High up in the hills of Umbria, winters can be long and very cold. A chilled silence wraps itself around the small towns and villages like a damp white cloak and the region falls into a kind of reflective slumber until Easter. Restaurants – at least those that choose to remain open after the feasting…
Greek Ospriada, a Mixed Bean, Bulgur and Herb Salad
Ospriada is a mixture of dried legumes – including black eyed beans, fat and medium white beans, kidney beans, black beans and green lentils – which are gently cultivated on quiet and tranquil organic farms close to the little known Prespa Lakes which are tucked between the borders of Albania ,the former Yugoslav Republic of…
Greek Kritharaki with Lemon, Herbs and Pine Kernels
Here’s a beautifully bright pasta dish to brighten up your day whatever the season. There’s something extraordinarily comforting about eating kritharaki (kριθαράκι) or orzo; it’s the luxe softness of it I think as well as its ability to soak up all your favourite flavours be they rich or light. This vibrant lemony herb-packed recipe is…
Minestra Aromatica, Potato and Arborio Rice Soup with Aromatics
This beautiful recipe is perfect for the early days of a new year when the desire for bright vibrant flavours vies for attention with the long walk towards the spring. This year, more than ever before, I have looked to silence and reflection these past few weeks, a quiet time in order to process everything…
Alsace Caramelised Onion Tart with Gruyère and Tarragon
We tumbled through the door of the packed antique brasserie just opposite the Cathedrale Notre Dame de Strasbourg, our faces flushed from the frosty air and the glasses of gently spiced vin chaud bought from the Christmas market, one of the oldest in Europe. Laughing, perhaps a little too loudly, we grabbed the only remaining…
Piedmont Gnocchi with Charred Purple Sprouting Broccoli and a Creamy Garlicky Sauce
I made ricotta, cavolo nero and lemon malfatti last weekend. By accident. It was gnocchi that I was attempting to make but the mixture was just too soft to shape and cut. No problemo, we love malfatti – an Italian term meaning ‘badly made’, even though it’s made with love and care – and I…
Levantine Labneh with Green Harissa, Roast Cherry Tomatoes and Dukkah
The nearer to Christmas it gets, the further East I travel for recipe inspiration. I suspect that this is greatly influenced by the boxes of dates we used to be given as a child. You may know the ones I mean, the box had a lacy paper lining and a bright label depicting the three…
Elena’s Greek Spanakopita, a Greens, Feta, Anari and Herb Filo Pie with Tahini and Lemon Sauce
Living off the land is something Greeks do as a matter of course and wild greens (horta) are some of the most sought-after food items in nature’s larder. This is a lesson we too can learn, especially right now when fresh greens are sometimes hard to come by (I’m writing this during the Covid-19 lockdown)….
