ITALIAN FOODIES

I’VE MOVED!!!!

I couldn’t take it anymore, my time with blog.com has come to an end. I wish I could say there have been good times but it’s been so much hassle and I’ve contacted them numerous times and nadda!! I’ve moved over to www.italianfoodies.wordpress.com , nothing fancy but it actually works. You can comment, search, get to the bottom of the page, it’s everything a blog should be. I haven’t moved over everything yet as it has to be done manually but it will be done in time. See you over there:)

Ciao blog.com!

          
The princess is sick with a throat infection so I’ve been house bound for the last 3 days. I haven’t even been to the shop so needless to say my fridge and cupboards are empty. I always have the basics so there is always a pasta dish that can be made from the few bits I do have. This is my survival list:

 - olive oil
 - tinned tuna
 - capers
 - tins of Italian tomatoes
 - sea salt and black pepper
 - lots of dried pasta
 - dried chilli
 - parmesan cheese in the fridge
 - butter
 - fresh basil on the window sill
 - garlic
 - anchovies
 - onions
 - cherry tomatoes
 - dried oregano
 - lemons (dried out most of the time)

Today I decided to give this simple pasta a try and it was really delicious. People often ask me about cooking pasta without it sticking together etc so I took a few photos to show you how I cook mine. 

what you need:

 -  tin of Italian tuna in olive oil, the difference in quality really is amazing with tuna in brine but you can use this if you can’t get Italian.

 -  400g tin of Italian tomatoes, once again an Italian brand is so much better and I don’t mean Roma:) De Cecco pomodorini are excellent, they are so sweet and full of flavour.

 - 1/2 an onion finely diced

 - 1 garlic clove finely chopped

 - olive oil

 - sea salt and black pepper

 - 350g linguine or spaghetti

what to do:

 - bring a pot of water to the boil and add salt. Fill the base of your frying pan with olive oil , add your onion and garlic and cook until softened.

once your onions and garlic have softened add your tomatoes and simmer for about 10-15 mins:

once your water is boiling add your pasta and make sure you stir it with a pasta fork or slotted spoon for tubular pasta:

the key to cooking pasta right is to continue to stir it, you do not need to use oil:

cook until al dente, I check mine by taking a piece out and biting it, no pic of me biting it I’m afraid;)

drain and return to the pan:

season your sauce, add your tuna and cook for a couple of minutes and add some of your sauce to your linguine:

serve with the remaining sauce on top and enjoy:)

                

buon appetito!

Bruno has recently started doing new filled rosemary focaccia and they are really popular. We do 3 types:

 - chicken, rocket and roast pepper.
 - parma ham, rocket and Parmesan shavings.
 - parma ham, gorgonzola and red onion.

A pizza ball is hand stretched:

The focaccia is drizzled with olive oil and the rosemary is finely chopped:

The focaccia is sprinkled with the rosemary and sea salt:

It is then cooked at about 380 degrees until golden brown:

They are then cut open and filled:

The chicken is the most popular but my favourite is the parma ham and gorgonzola.

buon appetito!

Not much to offer this week but this little gem of a soup recipe as I’ve been working my “little” (I wish) a– off!;) Our pizza chef had to return home due to a death in family so I was drafted into the kitchen for the last 2 weeks. I normally tend to work on the counter in La Cucina but it was nice to work in the kitchen for a change. I’ve decided to spend more time in there as I do really enjoy it but it’s pretty hard work, when we change the place around I’ll probably be in there anyway so I might aswell get used to it. The only thing I find is that after cooking all day, the last thing you want to do is cook when you come home so the recipes might be a bit lacking over the next couple of weeks. I have been taking pictures of the daily grind in La Cucina so I’ll probably do a couple of posts on behind the scenes.

Soup is really popular in La Cucina and we can’t keep up with the demand at the moment. During the last week we had, roast pumpkin, potato and Italian sausage, cannellini bean and parma ham and today I made this roasted tomato recipe. I often make this at home and have to say it’s absolutely delicious.

 

what you need:

 - 500g cherry tomatoes cut in half.

 - 1 red onion cut into large chunks

 - 2 cloves of garlic

 - 500ml chicken/veg stock

 - 10 basil leaves

 - sea salt and black pepper

 - 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

 - olive oil

what to do:

 - pre-heat your oven to 150 degrees.

 - place your tomatoes, garlic and onion in an oven dish, season and drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

 - cook for about an hour and a half until the tomatoes are nice and soft. Add your basil leaves about 5 mins towards the end.

 - add your stock and liquidize.

 - serve with some crusty bread and a drizzle of chilli oil if you like.

buon appetito!!

p.s. we’ve been listed in this great new comprehensive list of food blogs from around the world, check it out here