Umbrian Figs

We just enjoyed a truly magical weekend in a very special Umbrian hideaway Borgo della Marmotta. We treated ourself to a toddler-free, lazing by the pool, indulging in local cuisine and meandering through Spoleto weekend, all washed down with delicious Montefalco.

The spoils of our visit… a big bag of figs from the trees in the Agriturismo grounds.

Our first evening back we enjoyed pudding of baked figs served with honeyed mascarpone.

Ingredients:

Figs

Honey (I treated us to Miele Millefiori from the Spoleto market)

Mascarpone

Cinnamon

Heat the oven to 200C. Wash the figs and cut halfway through and put them skin side down, in a baking dish.

Spoon a little of the honey into each fig.

Stir the mascarpone through with a pinch of cinnamon and a teaspoon of honey.

Splash a small amount of water into the dish and bake the figs for 12 minutes.

Remove from the oven, baste in the juices and allow to cool down a bit.

Serve with the honeyed mascarpone and sprinkle a little cinnamon over the top.

Scrumptious Sugos

My lovely friends from London all arrived for a warm weekend in Rome, where we were house sitting a villa just outside the city. In order to feed a crowd I popped pasta on the menu more than a couple of times, and thankfully my beautiful and glam friends are not carbohydrate fearful (like many other Londoners) and demolished big platefuls together with a lunchtime glass of Rosato.

I got prepared by preparing a few sugos (or simple pasta sauces to a Brit!).

Miche, a darling friend who joined us this weekend , is like me – a true foodie; where the other girls were neck deep in latest editions of Elle and Grazia, Miche opted for Jamie Oliver’s Yearbook or Delicious magazine. So this post is for you Michelle!

Both serve at least 6!

Sugo di Zucchine:

Ingredients-

1 kg courgettes

1/2 white onion

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Salt

500g Rigatoni

A block of Pecorino Romano

I’ve added the photos first as it really is a this easy….choose a big bag of lovely fresh zucchini. Slice them up finely. Take half a white onion and chop roughly. Add both to a non-stick pan with a lid. A big pinch of salt and a slug of good olive oil and let its simmer on a low heat, covered, for about an hour, or until the courgette are breaking down. Serve with dried Rigatoni and lots of Pecorino and black pepper.

Sugo di Pomodoro e Aglio:

Ingredients-

2x tins of excellent chopped tomatoes (I recommend Mutti, photo below to try and spot in the shop)

8-10 cloves of garlic

Extra Virgin Olive Oil 2 tbsps

Salt

Black Pepper

Grana Padano Cheese

Too simple…just be super patient

Mince cloves of garlic and babysit it while it cooks down slowly in the olive oil. No browning please, you’re looking for soft, sweet and  gentle in flavour. When you are happy you’re at this stage (15-20 mins) add your tomatoes and let simmer gently for 60-90 minutes. Cover for half this time and when you take off lid, season and ensure the sauce doesn’t become too concentrate. Mix through with spaghetti and serve with fresh basil, grana padano and many forks!

Thanks ladies for a superb weekend of good food, wine and conversation around the table!

Earning my crust…

So my husband is home and working remotely from his new office that I cleverly designed in a corner of Luca’s bedroom, while he was in London, Kelly Hoppen eat your heart out! So while he is hard at it, I decided to try my hand at baking….BREAD! eeeek.

Inspired by the amazing baker at our local coffee place Forno– over our morning cappuccino, we were watching intently at the magical way he was handling the dough, creating loaves literally by the dozen. Plus I had watched Paul Hollywood’s new show on iplayer last night and so I decided to give this bread making a bash.

Already I have worked out that it doesn’t take much of YOUR time but it does take a LONG time. I started at 10am hoping for bread for lunch, no way, bread for teatime…maybe…

Ingredients

Fresh Yeast (only because this is far more readily available than the dried stuff here in Rome)

Water ( I used warm even though Paul said it was a myth that it needed to be warm)

1 tsp sugar

530g plain flour

2 tsps salt

1 tbsp olive oil

STEP 1- add the yeast, sugar and water to the bowl of your mixer and let it react for 10-15 minutes

coffee time

STEP 2- add the flour, salt and oil and use the dough hook and mix until it is a ball of elastic dough

Add this to an oiled mixing bowl and cover with cling film. Let it prove (let it be!) for 2 hours.

lunch time

STEP 3- bash the air out of your now doubled ball of dough. roll up into a loaf shape and place on top of your baking sheet covered with a piece of oven paper, cover (I used a cake stand lid for this)

enjoy a book?

STEP 4- using a sharp  knife score the top so as Paul puts it “it blooms in the right direction”, spray with water and chuck a bit more flour over the surface.

bake in an oven of 220degreesC for 20-25mins or until golden and with a hollow sound once tapped.

STEP 5- Cool down on a wire rack

run to get your toddler who is the last child waiting simply because you got distracted by bread making…bad mummy!

STEP 6- enjoy with butter & jam for a 5 o’clock merenda!

Springtime Sunny Muffins

So it’s my Easter break from school and  I am making the most of having my toddler at Nido and my husband in London…so as a proper lady of leisure I’ve invited the ladies to lunch and sun is streaming through the kitchen window. For me, time to cook, bliss!

So I have opted for a menu of smoked salmon and lemon mascapone liguine followed by these springtime muffins, served with mozzarella balls, capers and piccadilly tomatoes. (inspired by my wonderful friend Linda!)

They are brilliantly easy and Luca will enjoy them for tea so everyone’s a winner!

(these ones had no cheese but added pancetta)

Ingredients:

500 grams grated courgette
1 carrot grated
1 medium onion peeled and diced finely
About 2 tbsp chopped parsley
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
1 cup self-raising flour
¼ cup olive oil
Salt and fresh ground black pepper
4 large eggs

First I grate the courgettes and mix with a scoop of salt and let the juices drain through a colander. Squeeze out any excess when you are ready. While you are waiting for the juices to drain away I grated the carrot, dice the onion and chop the parsley. Add all the vegetables to a large mixing bowl. Grate the cheese and mix in this with a cup of flour. Stir in the oil and season with pepper and salt if you want any more. Lastly mix in the eggs, gently whisked. The mix should be quite loose.

Grease your muffin tray (a cup cake tray is perfectly good) and add the mixture in heaped serving spoon size.

Pop in the oven for about 20 minutes but keep an eye, they should be just set with a golden top. They are much like the texture of a spanish tortilla but packed with vegetables. Super tasty.

Served with buffalo mozzarella, capers, picadilly tomatoes and balsamic… yum!

Baba Ghanoush

I had a glut of shiny black aubergines since I bought a kilo in my excitement at seeing them piled high and with a tempting 1 euro a kilo price overhead. Then….I realised I was at home alone this week, with a toddler who obsessed with ‘cho cho’ (any easter chocolate left over) but definitely not at all keen on vegetables that I cook. Oh yes his nursery tells me that “carrotine con olio e limone” is a big thrill for him at lunchtime but if I show him a carrot it hits the floor or me within a few moments.

So I typed into Google “what can I do with aubergines” … surprisingly nothing rude came up! But many recipes for this tasty dip did.

I started reading Nigel Slater’s article and got cracking with smoking my aubergines.

Ingredients:

3 big aubergines

Garlic

Tasty Olive Oil

1/2 a lemon juiced

2 tsps tahini

 

I simply baked them super, super hot….250degreesC for 30 minutes or until I thought my neighbours may actually call the fire brigade.

I let them cool right down and then scooped out the flesh. I whizzed up the soft, melting flesh in the food processor with all the other ingredients and served it with some warm pitta.

It was actually the perfect dinner for one and a half people…though strong with the taste of garlic, my little man was quite a fan of this disguised vegetable from Mamma! I enjoyed mine with a chilly glass of white wine, he matched his with warm milk.

 

Easter Cake

So I am almost feeling a little bit of a con creeping back onto my blog and posting as if there has been no absence… but I have had an extraordinarily busy time since my last post sending my little boy to nursery in Rome (the only little english chap amongst the italian piccoli!), starting a new job at the International School here, helping my husband through a tricky time at work and launching our supper club to welcome guests to the Roman food scene! But fleurmakes has been on my mind and with the Spring taking some time to bud this year I thought I would use my easter holiday to re-energise this blog with lots of springtime recipes that I have been indulging in. Starting with this Easter Cake (not a traditional Colomba, they are best bought!) Happy (nearly) Primavera from Rome!

Easter Cake inspired by Mary Berry’s Victoria Sponge Recipe

Ingredients:

4 large eggs

225g Self Raising Flour (I made my own with masses of baking powder and good ol’ 00 plain flour)

225g Caster Sugar

225g Butter

2 tsp baking powder

Fresh strawberries

Strawberry jam

Whipping cream

 

First I preheated the oven to a toasty 180degreesC and got on with simply weighing and combining the flour, eggs, sugar, baking powder and butter. I mixed gently in the electric mixer until just combined and poured them into my heart shaped moulds. Cake made with easter love!

I baked the cakes for 25 minutes and left to cool before releasing them from the silicone mould. 

Once completely cold I whipped up my cream with a tbsp of icing sugar, dolloped my jam over the bottom layer, added sliced fresh strawberries and topped off with a layer of cream before adding the upper most sponge.

 

Enjoyed by the lake in Trevignano with my parents on Easter Sunday, and then again by my little boy on Pasquetta for his breakfast! The only way to start the day!

 

 

Delicious Bananas

So my little man has given up eating almost entirely as the the heat has ramped up here in Rome. This is a very disappointing state of affairs being a keen cook and the more effort I go to the less he seems interested. Until strangely, at the lake this weekend, he munched straight through two whole bananas. Inspired by this I have used bananas in many a meal this week, until I hit upon one that although not necessarily huge on nutrients is definitely huge on deliciousness! Banana, Cinnamon and Mascapone cream muffins.

Here is the recipe…bake them now, they lasted less than one day in our household!

Ingredients:

2 cups of plain flour

1 cup of sugar

2/3rd cup of olive oil

1 egg

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp ground cinnamon

2 bananas mashed

In my Kitchenaid I whizzed all the ingredients together until well mixed. I poured them into muffin cases within a muffin tin. Oven was on at about 180degreesC. I kept a close eye but left them for about 15 minutes until they were browning on top. Once cooled I beat the Mascapone to a soft consistency and sandwiched the cut muffins together with a shake of ground cinnamon on top. Seriously good with a cup of tea! My little man was in heaven too.

 

 

Polpette alla Flaminia

Flaminia is the nonna of two goregeous children I teach here in Rome. I was looking for perfect ‘secondo’ or maincourse for this season’s supperclub menu and polpette seemed to fit the bill and lucky for me this recipe was generously shared.

Polpette, or anything swine based are extremely Roman and with this falavour of white wine and lemon these really do make a delicious early Summer maincourse, especially coupled with the asparagus which is beautiful and bountiful at this time.

For two if you have a greedy husband!

Ingredients:

For the polpette:

300g minced pork

the inside of 2 bread rolls, soaked in milk for one hour

1 egg

zest of 1 lemon

3 big spoonful’s of parmesan

1 teaspoon of ground nutmeg

1 pinch of seasalt (grosso)

To cook:

vegetable stock

olive oil

½ lemon squeezed of juice

Simply mix all the ingredients for the polpette together in a large bowl and start forming small balls ready for the pan.

In a large frying pan add a good slug of olive oil and add a shallow bath of vegetable stock, heat through. Simmer the polpette for 15 mins or so after which you want to add ½ glass of white wine and cover for 30 minutes, over a medium heat. 3 minutes before they are ready give the polpette a good toss with ½ squeezed lemon. I served them on a potato and rosemary puree and with grilled asparagus. Divine if I do say so myself! Can’t I tempt you to visit us here in Rome for this yummy secondo?

 

Finally I enjoy Fennel

Fennel has never been a favourite for me. Before I just couldn’t quite fall for that aniseed flavour but in recent months it has been much harder to ignore these blooming bulbs as they are piled so high in the market. I have given in and they are now commonly popping up in my list of ingredients, I often pop them into my vegetarian lasgana and I have many chopped and frozen in the freezer waiting for the day they are no longer in season. However today or rather last night I included them in raw glory at the centre of this beautiful springtime salad. We were treated to this salad as part of an Easter Day lunch back in Sauze created by a good friend and fantastic chef we know, she said she picked up the recipe in Sicily. So simple, so elegant and so good for you…

Ingredients:

1 fennel bulb

4 sicilian blood oranges

a bunch of flat leaf parsley

a large handful of black olives

a jar of best quality mackerel (here known as sgombro)

extra virgin olive oil

juice of one lemon

So easy: finely slice the fennel and arrange on a plate. To this add the olives sliced in half. The oranges need to be peeled, remove their pith, and slicing horizontally. Arrange these on top. Chop up the parsley finely and throw on top with the chunks of delicious mackerel. In moments you can shake up the oil and lemon juice in a jam jar and drizzle across this “bellissimo” salad. We enjoyed it with a minted potato salad and pizza bianca but it would be a lovely to dish for more diners with a selection of salads and cheeses.

 

 

 

Rome’s Secret Supper Club

Apologies for the lack of posting recently but I have been working on launching my very own supper club here in Rome. Have a look here for more details. I would LOVE to host a special dinner here for you and share with you my secret gems to make your stay here that much more fun!