Hang in there, Chocoholic friends! I have got what you need… Pain no more, just go over to the stove and start melting some chocolate… You can also lick the bowl! This is the ultimate chocolate fudge cake for me: flourless, creamy, opulent and unapologetically chocolatey. And you don’t even have to turn your oven…
Category: from scratch
Home-made Dried Chili Oil
Home-growing is an occupation that I leave entirely to my green-thumbed husband. It’s not that I don’t see the appeal of gardening and I’m not attracted to such rewarding labour, but I must admit I was born with a black thumb. I don’t seem to have inherited my mum’s natural flare for all things green and I…
Pizza! Home-made and utterly delicious (and healthy too!)
Very few things speak of Italy to me than a perfectly baked Pizza. The thought of a wonderfully crispy and thin crust, so masterfully stretched and folded to create the perfect base for our favorite mediterranean combination of fresh tomatoes, mozzarella and a few other usual suspect, topped by a drizzle of top-notch quality extra-virgin…
Cannelloni with Ricotta and Spinach
Home-made pasta is the ultimate Sunday Lunch treat in Italy. Forget about a roast beast with all the trimmings, we need our share of starchy goodness, home-made, of course. From scratch, goes without saying! Naturally you can use store-bough dried cannelloni, but the flavor and texture won’t be as luxurious. And, after all, this is…
Colomba: an Italian Easter Bread, with Prosecco and Chocolate chips
Colomba is a classic Italian Easter enriched bread, similar to the more illustrious Panettone, traditionally baked in a dove-shaped mould, hence its name (colomba in Italian means dove). The dough is built in various stages and the thought alone may be enough to put off many people with busy lives, but , don’t despair! The…
Hazelnut Amaretti (Amaretti alle Nocciole)
Just when I thought I couldn’t make Amaretti because I was out of almond meal (and in no way inclined to take a trip to the supermarket with child and toddler in tow) I found a half-packet of hazelnut meal hidden in the cupboard. The idea struck me immediately, but what if it wouldn’t work? Good news,…
Almond, Orange and Blackberry Cakes
As I opened my freezer a few days ago, I noticed a couple of punnets of blackberries I had been keeping for a rainy day. Rainy it was indeed. In fact it had been so wet in Sydney that I was starting to wonder whether we’d have any dry days at all this year! The…
Crushed Peas, Mint and Pecorino Bruschetta
This post is dedicated to all of you in the northern hemisphere, you lucky duckies about to savour and immerse yourselves in the long-awaited spring season. And the vast array of green goodness it brings. Think sweet baby broad beans, prickly but juicy artichokes, pointy and proud asparagus and the vivid green of plump, fresh…
Summer Berries Milk Pops
The things you come up with when you have little children! Do you, like me, spend your Saturdays and Sundays under the constant pressure of delivering a treat “because it’s the weekend..PLEEEASEEEE, Mamma, PLEEEASEEEE!!!” ? Some of you may have noticed I do have a sweet tooth, but when it comes to my children’s teeth,…
Espresso-spiked Almond and Cocoa spread
You may call this “homemade Nutella for grownups”. This morning I found myself battling against the will of a stubborn 5 year-old, convincingly arguing his point as why he shouldn’t go to school today (or any day, really). I tried to kindly, yet firmly persuade him that “school is fun”, but who am I kidding?…
Silvia Colloca 