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 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 • […]
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 […]
Mario Matassa takes a look at International Women’s Day. He revels in the mystery of the celebrations and presents some of the classic dishes… Photos by Mario Matassa The 8th of March is the day when women across Italy hang up their aprons, put on their best frocks, and walk out of the door – […]
This Italian hard cheese has long lived in the shadow of Parmigiano Reggiano, but there’s no real reason why it should. We put seven supermarket brands under the spotlight… Grana Padano cheese has a long and noble history: originally made by the Cistercian monks of Chiaravalle way back in the 12th century, it is now […]