italy on my mind
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    • carni, pesce e pollame – meat, fish and poultry
    • dolci – sweets
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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 and online
    • Trieste tour
    • Southern Puglia Tour
  • Cookbooks & Italian Travel
    • Travel in Italy
    • My cookbooks
  • Blog
  • Contact me

Recipes

Antipasti

Crostini con crema di carciofi – crostini with artichoke spread

Involtini di prosciutto, fichi e formaggio blu (prosciutto wrapped figs with blue cheese)

An Italian Christmas antipasti round-up

Bresaola, rocket (arugula) and Parmesan cicheti

Olivigna – a Melbourne agriturismo

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Primi – pasta, rice, gnocchi, soups

Stinging nettle pasta

Gnocchi di ricotta di Fabrizia con piselli, fave e menta (Fabrizia’s ricotta gnocchi with peas, broad beans and mint)

Pesto di finocchio (fennel frond pesto)

Gnocchi con aglio nero (gnocchi with fermented black garlic)

Zuppa di funghi (mushroom soup)

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Verdure e salse – vegetarian dishes, salads, sauces

Stinging nettle pasta

Fabrizia’s ricotta gnocchi with peas, broad beans and mint

Soufflé di formaggio – twice baked cheese soufflé with chard 

Gnocchi con aglio nero (gnocchi with fermented black garlic)

Patate con rosmarino di Livia (potatoes with rosemary)

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Carni, pesce e pollame – meat, fish and poultry

Calamari con salsa tonnata (calamari with tuna mayonnaise)

Fettuccine with pippies – plans for 2015 and a visit to see family in Italy

Whole baked snapper with chilli and oregano

Roast chicken with fennel and orange

Mamma and her recipe for veal ragu

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Dolci – sweets

Taralli al limone (lemon taralli)

Il tiramisù di Gemma (Gemma’s tiramisu)

Crostata di ricotta – a new favourite 

Lime, olive oil and yoghurt cake

Liquore di fragole (strawberry liqueur)

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Food and travel

Soufflé di formaggio – twice baked cheese soufflé with chard

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

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

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

Salina – the sea, the capers and “il Postino”

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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

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