an italian foodie christening….
It was my nephew’s christening recently, it was actually his first birthday too so we had a double celebration. I was godmother, a very good choice I think, he’ll be well fed anyway. I’m doing absolutely no cooking this week as we are renovating La Cucina so I thought I’d share a few pics with you.
my sister did the chair covers….
there were lots of goodies…
there were lots of cupcakes and hyper children…
the cake was adorable…..
the princess and her cousin had a ball….
I think someone enjoyed their party….
ciaoxx
smoked salmon and prosecco risotto…
Bruno made this risotto from the Silver Spoon a while back, there are very few ingredients so I was a bit sceptical as to whether it would be tasty enough. It was nice but not bursting with flavour, I think the key to this risotto is definitely a good home-made stock bursting with flavour, a stock cube just doesn’t cut it as there is no parmesan to add extra taste at the end as it’s a fish dish so if you’re making this recipe get chopping those carrots:)
First up, the most important thing whenever making a risotto is:
pour yourself a glass, now we’re ready this is what you need:
1.5 lt veg stock
40g butter
350g risotto rice
350ml prosecco
80g smoked salmon
what to do:
bring the stock to the boil.
melt half the butter, stir in the rice and cook, stirring until the grains are coated in butter:
pour in the wine and cook until evaporated, add a ladleful of stock and cook, stirring until it has been absorbed.
Continue adding the stock a ladleful at a time and stirring until each addition has been absorbed. This will take 18-20 mins. The princess was very interested in what was going on:
cream the remaining butter in a bowl and beat in the half the chopped salmon. About 2 minutes before the rice has finished cooking , stir in the butter mixture and the other half of the salmon:
and serve with another glass of prosecco:)
buon appetito..
a peppa cake fit for a princess…
The princess is a peppa pig addict so her Zia Wilma(aunt) and the “MIL” made this fabulous Italian cake for her birthday with vanilla and chocolate cream. It was delicious but it was big enough for her whole creche so we had lots of birthday cake for breakfast last week. Did the princess eat it, of course not, she just picked at the icing but the adults were happy and that’s what’s really important isn’t it;)
ciaoxx
bruschetta with parma ham, mozzarella and rocket…
Not really a recipe today, this is one of our most popular bruschetta in La Cucina so I thought I’d share it with you. It’s perfect for an antipasti or light lunch and very simple to put together.
what you need:
bruschetta bread or ciabatta
parma ham
buffalo mozzarella
rocket
pesto(optional)
olive oil
what to do:
toast your bread on both sides.
top with pesto and cheese and melt under the grill
serve with parma ham and rocket on top and drizzle with a little olive oil.
ciaoxx
mushrooms stuffed with spinach and pancetta…
It was the princess’ birthday on Monday so on Sunday we headed out to Killaloe to visit the farmer’s market and feed the ducks which she loves. The market is small but it has some nice stalls and we picked up some lovely organic spinach and large field mushrooms. We popped into Andrew in Ponte Vecchio for a quick macchiato too, his little Italian shop was buzzing with Sunday morning revellers sipping coffee and reading the papers. The place is tiny but he stocks a great range of Italian products and wines and has a lovely selection of home-made cakes so if you’re out that way pop in.
I love this recipe, we always eat quite late at night with one of us working in the shop everyday so we just want something light and fulfilling that’s not going to take hours to digest especially at 10pm at night and this fits the bill perfectly.
what you need:
4 large field mushrooms
1 bag of spinach, forget the weight, sowwy as the princess would say!
100g pancetta cubes
1 garlic clove
30g dried or fresh breadcrumbs(fine without too)
50g grated parmesan cheese
4 tbsp olive oil
sea salt and black pepper
what to do:
pre-heat the oven to 190 degrees.
wash and rinse your spinach and cook in a dry pan for 2-3 mins until wilted. Drain and squeeze out as much liquid as possible and finely chop.
cut the stalks out of the mushrooms and finely chop.
heat your oil and add your onions and garlic and cook over a low heat for about 10 mins until soft but not coloured.
add your pancetta and mushroom stalks and cook for 5 minutes.
add your spinach, breadcrumbs and 1/2 your parmesan to the pan, season and toss together.
arrange your mushrooms rounded side down on a baking tray, season and divide your stuffing between the mushrooms. Top with parmesan cheese.
cook for 15 mins until crisp and golden.
buon appetito…
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