The Puttanesca sugo goes with all kinds of pasta. I had freshly made Tagliatelle at home so I tried this combination. I always make a classic Puttanesca sugo with anchovies, capers, olives and tomato sauce. A simple but delightful pasta dish. People are often afraid of using anchovies in cooking, but in this dish they fit perfectly.

Preparation time: 20 minutes

difficulty: easy

Preparation:

Bring pasta water to boil. Add some salt and boil the pasta until al dente.Time this process in a way that the pasta is ready when the sugo is.

Peel and dice the onion and fry it gently in some olive oil until it takes on some colour.

Remove the stones form half of the olives and chop them up. Also chop up the capers.
Add the anchovies to the onions. They will dissolve after stirring them a bit. Now add the garlic and fry for a minute.

Cut the Pelati tomatoes into pieces and add them to the pan. Also add the vinegar. When it is season for fresh tomatoes take those instead, when they are out of season don’t bother.

Add the capers, the Oregano and the remaining olives. Season with chilli and salt and let the Sugo cook for 10 minutes. Season to taste and serve with the pasta and some parmesan cheese.

Spaghetti Carbonara is, besides the Aglio e Olio recipe, probably the most simple and easy to do pasta recipe. The only requirements are fresh, organic free range eggs and speck. Make sure you don’t use regular bacon but speck which has less fat and more taste.

Preparation time: 20 minutes

difficulty: easy

Preparation:

Bring water to boil, salt lightly and cook pasta al dente.

Dice the onions and fry them in a pan with some olive oil. Once the onions take on some color you can add the cubed speck. let it simmer for a couple of minutes then add the chopped garlic. Fry for a minute then remove from the heat.

Scramble the eggs in a bowl, adding a fair amount of fresh ground pepper and the grated cheese.

Put the drained pasta into the pan. Mix well with the bacon and pour the egg sauce over the pasta. Mix the pasta until you get a creamy sauce and let it sit for a minute. Season to taste with salt and pepper and mix again. Then serve immediately.

I pepped up the classic Risotto al Radicchio Rosso di Treviso with a bit of Williams pear and a little bit of Gorgonzola cheese. A very tasty vegetarian risotto.

Preparation time: 5 minutes

Cooking time: 20 minutes

difficulty: easy

Preparation:

Dice the onions. Fry them in a pan with some butter.

Chop the garlic and cut the Radicchio into thin stripes. Peel the pear and dice it.

Now add the garlic to the onions and let it fry for a minute.

Now add the rice and half the Radicchio. Fry for another minute. Then add the wine. Let it boil, so the alcohol can evaporate, then add the stock. Stir, then cover to let it simmer on low heat.

When the risotto is al dente add the remaining Radicchio and the pear cubes. let it sit for a few minutes. Add the Gorgonzola cheese and mix well. Season with salt and pepper and serve instantly.

Ragù alla bologneseis certainly one of my favorites. It can be seasoned in many different ways. You can add dried mushrooms, bacon but also clove or nutmeg can be added.

The essential thing with a good Ragù alla bolognese is that is cooked slow and long. The longer the better.

Preparation time: 10 minutes

cooking time: 5 hours

difficulty: easy

Preparation:

Peel and dice the onion, garlic, celery and carrots.

Put the onions into a pot and fry them with some oil and butter for about 3 minutes. Then add the carrots and the celery. After a few minutes add the garlic and right after that the meat.
Fry for several minutes until the meat changes color.

Now add the canned tomatoes and the juice form the can. cut them up a bit. Add the tomato paste, the bay leaf and all other herbs you use for seasoning, stir well and let it simmer on very low heat for several hours.

The longer it cooks the better. Ideally you let it sit over night.

Season with salt and pepper and serve with freshly cooked pasta.

Preparation time: 10 minutes

cooking time: 20 minutes

difficulty: easy

Preparation:

Wash the spinach well, dry it in a spinner and chop it up a bit. Dice the garlic.

Heat some oil in a pan. Add the spinach and fry it. The spinach will reduce volume instantly. Let it simmer for a couple of minutes. Now add the garlic and let it cook for a few minutes as well.

Now pour the soup stock into the pan. Add the Polenta and boil it until it is soft. This should take about 10 minutes, depending on the type of Polenta.

Before serving add the butter to the soup. Season with salt and pepper. If the soup turns out too thick, just add some water.

This is a recipe from my aunt Sue. She is a big fan of Italy and Italian cuisine. She often prepares Piadina Romagnola to accompany a meal or as a snack with a sip of wine. It is easy to make and you don’t even need an oven. The Piadina is pan fried.

Preparation time: 5 minutes

cooking time: 15 minutes

difficulty: easy

Preparation:

I use a kitchen aid to make the dough.
Mix the dry parts of the dough together. Then add the water slowly while kneading the mixture. Add the lard and the bacon and make sure it is all kneaded well. The dough should be compact and not too wet. It should not stick very much on your hands.

Now take pieces the size of your fist and roll them out on a floured surface. Heat up a coated frying pan. Add a little bit of lard and fry the flat, pita like bread on each side for 3 minutes.

A classic Italian dish. Gnocchi with sage butter are easy and fast to make. I am using a little trick to reduce the work even more. The Gnocchi I make are made from scratch though I use potato flakes instead of fresh potatoes. This really reduces the production time and the Gnocchi taste great.

Preparation time: 15 minutes

cooking time: 5 minutes

difficulty: easy

Preparation:

Bring water to boil for the Gnocchi.

Mix together all the dry ingredients for the Gnocchi. Then add the water and the egg slowly. Mix well with a kitchen aid or by hand. The dough should not get too humid. In case it is too sticky, add some flour.

Melt some butter in a pan and add the chopped sage. Let it fry on low heat.

Take a fist size piece of the dough and form a long roll of it. Do so on a cleaned and floured surface. The roll should be as thick as your index finger. Now cut the roll into pieces. Each piece just smaller than half an inch.

Put the Gnocchi into the boiling water. Let them simmer on low heat. Once they rise up, let them in the water for another 2 minutes. Now drain them and put them into the pan. Fry on low heat for a few minutes.

Portion on plates and sprinkle some grated cheese over them.

Another fruit of the summer garden is the almond. The trees are full of almonds and one of the many things that can be done with them is pesto. A variation of the classic Italian pasta sauce. The almonds give the pesto more of a nutty taste then the pine nuts, is also is darker in color.

Preparatio time: 15 minutes

difficulty: easy

Preparation:

Toast the almonds in a dry pan. Use medium to low heat to do so, in order not to burn the almonds.

Meanwhile peel the garlic and cut in in quarters. Cube the cheese. Carefully rinse the basil leaves. Dry them off with a paper towel.

Put all ingredients into a blender, add some olive oil and mix. You might have to add some oil in the process. Mix carefully, so it does not get too finely chopped. I personally prefer to still see the pieces of the almond.

Serve with freshly boiled Spaghetti.

TIP: The pesto stores well in a jar in the fridge.

This dish of egg and vegetable can be found under two different names here in Greece. Eggs Kagiana or Strapazzada. This fact made me research a bit. I consulted Mariana from the History of Greek Food blog and here are some of the findings.

Kagiana (which is pronounced: Kayana) is an egg dish known to every Greek. The name though derives from the Persian “Khâgine” which means omelet. The dish was known throughout the Ottoman Empire which explains how it is spread nowadays. In the East Roman Empire (Byzantium) the dish was call “Sfungaton”- sponge which again describes the omelet.

Strappazada however derives from the Greek word στραπάτσο which equals the Italian strapazzo , to beat. Uova strapazzate are scrambled eggs. Strapazzada is known mainly along the Ionian coast and the west coast of the Peloponnese. In the rest of the country the dish is called Kagiana.

As a friend from Serbia told me this dish is there known as Kajgana.

Preparation time: 5 minutes

cooking time: 10 minutes

difficulty: easy

Preparation

Heat the oil in a pan. Meanwhile dice the bell pepper and add it to the pan. Fry for a couple of minutes on medium heat.

Dice the tomato and add it. Let it cook for a minute or two. Beat the eggs in a bowl, season them with salt and pepper. Add the eggs to the pan and let them cook in the juices of the tomato.

Stir occasionally.

Serve with crumbled feta cheese on top of it.

Again a recipe that uses Paximadi bread. This dry bread with barley is used a lot in Greek cuisine and Dakos is the classic dish for it. A hearty salad with tomato and feta cheese for hot weather. The Italian equivalent is Friselle, a dish that is common in Apulia.

Preparation time: 5 minutes

difficulty: easy

Preparation:

Cube one tomato. Grate the second tomato into a bowl.

Break the Paximadi bread in large pieces. Pour some water over it and place it on a plate. Pour the grated tomato over it. Then add the cubed tomato. Put the chopped onion, some capers, olives and crumbled cheese on top. Add a few drops of oil.