Ossobuco means ‘bone with a hole’ in Italian, and traditionally refers to veal shanks. These days, the slow braised shanks are more often beef. The dish is a speciality of Lombardy and this fabulous recipe comes from The Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan. Preheat your oven to 180ºC (350ºF). Choose a heavy-bottomed…… Continue reading ossobuco
Tag: italian food
baci di dama
These crisp little Italian hazelnut biscuits (cookies), not too sweet and filled with dark chocolate, are perfect with a mid-morning coffee or afternoon tea. To make these biscuits you can toast, skin and grind the hazelnuts yourself. As I have an excellent supply of good quality nuts, I chose to use hazelnut meal. Combine 140g…… Continue reading baci di dama
stracciatella ice cream
Full of crunchy shards of dark chocolate, the flavour of the ice cream itself is a balance of orange and vanilla. Inspired by a recipe from New Feast: Modern Middle Eastern Vegetarian by Greg Malouf and Lucy Malouf, this version uses no eggs, à la Jeni Britton Bauer. To make the ice cream mixture measure…… Continue reading stracciatella ice cream
ricotta gnocchi
Light and fluffy, these ricotta gnocchi are served in a rich tomato sauce. To make the gnocchi, combine 340g (12 oz) of fresh full-fat ricotta with 2 whole eggs, ¾ of a cup of plain flour and ⅓ of a cup of finely grated parmesan. I find a pastry cutter works well, otherwise use a…… Continue reading ricotta gnocchi
pasta e fagioli
Pasta and beans is a classic soup in Italy and can be served thin or thicker as you prefer. This is an adapted version of a recipe from THE RIVER CAFE COOKBOOK by Rose Gray and Ruth Rogers. Hard to beat. The beans need soaking and cooking first. I used fava beans as I didn’t…… Continue reading pasta e fagioli
spicy mussels
This recipe, from THE RIVER CAFE COOKBOOK by Rose Gray and Ruth Rogers hails from the Puglia region of Italy. Serve it with crusty bread. Scrub clean 2kg (4½ lbs) of fresh mussels. In a large saucepan heat 60ml (2 fl oz) of olive oil and add the mussels, 150ml (5 fl oz) of white…… Continue reading spicy mussels
home-made pasta with home-made pesto
Pasta isn’t really too difficult to make, but somehow I hardly ever get around to it. Having just made a pesto, though, it seemed fitting to have a home-made pasta with it. The result was definitely worth it! For the pesto wash a bunch of basil and make sure it’s as dry as possible. This…… Continue reading home-made pasta with home-made pesto
spaghetti with mussels
It’s definitely worthwhile taking the mussels out of their shells for this wonderful spaghetti dish. Clean 3 kg (6½ lbs) of mussels. Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large pot with a tight-fitting lid. Add the mussels, cover and cook over high heat until all open. This should take about 5 minutes. Drain the…… Continue reading spaghetti with mussels
sour cream panna cotta with berries
Cindy made this panna cotta (Italian for ‘cooked’cream’), the perfect dessert to follow our home-made pizzas. It’s a great make-ahead recipe that’s always elegant and delicious. She followed this recipe from Natasha’s Kitchen. For the panna cotta pour 1 cup of milk into a saucepan and sprinkle with 2½ teaspoons of unflavoured gelatine powder. Allow the…… Continue reading sour cream panna cotta with berries
torta di cioccolata
This Italian-style flourless chocolate cake has a crisp crust, a wonderful rich dark chocolate flavour and a light, moist, melt-in-the mouth centre. I prefer my cakes not too sweet so I reduced the sugar in this recipe which comes from one of my favourite cake books, Bake your cake & eat it too! by Tamara Millstein. Preheat…… Continue reading torta di cioccolata
michelle picker cooks 