Buona Pasqua

      Photo by La Buongustaia

1960's Advertising Postcard

Another beautiful vintage illustration

         Picture sourced from Pinterest

Insalata di Tonno

Tuna Salad

This for me is summer on a plate. Can be made in a variety of different ways. Here below the salad was simply made by using a jar of good quality tuna, vine cherry tomatoes and freshly picked basil leaves (here I chose the tips) all dressed in a good olive oil and a sprinkling of salt (I use Maldon as you can crumble it in with your fingertips).

           Photo by La Buongustaia

To this you may want to add finely sliced onion (white or red or even spring onion). Even a whole garlic clove; just need to let the clove marinade a while, for the flavour to infuse in the salty olive oil.

You can use dry origano instead of basil.

Make sure that it is served with fresh crusty bread of your choosing.

A little tip that was given to me, to remove the harshness from the onion or garlic, is to throw in a few ice cubes! The result is amazing, it will leave you with a delicious juice to soak up with your crusty bread.

Buon Appetito!

            Photo by La Buongustaia

This is the tuna that I use. It is nothing like those sold in tins from the supermarkets however, Carluccio's sell a good quality solid tuna in a tin. It's very much worth paying that little bit extra as the quality is superior.

If not, buy yellowfin tuna in olive oil. Most supermarkets stock this.

Linguine con Tonno

Traditionally made with spaghetti which I do love however, my preference is with linguine. This is my linguine with tuna fillet:

Photo by La Buongustaia

Photo by La Buongustaia

Whilst placing a large pan of water on the boil ready for the Linguine, the salted anchovies can be rinsed in fresh water and then simply split down the centre on the underside using my fingerstips to remove the bone all in one piece.

Photo by La Buongustaia

They are then added together with the crushed clove of garlic, chilli flakes and olive oil on a low heat. Eventually the anchovie fillets will disintegrate completely leaving a brownish salty essence. When this happens, add the tin of chopped tomatoes.

Photo by La Buongustaia

Leave the tomato sauce on a very gentle simmer for about 10 minutes or so before adding the tuna fillet.
Now the pan of water should be ready to throw in the Linguine.

Photo By La Buongustaia

Drain a little of the surplus olive oil from the jar and add the tuna fillet to the tomato sauce. Stir gently and then remove from the flame.

             Photo by La Buongustaia

Finely chop flat leaf parsley ready to add when turning the pasta into the tuna sauce at the end.

Photo by La Buongustaia

          

Pane Pomodoro

            Photo by La Buongustaia

Simply meaning bread with tomato, this is from the Puglia region, a so called peasant snack. But far from it! This one uses up stale rustic bread (Sourdough will do) as bread should never get thrown away.

The bread is sliced into chunks and soaked just slightly with water.

Using these small cherry type tomatoes from the vine, the innards are sqeezed evenly onto the bread surface and the skins are then torn and placed on top. Add just a touch of pressed garlic and sprinkle with dry origano, salt, then drizzle with the best olive oil that you have.

Buon Appetito!

Tomatoes are harvested throughout the summer months in Italy. Vine tomatoes are then laced onto string and hung, so as to have a supply of fragrant tomatoes during the colder months.

          Photo by La Buongustaia

Pasta Fave

I love this pasta dish, so simple yet so hearty and comforting as it comes with it's own flavoursome broth.

Ideally to be made when broad beans are in season, which is usually around the beginning of spring in Italy. Broad beans are at their best when tender and small. I used to buy them by the carrier full to then pod them, beautifully fresh. Other times I would get given carriers of broad beans from the locals, those who had a little land to grow their own fruit and vegetables. 

I would pod enough to make this dish, with plenty left to be eaten raw, accompanied with fresh rustic bread. If any left over after that, I would pod and bag up, ready to freeze, so to have broad beans throughout the year.

             Photo by La Buongustaia

For 2 persons, all you need is a couple of tbsp of good olive oil.

1/2 a medium sized white onion finely chopped.

100g of Good quality frozen or freshly podded broad beans

125g of Pasta Lumache (Small snail shaped pasta).

1 Vegetable stock cube (Dado Star) used instead of salt.

* Optional, a tsp of lard. I use lard to add richness and depth.

               Photo by La Buongustaia

In a small saucepan pour in the olive oil and add lard. 

Sweat the finely chopped onion on a very gentle heat, until the onion softens and becomes translucent.

Stir in the podded broad beans and let them take on the flavour of the onion for about a minute or so. 

Pour in enough water to cover the tops of the beans, I use cold. 

Add vegetable stock and bring to a very gentle simmer. Leave on a simmer for 40/50 minutes, slightly covered.

Now cook the pasta in plenty of boiling water with the addition of sea salt. This time about 5g. We have added a vegetable stock cube to the beans which will bring this pasta dish plenty of flavour, without the need of additional salt.

When the pasta has almost cooked, drain and add to the beans. 

Continue cooking the pasta with the beans until the pasta is 'al dente'. 

Serve into deep dishes and....

Buon Appetito! 

               Photo by La Buongustaia

              Photo by La Buongustaia

                Photo by La Buongustaia

               Photo by La Buongustaia

After a gentle simmer for about 40 minutes the broad beans take on a deeper colour. Believe me the flavour is just divine.

               Photo by La Buongustaia

The Art of Cooking Pasta

If there is just one essential to master in the kitchen, make sure it is this; a foundation to many Italian dishes.

Now in spite what it says on the packet, there is an art in cooking pasta perfectly. Master this and your pasta dishes will be as good as, if not only better than anything you've had from an Italian restaurant.

If like me, I'm very fussy when it comes to pasta. Pasta can make or break a dish. Cook pasta perfectly and you're in food heaven. Cooked incorrectly and the dish is not worthy of eating.

I was lucky enough whilst living in Italy to have the guidance of masters.

If using packet pasta..and out there, there are so many different types and varieties...

Beautiful Vintage Poster

Sourced from Pinterest

I have collected many pins from Pinterest, and all so very inspirational. Absolutely love this vintage Cirio poster of their tinned tomatoes.

Pasta Piselli/ Pasta with Peas

This is another very simple pasta dish with very few ingredients. Perfect for the cold months as this is served almost like a soup.

            Photo by La Buongustaia

             Photo by La Buongustaia

For 2 persons, all you need is a couple of tbsp of good olive oil.

1/2 a medium sized white onion finely chopped.

100g of Good quality frozen or freshly podded garden peas.

125g of Pasta Ditalini lisci or similar  (small tube shaped pasta).

1 Vegetable stock cube (Dado Star) used instead of salt.

* Optional, a tsp of lard. I use lard to add a richness and depth. It is up to you.

            Photo by La Buongustaia

In a small saucepan pour in the olive oil and add lard. 

Sweat the finely chopped onion on a very gentle heat, until the onion softens and becomes translucent.

Stir in the garden peas and let them take on the flavour of the onion for about a minute or so. 

Pour in enough water to cover the tops of the peas, I use cold. 

Add vegetable stock and bring to a very gentle simmer. Leave on a simmer for 40 minutes, slightly covered.

          Photos by La Buongustaia

Now cook the pasta in plenty of boiling water with the addition of sea salt. This time about 5g. We have added a vegetable stock cube to the peas which will bring this pasta dish plenty of flavour, without the need of additional salt.

When the pasta has almost cooked, drain, retaining some of the cooking water behind and add to the peas. Continue cooking the pasta with the peas until the pasta is 'al dente'. 

Serve into deep dishes and....

Buon Appetito! 

          Photo by La Buongustaia

Diced pancetta can also be added to this pasta dish. Just sear the pancetta in olive oil before adding the finely chopped onion.

Mangia Mangia

A phrase often used meaning 'eat,eat!'

An endearing invite to join in and eat.

This is what I love! Food is not just a means of putting something on the table for the sake of eating. Food is a means of sharing what has been lovingly prepared with those you care most about. There is nothing more fulfilling.

Le Chiacchiere di Carnevale

                 Photo by La Buongustaia

Just found my notes that I had written many years ago whilst living in Italy. This is just one of them, a classic sweet to celebrate 'Martedi Grasso' (Shrove Tuesday) and made throughout the season of carnevale, a celebration period before the fasting of Lent...'Le Chiacchiere di Carnevale'

The Italians celebrate what we call Pancake day by making these beautifully delicate deep fried sweet pastries, dusted with icing sugar. 

Every family will have their favourite version of this recipe, with some using grappa instead of wine. This is my favourite 'tried and tested' recipe given to me by a lady who I called Zia Lucia (Auntie Lucy).

The sweet pastry is made to the same consistancy as homemade pasta and treated in the same way by making it into lasagne sheets, using a pasta machine or, rolled out by hand very thinly with a large rolling pin.

Le Chiacchiere di Carnevale

Recipe translation to follow...

Measurements are done by a glass tumbler (these were measured out using a 200g Nutella glass).

8 Eggs

1 Glass of White Wine

1 Glass of Butter

1 Sachet of 'Pane degli Angeli' (baking powder with a hint of vanilla)

1/2 Glass of Caster Sugar

A Pinch of Salt

1 1/2 Kg of Plain Flour (thereabout) 

Pane degli Angeli

           

  Photo by La Buongustaia

You can place all of the ingredients either into a mixer or work the ingredients onto a floured surface, by combining firstly flour, sugar, salt and Pane degli Angeli (baking powder). Make a well in the center and incorporate a bit at a time the beaten egg and then the softened butter and white wine, until a ball of soft non sticky dough is formed.

Leave to rest covered for at least 1/2 hour. I normally wrap my dough in clingfilm and place back into the mixing bowl.

Now divide the dough into workable amounts to feed into a pasta making machine with rollers for making lasagne.

If you don't have a machine, you can roll the pasta out on a floured surface to the thickness of lasagne sheets.

Cut the sheets into strips...

A Ravioli Cutter

Spaghetti Aglio Olio & Peperoncino

             Photo by La Buongustaia

This very famous pasta dish has to be one of the simplest but at the same time the tastiest.

Better than any fast food, made up with only a few ingredients, you can rustle this up as soon as you get back home from a very busy day in no time. You will feel rewarded knowing that you had made this pasta dish from scratch. 

              Photo by La Buongustaia

For 2 persons, in a shallow saucepan or better still a small frying pan, pour in 2-3tbsp of good olive oil, add a slightly crushed clove of garlic, and add a couple of tsp of chilli flakes. Heat on a very low flame so that the oil has time to infuse and the garlic has turned golden in colour.

I love mine with plenty of garlic and chilli. Adapt the recipe to your own tastes.

 

               Photo by La Buongustaia

Tip: Per person, 100g of spaghetti to 1lt of boiling water with 10g of salt. 

              Photo by La Buongustaia

Bring a large pasta pot of water to a rapid boil with the addition of sea salt. Add spaghetti and stir so that the pasta doesn't stick for the first couple of minutes. Leave to boil slightly covered for the desired time of just under al dente. Adjusting the flame accordingly so that the water doesn't boil over. 

Drain pasta, leaving a little of the cooking water aside. Now add the spaghetti to the saucepan with the garlic and chilli infused oil, over a low heat and toss for about a minute. An emulsion will have formed by the combination of the pasta water and the infused oil.

Remove from heat and serve directly into dishes.

              Photo by La Buongustaia

Buon appetito!

Memories...

A continuation of 'How it all started'. Christmases were and are still now so very special. Each year amongst my gifts of books, clothes and toiletries I would find special gastronomic treats such as; chocolate from Switzerland and these below from Italy.

Somehow having such a very busy mother growing up wasn't so bad after all, as she would collect stocking fillers on her business travels.

I remember treats like these were not available in the UK back then. I would collect the very pretty tins as keepsakes.

I remember too having a beautiful parcel of Panforte and a box of Ricciardelli biscuits. I would savour them slowly as I knew that they were not easily available. 

Kitchenalia

Another passion of mine is kitchenalia. I've been lucky enough to try out many kitchen gadgets/equipment that I have been able to select the best for what is really needed in the kitchen

Pasta Pots

This is what I currently have, made by Le Creuset. Perfect simple design for ease of use. The large pasta pot can also be used as a stock pot. A good multitasking pot. 

When the pasta has cooked, all you have to do is lift the upper section up to drain the pasta from the cooking water immediately. No need anymore for a spaghetti fork or slotted spoon to try catch the last pieces of pasta swimming around. Life made easy!

Love this pasta pot by Bialetti. I had a colbolt blue one many years ago and would love to replace it again with the one above. So simple to use. No need to drain your pasta in a colander as you can strain the water from the pasta straight away with the perforated lid as soon as the pasta has reached the desired consistency. Perfect!! 

Pasta Rollers

Pasta rollers by KitchenAid. 

This is a must if you love making homemade pasta and lucky enough to possess a KitchenAid. So quick and easy to use you'll won't want to dismantle the pasta rollers from your mixer once you have them in place. 

Lasagne sheets, tagliatelle and linguine can be made with so much ease. 

Garlic Crusher

           Photo by La Buongustaia

For me the Royal VKB garlic crusher is the best on the market. I've had so many different types including the traditional garlic press but found that if the many holes weren't cleaned correctly you were left with a strong taint of garlic lingering in a kitchen drawer, which is not very pleasant. This instead is a solid brushed stainless steel mini rolling pin with teeth, so you can press multiple cloves of garlic at a time. It has a flattened edge also so that you can crush garlic. Excellent also when you need large amounts of garlic in a recipe. The brushed stainless steel bar acts also as a steel soap under running cold water to rid your hands of the smell of garlic. Not forgetting, so so easy to clean... Excellent!

             Photo by La Buongustaia

To be continued...

Photos sourced from Pinterest unless otherwise stated.

Buon Sabato e Buon Appetito

Alberto Sordi (Albertone)

         Photo sourced from Pinterest

One of my favourite Italian comedy actors          

perhaps eating a beautiful simple 'Spaghetti aglio olio e pepperoncino' 

 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alberto_Sordi