Polish spelling, I’m not even sure where the name came from, but when I think about this hearty courgette stew, I think of my parents’ allotment and all the good stuff it produced over the years. Like courgettes, which Lisa shares with me this summer- produce from her garden.  They were fabulous just chargrilled as a side of the steaks, they make great courgette fritters, which Izzie and Bess devoured on Wednesday and today I thought- let’s go back down the memory lane. I had a decent idea what it should look and taste like, I thought about calling Mum, but she was on hospital run today, so I got cracking using my experience and all I remembered from years ago.

Some pork shoulder, cubed, seasoned and sprinkled with flour quickly browned, 2 chopped shallots, a big fat clove of garlic in. 2 small sweet peppers, a good pinch of chili flakes. Cherry tomatoes, some green beans. All stewing rather quickly, it’s essential that the pork is lovely and soft, tough meat would ruin the whole dish. Finally, towards the end, cubed courgette. It’s to be cooked, but keep its shape and have a bit of a crunch still. A little of coriander to finish with.

I served with freshly baked ciabatta( no, not totally fresh, Waitrose!). It soaked all the lovely juices up nicely. And also I decided next year I’ll be growing courgettes, there will be a greenhouse too, for the tomatoes and cucumbers. Exciting!

Giorgio Locatelli’s.  I’ve made 2 things by that very ragazzo Italiano today, I’ve baked his baci di dama, little cocoa biscuits which I’ve managed to overbake and will most likely chuck them by the end of the day. I mean my teeth are not amazing and attempting to enjoy those particular baci might result in injuries. 🙂

The puffs however are a completely different story. When I tasted the first one I thought- fabulous party food. Not cheap, with all that parmesan in it, but tasty and moreish. The original recipe calls for Grana Padano,  but I happened to have lots of parmesan, so that’s what I used.  First 200 g of potatoes, boiled and squeezed through the ricer, same amount of plain flour. 75 g of grated parmesan- a lot! 9g of fresh yeast, same amount of salt, but not together, as salt kills yeast. 300 ml of water. All this made quite a runny batter, which then gets spooned into the hot oil, I find 2 teaspoons useful in this operation, no need for fancy gadgets. They fry quite quickly, until golden, a final sprinkling of parmesan and onto the table, where some delicious parma ham awaited, a great salad and a bottle of Viognier.

Puffs are rather filling, which is not surprising, as they’re deep fried. I would imagine them as a real treat somewhere on a terrace with a good view, Tuscany maybe. That’s where we will be in 5 weeks. 🙂

I used to pick these in the woods of Poland when I was a teenager and never valued them as much as now.  I was thinking about it when we walked in Forest of Dean last weekend and I happened to find a few common mushrooms, remembering how we used to pick them with mum and dad. I would wish dad will be strong enough again to go mushroom picking, for now I ordered my pack of girolles from Ocado and made a pasta dish this evening, that surprised us both, Florek and me, with how good it was. First of all, girolles and lots of black pepper = taste buds go wild. I chopped them alongside 2 shallots and panfried them quickly, adding a generous handful of cooked and peeled broad beans,  some chicken stock and cooked it down a notch. Fusili in, I think next time maybe orecchiette, lots of parmesan and a drizzle of truffle oil.  A few rocket leaves.  I have to say the broad beans, as much as I love them as a snack- just cooked in a salty water- did not bring anything to the dish, apart from a bit of colour. I’m now thinking about a ravioli filling that would include these yellow beauties.  Yum.

One of Florek’s most beloved pasta dishes. Ask him what he wants to eat next week, while making Ocado shopping list, there is 90% chance he’ll say -carbonara.

I am, of course, aware of the controversies around making carbonara in Britain, using or not using cream ( I always have done), parmesan or pecorino? Garlic? Mushrooms, God forbid? This morning on telly Rick Stein was making his version, inspired by his stay in Sardinia. His plate of carbonara looked so beautiful, I convinced Florek that eating out last night was not what we’d do. We’d go to Whole Foods, get a chunk of smoked pancetta ( Michele told me later I need to try it with Guanciale, I certainly will have my eyes open when in Tuscany in October), a chunk of pecorino romano and we’d stay at home. We already had a bowl of fresh farm eggs and a good bottle of wine in the fridge.

So today I’ve made my carbonara without cream for the first time, I did, sadly, scramble the eggs- I feel it’s more difficult when a splash of cream is added. That pancetta, fried till crispy, was fantastic. It had the flavour of good pork, smoked and scrumptious. 2 cloves of garlic, crushed, cooked spaghetti in. Lots of fresh parsley. Grated pecorino ( unmistakable sheepy flavour, yum!), beaten eggs. We’ve finished the whole lot. When in Italy it will be a must to have a plate of carbonara prepared by some Italiano vero.  🙂