This creamy courgette and ricotta pasta is full of fresh Italian flavour with a vibrant green courgette sauce and plenty of ricotta, of course! Courgettes are a wonderfully versatile vegetable. They’re also very forgiving for the novice gardener and require minimal attention. Pick them small and they can be used in salads. Medium courgettes work […]
We go behind the scenes of an Italian Christmas with Mario Matassa as he explores the rich and austere festive food and traditions of Italy… To describe a celebration of food as both ‘rich and austere’ might seem something of a contradiction. Yet I can think of no more apt a description of this, the […]
Get the family together and bring the flavours of Italy right to your table with Mario Matassa In a country that loves and lives to eat well and, as a general rule, adheres to the principle of eating seasonally, it should come as no surprise that for many Italians spring is the most anticipated time […]
Pan-fried salmon recipe with toasted pistachio and lemon butter – Salmone con pistacchi tostati e burro al limone This dish is simple and takes moments to prepare. Make sure the salmon is fresh and from a sustainable source. It is best served with a light spring salad. I used spinach with grated baby carrots and […]
A recipe for ‘Cheat’s’ Mimosa cake – Torta primavera ‘furba’ By Mario Matassa This cake is an amalgamation of two cakes synonymous with the season: Mimosa and Colomba (which means ‘dove’). Mimosa cake first made an appearance to mark International Women’s Day on the 8th of March (Festa della Donna in Italy). It’s so called […]
Boldly setting itself apart from traditional Italian recipes by shunning pasta in favour of gnocchi, polenta and rice, Mario Matassa leads us into the world of Aostan cuisine… Aosta is Italy’s smallest region, a valley nestled in the cradle of the Alps, bordering France and Switzerland to the north and its regional neighbour, Piedmont, to […]
The orto is the Italian vegetable garden, an essential part of the fresh food culture. Mario Matassa digs his last seasonal treats, and shares his homegrown Italian recipes… There’s an old man in a string vest with a worn and battered straw hat tending to neat rows of tomatoes. Wicker baskets, filled to the brim […]