I’m finding the second lockdown in Italy much tougher than the first. Maybe it’s because winter is upon us and we know this is how things will be at least until the Spring, maybe it’s the relentless online Zoom meetings, a novelty when they started back in March, now anything but. I’m also acutely aware…
Tag: Italy
Tray-baked sea bream with lentils and salsa verde
Our garden has gone crazy over recent weeks so I’m looking for new ways to use the growing supply of vegetables that are ready to be eaten each day. This one brings in the green stuff…spinach wilted into lentils and a salsa verde made from fresh basil and parsley. There’s nothing like drizzling homemade salsa…
Food, friendship and the comfort of strangers
Exactly three months ago today I was travelling to the UK for work and to see my two grown up daughters and grandson Rex. A few weeks earlier I’d returned from a work trip to The Philippines which I’d combined with an opportunity to learn about some of the delicious but entirely unfamiliar dishes of…
Elderflower cordial
Foraging is one of my new favourite things. There is something immensely satisfying about returning home from a walk with a handful of beautiful flowers or leaves and turning them into something delicious. In the last few weeks I’ve made pesto from wild garlic and sugary fritters from the flowers of the acacia tree. This…
Pizza ortolana con pesto
When my children were young I used to make pizza almost every week. We lived in the Welsh hills and there wasn’t a pizzeria for miles. My son Dylan would take the orders, scribbling down the selected toppings of household members, whilst I kneaded the dough. It became something of a weekly family ritual. Since…
Less is more…a morning at Mondovi’s mercato contadino
I’ve always adored Italian food but it wasn’t until we started living in the beautiful town of Mondovi which lies in the foothills of the Italian Alps that I came to understand the vast regional differences between the food produced and eaten in the South of the country – often dominated by tomatoes, soft cheeses…
Torta de mela (Italian apple cake)
Winter in Piedmont means that the local farmer’s market is full of apples grown in the rolling hills which surround Mondovi. And that means I have no choice other than to make torta de mela or Italian apple cake! This recipe is adapted from one I found elsewhere with the main difference being that I…
Ese ne tekrema 