A big dream came true, I’ve been to Sicilia. I’ve set my foot on that volcano, walked around, brought a few pieces of lava with me. I’ve been to Taormina, been to Siracusa, walked in the footsteps of Robert Malkowicz in Catania – even tried to go and eat in “U Sapuritu”, but they were closed for ferie. Been to Ragusa, after the stories I’ve heard from Michele. Tried a proper Sicilian cannolo. Tried caponata in 3 different places, all different, all delicious. Tried vino grown on the slopes of Etna, brought 2 bottles home. 🙂 Tried different granitas, including pistachio one, mandorle, limone- that one was excellent. Been to Bronte, saw pistachio trees, brought back a load of delicious things made with their famous pistachios.

The portions they serve are staggering. Our first breakfast in Trecastagni was a cornetto with pistachio filling, the size of a small loaf of bread. Delicious, but I could feel my waist expanding immediately.

On a visit to Bronte we all had a different granita, mine was pistachio, very rich, filling, delicious.

When we took our first look and taste of Catania ( dirty Catania, with piles of rubbish everywhere, the side of the roads where shocking) I wanted a nice tagliata di tonno, ordered one and received it quite overdone. Disappointing. I asked the owner where I could get a proper nice cannoli, he directed me towards a pasticceria with a bunch of rude, ignorant bastards for staff, but the cannoli, at 3 euro per piece were superb.

And then, on our doorstep we discovered a real gem. Well, we didn’t discover it, one of our Etna guides told us about the place and that it wasn’t that good. Therefore, off we went to Nikosia, a vineyard and an osteria. Stunning surroundings, beautiful building, great staff. A young Claudia, who matched some of their own wines to our food. Bread, olive oil, everything was superb.

Caponata served in a cannolo? Sure, why not?

Arancino version posh, amazing, with some rose wine Claudia brought over just to see what we thought of it.

We bought a bottle of their dessert wine to take home, but the next evening, our last evening in Trecastagni we went straight back to them. And one of the best looking and tasting plates during the whole week was their beef carpaccio, topped with everything- pistachio mousse, fresh fruit, ricotta salata, which I tried in different ways and I loved it, bought some on the market in Siracusa. Wild strawberries too, normally I’m not a fan of fruit and meat/fish together, but this was a triumph.

I wish I could have finished my secondo, but I struggled and then the chef came out of the kitchen to say hi and brought me a chunk of vacuum packed ricotta salata, cause Claudia told him we came from Tuscany. One of those will now go to Enrico, I know he will love it.

In the end I manage to not look like that:

When the time comes to revisit Sicilia I would go back to Nikosia in a flash. I’ve not tried a sweet iris, that Michele recommended. I would want a nice tagliata di tonno, but barely cooked. I will run back to mercato, the one in Siracusa was a real treat. Some fresh spices, nuts and herbs were brought home from there.

Sicilia was very much enjoyed, next top destination is up north and hopefully will happen in autumn. 🙂

Yum!

First tasted it at Molly and Enrico’s a couple of years ago and loved it. Enrico was kind enough to make a bowl of it for Florek’s birthday party and it was so popular I barely got to taste it. So I figured it was time to have a go at it myself. Luca Pappagallo was consulted, as was Enrico and this afternoon I made it. And I love it. And Florek loves it too.

I started with a large white onion, roughly chopped , a carrot and a celery stick, gently fried on olive oil, while in a small wok I had some oil heating up and some red and yellow peppers ready to fry. The chunks were not too small, as caponata must not turn into a mush, one needs to see what’s what. After the peppers the whole aubergine went into the oil, also cut into a medium sized chunks.

When the veggies were resting on kitchen towel, I added some passata to the onion and celery, seasoned with salt, added the veggies in, some dry oregano too. Green and dark olives, stoneless. And finally I increased the heat under the pan and added 2 tbsps of white wine vinegar and some sugar. Once the vinegar evaporated I checked the seasoning and it was ready to come off the heat. Final touch should be basil, but I had none and also toasted pine nuts, super delicious, added texture and nuttiness. My own sourdough completed the picture.

Brava Oluta! :-))

I’ve made a Sicilian dish for lunch today. Recipe from Pappagallo, for a change. 🙂 I always have an aubergine or two in the fridge since moving to Italia, I always have a few bottles of quality passata in the pantry, one thing I didn’t have was ricotta salata to be grated on top. I had to substitute it with Parmigiano Reggiano, but hopefully I get to try the real deal in Sicilia in 64 days- Izzie keeps count! 🙂

First job, before I unrolled my mat for pilates this morning was to slice the aubergines, sprinkle some salt on them and let them release some water. I gave them almost an hour to do so. Towel dried them and fried, in batches.

A quick and simple tomato sauce was spitting all over the cooker, pasta was cooked. Once the melanzane were ready, I roughly chopped them and added to the sauce. Adjusted the seasoning and we were ready to eat.

I am currently into 6th consecutive week of doing a 25-40 minute workouts 5 times a week. I’ve never in my life lasted that long. Not too sure what a plate of this delicious pasta with fried melanzane did to my efforts this morning, but it was a lovely lunch!

Again, from Pappagallo. 🙂

Not the lightest and healthiest of meals, but it’s not that often that I make a sauce like this, so hopefully we’ll live. Having said that, I should really repeat the blood tests, see if my cholesterol is any lower.

So, the dinner this evening was heavily inspired by Luca Pappagallo, but I made the sauce a bit differently and skipped fennel seeds and garlic. Gently sweated off half a small onion, then crumbled in 2 Tuscan sausages and cooked them until nicely brown. A good slosh of cream. Gorgonzola piccante, in small pieces, a generous handful. Black pepper and fresh sage. I ended up adding a little bit of cornflour mixed with water to thicken the sauce a bit. No salt was needed. Gnocchi went in, straight from the boiling water. A rich, filling, tasty plate of food. Served with lovely grilled asparagus, crunchy and delicious. I had to have some, as a week ago we have been cooked for by one of our friends, a competent cook, but he murdered his asparagus, it was mushy and desperate on the plate, I really don’t know what the hell happened there.

A few days ago I cooked one more thing from Luca’s book, easy, simple and delicious, next time I will serve it with a crunchy green salad like a veggie schnitzel. Aubergine splices, salted and left to release some water, platted dry after about 30 minutes. Tossed in flour, egg and breadcrumbs and fried. Excellent!

And finally a giant lemon I was given today by Anna. A real monster, I think I might make a lemon pound cake tomorrow and give her half.

I purchased 2 books by Luca Pappagallo, as it is nice to have the cookbooks on the shelf, not just internet for inspiration. And what a pleasure to flip through a beautiful recipe book with a cup of tea while making a shopping list for next day!

This was our lunch today. It was a busy and exciting morning, Florek has booked flights and hotel in Catania, where we’ll be holidaying in less than 3 months time. The top of my travel wish list is happening! We will take the trip towards the craters of Etna, a major thing on my bucket list, I was booking it while the tomato sauce was spitting all over the stove.

I had no anchovies, the mistake which I will fix this afternoon. Luca started his sauce by chucking some anchovy fillets onto the olive oil, some garlic, then passata. I added some fresh tomatoes and a chopped shallot, because why not indeed. Aubergines were roughly chopped and fried until deep golden, in a separate pan. When the tomato sauce was seasoned and happy looking, a bunch of green olives went in, then the melanzane, a bit of oregano and it was ready to welcome the pasta in, straight from the water, the only right way!

Delicious, will be made again, this time with anchovies and maybe a different pasta shapes, not spaghetti. 🙂

A recipe from Casa Pappagallo, a vlog which I turn to when I have no clue what to cook. Prior to a quick shopping trip this afternoon I watched a video where Luca made this dish, but with spaghetti. I used linguine, as Izzie was having ragu and I didn’t fancy 27 pots on the stove.

Dinner tonight was a delight; we are having some really bad weather lately, parts of Tuscany are flooded, the rain just doesn’t stop. All the schools were closed in Lucca today, it’s still raining heavily. At home however it smells of garlic and olives. It’s warm, it’s quiet, it’s dry. We’re so lucky to have this place.

I started cooking from gently frying some breadcrumbs on olive oil, till browned and crispy, a pangrattato, which was to add texture to the finished dish. While linguine were cooking, I chucked some minced garlic and several fillets of anchovies onto the olive oil. For science and research- the cats love anchovies! Some capers. A good handful of both green and black olives. From myself I added some quartered cherry tomatoes. A splash of water from the pasta made the sauce more runny and exciting. I removed the pasta from the water about 2 minutes before the end, to finish cooking in the sauce, which required no salt at all, virtually no seasoning with all the anchovies. That crispy pangrattato is a revelation, not just because of the taste, but the texture.

It’s been approved and enjoyed with some Sardinian vino. I’m hoping I get to see Sicilia this year. 🙂

Until today I thought my brother makes the best granola. He once told me how to, but mine wasn’t as good as his, so I left it and settled for shop bought, overly sweet Kellogs.

But lately, in the new book by Ula Pedantula called ” Kuchnia Pedantuli” I saw recipe for homemade granola, one that uses olive oil alongside honey (Mariusz only uses honey). We went to Ikea this morning, where I picked up a few bits to make the storage in my kitchen a bit better, then, in Esselunga I got what I needed to make the granola. I combined some oats, hazelnuts, pecans, sunflower seeds( a must, beautiful flavour when toasted!), sesame seeds, a heavy dusting of cinnamon ( of course) and then a good drizzle of olive oil and honey, enough to coat everything.

I baked the granola in 150 degrees, on a baking paper and tossed it every 10-15 minutes, until it was golden and smelled fantastic. It took about 45 minutes. I left it to cool completely, while still tossing and then transferred it to a sexy new jar I got from Lara last Thursday. Very much looking forward to having it tomorrow morning with yoghurt and fresh fruit.

Marion’s. I’ve cooked it today for the second time, last time I was too hungry to bother with photos, but this evening it was so tasty ( all 3 Bankses were unanimous) that I simply must write about it. Not the fastest of stir fries, as the chicken’s double cooked, but worth the effort.

Chicken breasts ( thighs at Marion’s) were thinly sliced and marinated quickly in soy sauce and grated garlic. Sauce was prepared out of oyster sauce, a good splash of Shaoxing, dark soy, some sesame oil and a serious fat teaspoon of black pepper, this is perfectly enough as far as I’m concerned.

Chicken pieces were then tossed in cornflour and quickly panfried, then drained on the kitchen towels, I did that in 2 batches. Marion’s right, it is quite difficult to stop eating those chicken pieces, while the rest of the work is happening.

An onion, chopped quite thickly and some red pepper into the pan/wok, till a bit charred, in goes the chicken, in goes the sauce ( lovely smell of Shaoxing all over the kitchen), toss, toss, toss and it’s all ready to devour. I served it with rice, everything was eaten this evening and I was thanked profusely by the other 2 Bankses. Applause! 🙂

Robert Maklowicz cooked it in his recent episode from Dalmatia, I loved how it looked, I had to try. Anything with aubergines excites me since we live in Italia, I might plant some next year!

I’ve only made one of these, as the rest of the family were looking forward to their ragu.

I peeled one, not very big aubergine, leaving the green top, essential for it to keep the shape. I then cut it from the bottom upwards to make it look like a thick mop and plonked it into the pot of salted, boiling water for about 10 minutes. Left to drain and cool. In the meantime I’ve made a quick and delicious tzatziki; grated some cucumber, crushed a garlic clove and mashed it with some salt, finely chopped some mint from the garden and once the cucumbers let out all the water I removed it and combined all ingredients together, adding a touch more salt and olive oil.

Cooled melanzane were generously dipped in egg.

Then onto the breadcrumbs, which had also some sweet, smoked paprika in it, quite a lot, actually, not intentionally though! 🙂

And then into the hot oil for a few minutes, until crunchy and golden brown.

I found the whole thing absolutely delicious with a glass of red. Can’t wait to share with fellow melanzane lovers.