Crispy Potato Skins

So, you have peeled a gargantuan amount of potatoes to make your creamy Paris mash/chips/champs you name it…now what to do with the skins? The frugal Italian in me cannot bear the idea of wastage and I’m always eager to conjure up a way to give new life to left-overs and food scraps. A little…

Sweet Potato Risotto with Balsamic Vinegar

My love affair with risotto goes deeper than a simple passion for its creamy texture and irresistible savory bite, it’s embedded in my DNA. I was born and raised in the heart of Pianura Padana in the Lombardy region of Italy, where rice grows abundant and where each lombardo d.o.c (citizen of Lombardy) takes sensational…

Potato Croquettes (Crocchette di Patate)

  I was driving around Sydney a few weeks ago, distractedly listening to the local Italian radio station, when a very animated conversation caught my attention. The radio host and an elderly Southern Italian lady on the phone were engaged in a feisty discussion about one of everybody’s favorite Italian side dish, crocchette di palate,…

Nonna’s sauteed potatoes

One of the best things about having started a food blog, is the chance to connect with food lovers world-wide and exchange recipes and culinary traditions and adventures. I recently posted on my Italian blog an article about roast potatoes and one of my readers, Sandro, shared his Nonna’s recipe and I felt compelled to…

Infornata di pollo con origano e pomodori (Chicken, oregano and tomato bake)

This dish is quintessential Italian. It’s a peasant, rustic assembly of fresh ingredients mixed with left-overs and brought together by the crisp dryness of white wine. It’s a dish that appeals to children and grown-ups alike and is therefore the perfect family meal. I normally make this when I have left-over boiled potatoes and stale…