Agnello Con Piselli Freshi - Lamb with Fresh Peas

I am afraid that here is another recipe by Gennaro Contaldo from 'The Two Greedy Italians" and also a little history lesson, which I hope doesn't bore you to much but a story that I find fascinating.

As Gennaro says in the book, food and religion have always gone hand in hand in Italy, as both are so basic to everyday existence. One of the earliest and most distinguished of Italian Cookery Books came about because of the relationship between religion and food: here is a little history about Bartolomeo Scappi, I hope you enjoy it and find it as interesting as I do.

Bartolomeo Scappi (c. 1500 – 13 April 1577) was a famous Renaissance chef, his origins had been the subject of speculation, but a recent research shows that he came from the town of Dumenza in Lombardy, according to the inscription on a stone plaque in the church of Luino.

Prior to this, the first known fact in his life had been that in April 1536, he organized a banquet while he was in the service of Cardinal Lorenzo Campeggio. He served several other cardinals after this, then began to serve pope Pius IV, entering the service of the Vatican kitchen. He continued to work as a chef for the pope Pius V.

He acquired fame in 1570 when his monumental cookbook Opera dell'arte del cucinare was published. In the book he lists approximately 1000 recipes of the Renaissance cuisine and describes cooking techniques and tools, giving the first known picture of a fork. He declared parmesan to be the best cheese on earth!

Reprints of Opera were continually published from 1570 to 1643.

Scappi revolutionized the kitchen of his time through new preparation methods and the use of ingredients imported from America.

Scappi died on 13 April 1577 and was buried in the church of SS. Vincenzo and Anastasio alla Regola, dedicated to cooks and bakers.

This recipe is fitting to Scappi because it is very traditional to eat lamb at Easter with fresh peas and a dish like this is not uncommon for an Easter Sunday Lunch with the whole family gathering together to celebrate one of the most important religious feasts of the year.

I know I am a little late for Easter but lamb is at its most tender in May and June and only continues to improve as the season progresses.

Buon appetito

(Thanks to Hubby for cooking this tonight, it was gorgeous)

Serves 6

1 kg/2lb 2oz boned lamb shoulder, cut into large chunks
salt and freshly ground black pepper
150ml/5fl oz extra virgin olive oil
2 onions, sliced
1 large carrot, sliced
1 celery stalk, sliced
5 garlic cloves, crushed
20g/¾oz anchovy fillets
handful fresh thyme sprigs
1 red chilli, sliced
250ml/9fl oz white Wine
25ml/1fl oz white wine vinegar
250g/9oz fresh or frozen peas
400g/14oz potatoes, skin on, cut into quarters
200g/7oz cherry tomatoes, halved
1-2 loaves crusty bread, sliced and toasted

Season the lamb chunks with salt and freshly ground black pepper and set aside.

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan and fry the onions, carrot and celery for 4-5 minutes or until softened.

Add the garlic, anchovies, thyme and chilli and continue to cook, stirring, until the anchovies have almost dissolved into the oil.

Add the lamb to the pan and fry until browned all over.

Stir in the wine and continue to cook until the volume of the liquid has reduced by half, then add the vinegar. Reduce the heat , cover and simmer gently for a further 20 minutes.

Add the peas, potatoes and tomatoes, cover again and continue to cook for about an hour or until the sauce has reduced by half.

Remove from the heat and serve with lots of good toasted bread.

Please don't let the anchovy fillets put you off, they are used so much in Italian cooking and they are only there as another layer of flavour, you will not be over powered with a fishy taste, I promise. Hubby and I never let on to the Children that they are there and they never notice!

Apple Crumble - Happy 21st Birthday Stephen

25th April 2011 was my gorgeous Son Stephen's 21st Birthday, I was determined to celebrate as a family but also realised at that age you do need to let them do their own thing, so the weekend of his birthday he celebrated with his friends and now finally this week we got to celebrate as well.

Stephen came to stay on the Wednesday night and we had a lovely family dinner, I made a gorgeous Antonio Carluccio main but a very English dessert just because Stephen loves Apple Crumble and you have to keep the Birthday Boy happy! We had a lovely evening, drank some lovely wine and then off to bed as we were taking Stephen out for the day to Covent Garden the next day to watch the Gumball3000 and had booked a table at Carluccios for 2pm. I was very excited about visiting the flagship store in Covent Garden and adding to my list of Carluccios visited across the country. As usual they didn't disappoint, fantastic food, wonderful service, especially loved the star treatment they lavished on Luca, Luca loves Carluccios anyway, but when they are so lovely to a 9 year old they are on to a winner.

All in all it was a truly wonderful day, the Gumball3000 again this year did not disappoint, even though the rain did try to spoil things, but the energy of the crowd soon brought the sun out and we had a ball.

http://www.gumball3000.com/

So I would just like to wish Stephen a very happy 21st Birthday and buon appetito.














Serves 4

50g English butter
100g flour
100g caster sugar
450g prepared fruit, I used apples, peeled, cored and chopped into chunks
The recipe suggest fresh double cream, but we had ours with gorgeous Cornish ice cream, but would be just as yummy with custard

Rub the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs, then stir in 50g of the caster sugar

Arrange half the prepared fruit in a 1.1lire pie dish, sprinkle in about 50g sugar, then top with the remaining fruit.

Spoon the crumble mixture over the fruit and lightly press down.

Bake in the oven at 200c, 400f, gas mark 6 for about 45 minutes, until the fruit is soft.

Serve hot or cold.

Now this is the most simple and most traditional crumble recipe, as with any recipe you can adapt and play with it as much as you like.

Here are some idea's:

Little tip here, I happened to be watching the Food Channels that day, OK, I know, I am always watching the food channels, but hey bare with me, this tip is worth it! One of the chefs was making crumble, he just threw all the crumble ingredients into the food processor and had the lightest crumbs ever. If you are adding oats or nuts, just stir through when you have finished processing the mix. I must add that the other chef, Bill Grainger, did the old school method and hardly rubbed the butter in. Both dishes looked amazing, so just do what is easier for you on the day.

I made a delicious caramel sauce for mine, which I poured over the apples and then put the crumble on top, it was heavenly.

You can use any fruit, add oats, nuts, just have fun.

Baked Rice Pudding

I had to add just one last old memory lane recipe to complete my hat trick today, one that I love and no longer make as I am the only person at home that likes it, which is a shame, but a recipe I made a lot of when we use to live on the dairy farm.

I would walk up to the milking parlour with the Children when they were little with the dogs, with my churn and collect the milk unpasteurised, straight from the tank, something that I am pretty sure I wouldn't be allowed to do today, health regulations and all that !!! But boy did it make the best ever creamiest rice pudding.

I thought this recipe would also be a good tribute to finding my "The Dairy Book of Family Cookery", as the forward is for the Milk Marketing Board, which was set up by the diary farmers of England & Wales in 1933, this book when released in 1983 was to mark their 50th Anniversary, so it only seemed fitting.

Looking back I am surprised just how many recipes I have made from this book, how much I have learned since leaving home at the age of 19 with no cooking skills at all and how even at that age I had such an interest in food and always strove to push myself and try something a little different, but most of all I learned to cook for my family and express my love to them with food and family gatherings, something that I truly hope I have past onto them and something that they continue in their lives and with their families.

Buon appetito










Serves 4

50g pudding rice (you can use flaked rice, barley, tapioca, broken macaroni, but I have only ever made this with pudding rice)
1 pint of milk, full fat will give a creamier finish but if you are watching your diet you can use semi-skimmed or probably even skimmed
25g caster sugar
1 strip of lemon rind
grated nutmeg
15g English butter

Wash the rice and drain well. Put into a 1 1/2 pint buttered ovenproof dish and stir in the milk.

Leave the rice to soak and soften for 30 minutes. Add the sugar and lemon rind and stir well. Sprinkle with grated nutmeg and dot with butter.

Bake in the oven at 150c, 300f, gas mark 2 for 2 - 2 1/2 hours. Stir it after about 30 minutes.

Serve hot and if you like sprinkle with brown sugar or a nice dollop of jam.

Bread and Butter Pudding

Whilst delving through my old Food Magazine's I came across my beloved copy of "The Dairy Book of Family Cookery". My Mum gave me this book in the 1980"s, I can't exactly remember which year, but I know the book was originally published in 1983 and I had it before I left home in my "Bottom Drawer Box", long before I left home in 1987. There was an inscription, but that disappeared long ago, along with the cover and a few front pages & the index!

The term "Bottom Drawer", also seems to of disappeared along with the cover of the book, but I started mine after Jasmine (My lovely Italian Mother-in-Law) told me about how in Italy young woman would collect beautiful linen for the boxes, many being hand sewn or embroidered by the young woman in readiness for when they married and set up their first home.

Another beautiful story she told me was about her wedding favours of five almonds presented in gorgeous crystal glass pots, representing fertility, longevity, wealth, health and happiness. The bitterness of the almond and the sweetness of the coated candy exemplifying the bitter sweetness of marriage, she had kept some of the little pots from her wedding and they were kept in a display cabinet, so delicate and so beautiful. Her marriage was one of the most beautiful I have ever seen and the one that I set as my bench mark for true happiness.

Time changes everything and I am not always sure all change is good. I'm a traditionalist and love the old traditions and beliefs. Even Italy is changing, Antiono Carluccio & Gennaro Contaldo bring up the subject in their book and on the show, saying that young woman have careers, have Children later, many don't have time to cook or even know how. This would of been unheard of in Italy, where Nonna taught her Daughter to cook and she in turn taught hers. Generation after generation passing on the family recipes.

This recipe is a typical of change, the recipe below is traditional, old fashioned and my Dad's favourite, but you can call a dessert a bread and butter pudding and do all sorts to it, not that I am saying all change is bad, I love some of the new variations on the bread and butter theme, so feel free to play and adapt as much as you like. I just wanted to keep this particular recipe traditional.

Buon appetito















Serves 4

6 thin slices of white bread, crusts removed
50g English butter
50g currants or sultanas, you can mix these, but I only ever use sultanas, I love them as they are plumper & juicer
40g caster sugar
2 eggs
1 pint milk

Thickly spread bread slices with butter. Cut into fingers or small squares, triangles if you like, what ever you fancy. Put half into a 1 litre/2 pint buttered ovenproof dish. Sprinkle with all the fruit and half the sugar. I never ever put fruit on the top as I hate it when it burns.

Top with the remaining bread, buttered side uppermost. Sprinkle with the rest of the sugar.

Beat the eggs and milk well together. Strain into the dish over the bread.

Leave to stand for 30 minutes, so that the bread absorbs some of the liquid. Bake in the oven at 160c/325f, mark 3 gas for 45 minutes - 1 hour, until set and the top is crisp and golden.

Serve hot with custard or good quality vanilla ice cream.

Traditional, simple, perfect.

If you do fancy a change, you can use a selection of dried fruits from cranberries to apricots, add liqueurs, use brioche, crossants, panettone, just play and see what works for you, but most importantly enjoy and share with your loved ones.

30 Minute Chicken Curry

My love of Cookery Books and food magazines is well known, I have been collecting them for years and the photo above is of Good Food Magazine February 2001, I actually think my Mum gave me this one as I loved this recipe so much.

Hubby and I were only talking last night about getting some more shelving as I have now run out of room in the kitchen for my books and one of our wardrobes in our dressing room has been taken over with my collection of food magazines. A solution is required, and soon, as I have a wish list as long as my arm.

This recipe may be 11 years old, almost retro, I may of cooked it many times, but it has to be a favourite, as you just can't go wrong with curried potatoes & cabbage, it is just heaven and complete comfort food.

Buon appetito











Serves 4

1 large or 2 medium onions, chopped
2 tablespoons oil
500g boneless, chicken thighs
2 tablespoons curry pasta (try garam masala)
425ml vegetable stock
2 potatoes, peeled & cubed
1 tablespoon tomato puree
6-8 cabbage leaves, shredded, recipe doesn't state what type of cabbage, but I've always used Savoy cabbage as it is my absolute favourite

Fry the onions in the oil for 5 minutes until soft and browning. Fry the chicken until lightly coloured. Add the curry paste, stock, potatoes and tomato puree. Season. Bring to the boil.

Reduce the heat and cover. Simmer for 15 minutes. Stir in the cabbage and cook for 5 minutes.

It really is that quick and simple. Serve with rice and naan bread.

The magazine also said that you could use Quorn for a vegetarian option, grate the cabbage to hide it from fussy children and most the ingredients could be found in the larder, well what ever! Just as it is, is perfect for me.

Salsicce fatte a mano con salsa pepolata - Hand-made skinless Sausages with Pepper Sauce

Today was Luca's School Fete and he had a ball. The weather was perfect and it was all so terribly English, especially with cream teas being served. Luca is such a sunny little character and always fun to be with, he loves his food and loves to help cook. I say cook, what I mean is, that he usually licks the bowl!

Today we thought it would be fun for him to make sausages with Hubby, well that was the plan. When it came down to it, Hubby just got on with it and forgot to ask him to help. Oh well, he still really enjoyed them and there is always next time.

This really was a lovely meal, another recipe from "Two Greedy Italians", very distinct taste with the fennel seeds, but if you don't like them, you can either leave them out or experiment with other flavours. Try sage, rosemary, oregano, or even basil. We served ours with pasta to bulk the meal out, as usual we had quite a few to feed!

I must say that the pepper sauce is truly amazing and would work just as well alone as a pasta serve, so much flavour and the smell of the peppers roasting, is just divine.

Buon appetito

(Photo's of Luca & Hubby taken in Tuscany, Easter 2010)












1kg minced pork
1 teaspoon chopped red chilli
1 garlic clove, finely crushed
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
100ml red wine
4 tablespoons olive oil
salt & freshly ground black pepper

Sauce:
2 large red peppers
2 large yellow peppers
1 tablespoon salted capers, soaked for 30 minutes, then drained
1 garlic clove sliced
1/2 red chilli, finely chopped
5 anchovy fillets
olive oil

Mix the pork, chilli, garlic, fennel seeds and red wine together in a medium-sized bowl and season with salt and pepper to taste. Using your hands (this is the part I thought Luca would enjoy), divide the mixture into twelve and roll each piece into a sausage shape roughly 8cm in diameter. You could also make them into ball shapes, serve with the sauce & pasta of your choice.

To prepare the sauce, heat a cast-iron griddle on the hob. Grill the peppers on all sides until the skins are black. If like us you don't have a cast-iron griddle you can just put them under the grill on your cooker like Hubby did. If you have a gas hob they can just as easily be charred over this.
Leave to cool a little, then peel off the skin. Cut open and remove the seeds. Put the flesh in a blender with all the other ingredients except the oil, and blend to a puree. Pour in enough oil, stirring all the while, until you have a sauce like consistency.

Heat the olive oil in a large non-stick pan. Gently place the sausages into the pan and fry over a medium heat until golden on all sides, about 10 minutes. Serve with the sauce.

Chocolate & Frangelico Madeleines

Well I think I have probably bored you enough with pasta dishes, so decided a nice little treat was in order. I wanted to make this recipe as soon as I saw it and finally got round to ordering a Madeleine tin.

I must admit that I didn't rush out and buy the Frangelico, but will be adding it to my booze collection at some point as I love hazelnuts and think this must be divine. I actually used up some left over Baileys which worked just as well.

Frangelico is a brand of noisette, or hazelnut and herb-flavored liqueur (coloured with caramel coloring) which is produced in Canale, Italy.

The origins of Frangelico date back more than 300 years to the existence of early Christian monks living in the hills of Northern Italy. According to Barbero, the manufacturer in Italy, the name of the liqueur is based on a legend of a hermit named Fra Angelico who "created unique recipes for liqueurs." However, the bottle itself most closely resembles the habit of a Franciscan friar, while the liqueur's likely namesake, the famous painter Fra Angelico (d.1455), was a Dominican, whose robe would have been white and without the cincture.

Frangelico is made in a similar manner to some other nut liqueurs: nuts are crumbled up and combined with cocoa, vanilla berries, and other natural flavors, and then left to soak in the base spirit. After the spirit has absorbed the flavor of the ingredients, the liqueur is filtered, sweetened, and bottled, all sounds petty yummy to me.

These lovely little Madeleines are gorgeous enjoyed warm with a good quality vanilla ice cream as a dessert or cold with an espresso.

Boun appetito














• 80g plain flour , 1 tbsp removed for dusting
• ½ tsp baking powder
• 20g ground almonds
• 2 tbsp cocoa , plus extra for dusting
• 75g golden caster sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp Frangelico
• 90g unsalted butter , melted, plus extra for buttering the tin

1. Sift the flour, baking powder, ground almonds and cocoa with a pinch of salt. Butter a 12-hole madeleine tin and dust each hole with a little of this mixture. Whisk the sugar and eggs with electric beaters until thick, pale and fluffy. Gently fold in the flour mix, vanilla, Frangelico and butter. Cover the surface of the mix with clingfilm and chill for 30 minutes.

2. Heat the oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. Fill each cavity with 1 heaped tbsp of mix. Bake for 10 minutes or until risen and springy. Tap the tin to loosen and tip out. Dust with cocoa and serve warm. So simple, so delicious.

Ndundari con salsa di pomodoro e basilico -Ricotta Dumplings with Tomato & Basil Sauce

Finally we have the internet back and I can blog again, I have a pile of recipes I really want to get on here and have decided that tonight after an extremely lovely dinner I would post this gorgeous recipe.

I have tried on a couple of occasions to make gnocchi, each time I have failed miserably and have decided that its just far easier to buy the fresh ready made stuff from the Supermarket.

That was until I was watching the "Two Greedy Italians" and watched Gennaro make these yummy little ricotta dumplings. If you haven't seen the show yet on Wednesday nights, BBC2, 8pm, you have missed out, its such a delightful series. Also the book is just so lovely, you can truly feel their love of Italian food and their individual personalities shine through. Gennaro explains that these little dumplings are traditionally made in his home village Minori on the feast day of the town's patron saint.

Success at last !!! The dough was soft and pliable, they cooked in two minutes, floating to the top when ready, just like gnocchi and the simple sauce was fresh and perfect, not over powering the delicate little dumplings.

We enjoyed ours with crusty bread to mop up any left over sauce as a main meal, but it would also make a really lovely starter/primi served as a smaller portion.

Buon appetito

Serves 4

200g Italian '00' flour, plus extra for flouring
220g ricotta
3 egg yolks
20g parmesan, freshly grated
a pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Sauce:
700g tinned plum tomatoes, chopped in half
a few basil leaves, I used quite a few as we love basil
6 tablespoons olive oil
3 garlic cloves, cut into thick slices

In a large bowl, mix the flour, ricotta, egg yolks, Parmesan, nutmeg and a pinch of salt and pepper together to form a soft, moist dough. Place on a floured work surface and knead for 3 to 5 minutes. With your hands, roll the dough into a thin sausage shape and then cut it at right angles into rectangular shapes 2cm long. You could get the Children involved by encouraging them to knead the dough and also roll out the sausage shapes, their little hands seem so more adapt at it than ours do!

Bring a large saucepan of lightly salted water to the boil and add the dumplings. Wait until they rise to the surface again, then lower the heat and simmer for a further 2 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the sauce. Place the tomatoes and basil in a bowl, season with salt and pepper and mix well. Heat the olive oil in a large pan and add the garlic. When the garlic begins to change colour, remove the pan from the heat and add the tomato mixture. Replace on the heat and cook gently for 4 minutes, until the mixture is bubbling.

Drain the dumplings with a slotted spoon and add to the tomato sauce. Mix thoroughly and serve immediately.

Spaghetti Aglio, Olio & Peperoncino (Spaghetti with Garlic, Oil & Chilli)

It is no secret how much I love Antiono Carluccio, he is one of Italy's great food ambassadors and was awarded the Commendatore award for his knowldege, enthusiasm and lifetime's service to the Italian Food Industry, and in 2007 he received the O.B.E, a true legend and Italian Gentleman.

For Mother's Day this year, I again, as is my usual custom, requested cookery books for my vast and ever growing collection. The one I particularly wanted was the Two Greedy Italians, but by some mishap the wrong book was ordered and I received Antonio's Simple Cooking instead. Far from being disappointed, Hubby didn't allow time for that, because as soon as he realised the mistake, he ordered the other one for me, I received two gorgeous new cookery books which I love.

Here is a beautiful simple recipe for you to enjoy, the Italians version of Beans on Toast and possibly one of the most popular recipes for native Italians.

Buon appetito








Please don't underestimate the taste of this dish, with good quality ingredients this quick and simple dish is a delight to your taste buds, perfect for a midnight feast or when you get back in from a night out and really need something to soak up the booze.

Serves 2 (Multiply as needed)

Salt
180g spaghetti

For the sauce:
2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
1 small red chilli, finely chopped
6 tablespoons olive oil

Put plenty of water in a saucepan, add salt, bring to the boil and throw in the pasta. Stir, then cook for about 5 - 6 minutes, until nearly done.

Now start the sauce be heating the olive oil gently in a deep frying pan. Add the garlic and chilli and fry for a few seconds, or until the garlic starts to change colour. Take care not to burn the garlic, there is nothing worse than burnt garlic!

The pasta will be ready and al dente in those few minutes. Drain it well and put in the pan with the 'sauce', adding a little salt and perhaps 1 - 2 tablespoons of the pasta cooking water. Stir a couple of times and serve.

Its that simple !

I hate BT - Spaghetti alla Carbonara

Have you missed me? I know I have missed being able to Blog, all thanks to a manic life and the idiots which go by the name of BT !!!

As you know we moved into our new house about 6 months ago, our Internet provider was Sky, but we found the amount we used it, that we were being classed as a high users and they were slowing our Internet down into the house, the results of which meant disaster. Olly struggled to play online with his Xbox, we couldn’t download movies on Apple TV and just trying to use the Internet became an absolute nightmare.

We decided to change back to BT, because even though their customer service is dreadful, they do provide a good Internet service, we hope!!!

That was weeks ago, weeks of phone calls, promises, promised dates and no Internet and we are STILL waiting !!!

So this is how I find myself, sat today in Starbucks filling up on my favourite beverage and happily Blogging a few recipes.

I hope I don’t over whelm you with them all, once my Internet is back I do have quite a few recipes to get on, but a lot of them are very simple every day meals that I feel my Children would love and recipes that we cook at least once a week. Staples of any good Italian Household.

Buon appetito















Please remember one thing, real Carbonara NEVER EVER has cream in it, the eggs mixed with the pasta cooking liquid form the creamy, silky sauce.

Serves 4 - 6

300g spaghetti
120g pancetta cut into 1 - 1 1/2cm dice
4 egg yolks, beaten
100g freshly grated Pecorino Romano, please don't be tempted to add more cheese as Hubby did, hoping to make the dish more flavorsome, it just makes it sickly!
Freshly ground black pepper, we can never have enough freshly ground black pepper in our house, we love the aromatic smell and taste

1. Cook the pasta according to the packet instructions.

2. Meanwhile, heat a frying pan and saute the pancetta until golden brown. Drain onto kitchen paper and set aside.

3. Combine the egg yolks, most of the cheese and some pepper in a large bowl. Drain the pasta, reserving some of the cooking liquid. Add about 200ml of the cooking liquid to the eggs and whisk together.

4. Tip the spaghetti into the pan. Add the pancetta, toss in the egg mix and heat gently. The eggs will emulsify to a creamy sauce.

5. To serve, add the remaining cheese and of course more black pepper.

Little Italian tip : always take the pasta to the sauce, never the other way round.