Spaghetti alle vongole or spaghetti with clams

It has taken a few days, but I think I am back to normal both physically and mentally after the extraordinary consumption antics at the wedding double bill last weekend. My dinosaur appetite has certainly come roaring back this morning after a previously unheard of few days of post wedding moderation. The box of good [...]

A hearty squash and cabbage soup stew

I know, this is my third soup stew post in a row, what can I say, its that time of year, I have got thick tights on and I am most definitely in a hearty soup frame of mind. Also this morning my stomach was crying out for something simple and nourishing after the riotous [...]

Sauteed spinach and mushrooms with a fried egg on toast.

This is bit of a homage to one of my favourite blogs orangette and a recent post which details an adaption of the utterly delicious Zuni cafe recipe for Boiled kale with a fried egg on toast. Now anything with a fried egg on top catches, or should I say grabs my eyes and pulls [...]

Pancotto or bread soup

Pancotto literally translated means bread cooked, now in my book that kind of translates as toast, of the butter and marmalade kind, so lets use the accepted translation of bread soup.
Well, I thought it was pancotto or bread soup until Vincenzo arrived home and peered in the pan, ‘l’acquacotta‘ he declared (‘cooked water.’) I was [...]

Pear and pecorino

Vincenzo loves a proverb or saying, he delights, glint in his eye, in repeating them endlessly. The mere sight of a pear prompts one of his favourites which he recites in a rather deep voice and then is quickly reduced to infectious giggles, ‘Non fa sapere al contadino quant’é buona la pera con pecorino‘ (‘don’t [...]

Pasta and bean soup or pasta e fagioli.

I am back in Rome after our mountain spa escape. It was exactly what I needed, a few days of startlingly clean, fresh mountain air, hours wallowing, steaming and soaking in the various pools and then yet more hours spent dozing, daydreaming and reading beside the pools wrapped in vast white toweling dressing gowns. We [...]

Getting away

I am off to the mountains in Switzerland in 1 hour 30 minutes time, not that I am counting you understand, its just that I am more than a little excited about the prospect of a few days in a spa which nestles in an isolated valley with litle else to do but soak, steam, [...]

Roast Chicken.

Roast chicken, roast chicken, just writing the words is enough to make me smile and stir my appetite. A well reared, carefully and simply roasted chicken is without a doubt one of my favourite things to eat, maybe, just maybe, my very favourite. Crisp golden skin, succulent, tender and juicy flesh, its delicate yet robust [...]

Pasta and Brocolli

My affair with Broccolo Romanesco (which from now on I shall refer to as BR) has been going on since I very first arrived in Rome, so that’s about three and half years now. Its nothing clandestine you understand, nor secretive, Vincenzo is fully aware of my amante and most supportive of my need to [...]

Fishcakes and Diary.

First the diary bit, then the fishcakes, please feel free to skip if you are not in the mood for my ramblings.
As I think I have already mentioned Vincenzo is extremely patient when it comes to my kitchen antics, experimentation and general domination of space. On top of all that, he is a first class [...]