Sun-dried tomato and fennel seed pâté provides a delicious, distinctive flavour for these puff pastry ‘girelle’ by Mario Matassa – ideal snacks for entertaining Serves 6 Preparation time 15 minutes, plus chilling Cooking time 25 minutes Ingredients: • 1 small jar of sun-dried tomatoes in oil • 2 anchovy fillets • 1 garlic clove, peeled • 1 tsp fennel […]
Mario Matassa’s wonderful lonza di maiale ripiena di fave e pecorino (to give it its Italian name) is a perfect Sunday show-stopper… Serves 4-6 Preparation time 15 minutes Cooking time 1 hour, 15 minutes Ingredients: • 1kg pork loin in one piece • 250g broad beans, with their tough outer skin removed • 200g mature pecorino cheese, finely […]
Olive oil is essential to Mediterranean food culture – how would Italians live without it? Join us to sample a selection of the best… Olive trees are the oldest known cultivated tree and the oil they produce is referred to as ‘liquid gold’. With its extraordinary health-giving properties, one can see why this glistening liquid […]
Katie and Giancarlo Caldesi share this delicious chocolate and almond cake recipe from their book, The Amalfi Coast: A Collection of Italian Recipes… One of our most romantic evenings was in a restaurant overlooking the sea just outside Positano on the Amalfi coast. A couple of months before my engagement ring had broken and unbeknown to […]
Take the easy route to cooking a quick supper with Italy’s favourite rice dish. Italia! looks at some of the ready-to-make risotto kits currently on the market Risotto is a quintessentially Italian dish originating in the north of the country. It remains especially popular in these northern regions – such as Piedmont and the Veneto […]
This torta ‘mimosa cake’ is covered with pieces of sponge cake, reminiscent of the flowers of the mimosa – it is served across Italy to celebrate La Festa della Donna By Mario Matassa Makes one 22cm cake Preparation time 20 minutes (plus chilling) Cooking time 20 minutes Ingredients: For the cake • 4 free-range eggs • 200g […]
This recipe for tacchino con zafferano e panna by Mario Matassa uses just a hint of saffron to give the dish its delicate yellow colour Serves 4 Preparation time 10 minutes Cooking time 30 minutes Ingredients: • 750g turkey breast, cut into 2cm chunks • a few tablespoons of plain flour • a few tbsp of olive oil […]
Mario Matassa shares his ‘risotto mimosa’ recipe. The dish is a staple of Italy’s Festa della Donna in March… Serves 4 Preparation time 10 minutes Cooking time 20 minutes Ingredients: • 2 shallots, peeled, finely chopped • 320g risotto rice • 300g asparagus • 2 hard boiled free-range eggs • 1-1.5 litres of vegetable or chicken stock • […]
This is Mario Matassa’s variation on the classic Mimosa cocktail (champagne and orange juice), though of course we are using prosecco instead of champagne… Serves 4-6 Preparation time 5 minutes Ingredients: • ½ a bottle of Prosecco • 500ml apricot juice • 250ml freshly squeezed orange juice Instructions: 1 Mix the apricot and orange juices together in […]
Una zucca is usually a pumpkin or marrow but it can apply to anything in the squash family – this flavoursome soup is hearty and comforting at any time of year By Mario Matassa Serves 4 Preparation time 10 minutes Cooking time 30 minutes Ingredients: • a few tablespoons of olive oil • 1 small onion, peeled, finely […]