italy on my mind

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- Press
Recipes
Classes, tours & workshops
Cookbooks & Italian Travel
- Travel in Italy
- My cookbooks
Blog
Contact me

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Recent posts

Walnut and orange cake
Nello turns 100 – a seafood family feast with sarde in savor
Walnut and raisin honey cake
Venetian apple cake – and Nevenka
Giardiniera – preserving Italian style

Instagram

The past week I have been doing office work in the

The past week I have been doing office work in the city so I have not been cooking at all. To celebrate the end of the working week we went to @bar_lourinha for their 6pm sitting. The waiter was from Verona so we chatted in Italian as we ate shared plates of delicious Spanish food. The baccalà and potato bread crumb free croquettes were delicious, as was the calamari and the two desserts: orange buñelos with dulce de leche and the pomegranate crema with pistachio and olive oil. Menu at the end. Love getting out to support small businesses and eat at restaurants again! Such a great atmosphere here

Prepare to be totally impressed by @grayandbreadan

Prepare to be totally impressed by @grayandbreadandwine - I think it was my favourite meal of the year so far - set menu (see last photo) Georgian/Russian fare with the optional addition of a 10 layer honey cake - and a stellar wine list in a stylish former solicitor’s office in Northcote - note the 10-layer honey cake which was terribly rich and an extra on the menu, but I could not resist

I had forgotten how much I enjoy this cake: yester

I had forgotten how much I enjoy this cake: yesterday’s baking protect was flourless almond and lemon cake from the “Salento” chapter of Adriatico

It was so good to go out last night to meet friend

It was so good to go out last night to meet friends and share a pizza. I had trouble getting a booking as many places were booked out (Melbournians were out in force after the 2-week lockdown) but found a table at the 6pm sitting at local pizzeria Piccolino. Great crust with a good char and a very thin centre. The gregarious owner Andrea even put the song “Felicità” by Albano on full blast as we were leaving and stood on the chair to sing the chorus. Happiness is a good pizza and dining out with friends and supporting your local small business @piccolino3068

Dreaming Puglia and @masseriapotenti

Dreaming Puglia and @masseriapotenti

Earlier in the week I made Apricot cake with yoghu

Earlier in the week I made Apricot cake with yoghurt and olive oil - it was so good and is now sadly finished (our neighbours scored a good piece of it!). I am so happy today as lockdown measures have been relaxed - though we still cannot have any visitors in our homes and need to wear masks inside and outside. But I am looking forward to dining out this long weekend! Also to my LIVE chat with Tania @the_little_italian_school tonight AEST at 7.30pm / we will chat about Italian food, growing up in an Italian household and about my New book Istria

Melbourne has plunged into winter and nothing sati

Melbourne has plunged into winter and nothing satisfies me quite as much as pasta does when it is cold. On Monday I made a sfoglia with three large eggs and measured 250g flour, then added just a bit more as I went along (but certainly less than the rule of thumb of 1 egg to 100g flour). I kneaded for about 15 minutes after it had come together and let it rest for an hour. The pasta was easier to roll out into a large circle than usual and it was thinner. I let it dry out around an hour covered by a tea towel before rolling and cutting into fettuccine. I was very happy with the result. It made a great lunch with a batch of meat sugo (mamma’s recipe) and between the two of us we managed to eat the lot!

Walnut and orange cake - dense, delicious, crumbly

Favourite winter salad: roasted beetroot, radicchi

Favourite winter salad: roasted beetroot, radicchio, roasted walnuts and feta cheese with a dressing of extra virgin olive oil, red wine vinegar and medlar vinegar

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