In the Sorrento peninsula, famous for the Amalfi Coast, bell peppers are stuffed with a mixture of eggplant, olives, capers, bread, basil, and parsley. We enjoyed this humble but tasty vegan antipasto at Lo Stuzzichino. It is a bit of … Continue reading Peperoni imbottiti alla Sorrentina (Stuffed Bell Peppers alla Sorrentina)
This is a very simple recipe that I found in the Italian book “Le ricette di Osterie d’Italia”. The zucchini are boiled in the marinade and then left to cool. It can served as part of a spread of antipasti, … Continue reading Marinated Zucchini (Zucchine marinate)
Vignarola is a stew of the vegetables that grow around Rome at the end of Spring, beginning of Summer. I was reminded of this dish by Jo’s Frascati Cooking That’s Amore. Vignarola can be a contorno (side dish), minestra (hearty … Continue reading Vignarola (Roman Vegetable Stew)
This mushroom soup is surprisingly simple to prepare, yet so delicious and elegant. The star of the dish is fresh truffle. I used black winter truffle, because that is what’s available at the moment. Although truffle isn’t cheap — this … Continue reading Mushroom Soup with Truffle
This vegetable appetizer was inspired by a dish we enjoyed at Casa Velha in Portugal a few weeks ago, though it is certainly not a Portuguese dish. I liked the idea of using thinly sliced celeriac (celery root) instead of … Continue reading Celeriac ‘Ravioli’ with Parsnip and Mushrooms
Paola of Primo non sprecare always has tasty Italian recipes. Her lentil and artichoke soup intrigued me, because I had not encountered that combination before. It is a vegan soup from only a few ingredients with a surprising flavor that … Continue reading Lentil and Artichoke Soup (Zuppa di lenticchie con carciofi)
The same post on Oven-dried Tomatoes that features Parnsip Planks (which I tried) also features Parsnip Bark. When you make parsnip bark the inside of the parsnip will be left, which you can turn into parsnip puree. Parsnip bark is … Continue reading Parsnip Bark (and Parsnip Puree)
This splendid method for preparing parsnips was shared recently on Oven-Dried Tomatoes. I turns humble parsnips into something that looks and tastes great. The caramelization brings out the sweetness of the parsnips. He also showed a different method to produce … Continue reading Parsnip Planks
If you are looking for something delicious and elegant yet vegan for your Christmas dinner, look no further. The holidays are often about eating a lot of meat, but this vegan dish has all the flavor and all the protein … Continue reading Delicious Vegan Pumpkin Ravioli
At the organic market I discovered a great ingredient, which is partially defatted pumpkin seed flour. Pumpkin seed kernels have 49% fat, 8% carbohydrates, and 30% protein, and so they are quite fat. Pumpkin seeds are pressed to get out … Continue reading Pumpkin Seed Flour Pappardelle with Roasted Pumpkin
This is a recipe that I made on the same day that I read it on Paola’s blog, because I happened to have all the ingredients, and needed to use up the carrots. What better recipe to use for such … Continue reading Pasta with Carrots and Almonds (Pasta con carote e mandorle)
Due to the hot climate, Spain has many recipes for chilled soups. Ajoblanco (or Ajo blanco) one is from the southern Andalucia and a great way to use up stale bread, and quite filling. It is more traditional to garnish it … Continue reading Ajo Blanco (Spanish Chilled Almond and Bread Soup)
You may have noticed I’ve been posting less lately, and that is because we’ve been having such extraordinary good weather. Summer in the Netherlands tends to be a hit and miss affair with often ‘four seasons in one day’, but … Continue reading Grilled Fennel (Finocchi Grigliati)
My Italian blogging friend Paola has dedicated her food blog (in Italian) to recipes and tips to avoid wasting food. Her recipes are always simple and tasty, and I often take inspiration from her. Like in this case, when she … Continue reading Fusilli with Fava Bean and Saffron Ragù (Fusilli al ragù di fave allo zafferano)
There are already several variations of pasta with broccoli on this blog, but this version stands out because it is literally not much more than pasta with broccoli. Other than those two ingredients, there is only water, salt, pepper, and … Continue reading Pasta with Broccoli
Celeriac, also known as celery root, is a winter vegetable that is easily available here and so it ticks the boxes of seasonal and local. A great way to serve it is as a puree. Now you can make this … Continue reading Roasted Celeriac Puree
Erbazzone is a savory pie from the town of Reggio Emilia in Northern Italy that is filled with chard (and sometimes also other greens, including spinach). I was reminded of it when Stefano posted his version of it. As usual … Continue reading Erbazzone (Chard Pie)
A couple of months ago, completely out of the blue, I received a message from Premshree of polkadotsocks.net. He mentioned he would be visiting Amsterdam, and wondered if I’d be interested in sharing a meal together. It’s always fun to … Continue reading Food Blogging International: Premshree’s Coconut Red Lentil Curry
Ladyredspecs aka Sandra has a great blog Please Pass The Recipe, which I have been following for years. Although geographically speaking India is about halfway between us, in terms of climate or familiarity with the cuisine, she is a lot … Continue reading Spinach Kofta in Tomato Gravy
Brussels sprouts are an acquired taste that not everyone acquires (or has acquired yet). I’m not that fond of them myself. But with game & wine dinner parties coming up, I need to work on my autumnal side dishes for … Continue reading Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Balsamic and Honey
Hummus, also spelled as houmous, is a middle eastern dip made from cooked chickpeas (also known as garbanzo beans), tahini, lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, and salt. Chickpeas are high in protein and hummus is great when used as a … Continue reading Hummus
Sometimes fresh borlotti beans are available at the market in Amsterdam. The pods are so pretty that they look like they were designed by an artist. I had picked up some and decided to turn it into a minestra using … Continue reading Pasta and Fresh Borlotti Beans Soup (Pasta con i Fagioli Freschi)
Panzanella is a perfect dish for the hot weather we’ve been having, as it is refreshing, makes good use of the summer’s bounty, and the basic version doesn’t require any cooking. Originally it is an Italian peasant lunch prepared to … Continue reading Panzanella
There are few vegetables that have different names in the UK, the US, and Australia, but witlof is one of them. Witlof is what it’s called in Australia and the Netherlands, but it is called Belgian Endive in the US and Chicory in the UK. In this post I’m going to stick to witlof, as this is a Dutch salad.
A witlof salad with mandarins and walnuts is a very homey Dutch dish, that is often made with canned mandarins and store-bought dressing. As such it is okay but nothing special. With a few touches I’ve transformed it into something a lot better: using fresh mandarins rather than from a can, toasting the walnuts, and making my own dressing with fresh mandarin juice and zest, honey and walnut oil. Continue reading “Belgian Endive/Witlof/Chicory Salad with Mandarins and Walnuts”
When I saw Richard McGary’s vegetable tian, I knew I’d prepare one too. A tian is actually named after the traditional earthenware dish they are made in. There are vegetable tians, meat tians, and fish tians. I wanted to prepare a tian as a side dish, and so I chose a very traditional tian provençal with eggplant, zucchini, and tomato. Don’t let the simplicity fool you: this tian bursts with flavor anyway thanks to the slow roasting and the herbes de provence. I do not own an actual tian from Provence. For presentation purposes I opted to make single serving mini tians using small ovenproof dishes, but that did mean that it was more difficult to neatly arrange the sliced vegetables. Continue reading “Tian Provençal”
After the success of parsnip sous-vide fondant, I decided to prepare more vegetables this way. My next experiment was with fennel, and it turned out great. The recipe is very simple and very tasty. The nice thing about parcooking the … Continue reading Fennel Sous-Vide Fondant
Now that I’ve got the hang of making great pizza at home using cold-fermented dough and baking it tender but crispy in 3 minutes on an aluminum plate, it is time to make pizzas with different toppings. Mushrooms are always a favorite, and the most important thing to get it right is to always sauté the mushrooms before putting them on a pizza. When you bake the mushrooms raw, they will release a lot of liquid that will make your pizza soggy. For additional flavor I like to sauté the mushrooms trifolati, with garlic and parsley. Ingredients For 1 pizza cold-fermented … Continue reading Pizza ai Funghi (Pizza with Mushrooms)
This is a very simple light pasta dish with vegetables, and the nice thing is that you don’t have to go shopping for it if you sieved tomatoes and pasta in your pantry, peas in your freezer, parmigiano in your fridge, and parsley in your garden. In other words, all ingredients keep very well. If you can get good fresh tomatoes where you are, by all means use them instead! But with the ridiculously cold summer we’ve been having here, fresh tomatoes just aren’t good enough. The white wine is optional, it adds freshness and complexity to the dish. I … Continue reading Pasta with Peas and Tomato (Mafaldine Piselli e Pomodoro)
This post is dedicated to Natasha from Come Due Maiali. She was one of the first followers of my blog and is one of those fellow bloggers who has made this journey such a great experience. When I posted about orecchiette with mussels and broccoli almost six months ago, she commented that she’s a huge orecchiette fan and would love to get her hands on wholemeal orecchiette. I then responded that she could always make her own, even though I had never yet made orecchiette by hand. I decided to give it a try myself, and now was the time … Continue reading Home-made Orecchiette with Tomato and Basil
The success of dishes such as soup and risotto depends to a great extent on the stock used. It will be so much better if you make your own stock from scratch rather than using a bouillon cube. I was about to post a recipe that requires vegetable stock, and realized that I had not posted about how to make vegetable stock yet. So this one comes first, and the truffle, leek and shallot risotto will follow tomorrow. The nice thing is that you can make this for free if you save up vegetable scraps in the crisper of your … Continue reading How to make home-made Vegetable Stock
Stefan's Gourmet Blog 