italy on my mind
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  • About me
    • Press
  • Recipes
    • antipasti
    • primi – pasta, rice, gnocchi, soups
    • verdure e salse – vegetarian dishes, salads, sauces
    • carni, pesce e pollame – meat, fish and poultry
    • dolci – sweets
    • food and travel
  • Classes, tours & workshops
    • Cooking classes in Melbourne
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Polenta shortcake in the time of a pandemic

By italyonmymind | Blog, dolci - sweets | 10 Comments

Back in January when Mark…

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oven roasted tomato pesto

By italyonmymind | Blog, primi - pasta, rice, gnocchi, soups, verdure e salse - vegetarian dishes, salads, sauces

Happy (very belated) 2020. This…

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Tiella cozze e riso – rice and mussel bake – a Pugliese classic

By italyonmymind | carni, pesce e pollame - meat, fish and poultry, Italy - the south, primi - pasta, rice, gnocchi, soups

It is already November, in…

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Intorchiate – lemon and almond twists

By italyonmymind | Blog, dolci - sweets, food and travel

Puglia seems to be the…

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Chicken Cacciatora

By italyonmymind | Blog, carni, pesce e pollame - meat, fish and poultry

We didn’t eat a lot…

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Crema della nonna in Bassano del Grappa

By italyonmymind | Blog, dolci - sweets

Have you ever been to…

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Crostata di crema di Viviana

By italyonmymind | Blog, dolci - sweets

There are several certainties when…

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Mandarin, almond and chocolate cake

By italyonmymind | Blog, dolci - sweets

Things are looking up. I…

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Italy – North by Northwest

By italyonmymind | Blog, food and travel

Planning a trip to Italy…

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On tour in Southern Puglia

By italyonmymind | Blog, food and travel

The last week of April…

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Adriatico in Gourmet Traveller

By italyonmymind | Blog, primi - pasta, rice, gnocchi, soups, recipes

If you follow me on…

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Onion and olive pie

By italyonmymind | Blog, recipes, verdure e salse - vegetarian dishes, salads, sauces

I love olive oil pastry….

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Pasta with zucchini

By italyonmymind | Blog, primi - pasta, rice, gnocchi, soups, recipes, verdure e salse - vegetarian dishes, salads, sauces

I remember my papa growing…

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Green ricotta hand pies

By italyonmymind | Blog, recipes, verdure e salse - vegetarian dishes, salads, sauces

We are in the middle…

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Cherry chocolate cake and cherry ripple ice cream

By italyonmymind | Blog, dolci - sweets, recipes

Summer is in full swing…

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Fusilli al ferro con salsa alla Norma (handmade fusilli with eggplant, basil and tomato sauce)

By italyonmymind | Blog, primi - pasta, rice, gnocchi, soups, verdure e salse - vegetarian dishes, salads, sauces

One of my favourite things…

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Fig and almond raviole – just in time for Christmas

By italyonmymind | Blog, dolci - sweets, recipes

This week I have been…

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Memories of seasons – apricot and almond cake

By italyonmymind | Blog, dolci - sweets, recipes

I love the way the…

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Roasted almond tart with ricotta and blueberries

By italyonmymind | Blog, dolci - sweets, recipes

Blueberries have been on sale…

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ADRIATICO book launch at the Recreation Hotel

By italyonmymind | Blog, dolci - sweets, recipes

And what a magnificent event…

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We were in Trieste for a food tour

By italyonmymind | Blog, food and travel

“Trieste mia” a popular song…

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The Italian tradition of home made liqueurs

By italyonmymind | Blog, dolci - sweets, recipes

We always had wine at…

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The house I grew up in has been sold

By italyonmymind | Blog

The other week my sister…

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Green orecchiette with fennel, ricotta and walnuts

By italyonmymind | Blog, primi - pasta, rice, gnocchi, soups, recipes, verdure e salse - vegetarian dishes, salads, sauces

Orecchiette are hard to make…

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Blood orange crostata

By italyonmymind | Blog, dolci - sweets, recipes

I adore blood oranges; it…

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A week in Puglia

By italyonmymind | antipasti, Blog, food and travel, Italy - the south, verdure e salse - vegetarian dishes, salads, sauces

My day-long journey to Puglia…

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Apple and walnut layer cake

By italyonmymind | Blog, dolci - sweets, recipes

It took a long time,…

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Culurgiones with broccolini – filled pasta from Sardinia

By italyonmymind | Blog, primi - pasta, rice, gnocchi, soups, recipes, verdure e salse - vegetarian dishes, salads, sauces

Have you heard of the…

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Radicchio tart

By italyonmymind | Blog, recipes, verdure e salse - vegetarian dishes, salads, sauces

My grandmother – nonna Carolina…

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Titole – Easter bread from Trieste

By italyonmymind | Blog, dolci - sweets, recipes

On some days in Melbourne…

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Next Entries »

Recent posts

  • Polenta shortcake in the time of a pandemic
  • oven roasted tomato pesto
  • Tiella cozze e riso – rice and mussel bake – a Pugliese classic
  • Intorchiate – lemon and almond twists
  • Chicken Cacciatora

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Puglia - an image from last year’s tour and a ti Puglia - an image from last year’s tour and a tiny image of Giuseppe on the left. We may have missed this year’s tour but planning for 2021
A recipe for the simplest of dishes - an onion dis A recipe for the simplest of dishes - an onion dish that doesn’t really have a name. I saw it somewhere, I don’t remember where, many years ago. I make it often, and it is a good one! The sweet/vinegary soft fried onions are eaten with sausages (and mustard) or on top of crusty bread with a slice of semi-hard cheese like Montasio or Piave. Here is the recipe: 2 medium sized brown onions, peeled, sliced finely into rings 3 tablespoons EVOO 2 tablespoons brown sugar 60 ml balsamic vinegar 40 ml red wine vinegar Place the oil in a large frypan over medium heat. Add the onions and a pinch of salt. Cook for 7 or so minutes until just starting to brown, stirring regularly. Add the sugar and the vinegars, stirring well. Simmer on low heat for 7 or so minutes, stirring occasionally until the onion mix is thick. Can be served hot, warm or even cold from the fridge. Store in a lidded glass jar in the fridge for up to a week
Armchair travel to Bergamo, a town that has experi Armchair travel to Bergamo, a town that has experienced so much sadness and loss this past month. We spent half a day there last May; it was cold, wet but beautiful. So much love to its people
The best bread recipe without a sourdough starter The best bread recipe without a sourdough starter - Jim Lahey’s no knead bread. You can be a complete bread novice and get this right; a chewy charred crust and beautiful crumb. I made it on Friday/Saturday and posted it on my stories; so many of you asked me for the recipe, so here it is: Start making this at about 6pm the night before if you want your loaf to be ready in the late morning of the following day. You will need a large lidded Dutch oven (or a cast iron or enamel lidded pot) for this recipe. 4 cups good quality plain flour 1/2 scant tsp instant dried yeast 2 tsps fine sea salt 2 cups tepid water Fine semolina for dusting Place the flour, yeast and salt in a large bowl and whisk to combine. Pour in the water and stir until combined. It will be quite a shaggy dough. Cover with a lid (the original recipe says cling film) and place in a warm spot in the kitchen to prove for 12-18 hours (I rested mine 14 hours but it depends on how warm your kitchen is). The next morning at about 8am, lightly flour a work surface and scrape the dough from the bowl (it should have puffed up nicely). Lightly flour your hands and fold the dough onto itself a few times. Cover with the upturned bowl and rest for 15 minutes. (At 8.15am) With floured hands, shaped the dough into a ball (it should be soft, not sticky). Dust a cotton tea towel with plenty of semolina and place the ball of dough on top, seam side down. Dust with more semolina and cover with another clean cotton tea towel. The dough now needs to rest in a warm spot for 2 hours (until about 10.15am). After 1.5 hours (at 9.45am), turn the oven on to 230C and put your Dutch Oven in there to warm up with its lid. At 10.15 am, carefully tip the dough into the hot pot seam side up. Don’t worry if it falls a bit unevenly. Replace the lid on the pot and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the lid and bake for another 20 minutes. Carefully remove the pot from the oven (it will be super hot and heavy!) and place on a heat proof surface. Remove the bread from the pot with a tea towel or tongs and place on a wire rack to cool for about 30 minutes before slicing. Listen to it crackle while it cools down.
Polenta short cake - based on a Marcella Hazan rec Polenta short cake - based on a Marcella Hazan recipe with minor tweaks. A simple dense cake, full of dried fruit, pine nuts and fennel seeds and just delicious. I posted the recipe on my blog so if you would like to have a look click on the link in my profile
Another day full of pasta making possibilities - l Another day full of pasta making possibilities - last night it was orecchiette, who knows what shape or colour today will bring
Those perfect days of two weeks house sitting in K Those perfect days of two weeks house sitting in Kyneton where the daily routine was feeding the dogs, then the chickens, collecting the eggs, cooking most of the day and enjoying a dinner under the canopy of vines - and then there was the rose garden and checking on the horses while the sun was setting. I knew what the next day would bring. It was less than two months ago but things have changed so much since then, it seems like a world away
The small things: fresh figs to enjoy before I sta The small things: fresh figs to enjoy before I start looking at the news to see what has happened in the world while I was sleeping
Baking makes me happy - there is not a lot of news Baking makes me happy - there is not a lot of news to lift our spirits, but maybe baking can. Here is the recipe for a moist and delicious breakfast pear cake; maybe you can make it over the weekend - baking therapy is a good thing: 1kg pears (I used Packham) 20g butter 2 tblsp lemon juice 40g plus 50g raw sugar pinch salt 2 large eggs 190g plain flour 30g potato or corn flour 8g baking powder (2 scant tsp) zest of one lemon 30 ml milk 1 tsp pure vanilla essence 100g butter, melted and cooled icing sugar Peel, core and roughly chop 750g (3-4 large) pears. Toss in the lemon juice and place in a non-stick pan, with 20g butter, 40g sugar and the pinch of salt. Cook on medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the pears start releasing their juices. The juices will start evaporating as you keep cooking and stirring, eventually leaving the caramelised sticky pear pieces. Place the pears in a bowl and purée with a stick blender. set aside to cool. Preheat the oven to 180C and line a 24cm cake tin with a removable base. Break the eggs into a large bowl, add the rest of the sugar and whisk by hand until well combined. Add half the flour, the baking powder, the milk, the vanilla and the lemon zest, stirring with a wooden spoon. Add the rest of the flour, stir, and then fold through the cooled pear purée. Lastly, fold through the melted cooled butter until well combined. Peel the remaining pear, cut into quarters, remove the core and cut into fine slices. Pour the cake batter in the prepared tin, then place the pear slices in the batter. Bake for 45 minutes or until a skewer placed in the centre of the cake comes out clean. Dust with icing sugar and serve warm or at room temperature.

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