Makes 30 / Difficulty – Hard Unmistakably Sicilian, cannoli vary from shop to shop, town to town, but along with tiramisù they are among the most famous desserts in the world. They are a little tricky to make but well worth the effort, as home made cannoli are an absolute wonder and so different from…
Serves 4 / Difficulty – Easy / Prep 15 minutes & cooks in 25 mins As always making your own is much better than the shop bought variety. And vegetarians and meat eaters alike will love these slices. They are very versatile, serve smaller sized portion as an appetiser or party food, or serve a…
Serves 2 / Difficulty – Easy / Prep 40 mins Apparently there are 37 varieties of Caponata in Sicily alone which is where the recipe originates – so I don’t mind cheating with the tomatoes which is why I call this ‘Quick Caponata’ as you don’t have the cook and peel them. This is a…
Serves 2 / Difficulty – easy / Prep 5 mins and 10 mins cooking time I first had Padron peppers in a local European restaurant that has regular Mexican nights as one of the owners is from Mexico. These were always the highlight dish and they are actually very very easy to prepare. Ingredients 1…
Serves 2 / Difficulty – Easy / Prep 2 mins and cooks in 5 mins These are so easy, tasty and often impress guests. Serve with my tasty Patatas Bravas recipe Ingredients Manchego cheese Flour tortilla’s Unsalted butter Method Heat a frying pan large enough to take the round tortilla bread Add a knob of butter…
Serves 2 / Difficulty – Easy / Ready in 5 minutes I first tasted truffle honey on cheese while waiting for a restaurant to open in Tuscany. The waiter led us to a shop outside the restaurant and asked us to sit and gave us some complimentary truffle honey on cheese. I was stunned by…
Serves 2 / Difficulty – Easy / Prep 5 minutes This is my favourite bruschetta, its so quick and easy and for me just tastes of Italy. It serves as a great starter or an accompaniment to a glass of wine or a cheeky cocktail in the garden. Ingredients Two handfuls of finely chopped cherry…
Makes 8 medium balls / Difficulty – Medium / Prep 45 mins and fried in 5 minutes I first discovered arancini existed whilst watching an episode of the Sicilian detective series Inspector Montelbano, and the episode was called ‘Gli arancini di Montalbano’, obviously arancini featured heavily and I had to know what these little balls…
Makes 4 / Difficulty – Medium / Prep 20 mins and cooks in 10 With the runny yolk these are a crowd pleaser, I’ve literally had people clapping in surprise when serving these up. Great fun and much better than the shop bought eggs. You can use the Paxo golden bread crumbs but I like…
Serves 1 / Difficulty – Easy / Ready in 10 minutes. A nice alternative to hummus (you can find my recipe here) and pitta bread on its own, you can swap the cheese for your favourite but I think manchego is a perfect companion to hummus. Ingredients 1 pitta bread Manchego cheese Hummus Chard &…