Tropical Fruit Macedonia Salad

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For this recipe you will need nothing but some tropical fruit. The more colourful the fruit is, the more stylish your salad will be. We used dragon fruit, which is very common in Singapore and all over South-East Asia, along with three different kinds of kiwi: orange, yellow and green. But if you live in Europe, or USA, you could choose melon, watermelon and kiwi for instance and use the empty melon as serving bowl. Just let your creativity flow and play around with the multitude of colours that nature offers us.

🍷 Francesca & Marinella🍴

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Italian Grissini

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The Grissini, originally from Torino, are the well known breadsticks that are usually thin and crunchy.

When we were living in Italy and used to go buy the fresh bread in our neighbourhood bakery daily, the baker used to offer my daughters a grissino each to keep in their hand and to munch on while they waited for me to get ready with my errands. That was a kind gesture that they appreciated a lot and made them happy.

When I made this recipe, my girls were likewise happy and ate them up in less than one hour, but with a bit of nostalgia.(Francesca)

🍷 Francesca & Marinella🍴

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Mozzarella and Tomato Caprese 🇮🇹

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One of the stories behind the birth of the Mozzarella and Tomato Caprese – known as Insalata Caprese (literally, salad from Capri), says that this simple and tasty dish was created on a construction site where a particularly patriotic bricklayer stuffed his sandwiches during lunch break with tomatoes, mozzarella and basil to recall the colors of the Italian flag. Let us say that after the win of the Italian football team at the European Championship we also feel a little patriotic, wanting to bring the Italian colors on our table to celebrate this success. 🇮🇹

🍷 Francesca & Marinella🍴

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Classic Summery Pappa al Pomodoro Recipe from Tuscany

Pappa al Pomodoro - Traditional Summery Soup from Tuscany
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Viva la pappa pappa col popopopomodoro, viva la pappa e’ un capopolavoro 🎶 🎶... This is one of those songs that made the history of Italian music, known by all the Italians ever since they were children. It’s something my grandma used to sing to my mom when she was little. A generation later, my mom used to do the same to me, and two generations later I sang it to my kids to encourage them to eat. Let’s contribute to make this song everlasting: learn the refrain, take the ingredients out of the larder and prepare the Pappa al pomodoro. This peasant recipe has earned a special spot in the Italian cuisine over the years. Originally from Tuscany, it’s known all over the Italian peninsula, thanks to its simplicity. The basic ingredients are only stale bread, ripe tomatoes and garlic. By adding a drizzle of Evo oil, a handful of basil leaves, and a dollop of mozzarella cream, you’ll get a great dish to be served to your kids… humming the Pappa al pomodoro song!
Pappa al Pomodoro - Traditional Recipe from Tuscany
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Watermelon Granita with an Alcoholic Twist

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Either if you serve this Watermelon Granita as a mocktail for the kids or as a cocktail for your friends, it will be the right kick start of your dinner, making everybody happy to finally cheer for a summer which has never been so eagerly awaited.

🍷 Francesca & Marinella🍴

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Spaghetti with Bottarga : a Fishy Recipe from Sardinia

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Pasta con la Bottarga is one of those quick recipes that you can make while pasta is cooking. An easy – preparation dish with a unique and refined taste.

Bottarga, an Italian excellence, is salted- cured tuna or mullet fish roe traditional from the main Italian Islands: Sicily (more Sicilian recipes here ) and Sardinia (more sardinian recipes here)

Here in Copenhagen we had a chance to make this recipe thanks to an original idea from GOLA Cp owner. He preserved the egg roe sac from local fresh Cod fish provided by BluLobsterApp following the traditional technique used in Sardinia to prepare Mullet Bottarga. The result is spectacular!

🍷 Francesca & Marinella🍴

Spaghetti with Bottarga: a traditional Recipe from Sardinia
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Lemon and Pepper Sautéed Clams

Lemon and Pepper Sautéed Clams
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Summer mood on!

A delicious recipe I cannot forget is this following Lemon and Pepper Sautéed Clams.

Two years ago I spent some summer days in the Marina di Ugento area – South Italy – Puglia.

Here, the beaches, overlooking the Ionian Sea and protected by dunes of white sand with very fine grains and a lush pine forest, are among the most suggestive of the entire coast. The sea is clean and crystalline, characterized by different and rare shades of blue.

As in all part of Puglia the food was flavourful, a lot of fish, fresh veggies and fruit, diary cheeses and more…

In the small village of Torre Suda in a cozy cliff-side restaurant with a wonderful location and a sea view, I ate an appetizing and unusual version (….at least for me :-)) of sautee’ clams. I only season clams with a few tomatoes, parsley and garlic; the one I ate at this restaurant was made with lemon juice and zest with a finishing touch of freshly grounded black pepper.

In the following recipe, that I got from the chef himself, I accompanied the dish with some grilled slides of bread. More Apulian recipes in this link.

🍷 Marinella🍴

Lemon and Pepper Sautéed Clams
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Fragrant and Quick Lemon Granita

Quick and Fragrant Lemon Granita from Sicily
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Get ready for a hot summer with this fresh and thirst quenching Lemon Granita. The sugar and the ice cubes are staple ingredients, so the only thing you have to do is to get the best lemons you can. We obviously suggest the Sorrento or sicilian lemons, but for those of you living out of Italy, any kind of super juicy lemons will work perfectly.

🍷 Francesca & Marinella🍴

Quick and Fragrant Lemon Granita -
Quick Lemon Granita
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Classic Sicilian Pasta alla Norma

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With this week’s recipe we are going back to Sicily and to its Ricotta! Pasta alla Norma is one of those recipes that every Italian, but not only, should learn to prepare, no matter if one is from the south or north of Italy.

This incredibly satisfying pasta is made with deep fried eggplant (which makes this dish super luscious ;-)), fresh tomato sauce, basil leaves and the final touch of ricotta salata cheese.

Just to satisfy your and our curiosity we conducted a quick research about the name of this recipe. Pasta alla Norma comes from Catania, a city sitting at the foot of Mt. Etna on the eastern coast of Sicily. It was the hometown of Vincenzo Bellini, an Italian opera composer, well known for one of his most famous operas, Norma, the lead character of the opera.

Nino Martoglio, a famous playwright from Catania, upon tasting the dish, exclaimed, “Chista è ‘na vera Norma!” (Sicilian dialect), comparing the dish to the masterpiece of Vincenzo Bellini. That was a great compliment for the chef who made it!

🍷 Francesca & Marinella🍴

Pasta alla Norma from Sicily

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Sweet or Savoury Ricotta al forno – Baked Ricotta from Sicily

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Ricotta al Forno from Sicily, is one of the uncountable delicious recipes we love from this incredible Italian island.

If you’ve been there you may know how amazing the food is. It’s not a mystery why I put on a kilo a day, without regret, when I’ve been visiting Sicily in the past. I tried all the delicacies I could, but I literally fell in love of the baked ricotta cheese.

In the Sicilian markets, of which the most famous is the Palermo’s Ballaro’ market, there are several varieties of Ricotta al Forno displayed in the early morning on trays, along with other Sicilian cheeses. Depending on the topping added to the ricotta, you can have the ricotta covered with Sicilian oregano, spices or even with pistachio with orange marmelade.

The version we want to give you is the simplest but you can enrich it by using a mix of herbs or, for the sweet version, served with a mix of nuts and a few drops of honey.

🍷 Francesca & Marinella🍴

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