Sticky Post
Mulled Wine Apple Galette
This Mulled Wine Apple Galette will really make your home smell fragrant and spicy, a bit festive, almost like it’s Christmas. This is why, as the end of the year approaches and temperatures go down, I feel it’s a perfect way to set the mood and get ready for the festive period. After all, apples are amongst the seasonal fruits to celebrate and make the … Continue reading Mulled Wine Apple Galette
Sticky Post
Turkish Pide
Turkish Pide is a dish we are making more and more these days. Easier than a pizza because you don’t need a tomato sauce (unless you want it): you can use what cheese you might have in the fridge as a topping, together with something as simple as caramelized onions. Turkish pide is a super easy flat bread that will aid you as an improvised … Continue reading Turkish Pide
Sticky Post
Sardinian Seadas
Sardinian Seadas are traditional sweets served as dessert in most traditional restaurants in Sardinia. If you have never seen them before, Seadas look like giant ravioli that are filled with cheese, fried and covered in sugar or honey. Admittedly, it doesn’t look like much, but this very simple dessert combines cheese and honey, one of my favourite combinations, and therefore I often crave it! It … Continue reading Sardinian Seadas
Sticky Post
Classic Quiche Lorraine
Posting this classic quiche Lorraine on IG was a major success. I was very surprised that a lot of people asked for the recipe. Thinking of it, while the French might have grown up making quiches, in Italy – where we called these “savoury tarts” – it’s a thing only in certain regions, and in many other countries they come ready from the supermarket. I … Continue reading Classic Quiche Lorraine
Sticky Post
Picos – Spanish Bread Sticks
Typically served with tapas or olives and cheese, picos are mini bread sticks that are incredibly irresistible because of their crunchiness and ease…they are in fact way to easy to eat – you’ve been warned! Usually our friends go crazy for them and often can’t quite believe that we homebake them. From my Italian perspective, they are the short and fat cousins of grissini and … Continue reading Picos – Spanish Bread Sticks
Sticky Post
Super Easy Turkish Bread
After so many features on my IG profile, it seems like a must that I share the recipe of this Super Easy Turkish Bread, or Pide. I’m adding it more as a journal entry, as the recipe is heavily inspired by the one by Lazy Cat Kitchen Blog. But I cannot help myself from posting it, as since we discovered it, it quickly became one … Continue reading Super Easy Turkish Bread
Sticky Post
Bacon Wrapped Roasted Carrots
When I saw these rainbow carrots at the market I thought they were so beautiful! So I brought a pack home, where I had the perfect ingredient to go with them…smoked bacon! My neighbours here in Singapore have started selling home-smoked bacon and salmon and their products are TO DIE FOR, their name is This.Is.The.Shit.Smokery – check them out on IG if you are based … Continue reading Bacon Wrapped Roasted Carrots
Sticky Post
Chocolate Ganache and Mirror Glaze
I almost went and edited the old post Scrumptious Cocoa Cake then I decided to write a new post to update this. We’ve all been in this situation where we follow a recipe, something goes wrong, so we go and try it again so we can feel like we redeemed ourselves.
The recipe in question is Giallo Zafferano’s Scrumptious Cocoa Cake. The first time I made it it was a fail – I blamed it on my mistake to whip the egg whites in a plastic bowl instead of a glass or metal bowl. I thought that alone could have been the reason why the cake was not spongy. This time, after a bit more experience in baking, I not only avoided this mistake, but many others that recipe would have inevitably brought me to make. I got a beautiful rise resulting in a nice and tall cake, but the consistency was still not spongy enough. So do you know what? I’m deleting the recipe of the sponge this time.
If you want a beautiful and moist chocolate cake just follow Handle The Heat’s Best Chocolate Cake recipe – once you try that, I doubt you’re gonna like any other chocolate cake you bake. Thank you Tessa!
Refer to this recipe for a beautiful ganache to use between the layers and a very effective chocolate mirror glaze to decorate it! I sprinkled mine with golden chocolate mini confetti because I love gold and chocolate together and it was a nice touch to add on to the look of the cake. Happy Baking!
Sticky Post
Easy Homemade Mayo
Our homemade mayo recipe is a super easy an quick one. When I learned that we could make mayo using a hand blender, it was a life changing discovery: it literally takes 5 minutes! The biggest advantage of making mayo at home is that you will know how genuine the ingredients will be, and you will be in control of altering the taste according to your preferences. Continue reading “Easy Homemade Mayo”
Sticky Post
Easy Stuffed Squash
It is definitely squash season. And if you want to cook squash in an easy and quick way, I will never stop recommending this squash recipe. Inspired by Hugh Fearnley-Whittinstall “Veg every day”, this simple recipe has become “the way” we make squash at home, with a few changes that makes it more our own. This stuffed squash is a perfect idea also for your Meatless Monday or as a fun way to eat veggies with your kids!
Continue reading “Easy Stuffed Squash”
Sticky Post
Malloreddus in Campidanese Sauce – Sardinian Pasta
The Sardinian pasta Malloreddus, also known as gnocchetti sardi is the regional pasta that used to be made by patient nonnas, who would push and roll a small ball of pasta dough against a wicker basket with their thumbs. Well known national brands sell a version, but the best will always be the Sardinian brand La Casa del Grano, which are often bi-coloured as some malloreddus are made with the typical flavour of saffron. Continue reading “Malloreddus in Campidanese Sauce – Sardinian Pasta”
Sticky Post
Gazpacho – a Spanish Cold Soup
Tapping on my husband’s Spanish heritage, we often turn to cold soups to beat the heat. Whether you serve it with croutons like a soup, or you serve it in a glass with ice and a straw like a bloody Mary, Gazpacho is certainly one of those dishes that keeps you cool. It’s also very practical when all you have to do is just take it out of the fridge and prepare some garnishes to go with it. Tomato, cucumber and green pepper are the base of this soup, and while you can follow the recipe for guidelines, you can add more or less of each ingredient, to fit your taste.
Sticky Post
Passion Fruit Bomboloni
Call them krapfen, bomboloni or doughnuts, we all seem to have a fondness to stuff our faces with fried dough bombs, usually stuffed with even more gluttonous ingredients. Krapfen are usually filled with apricot jam, while bomboloni are a lot richer, filled with crème patissiere or even nutella! I was lucky enough to have some fresh passion fruits that I could pick up from the common garden’s harvest, so I decided to come up with a quick curd, which seemed perfect to fill in some doughnuts. I always follow Lilvienna’s krapfen recipe, but I add some lemon and orange zest to intensify the aromas. Continue reading “Passion Fruit Bomboloni”
Sticky Post
Spinach and Chickpeas Tapa (Espinacas con Garbanzos)
This meatless dish with spinach and chickpeas is a popular Sevillian tapa, in which the cumin seeds and paprika will titillate your palate: these spices makes this very simple dish an unforgettable starter for your guests and a perfect dinner fix when all you have at home is cans and frozen spinach! Popular as a meatless mid-week meal option, we often have it with bread like a bruschetta, or on a bed of roasted potatoes, or just as it is, with a sunny side up on top!
Continue reading “Spinach and Chickpeas Tapa (Espinacas con Garbanzos)”
Sticky Post
Russian Salad
For many years, Russian salad has been a mystery for me. In Italy we don’t consume it much, apart from the odd buffet-style dinner party so I never had too much curiosity about making it at home. In London, between my good Russian friend and my Spanish other half, I discovered the many faces of this salad. A favourite tapa in Spain, where they call it Ensaladilla: you will find it in all the menus around the land. A winter favourite in Russia: I got to learn, and taste, that they have meat versions and fish versions. Continue reading “Russian Salad”
Sticky Post
Homemade Chicken Shawarma
When you can’t go to the kebab shop, make kebab! In this case make homemade chicken Shawarma. We found different recipes online, and we sort of mixed it up a little to suit the content of our pantry as well as our taste. I would dare say that this recipe is easy, apart from the detail that we wanted our kebab to stand in the … Continue reading Homemade Chicken Shawarma
Sticky Post
Babaganush – a Simple Dip
Following the Levantine/Middle Eastern thread, we are back with another aubergine recipe. This time, we are using our beloved vegetables for a famous dip recipe, Babaganush. While there can be variants, the classic recipe is very simple. This is the ideal dip to serve as a starter with crudities, a few toasted slices of your favourite sourdough, or pitta bread, or even some crunchy crispbreads.
Sticky Post
Spanish Tortilla (Tortilla de Patatas)
Considered the key dish of Spanish cuisine, tortilla is one of our go to recipes when we have guests or when we are looking for an easy fix with few ingredients. Distinguished from its Italian cousin frittata by its characteristic thickness, it can also contain other featured ingredients, such as chorizo, like this one does. But of course, tortilla can be enjoyed by vegetarians, who instead of adding chorizo can add their favourite greens, or simply add a lot of parsley to the mix. This serves eight if eaten as a starter or four as a main – but keep it between two, and you can have seconds! Continue reading “Spanish Tortilla (Tortilla de Patatas)”
Sticky Post
Pollo en Pepitoria – A Spanish Sunday Lunch
Making Spanish dishes often feels like taking a trip to the origin of my Sardinian heritage. As Sardinia was invaded by the Spanish for many years, I always look for similarities with their culture: from the syntax, to the societal constructs, to the ingredients we put on our table. Almonds are definitely a staple in both Spanish and Sardinian cuisines. In Sardinia we have bitter … Continue reading Pollo en Pepitoria – A Spanish Sunday Lunch
Sticky Post
Spaghetti Carbonara – the Classic Recipe
I won’t dwell too much on the name origin of pasta, specifically spaghetti Carbonara, for which many are the presumed stories , but none of them sure. What is certain is that this classic recipe from Lazio was popular only after the Second World War, it is one of the most famous recipes in the world, and also one of the simplest pasta sauces there are to make. Even with the internet, and with some Italian chefs becoming very popular around the world, there’s always a lot of curiosity about this recipe and the actual way you’re supposed to make it. It is definitely a winner at dinner parties with Anglo-Saxon friends – who will be awed at how magically you pull together their favourite breakfast ingredients in a dinner dish. This recipe serves two people.
Continue reading “Spaghetti Carbonara – the Classic Recipe”
Blender & Basil 