italy on my mind
  • 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 and online
    • Trieste tour
    • Southern Puglia Tour
  • Cookbooks & Italian Travel
    • Travel in Italy
    • My cookbooks
  • Blog
  • Contact me
  • 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 and online
    • Trieste tour
    • Southern Puglia Tour
  • Cookbooks & Italian Travel
    • Travel in Italy
    • My cookbooks
  • Blog
  • Contact me

Food and travel

Intorchiate – lemon and almond twists

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

Puglia seems to be the…

Read More

Italy – North by Northwest

By italyonmymind | Blog, food and travel

Planning a trip to Italy…

Read More

On tour in Southern Puglia

By italyonmymind | Blog, food and travel

The last week of April…

Read More

We were in Trieste for a food tour

By italyonmymind | Blog, food and travel

“Trieste mia” a popular song…

Read More

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…

Read More

An autumn workshop in Sicily

By italyonmymind | Blog, carni, pesce e pollame - meat, fish and poultry, food and travel, Italy - the south, recipes

Last week I arrived back…

Read More

The Puglia encounter

By italyonmymind | Blog, food and travel

I met Emiko Davies and…

Read More

Latteria Studio – Market to table

By italyonmymind | Blog, food and travel

I met Alice Adams almost…

Read More

Two weeks in Puglia – part 2, the Gargano

By italyonmymind | Blog, food and travel

There are parts of the…

Read More

Two weeks in Puglia – part 1, the Salento

By italyonmymind | Blog, food and travel

We arrived in Puglia on…

Read More

A weekend in Pola, Istria – and Baka’s Hungarian Cake

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

We caught the bus from…

Read More

Pordenone – port on the Noncello

By italyonmymind | Blog, food and travel

I landed in Venice on…

Read More

From Trieste with love

By italyonmymind | Blog, food and travel

I love Trieste, that town…

Read More

One week at Case Vecchie

By italyonmymind | Blog, food and travel

As the road from Palermo…

Read More

Michael’s sourdough – and a funny thing happened to me in Palermo

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

A funny thing happened to…

Read More

12 nights in Capri

By italyonmymind | Blog, food and travel

I fell in love with Capri…

Read More

48-hours in Rome

By italyonmymind | Blog, food and travel

What does one do when…

Read More

Nettle ravioli with goats cheese – and a visit to Tolpuddle Cheese

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

When my work colleague Donovan…

Read More

An interlude in the UK

By italyonmymind | Blog, food and travel

A few years ago I…

Read More

Bologna – la grassa

By italyonmymind | Blog, food and travel

Bologna has always been somewhat…

Read More

Napoli – the streets, the people, the food and the music

By italyonmymind | Blog, food and travel

My father had warned me…

Read More

Palermo in December

By italyonmymind | Blog, food and travel

I was utterly charmed by…

Read More

Dreaming of Calabria at Villa Varapodi

By italyonmymind | Blog, food and travel

As a farmer’s market regular,…

Read More

Making sourdough bread and bruschetta in Mansfield

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

A few weekends ago we…

Read More

Soufflé di formaggio – twice baked cheese soufflé with chard 

By italyonmymind | Australia - Tasmania, Blog, food and travel, recipes, verdure e salse - vegetarian dishes, salads, sauces

The soufflé has always been…

Read More

Spaghetti alla chitarra – and a visit to L'Antico Feudo agriturismo

By italyonmymind | Blog, Central Italy, food and travel

I first made spaghetti alla…

Read More

Celebration of the pig at the De Bortoli Winery in the Yarra Valley

By italyonmymind | Australia - Victoria, Blog, food and travel

It is no secret that…

Read More

Salina – the sea, the capers and "il Postino"

By italyonmymind | Blog, food and travel, Italy - the south

If you follow me on…

Read More

Lemon, caper and red onion salad – I left my heart at Case Vecchie, Sicily

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

After the night we spent…

Read More

In the hills of Abruzzo there are bears, snow and wonderful food

By italyonmymind | Blog, Central Italy, food and travel

In the hills of Abruzzo…

Read More
Next Entries »

Recent posts

  • Giardiniera – preserving Italian style
  • An upside down apricot cake to welcome 2021
  • Biscotti di San Martino – simple wine biscuits with fennel seeds
  • Goats cheese and tomato tart with a pecorino crust – my summer terrace garden
  • Mamma

Instagram

An apricot upside down cake - introduced to me by An apricot upside down cake - introduced to me by my sister @bad543 over Christmas. Simple to make and frankly delicious! I have written up the recipe in a blog post. Link in my profile. If you bake it, please tag me 🧡
Happy to say farewell to 2020, a most difficult y Happy to say farewell to 2020, a  most difficult year. Hoping that 2021 will be that little bit better for everyone
Summertime - a favourite corner at my sister’s b Summertime - a favourite corner at my sister’s beach house
Boxing Day looked like this: cicchetti, paella and Boxing Day looked like this: cicchetti, paella and beach time
The day before Christmas is always so busy. Up and The day before Christmas is always so busy. Up and early with my roller skates on to get everything done. But before that, coffee and panettone. And thanks to my friends at @barillaaus for this lovely Christmas gift
‘Tis the season to make crostoli - store them fr ‘Tis the season to make crostoli - store them free of icing sugar and dust just before serving - my mamma’s recipe (which is in Italian Street Food)
About last night - I only managed to get photos of About last night - I only managed to get photos of the antipasto, then I got too busy and the light got too dark. A fun night celebrating Christmas and my mother in law’s birthday with dinner at home and a game of ultimate charades boys v girls. Such a long time since I’d had prosciutto & melone; also made tigelle, basil pesto, roasted capsicum, grilled marinated zucchini and smoked scamorza rolls, insalata caprese
CHRISTMAS BAKING - I love making biscuits (cookies CHRISTMAS BAKING - I love making biscuits (cookies) at Christmas! Apart from panforte and crostoli, I usually make these: mostaccioli Pugliesi. I am sharing the recipe of these with you which you will also find in my cookbook Adriatico. And they happen to be vegan! 

 makes 35-40
 
 60 g roasted almonds, coarsely ground 
 peel of 1 small orange, zested 
 250 g plain flour, 
 90 g caster sugar
 1 tsp baking powder
 pinch of salt
 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
 ¼ tsp ground cloves
 ¼ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
 30 g dark bitter cocoa powder
 40 g dark chocolate , finely chopped
½ tsp vanilla essence
100 ml vincotto 
½ tsp balsamic vinegar
2 ½ tbsp extra virgin olive oil
3 tbsp warm water, plus extra if needed
Icing: 100-200 g dark chocolate 
 
Place the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, spices and cocoa in a large bowl and give it a good whisk to remove any lumps. Stir in the ground almonds, orange peel and chocolate, then pour in the vanilla essence, vincotto and balsamic vinegar (if using), then the olive oil in a stream, stirring as you go, until the mixture resembles wet sand. Add half the water and stir, then start to bring the mixture together with your hands. Add enough of the remaining water to form a cohesive but still fairly dry dough. Don't add all the water if it isn't needed (or add a bit more if required to reach the right consistency). 
 
Line two large baking trays with baking paper. Cut the dough in half and roll out each portion between two sheets of baking paper to 3–4 mm thick. Using a diamond-shaped cookie cutter with 5 cm sides to cut out your biscuits. Place on the trays, leaving a little space for spreading, and bake in batches for 12–14 mins or until they feel firm but are still soft. Allow to cool completely on the trays. 

To make the icing, place the chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering 
water, making sure the base of the bowl does not touch the water, and let it melt, stirring occasionally. Turn off the heat and leave the bowl over the pan. Working in batches, dip half the biscuit in the chocolate (or you could dip the whole biscuit). Place on a sheet of baking paper until the chocolate sets.
Travel Tuesday and one of my favourite places to v Travel Tuesday and one of my favourite places to visit in Venice - the elegant seafood market hall at Rialto
This error message is only visible to WordPress admins

Get in touch

  • Contact me

© 2021 italy on my mind. All Rights Reserved