Insalata Caprese Insalata Caprese is a classic mozzarella and tomato salad from the Isle of Capri in the Bay of Naples. Indian water buffalo were introduced to the swampy plains near Naples as draft animals around the 6th or 7th century, and today this area is famous for one of Italy’s most delicious cheeses, Mozzarella […]
Broad Bean Bruschetta Every meal at Lucio’s Paddington restaurant started with bruschetta, a slice of delicious toasted Italian bread, topped with a mound of something seasonal. I love using tender young broad beans during their short spring season to make this broad bean bruschetta. In summer it’s often diced ripe tomatoes; sliced sauteed mushrooms are […]
Trofie al Pesto Genovese I love this classic way of serving pesto – with the beans and potatoes cooked in the same water as the pasta it’s more like a main meal than a starter. This is done with various pasta shapes in Liguria, but the most typical are trenette (a thin flat pasta similar […]
Bruschetta Caprese It’s good to eat with the seasons, but occasionally I want a touch of summer year-round – that’s when I call on a few of my favourite things and create this delicious bruschetta Caprese. Windy Hills Farm pots of living basil are the perfect way to use this summer herb year-round, Vannella’s small buffalo […]
Vegetarian Lasagne I love this vegetarian twist on a classic lasagne, full of spring greens. It’s a bit messy to make, but delicious to eat; the ricotta mixture is much thicker than the béchamel sauce used in a traditional lasagne, so don’t worry that it doesn’t form a perfectly smooth layer – it all evens […]
Spinach & Ricotta Cannelloni Spinach and ricotta cannelloni is an easy dish that can be prepared a few hours ahead of time, then just put in the oven at the last minute – perfect for casual entertaining. I use Barilla cannelloni tubes that don’t need to be cooked before filling, the moisture from the sauce […]
Pesto Tagliatelle How often do you buy a bunch of basil, use a dozen leaves or so in a sauce or salad then wonder what to do with the rest? The answer’s easy, pesto, the famous bright green sauce of Liguria. Pesto means ‘to pound’ as this sauce is traditionally made using a mortar and […]
Eggplant Parmigiana Despite the name, which suggests a connection with the northern Italian town of Parma, Eggplant Parmigiana is typically southern Italian. It’s traditional to Naples and the surrounding countryside, which is famous for the delicate fresh mozzarella made from buffalo milk (I use one from Vannella Cheese), and also popular in Calabria and Sicily. […]
Gnocchi alla Sorrentina This deliciously simple dish is named for the town of Sorrento on Italy’s Amalfi coast. I first ate it at Trattoria Da Ciccio, a family-run restaurant perched on a cliff edge just north of Amalfi, where the tomatoes used are grown on the terraces of the family farm in Scala, a village […]
