This high – in fibre and protein lentil winter soup is jazzed up by the fresh touch of the ginger and lemon which lift the flavour to another level. It’s certainly a meal in itself, but can also be superb as a sidekick to a dish of rice or pasta.
🍷 Francesca & Marinella🍴
Continue reading “Hearty Lentil Soup with Ginger and Lemon Zest”
I have to admit that I’ve never been a fan of apple cake until the moment that I decided to move to Norway with my family, in 2008. The recipe of the following apple cake was given to me by one of my daughter’s Norwegian teachers. At the time my daughter Margherita was attending primary school and when I picked her up in the afternoon, the school was often invaded by the scent of the cake that the kids had been baking proudly. When we want to bring back the sweet memories of the years spent in Norway, we always prepare this cake, filling our kitchen with the fragrance of the past. (Francesca)
🍷 Francesca & Marinella🍴
Continue reading “Cinnamon Apple Cake”
During my last holiday in Italy, I prepared this Pear and Gorgonzola Cheese Stuffed Pork Loin for some of my friends who came over for a dinner. I had never made a meat roll in my life because I thought it was too complicated… cut the meat, seal it, roast it, slice it, and serve it. It seemed way too tricky! That day, however, I felt braver than usual and I decided to give this recipe a try. This is the result and believe me, it’s really for everyone! (Francesca)
🍷 Francesca & Marinella🍴
Continue reading “Pear and Gorgonzola Cheese Stuffed Pork Loin”
Making Tortellini from scratch is more than just preparing a filled pasta to be eaten right away. It’s a way to get closer to your friends or loved ones if you decide to spend a few days together preparing hundred of Tortellini, getting prepared for the Christmas dinner. This is what I did with my expat Italian friends in Copenhagen. Thanks to my nice friend Licia, I got to know the secret recipe of her grandma from Bologna… imagine what that means to me, coming from Puglia! As soon as we found the ingredients in a danish well-assorted grocery store (make sure the ingredients are of good quality: this makes a huge difference at the end), we cleared our diary for two days during which we rolled our sleeves up and prepared tons of Tortellini. Two carefree days filled with lots of laughs and lots of little chats, observing the Covid rules though.
– Marinella –
🍷 Francesca & Marinella🍴
Continue reading “Traditional Christmassy Tortellini from a Bolognese granny – How to Make Them from Scratch”
Many stories exist about this Italian culinary traditional recipe, called Pasta alla Puttanesca. The most accredited says that the first bite of spaghetti alla puttanesca dates back to the 50s in Ischia (one of the most picturesque islands in the Bay of Naples) by Sandro Petti, owner of the famous Rangio Fellone restaurant. One evening he was about to close the restaurant, and he was asked by a group of customers to prepare them a meal. He was low on ingredients and told them he did not have enough to make them a meal. They complained that it was late and they were hungry, saying “Facci una puttanata qualsiasi,” meaning “throw together whatever.” Petti had only a few tomatoes, olives, and some capers, common ingredients in an Italian pantry. So he used them to prepare the sauce for a dish of Spaghetti. Lately, he included this dish on her restaurant’s menu naming it Spaghetti alla Puttanesca.
🍷 Francesca & Marinella🍴
Continue reading “Traditional Spaghetti alla Puttanesca from Ischia Island”
This sweet potato cream is so filling and it makes a lovely vegetarian main dish. Serve this hearty soup with Cointreau caramelized onions to add complexity to the sweet flavor of the potatoes. Your guest surely will be impressed by this combination!
🍷 Francesca & Marinella🍴
Continue reading “Sweet Potato Cream and Cointreau Liquor Caramelized Onions”
Breakfast cookies have never been this good and simple to preparare! Just a few ingredients and a cup of hot frothy milk will get your day started off right.
🍷 Francesca & Marinella🍴
Continue reading “Giant Cookies to Soak in the Milk”
The cooking technique behind this Pumpkin, Chickpea and Potato soup is antique and traditional from the regions of Southern Italy. The main ingredient is the pasta, usually a short type, which has not to be boiled in advance, but it is cooked directly in the pan where the seasoning has been previously prepared. The crucial steps to get an excellent result are just few and simple. Follow them and you’ll enjoy this delicious comfort soup.
🍷 Francesca & Marinella🍴
Continue reading “Autumn Pumpkin, Chickpea and Potato Soup with Tagliatelle”
Five years after that my grandmother is no longer with us, I decided to prepare one of her best recipes, these buttery chocolate biscuits bites. She used to prepare them for any occasion, from birthday parties to Easter celebrations. My sister passed me the recipe that I had locked in the cupboard until now. While I was preparing her recipe I thought I heard her whispering the tips she always gave me, still feeling her close to me. After all, isn’t this the meaning of handing down our forefathers’ recipes?
(Francesca)
🍷Francesca & Marinella🍴
Continue reading “Nonna Enta’s Buttery Chocolate Biscuit Bites”
Canederli are bread dumplings found only in the mountain ranges of the North-East of Italy (Trentino-Alto Adige, Friuli–Venezia Giulia, and part of Veneto), where they are served as a first course or as a main entree. Originally they were made with just leftovers: different kind of salami or cheese. For this reason, the Canederli can be considered part of a ‘Cucina povera’. Today, they are still made of simple and inexpensive ingredients: stale bread moistened with milk and enriched with cheese and Speck (a kind of smoked prosciutto also typical of the north-east regions), or made with vegetables. As there are several variations of this regional dish, the following recipe describes how to prepare the Canederli with yellow beets. Thanks to the cooking lover Mariella of adocchio – blog, for sharing with us his family recipe. Would you like to know more about our friend Mariella? Take a look below!
🍷 Francesca & Marinella🍴
Continue reading “Canederli: Traditional Bread Dumplings from North-East of Italy – by Mariella”
