Meatballs and polenta

This is actually a repost with a new picture of the meatballs Elke does and we (including little Matteo like a lot). We just had them with polenta instead of boiled poattoes ... lovely!

(Leggi la ricetta --- Read the recipe)

Risotto Nero with King Prawns

This is a recipe we did sometime ago and we fell in love with. It is not very different from another risotto nero I made with squid .... but this time the combination is more spicy and powerful due to the prawns.
It is not an easy one and it might take more than indicated the very first time. But it is worth! If you try it, consider preparing more prawns an keeping them at hand ....

(Leggi la ricetta --- Read the recipe)

Risotto with Apple and Black Pudding

I have only two regret for this dish we just finished to eat. One, it is finished. Two, I did it after Christmas. Why the latter? This is a great dish perfectly suited for the Christmas celebrations!

Honestly, I made this out of instinct and despite my hate for cooked apples. The result is simply stunning. A delicate savory dish, where the few ingredients combine perfectly. Mmmmmm .....

(Leggi la ricetta --- Read the recipe)

Risotto with mushrooms and salmon

Cold is coming. Here in Belgium we have a 3C maximum today ... and yesterday was less cold but more humid. Result, I am suffering like crazy. Today I even woke up with my hands kind of frozen! Luckily the little one suffer less.

So, what better dish in a cold winter than a stofvlees (see here) and a risotto. And given that mushrooms are still around and that salmon is somewhat a Christmas ingredient. here I present you a nice warm risotto that would be perfect as a starter for the coming eating events!!

(Leggi la ricetta --- Read the recipe)

Turkey rolls with cheddar cheese

Comfort food ... this is what this recipe is about. Easy, tasty and fast.

Actually the opposite of what I cooked today, since it took me 4 hours from start to eating. What was it? A (almost) traditional moussaka, whose recipe I will post later this week. Since it was very tasty and very tiring, thus no energy left to write it down!

(Leggi la ricetta --- Read the recipe)

Lasagne with sausage

Busy busy busy. And in the meantime I have done this dish twice. A lasagna that takes a classic and makes it simpler by replacing meatballs with sausage. Still super tasty. But yet it seems that this dish brings a bit of bad luck to our guests.

It might have been coincidence, but we did this twice for guests and in both cases .... our guests got sick at the last minute and we were left with a huge lasagna. This time we could eat from it 3 days in a row. Still, this dish is so tasty ... that we did not mind. Sorry for our friends :-)

(Leggi la ricetta --- Read the recipe)

Pasta with roasted green paprikas and capers

Whoever or better every Italian or actually Southern person living in cold lands (like Belgium for me) knows that there are some ingredients that simply aren't tasty there. One of them is surely paprikas or bell pepper.

For me they are normally nice and colorful (even orange) but pretty bland in taste. Now, I mentioned sometime ago that we take a surprise veggie box every week with biological and seasonal stuff from local farmers. Last time there were green paprikas ....

And when I heard, I was a bit annoyed of getting such a useless thing ... until I did not see them. Long, small, thin. They smelled right. They seemed the real thing ... I took a bite at one raw. It was the real thing. So, here they went into the oven for a traditional oven baked recipe (excluding olives since Elke does not like them). I used quite some sicilian capers (great ones from my friend Minouche, see here). And used in this pasta dish (probably italians might horrify at what I did).

Not great looking, but really tasty. Even our little Matteo loved it. We had to show him the empty plates and pots to make him stop asking for it!

(Leggi la ricetta --- Read the recipe)

Tagliatelle fava and pecorino

Well, I just said in my last post I love autumn and I am here posting a recipe based on an ingredient that in southern countries if from spring, but here in Belgium is form the summer. Its season ending as I write.

I cannot avoid doing so!

This dish is a work out of a traditional combination form the Rome area. Something typical of a picnic. Here I simply changed the way things are served and made it into a pasta dish with stunning result. Please note that while cooking takes very little ..... cleaning the fava will take an hour or two!!! But it is definitively worth it.

(Leggi la ricetta --- Read the recipe)

Pasta and feta salad

Holidays are over just like the summer. This time they were short and plagued by poor health, strong fatigue and coughing. Somebody feared the Mexican flu ... Not all was bad. There was cooking, lot of photography (mostly for Matteo, seen his blog lately?), some eating, seeing family after a long time ... and, I though end of all pains.

Well, for one thing I was wrong ... thanks to a careless movement on monday, I am now stranded home with a back slash causing pain when I walk, stand-up or sit-down, when I drive, bend ... damn! Should go away fast, but in painful way.

Sure I can't cook, but since I have some backlog of recipes ... given my lack of mobility if not with pain, I decided to share a recipe we did this summer and that is so easy that maybe even I can cook in this condition. Nothing fancy, just a version of traditional south italian dish called crudaiola ... but made international-friendly.

(Leggi la ricetta --- Read the recipe)

Ricotta and Courgette Tart

It has took sometime before I posted a new recipe. Reason is busy time in my new job and also the fact that last week we were away from home .... thus, away from my mac. This recipe is something fitting perfectly the season. Light and fresh.

And I served it with something adding some acidity to the entire dish, a little purslane salad.

(Leggi la ricetta --- Read the recipe)

Tagliata

Another classical dish ... but honestly, it is so hot here in Belgium that the best dishes are the ones served lukewarm if not cold. And the Tagliata is the best way to serve a steak in this kind of weather. Sure, we did not use the Chianina beef since impossible to find here ... btu we had wild rucola (yes form the veggie box I mentioned earlier.

I guess I have nothing more to add ... summer has arrived, at least here. Honestly, I prefer a colder weather ... or this weather at the beach!!! Ciaooo.

(Leggi la ricetta --- Read the recipe)

Orecchiette e Rape

Probably the shortest and simplest recipe I ever posted .... but yet, as I grew up in Puglia, this one needed to be posted. And yes almost everybody knows about this dish ..... but outside of Italy almost everybody uses broccoli. Well, if you can't find anything else, broccoli is ok .... However, I feel it impossible for not finding at least once any sort of turnip greens. Most of the times they get thrown away even. Nevertheless, I admit it is difficult to get a veggie shop to keep them .... and, in fact, this is the first time I managed in 12 years of living abroad!

How? As I said in an earlier post, we receive a surprise veggie pack every week (not this one sigh). Last time we got some weird leaves looking like giant rucola, but tasting funny when raw .... it took me a while to understand they were rape. And I probably was the only one (among the people getting them) have a clue of how to use them. That's because here they throw them away and eat the roots only.

This was an honestly deliciouslunch for us. The only bad thing is that I did not have enough rape (yes the photo is ok .... because I removed some pasta).

(Leggi la ricetta --- Read the recipe)

Gray Shrimps Carbonara

This is one of those recipes that I wanted to do since I discovered gray shrimps or Dutch Shrimps or Grijze Garnalen or one of the many other names they have. They are so tasty and small that to me they always appeared as the perfect replacement of bacon in the traditional carbonara recipe. Great replacement since they make the dish both tastier and lighter!

I am aware that it might be difficult to find them (and be warned that they can only be bought cooked, and I here refer to the cooked & peeled even). If this appears to be the case to you, try to get some king prawns (yes the gray looking ones) and use them chopped. It won't be the same, but it would give you an hint on how good this pasta really is!!

(Leggi la ricetta --- Read the recipe)

Coq au vin

It might seems strange that an italian decides to cook and even blog a traditional french dish, but the truth is .... I love this dish, even if this was the first time I ever made it!

I found its recipe in a book that I like in culinary terms, "The French Kitchen" by Harris & Warde. And I have been staring at this recipe for years ... and I am not kidding. But every time U was about to do it, time ran away or we ended-up making another dish based on chicken, a belgian one (which I will be also posting shortly).

I really liked this recipe ... but as Italian I cannot judge its authenticity, thus ... while everybody waits for teh results of DMBLGIT ... I hope somebody decides to reply to this post telling me what should be changed or variants to this dish. Thanks in advance.

Ah I forgot ... thid edition of DMBLGIT had really fantastic entries !!!! Results will be out next tuesday!

(Leggi la ricetta --- Read the recipe)

Classic vegetarian lasagna

First of all .... come come and join DMBLGIT!!! Send your best photos. Already 24 bloggers joined and 5 judges!


Now back to cooking ... I am in a lasagna mood. The one of today is not the last of the series, since tomorrow I will attempt yet another one. Tomorrow will be rather on the heavy side just like the Lasagna Bolognese I recently posted. Thus in between ... here is a light lasagna dish. A classic, since shen in Italy we speak about vegetarian lasagna, it means with ricotta cheese and spinach.


And yes, use frozen ones .... they work much better for once.

(Leggi la ricetta --- Read the recipe)

Lasagne alla Bolognese

My last post .... quite last since it took me more than a week to find time to write things down for a new post again ... where was I, yes ... my last post proposed a recipe which was based on a spanish dish, deconstructed and destructed by a french chef (note taste is subjective ...) and finally completely altered by an italian. Lovely for us ... hopefully for others too.

This time I go very conservative. Not because I have not been experimenting. Actually my lack of posts in the last ten days can be also attributed among other things to too much cooking. But because this is one of those simple recipes I actually never made before! I have done many lasagne, one is going in the oven today as well, but never the traditional one!!

Of course, as this dish is from 800km far from where I grew up in Italy, I never had access to a real grandmother recipe for it. Thus, I cannot assert here this is a DOC recipe. However, it cannot be too far off. And one thing is sure .... it is simply a fantastic Lasagna. you might wander how come I went back to basics .... well, I was a bit fed-up of seeing Elke tempted by the pre-made version in the supermarket, so I simply did it !!! Ciaooo and have a good sunday!

(Leggi la ricetta --- Read the recipe)

Squid, chorizo and risotto nero

This time it is all about experimenting. Few years ago I saw in the finals of Masterchef on the BBC that one contestant was working, as a test, in the kitchen of Hélène Darroze. Her signature dish was a risotto with squid and chorizo. I have been thinking of doing such a dish since.

Now, after a few years, I have found the recipe ... and I got horrified. She uses cream in the risotto and foams and goose fat. This alone made me feel like reject for her signature dish. But the combination chorizo-squid did not want to leave my head. What could I do? Well, I simply created a completely new dish.

My basic idea is that the risotto should be light and dominated by the taste of the squid ink. The chorizo and squid should dance with their flavors in a sauce. Fresh tomato and lemon juice should be there to freshen everything. Not Parmesan but pecorino is the cheese for squid. Finally, not a foam but a parsley pesto is needed to give even more freshness. And the result is ... well read the recipe !!!

As a final note, the new header is actually this dish!!!

(Leggi la ricetta --- Read the recipe)

Risotto with fresh salami

Now as I mentioned in my previous post while introducing ATOM, I am back experimenting and exploring. Experimenting new combinations and flavors, and exploring more and more local ingredients.

The risotto you see in the photo is the first of the few results from my last exploration, not experimentation. We have recently discovered that Belgium has many farms where it is possible to buy cheese, milk, meat and cured meat like ham .... and salami. A couple of weeks ago it happened that we visited this farm, which makes really nice cheeses. And in doing so ... we ended-up to visit a farm of one of their relatives producing fresh meat and cured meat.

Excited I took, among other things, a salami or dried (cured) sausage ... just to find out at home that it was still too fresh. What to do? Fresh salami is no ready to be eaten .... so, I made a risotto out of it. Added some good quality saffron and a piquant cheese (called pikantje) from the other farm. This dish won't win as refined food, but the taste was simply bursting with flavor and creaminess. Will be eaten again .... in two week we are back at the farms and I will buy lots of cured sausages (hoping they are still fresh) !!!

(Leggi la ricetta --- Read the recipe)

A.T.O.M. Italy: Gnocchi !!!!

Yes it has been a very long silence on this blog ... and the reason is the usual one. Long sickness causes a lot of things to pile up ready to be done once the sickness is gone. Not only work, but also family or friends related. This has resulted in me not cooking for a couple of weeks!!! So bad for me!!! But things are changing so expect some interesting new risottos coming up soon.

Enough for excuses. You might be wondering what's up with the post title and those little photos up there. Well, it seems I got well just in time not to miss to host the third round of a new blogging event created by Tony from the Olive Juice: "A taste of the Mediterranean" or simply ATOM. It is an event that let people travel (in a culinary sense) across Mediterranean sharing dishes and stories. 

You can find all details here and here .... from my side, I am honored to be your guest for the round concerning Italy!!! Yes Italy .... and I had to come up with a theme for people to play with. An Italian theme. Of course the post title says it all ... the theme is GNOCCHI !!!!

And I could not stop myself from putting up the first photo of gnocchi I ever did (almost 5 years ago). Now you might wonder, why gnocchi? Well, initially I was thinking of pasta .... but fresh pasta either requires to use a machine or it is rather difficult to do. But pasta did not want to leave my head as a theme. Thus, I picked the weirdest and simple pasta of all ... gnocchi.

Gnocchi are extremely easy to make. You only need potatoes, flour, a masher and a sieve. No machine. No secret ingredients.  And they are versatile. Traditionally they should be passed at the fork (see Tony's post here), but in practice this is needed only with more liquid or tomato sauces. I am lazy and skip this step most of the times. Easy to combine. Potatoes can be replaced (totally or partially) with ricotta, celeriac, spinach, pumpkin, carrots, etc. etc. I love making gnocchi .... but I hate taking photos of them since not an easy task.

And to conclude, what did I do with gnocchi? I kept is very very simple. Since I am always in favor of simple dishes. This time I made traditional gnocchi served with buttered spinach and salmon. A classical combination (potatoes, salmon and spinach) not often served in this way.

Well, enough talking ..... check the ATOM rules and let your fantasy come out. And above all .... enjoy making gnocchi!!! And of course check my recipe a well !!!!

PS: Remember .... EGGS should not be used in gnocchi !!! But if you really can't manage without ... well, go ahead.

(Leggi la ricetta --- Read the recipe)

My take on meatloaf

And finally I got over my sickness. No more antibiotics. No more red pills. No more coughing and slime. No more high temperature. No more feeling weak. It is over .... after almost a month. I now know how hard is a lung infection, and I do not want it any longer.

And life re-start busier than ever ... I guess like for everybody after a illness, there is even more to do in terms of work and normal life that needs getting on with. So nothing better to get moving than forgetting the light lasagna of the previous post ... and get to eat a simple but rather "filling" meatloaf. My own version of meatloaf that mixes elements form Italy (the wonderful Castelrosso cheese), british elements (e.g. Worcestershire sauce) and even belgian ones (breadcrumbs-based crust). A mix ... a bit like me. And yes it is fatty .... but I plan to do it soon again

Since I am recovered, I want to finish with a wish to a person, a fantastic chef and blogger, who just underwent a serious surgery. Wish you all the best Lori and hope your recovery is quick and less painful than expected. We (italian) blogger think of you. Ciao.

(Leggi la ricetta --- Read the recipe)

Lasagna with courgette and smoked salmon

Unbelievable, but I am sick again. My doctor kind of got angry because while recovering I went to work with full energy ... as if nothing happened. And now I am back home on antibiotics. Three weeks of being sick .... I really cannot stand it any longer. I hope these are the last days home and last medicines!

At least I had a few days of almost normality .... like last sunday when I set up to prepare an old recipe of mine, courgette stuffed with smoked salmon (see here) and ended up at the last minute making a lasagna instead. Much more work you might think ... well, this time I used dried lasagna sheets, uncooked. And it worked really really well. We were also lucky since we could find some handmade smoked salmon where the flavor is considerably better.

Now, wish me luck ..... I really want to stop taking pills! And one is an ugly huge red pill .... I have nightmares of it by now.

(Leggi la ricetta --- Read the recipe)

Chestnut gnocchi with Castelrosso

What a week! Sunday, apart from cutting my finger, I felt a bit like a cold and with low voice. It is nothing, so monday I was at work .... well, in the end my doctor forced me at home for the entire week due to a flu and a strong laryngitis. I could not even talk for most of the week. Even now I have some coughing and a bit of a pain in the throat. Worst of all, I am full of medicine boxes and got to take antibiotics for 10 days. I know I am being petulant .... but I hate medicines and got bored at home!!

So, to forget about it I want to share with you my latest discovery. And this time is not the recipe ... but the ingredient: the Castelrosso cheese. Something so delicious that it is already a few weeks I need it at home constantly. I wonder how many other people know it already ?? In this recipe, the Castelrosso is perfect and irreplaceable. It is not only the taste but also the way it melts and its texture. This time I would not know how to replace it without changing the dish completely.

Now, I hope I made you curious enough to try and hunt this cheese down. It is worth it !!

(Leggi la ricetta --- Read the recipe)

Lentils and scallops

Aaarrgggg!!! So, here I am deboning and chopping a leg of lamb. Why? Well, today I am making for my very first time a Sheppard's Pie and I go for the version with hand mince. Back to the story, I am here chopping with my just sharpened knife ... and arg! I almost took a good piece of my finger tip off.

So here I am taking a break from cooking. Typing with a big white wrap on my left hand. Posting our last dinner which is a simple lentils soup with roasted scallops. I believe I have read about this combination somewhere, but I can't recall. In any case, this is quite nice and perfectly suited for the cold weather we are experiencing (once again) in Belgium.

(Leggi la ricetta --- Read the recipe)

Savoy and Mince pie

Back to pies!!! First a fish pie ... soon the Shepherd Pie ... and now actually something else. This recipe I actually never make since it is part of Elke repertoire. It is a traditional simple pie recipe form her family that resembles a simpler version of a Cottage Pie. It is a no-fuss tasty recipe that perfectly matches the weather we have now here .... with temperature easily going well below zero.

(Leggi la ricetta --- Read the recipe)

Tagliatelle Bolognese My Way

Spaghetti Bolognese .... the worst british present to the world of fake italian cuisine, that is how to completely change a traditional dish and make the new version so famous that people are surprised when they try the original version!!! Sure, people like the british version or any of the other variants (like in belgium with lot of grated gruviere on top) .... but the point is, what is the real Bolognese (or properly called Ragu' alla Bolognese)?

This is an interesting questions since also in Italy people seem not to agree. Well, I love the version I here propose. I do feel it is not too far from the real version in spirit (but with a couple of shortcuts) .... but given the uncertainty I call it "my way". For sure the use of Barolo in it is not original, but it yields a great result so I do it in this way!! We love it .... to the point sometimes we eat sauce with pasta and not pasta with sauce .... if you udnerstand what I mean!!!

Ciaooo

(Leggi la ricetta --- Read the recipe)

Jamie's Fish Pie

The holidays have finished or better the holiday season since I actually did not do much of it. Still, it feels like an heavy sunday the idea that form tomorrow everything starts again ... and it starts with a crisis at hand in the world. A tough year 2009, probably. So, time to do something new .... in a sense.

Here is a fish pie!! A lovely one!!! Hey, but there is nothing new in it !!! Well there is, since this is the very first time I actually used a recipe from Jamie Oliver (from the Return of the Naked Chef). Quite nice I have to say and simple. Of course, this is not exactly his recipe, since he uses the "handful" metric ... so I needed to translate my way here and there. Still the result is very pleasing.

(Leggi la ricetta --- Read the recipe)

Chestnut Ravioli with Pied de Mouton and Lard

It was along time I wanted to make ravioli and something with chestnut flour. The basic idea for this recipe comes from a dish Lori posted long time ago .... this is rather different, but still inspired from it. The secret here it to cook the ravioli very fast and to use a very thin pasta sheet to make them. This somehow creates more balance in the taste.

And yes .... here in Belgium we can find fresh ricotta even from sheep milk (In case somebody might ask about it while readin the ingredient list).

(Leggi la ricetta --- Read the recipe)

Belgian Stew with boar, chanterelle and Westvleteren 12

Back to the kitchen ... last week-end we were busy fighting with the many photos of Matteo's Battesimo and with the heavy snow that decided to make normal life difficult. This week-end I have two dish trials and the first came out fine ... obviously for our dinner.

Among my favorite Belgian dishes is stofvless (see my archive for the recipe). Something I adore with beer or a good red wine and in this season. However, this week I have eaten out twice for work .... and I was given a variant (actually two) based on boar. Lovely .... so here I am today convincing Elke to change her traditional recipe for boar.

The result is something lovely where the strong boar dominates, with the chanterelle mushroom giving it a bit of an earthy flavor as well as lightening the dish up and the wonderful Westvleteren 12 giving some body, sweetness and spiceness. And the dish looks very very dark ... almost black. I know not many will be able to use the Westvleteren trappist .... try another trappist or a black stout. Or get it (unofficially) off ebay ... or come to Belgium!!

(Leggi la ricetta --- Read the recipe)

Tagliatelle with broccoli and wolf fish

Fatal error today .... yes, must be the tiredness from the move. Or simply that I am distracted by Matteo. Or that yesterday I was at a wine tasting and totally forgot. Or simply ... an error. Today I started early to work on a recipe I wanted to do for a very long time. Saffron ravioli stuffed with pumpkin and speculoos with a sage beurre noisette, a free interpretation of an italian classic.

So here I am baking a large piece of pumpkin (a friend gave me from his garden). Working with the cheese, making fresh breadcrumb out of bread and speculoos. Basically completing the nice filling .... when after a few hours I was about to start making the pasta. Holy cow ... I forgot to buy the flour.I feel so stupid (yes I realized about 10 minutes ago)!!!

Well, now I will fill some large conchiglione and wait a couple of weeks before I have a free sunday to try this again ... sigh sigh. Anyway, the one here posted was done in the last days. Nice and suited to the current almost winter weather. The wolf fish is such a great fish and so underrated. Works great with dishes like this where a very very meaty fish is required.

(Leggi la ricetta --- Read the recipe)

Pasta with ricotta and pistachio nuts

I am stranded home with an annoying throat ache now evolving as sinusitis and headache. I mean seriously, the only way I could find time to be back posting a recipe was to be sick ... bah! Anyway, in this conditions taste-buds are rather insensitive .... therefore, I decided to prepare this simple dish based on a very strong ingredient, the "pasta pura di pistacchi di Bronte" (check here) that a friend gave us as a try (yes Minouche from La Tomaterie again).

The good surprise is that we loved it, the bad one is that ... the dish was delicate and thus difficult for my taste-buds to fully appreciate it.

Sure thing, Elke, who did not like pistachio nuts, now love these ones from Bronte.

(Leggi la ricetta --- Read the recipe)

Tomatoes filled with rice

Life is busy .... Matteo Matteo Matteo ... then his mother, then work. Between lack of sleep, diet (which follows after delivery and bestows on the father too), work stress, lack of holidays (even if for not too long finally) ... I am exhausted. Still, Matteo is the best person I have ever met and a wonderfully joyful boy as his posts on his blog demonstrate (or at least his photos).

Still I miss cooking. I have not given up but I need to find my rhythm again. I need to cook things less banal than pasta with tomato juice or roasted fish. But so far no time ....

you must be thinking ... who did this gorgeously looking dish ... well Elke. I only enjoyed eating it and taking a photo of it. It is simple but perfectly suited to this time of the year. Now back to Matteo .... crying for being hugged by papa a bit :-)

(Leggi la ricetta --- Read the recipe)

Paccheri with Gurnard

Incredible how fast time flew .... it is now almost two weeks since I posted something. I guess my mind is more busy waiting for the baby than anything else and it is normal. Our son/daughter is expected on the 24 but there are all signs that he/she might come anytime now. So we are there waiting and only thinking of that .... exciting time.

We ate this dish (to be honest) some time ago and it was always waiting for being posted. As I am 'guilty' for very little cooking lately ... its time has come. The recipe is rather classical and it is something that was served at our wedding last year in Positano except that the fish was different. Still the gurnard is a fantastic fish to use in this way and overall the dish is very suited for this season.

And I have just finished to go over al photos we made few weeks ago when driving around ... actually along the belgian coast. So I have the next post covered ;-) .... assuming nobody decides to come home finally, then I guess I will post something else. Now back to the waiting.

(Leggi la ricetta --- Read the recipe)

Rigatoni with Trappist and rabbit ragout

Life is always full of surprises and things are never the way they initially seem. I guess this phrase summarizes my feelings lately and people who know me very well (in person) probably will easily understand what I mean and somehow feel a bit worried about me. But no problem .... they say life is a sequence of illusions and disillusions, I guess I am now ready for some illusions. Finally again.

This has nothing to do with our first baby, who we saw today in one of the last echos .... 4 weeks from joining us (check the page The kid for his arrivals in the family). We are at 36.5 weeks and a little one of already 3.15 Kg and in perfect shape .... gosh, a sweet little chubby baby. I am already melting ... and thanks to him/her I still smile lately.

You might ask yourself what has this to do with this recipe. Nothing actually, I just needed some venting ... as a person can take so much before venting. If I really need to elaborate, this recipe is a try at mixing two traditions: the belgian way of cooking rabbit with the italian ragu' (ragout). The result is  definitively worth mentioning and all merits goes to the Trappist beer, which gives depth to an otherwise simple ragu'.  Trappist ... my favourite beer ... to the point that I almost have more beer home than wine. No surprise, it is much cheaper ;-) but still amazing (like the famous Westvleteer 12 or the Struise Pannepot).

(Leggi la ricetta --- Read the recipe)

Rigatoni with Bottarga and White Asparagus

I am rather tired, but I want to share this recipe before it is too late as the season for asparagus is at its end. I have cooked this pasta while Elke was busy with the delicious dessert of the previous post. 

I admit the idea of this recipe came from the fact that I love Bottarga con pasta e some veggies .... but the best veggie we found were some local (end of season) white asparagus. And I love them with fish .... so why not give a try to bottarga with asparagus???

The dish works very well, even if for presentation you might want to add some green color ... maybe little coriander to add some freshness to the taste. I prefer it like this .... sharp and yellow-greenish. I would also advice to stick to white asparagus .... and this is for all the italians who love the green ones ;-)

Ciao and I with everybody a fast thursday and friday .... gosh I am dreaming the WE this time.

(Leggi la ricetta --- Read the recipe)

Courgette filled with smoked salmon

Gosh I am really exhausted today. I arrive home, get immediately into cooking, then cut the plants, then call around, then post on the blog ... and then still 300 photos waiting for me to be fixed. Plus one tasty Chimay Bleu in me .... well. Let's post now.

Yes another fish recipe that I made last long week-end on the Belgian coast. When we saw homemade smoked salmon, I could not resist ... plus I love courgette, and here it is yet another version of stuffed courgette. Very light yet tasty. Elke declared this a dish to be repeated next time we go to the seaside (which is in two days!!!).

Sorry for the short text ... but I am almost sleeping and it is just 9pm. I can't imagine once the little one will show up ... I will need a red bull every day, no every hour !!!

(Leggi la ricetta --- Read the recipe)

Tomates crevettes

It is sad when a very long week-end ... almost a  week ends and the normal rhythm needs to be re-started. Luckily we will have a slightly longer week end coming up next as next monday is holidays!!!

What we did was spending time on the belgian coast, enjoying the nice meat and fish that can be bough there, visiting (for one first year anniversary) a lovely restaurant (Hostellerie St. Nicolas) and just going around taking photos or visiting farms for some artisanal cheese. All in all very relaxing and very much like an holiday.

We are now sadly back ... and forced to work with almost 25 degrees and a fantastic weather (especially for Belgium) but our memory goes back to the last week .... and surely to this dish, which comes straight out of the Belgian tradition and does requires the legendary gray shrimps I already introduced sometime ago. I love this dish .... I could eat it as it were chips!!!

A nice week to everyone, ciao.

(Leggi la ricetta --- Read the recipe)

Stoofvlees or Belgian Beer Stew

This is probably my favorite Belgian dish and, as far as I know, one of the most famous. I never make it as it is Elke's culinary territory and she can make is so fantastically well. The recipe is easy but it requires still quite some time and some work at the beginning.

It was a while I wanted to share this recipe .... but lately I kind of got the inspiration from one of my new colleagues (yes, Jan .... I am talking about you). Why? Well, he seems not to be able to spend a week in the office without eating it at least once for lunch! Surely he is the Stoofvlees man!! I will be curious to see if he is going to try and skip it next week once he reads this ;-)

Anyway, Jan ... as promised this is my wife version (west-flenders). Care to point out the differences from yours (oost-flanders)??? 

(Leggi la ricetta --- Read the recipe)

Tagliatelle with roasted bell peppers

I am slowly getting used ... yes, getting used to work in a very different environment (few but nice people instead of thousands but rushing). To putting up a tie every day (well, almost I shall admit). To go back and learn new things for a new job (gosh, only a russian could have dreamed up Triz). I guess I will find a rhythm among jobs, coming baby and driving around which will make me post and cook more. For the moment I can say I feel much better and looking forward to be super busy (and thus post at night and week-end :- )).

And here I am ... finally some time after baby-shopping for a new recipe. BAck to something rather traditional and italian, a pasta based on what italians call roasted paprika salad. Perfect for the spring days that are finally coming ... even if tricky in terms of feeling light but being rather caloric.

Wish everybody a great week-end ... I am going to rest. Busy weeks ahead (I hope ;-) ).

(Leggi la ricetta --- Read the recipe)

Chicken with mustard and greek yogurt on couscous

Yes, I survived ... well. It wasn't hard to get back to work after a two long (and at the end boring) weeks of a break. How come? Honestly, the atmosphere in the new job is nice. Besides, as it is still the beginning, this is normally more psychologically tiring than anything else. Overall happy and looking forward to be overload with work again ... and posting in the strangest time of the day :-) or on sundays like this time.

>Back to food. The recipe I am sharing today is part of Elke's repertoire ... she found it on a Belgian magazine called Flair. The first time we had it ... well, we were rather negative at first for its dry and brick-like look. But the look is deceiving (and surely not easy to treat for photos so you get the ugly look this time!!) as the chicken is juicy and tender and the couscous goes very well with it. We have even served it to guests ... which once passed look, they enjoyed asking for a second serving (that we did not have).


Now, back to the sunday! Ciao

(Leggi la ricetta --- Read the recipe)

Risotto with black salsify and gorgonzola cheese

It was bound to happen ... today is y last empty workless day as tomorrow I (and I need to add here finally) start my new job! Quite a change as I have left a company where I was for about 8 years in order to do something which merges my experience and my latest done MBA with my enthusiasm for innovation. Sure I am thrilled ... but also sort of worried. I guess it is normal. But this is only change number one (new house, new town, first baby on the way ;-))

Anyway, here is yet a winter dish! Yes winter as here in Belgium is still bloody winter (but getting better). If you do not fancy salsify try to replace it with some asparagus, potatoes and/or artichokes ... since this is their taste. Sure is if you use salsify you get the right balance (and less things to buy).This dish can also be made vegetarian very easily by using a vegetable stock instead of the chicken stock. Just use a very neutral one.

Ciao and I wish everybody a nice week ... if not as exciting as mine (and yes I start on April's fool!).

(Leggi la ricetta --- Read the recipe)

Spaghetti, spices and lamb

It is Easter time ... or better Easter break like for most bloggers. Therefore, this is my last post for a few days as we will tomorrow morning drive towards the Belgian coast (somewhere near Ooostende or Ostend in English) where to spend a lazy (and alone) Easter. Nothing special also given that the pregnancy does not allow much (including no flying!).

This dish is a bit on the Easter theme as it features lamb seasoned with two mains spices. A curry mixture that everybody knows ... and dried wild fennel flowers, which not many know. I was lucky enough to receive some of it from a friend (Minouche of La Tomaterie) who (hopefully) will start importing it in Belgium. Before this dish I did not know how well these two ingredients go together. A perfect match with lamb and the pine-nuts as well.

Well, enough talking. I wish everybody a Happy Easter and hopefully with better weather than here!

(Leggi la ricetta --- Read the recipe)

Pollo ai peperoni - Chicken with bell peppers

After so many personal posts which are probably boring to most (but luckily not all) ... here at TFT (as Francesco likes it call this blog) we are back on food! And back in style or better with a different cook for once: Francesco's Mum!

This time Elke and myself only helped my mum (visiting us with my dad for the MBA award ceremony) cooking a traditional and tasty dish which requires some butcher skills and good ingredients. It was the first time for Elke to eat it ... and she actually clened up her plate with some bread better than a dishwasher (a super scarpetta!!).

(Leggi la ricetta --- Read the recipe)

Traditional Belgian Meatballs

It is done! What is done? The migration of all my files to the new mac. I now enjoy my new super fast machine, rather silent (when I turn off the noisy external drive) and leopard ... which seems to have less bugs than windows as usual (but a few more than Tiger :-( ). I love its back-up solution. So easy!

Anyway, what a better way to restart posting food (finally food) than using a traditional Belgian recipe. It is simple and it looks similar to the italian meatballs recipe ... but the taste is rather different. Of course it is! There is absolutely no cheese in it, but boiled eggs. They cook a longer time! Etc etc!

And of course ... this is and was done by my sweet wife! Ciao !!!

(Leggi la ricetta --- Read the recipe)

Ecco la Focaccia - Here it is, the focaccia!!!

While working on migrating everything to my new mac, or should I say playing with my new mac, I decided to give a try at making focaccia. I have followed the recipe of Reinhart, who is (in my opinion) the master baker! He wrote a book on pizza that is both funny to read and perfect in the recipes.

I won't be posting the recipe, since my mac is not ready yet for it and because you can find a very similar approach here (in italian) and here (in english). It is credited to another baker, well ... as we say, things tend to circulate under various names!

When you look closely, you will notice that ... mine has toppings! And how does it work with toppings? Very easy. Put things that can sustain long cooking times (e.g. tomatoes) from the beginning an things which cook fast (e.g. mozzarella and grated pamesan cheese) 10 minutes from the end.

A note on the linked recipes, you can easily skip one folding when you feel that dough is elastic and you can reduce the cooking time to 20 minutes (instead of 30) when using the convection (ventilated) option of the oven. Ah! And I always suggest to use instant yeast.

Gosh this one was really nice, I hope it will be still good today (one day after) at lunch. It will make my working day more bearable ;-)

Red Potatoes terrine with cod and Savoy cabbage

In the end, Elke did let me prepare some fish last friday ... and during the boring working friday my mind started thinking what to prepare and I ended up to try something new. A mix between a potato gateau and a cod terrine. I have to admit that we had some left-over boiled Savoy cabbage in the freezer, which saved me some time. But apart from that ... this dish takes some energy and I was worried it would not taste that nicely.

The result is surprisingly nice. Surely better than it looks. Also eaten the day after (of course, warmed up) was good! Again not a fancy dish, but more of a countryside one. I guess more of an english-belgian-dutch style than french-italian ... but who cares. I have also the suspicion that baccala (or baccalao) would be even a better choice here. I wish I could find it ...

And now back to enjoying the Sunday. This week-end no cooking for me ... but Elke does everything and today I am getting a lasagna (this one). Hurrah!!!

(Leggi la ricetta --- Read the recipe)

Celeriac and Red Potatoes gateau with Orval cheese

I did not cook this for St Valentine .... before all women here horrify, I did not!! I actually made this dish. I know it does not look pretty either, but that is my picture fault. The dish is (or better was) simply stunning. Not that this gateau is not tasty ... but it was not my intention to post it since maybe too trivial. Yet ... why not??

I have done this recipe quite few times already as I love to tamper with the original potatoes gateau recipe (see here). Especially by using the celeriac, which I find an ingredient as fantastic as underrated. I prepared this last sunday (same day as the muffin cake, same sunny freezing day) and we still have 4 portions kept in our freezer. In fact, when Elke heard what I was going to post she seemed to ask for it tomorrow instead of fish. But no ... fish is good, so tomorrow fish (if I find any). But the day is long ... and she might still ask for it. Should I ignore her emails tomorrow???

Concentrate Francesco! Back to the recipe, I have used here the Orval cheese (check the monastery site here) ... I know it is difficult to find, but it can be easily replaced (and if you are vegetarian, drop the ham as well). Still, its flavor and texture are a good fit in this dish ... much better than mozzarella or gruviere or Emmenthal (just to mention some overused cheeses in Italy). See the recipe for how to replace, but do sincerely try to look for it or for any Belgian Abbey cheese.

Good ... enough typing for now ... a final word for the person who asked me to post this, I am waiting for the scone recipe ;-)

(Leggi la ricetta --- Read the recipe)

Apple Ravioli in Quail sauce

Cooking is a real passion of mine and I love to spend time reading magazines, books or blogs which can provide me with a new inspiration or a combination I did not know. Sure, I do not have much time for it ... but as everybody else I do what I can.

This week Lory has decided to stop (or hopefully suspend) her blog (see here - in italian). I will miss it ... quite some recipes I have done lately show her influence or at least were inspired by her blog or the ingredients she so kindly posted me last year. I will miss checking on her recipe early in the morning (yes ... early like before 7am!) and getting new ideas.

So, today (and I mean it today!) I set out for making one of her recipes as a way to thank her. But I did not manage. I chose for this ravioli recipe, but I could find the Guinea Fowl! Nevertheless, I decided to still use her recipe as a base guideline and do very minor changes in order to use Quails instead. The result was truly excellent (even if quite some work as I like to de-bone myself) to the point we ate almost a double portion!

I would hope Lory would fine this version as tasty as hers ... and in the meantime: thanks Lory, wish you ll the best!

(Leggi la ricetta --- Read the recipe)