What to do w/ leftovers? For a dinner event during weekend I prepared lots of oven-baked vegetables. It was delicious accompanied by some chicken filled w/ lemons & rosemary, a generous mix of fresh basil leaves & pressed garlic under the skin for especially flavoring the chicken breasts. (Maybe you think that the vegetables accompanied the chicken …) We all enjoyed the dinner …, however, some of the oven-baked vegetables remained on their plate afterwards…
Today there is another approach for a really refreshing mozzarella dip perfect for fresh baguette accompanied by crisp white wine. I found this recipe years ago during a TV show where everything was simply chopped & mixed. You know this casual style of cooking … which I really like! The result doesn’t look so spectacular, but it tastes like freshness, lightness, melting in your mouth!
The Italians invented aperitivo. When staying in Milan as well as in Rome some years ago we were happy about aperitivo. It starts in late afternoon & let you have some wine or Spritz or cocktails together w/ a selection of savory bits & bites usually presented as a buffet. Until early evening you may indulge in drinks & food … You get prosciutto, salame, green & black olives, marinated vegetables, small tramezzini, pizza bits, salads ……
Is there any surprise in a potato salad? Yes: you may add Mediterranean herbs for a delicious summer & holiday flavour … Some years ago I made this potato salad rather spontaneously because suddenly all the rainy weather in Germany cleared up & sun came back w/ fine temperatures fit for some last BBQ events in the garden. … & a real bit potato salad is always one of the best companions around (together w/…
All’ ammiraglio … Let this melt on your tongue! We are dealing w/ a very simple & very easy spaghetti dish – quick & dirty! … it looks so innocent! Be careful: it’s really hot & burns like hell inside you, wakes you up, heats you up … & leaves you feeling full & happy w/ the world – even if it’s hot still in the evening! I found this recipe years ago in one…
Suppose you need a batch of vegetables for a roast or a BBQ or whatever. How to prepare it w/o too much trouble aka effortless? You simply start w/ a casserole packed w/ vegetables like in the photo above. About 30 min later after a oven session … you get a casserole w/ a delicious mix of soft vegetables. How to achieve this? (I think you’ve noticed that I make it short today … It’s…
Pasta & summer: it’s an excellent combination because pasta is an easy dish convenient for all these warm summer nights when sitting outside w/ a glass of wine longing for some easy, but substantial food – which wouldn’t keep you in the kitchen for too long. The spaghetti are coated w/ a blend of fresh crispy lemon flavour, a hot chili impact & a hearty garlic background – the lemon thyme will give it a…
My very 1st encounter w/ one-pot-pasta: my better half & I got a food & wine basket as a present from friends containing among others a package w/ Italian pasta, dried porcini, dried Mediterranean herbs & finely grated parmesan. The instruction said: Put 1000 ml water and 5 tbsp olive oil in a pot or pan, add all ingredients except the parmesan, bring it to a boil and let it cook for about 10 min.…
Potato salad is down-to-earth … so down-to-earth … Time to get it dressed to kill by adding an avocado dressing! Potatoes are year-round vegetables & avocados are on their way. What do you think of replacing mayonnaise and/or double cream and/or sour cream by a real heap of mashed avocado? What do we need for a fresh potato salad?
In the past: Aubergines (aka eggplant) & I – we did never become close friends. I’m fond of beautiful aubergines, but coming to preparing them I vividly remember some bitter, salty tastes, some rather undone oily vegetable … So I always tried to forgo aubergines. I was working hard on Pasta alla Norma,(and I am still!), however, until now there wasn’t any outstanding success. (Especially my better half wasn’t convinced of the test series …)…
My last post was a resumé about our stay in Athens – for about 5 weeks – in 2017. It was then when found the ultimate recipe for tzatziki. Tzatziki was always one of my favored dips, but then for a start based on my experiences during our stay when I was able to do a deep dive into different versions of tzatziki and as well recreate it at our home in Athens. So now…
We won’t need so many ingredients: … and pasta – big rigatoni!
Imagining it’s happy hour: chilled white wine (or rosé wine) & smooth red wine are awaiting their destiny, gin tonics & vodka tonics are mixed or whatever else – in the very middle of all the drinks sits a plate w/ crispy crumbly cheesy spicy shortbread cookies … We’re only mixing flour, Parmesan, pepper & salt … & dried rosemary! So far nothing changed compared to my earlier approach … however, I used grated Parmesan…
So we start w/ a bunch of beautiful fresh green beans … (no changes so far!) The main point I adjusted the salad was not creating my very own tuna cream, but relying to a cup of rilette de thon which I smoothened w/ some liquid cream. It worked well!
It’s pasta time: we often enjoy pasta dishes because they are so easy to create. I especially like the one pot pasta approach. It’s quite a long time ago that I posted about one pot pasta tomato, but it’s one of my favourites, although I adjusted the dish a touch. Back then I thought about my approach as the mother of all Italian pasta dishes. Generally we are talking about: Is there anybody out there…