Lavender panna cotta

This is my all-time favorite panna cotta flavour...lavender! The lavender adds such an incredible freshness and the consistency is light and delightful. It was a big hit at my Christmas party this year and is a really simple dessert to feed a lot of people! This recipe serves 8-12.

Ingredients:


2 cups heavy cream
1 cup milk
1 cup condensed milk
1/4 cup honey (more or less to taste)
2 heaped tsp. dried lavender
4 tbsp. cold water
3 tsp. powdered gelatin

Method:

In a small bowl let the gelatin bloom in cold water.

Heat the heavy cream, milk, condensed milk, honey with lavender until just heated through and bubbles form on the outside.  Turn off the heat, add the gelatin to the warm milk mixture, whisk until dissolved completely. Cover and let the lavender infuse for 2 minutes.

Strain the mixture through a sieve into serving cups or a large bowl. When cool, cover it with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 6 hours but preferably overnight.

Serve drizzled with honey.

Blue cheese and chive pasta

This is a really simple, delicious pasta that I served here with spaghetti.
Use your favourite creamy, blue cheese for the sauce...the more pungent the better! ;)

I served this with a very simple, chickweed salad...yes, it is a weed! I actually stumbled upon it at the farmer's market today....tasted it and loved it! It is also extremely nutritious and high in vitamin C!

Ingredients:
2 servings pasta
2-3 cloves garlic, sliced
1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese
1/2 cup milk
1 tbsp. creme fraiche
1 tbsp. chives, chopped
1 tbsp. olive oil
salt
freshly ground black pepper

Method:

Heat the oil, add the garlic and toss until softened. Then add the blue cheese, milk and whisk over low heat until the cheese is incorporated into the sauce. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Turn off the heat, add the chives and creme fraiche.

Cook pasta until al dente, add to the cheese sauce and combine. Serve with a green salad.

Papardelle carbonara

It's really all about the pancetta! I was able to get some of Salumi pancetta, anise flavoured, a limited edition seasonal version, which just made this to-die-for!

Traditional versions of carbonara, in fact the first time I tried this was in Rome...is made with spaghetti but I like it with the flat pastas too like fettuccine and papardelle.

Ingredients:

1 slick slice of pancetta (Italian bacon), chopped

1/2 cup grated percorino

1 egg and 2 yolks

fresh pasta sheets, cut into papardelle (or whatever you like) to serve 2

salt

black pepper, freshly ground

olive oil

1 tbsp Parsley, chopped

Method:

Render the pancetta in a pan with a little olive oil until crispy, drain over paper towels to remove excess fat. Whisk the egg and yolks with the cheese, salt and pepper.

Cook the pasta until al dente, add to the egg and cheese mixture and toss immediately to coat. Add a few tablespoons of the pasta water as needed. Add the pancetta and toss again, garnish with parsley, drizzle with a little extra olive oil and serve with a simple, green salad of arugula or watercress.

papardelle with cauliflower, garlic breadcrumbs and pine nuts

It's not often that you find pasta dishes with cauliflower but this one is a staple in my repertoire. It has great texture ...crunchiness from the breadcrumbs and pine nuts and the creaminess of cauliflower. The florets have to be cooked until really soft. It is a great way to add nutritional value to your meal - I specifically steam the florets so it retains all the goodness.



Ingredients:
1 cauliflower - cut into florets
1/2 tsp. red chili flakes
4 - anchovy fillets, minced
1 cup - fresh breadcrumbs made from day old french bread
2 tbsp. - pine nuts
1 tsp. - parsley, chopped
olive oil
4-5 garlic cloves, sliced
1 cup stock (chicken or vege.)

Method:
Steam the florets until cooked through and soft, rough chop and set aside. Boil water for the pasta in the mean time with plenty of salt.

Heat olive oil in a pan, add sliced garlic and saute until golden. Then add breadcrumbs and pine nuts, parsley and toss for a few minutes until golden. Then remove and cool on a plate.

Now for the sauce, heat some oil in a skillet, add the minced anchovy fillets and stir until they disintegrate and flavour the oil. Skip the anchovies for a vegetarian version but they do add great flavour! Then add the chili flakes and then the cauliflower and cook for a few minutes. Add stock as needed to combine and form a sauce.

Cook the pasta until al dente, then add to the sauce and toss. Top with bread crumbs , drizzle some good olive oil and serve.

Zucchini pasta

This is an easy, satisfying week-night recipe and a great way to get your veges! Zucchinis cook down in volume ...so what looks like a lot will end up being just enough. The balsamic vinegar is a great combination with zucchinis and adds a bit of sweetness. The chili flakes counter that with a bit of spiciness.

I prefer to use fresh pasta and stock up my fridge with it but you could always use dried pasta.
















Ingredients:

Zucchini - 2-3, sliced
chili flakes - a pinch or more to taste
Balsamic vinegar - 1 tbsp
Salt to taste
2 servings of pasta (tagliatelle, papardelle or similar)
Olive oil
fresh ground black pepper


Method:

Bring a pot of well-salted water to boil. Slice the zucchinis using a food processor or a mandolin into thin slices with the skin on.
Heat a wide skillet, coat with some olive oil and then add the zucchini. Spread it in a thin layer all over the skillet.

In the mean time, boil the pasta according to instructions.

Let the zucchini cook and caramelize for a few minutes, the key is to not keep turning it over as it gets mushy, if you do. Then carefully turn the zucchini over once in portions to cook the other side for a few minutes.

Season with salt, pepper, chili flakes and the balsamic vinegar and toss before you turn off the heat. Add the pasta to the zucchini and toss with enough of the pasta water to make it moist. drizzle with olive oil and serve immediately.

Classic Panna Cotta

This is my favorite Italian dessert. It is extremely simple to make and therefore a great choice when the rest of the meal is more elaborate. The only problem is that it needs sufficient time to set in the refrigerator and leaving it overnight is best. I have tried many variations and find that the recipe below yields the best texture, creaminess and taste!

Ingredients:

4 cups half n half
1/2 cup sugar or according to taste
4 tsp vanilla extract or 2 vanilla beans scraped
2 tsp gelatin powder or use gelatin sheets per package instructions

Method:

Add gelatin powder to ice cold water and set aside until it blooms.

Heat half n half with sugar on low heat until it melts. Then add vanilla, heat through (do not let it boil). Turn off the heat.

Add a little milk to the gelatin and whisk together until incorporated. Now add it back to the rest of the milk, whisk together. Pour into 8 ramekins and chill in refrigerator for 6 hours or overnight.

There are so many different options to serve panna cotta. I have used fresh berry sauces and also chocolate sauce...both are fantastic! You can either pour the sauce over the panna cotta in the ramekins or for a more dramatic presentation, un-mould the panna cotta over a plate and spoon the sauce over and around it. To un-mould - place the ramekins over some warm water in a pan for it for a couple of minutes and then turn it over on to a plate.

Chocolate and pistachio frozen mousse

This is an incredibly rich, luscious, dessert for chocolates lovers and haters alike...was a hit with everyone! I had tasted a similar frozen chocolate mousse with pistachios in Rome and was so excited to see Lynn Rossetto Kasper publish a recipe she was given in Parma. I had to immediately rush to the kitchen and try it out! This is one of those recipes I will cherish and recreate to top off many an Italian meal! It is pretty much unaltered and I wouldn't change a thing!























Ingredients:

Chocolate mousse:
5-1/2 oz bittersweet chocolate, melted
1 oz unsweetened chocolate, melted
4 tbsp butter (unsalted)
5 tbsp Marsala
2 large egg yolks
4 large egg whites, at room temperature
a pinch of cream of tartar
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1 cup heavy cream, whipped with 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup shelled pistachios, chopped

chocolate marsala sauce:
1-1/2 tablespoons instant espresso
1/2 cup boiling water
1/3 cup Marsala
4 oz bittersweet chocolate
5 tsp sugar
2 tbsp unsalted butter

Method:

Chocolate mousse:
Melt the chocolate over a double boiler and set aside to cool.

Combine the butter and Marsala in a bowl over boiling water until it starts to bubble then set aside to cool a little. Then beat in the egg yolks and back over boiling water and keep whisking till it thickens. Set aside to cool.

Heat sugar and water until a syrup forms. Beat the egg whites with cream of tartar until soft peaks form. Then beat at high speed as you pour the hot sugar syrup into the mixer, then turn to low speed and continue until it reaches room temp.

Fold the egg whites carefully into the chocolate, followed by the whipped cream and the pistachios (set aside a couple tbsp for garnish), then at medium speed until the mixture reaches room temperature. Freeze for 4 hours or until firm.

Chocolate marsala Sauce:

Stir the coffee granules in the boiling water until it dissolves. Combine Marsala, chocolate, and sugar in a bowl and stir over hot water until a smooth sauce is formed. Stir in the butter just before serving.


Serve small scoops of the mousse drizzled with the chocolate sauce and sprinkled with chopped pistachios.