tagged ‘parmesan’

Mandarine, beet & pistachio barley salad

in Savoury, Taste -

Colourful and filled with flavour and textures, this mandarine, beet & pistachio barley salad is a super star all around. 

Mandarine, beet & pistachio barley salad

It’s not always clear to me how a recipe comes to happen; often it’s something I crave or miss- usually my mom’s food or a dish I’ve tried in a restaurant and left a lingering taste in my mouth. Other times inspiration stems from recipes seen in cookbooks or online. More often than not though, everything starts with ingredients: it can be something not very exciting I have in the fridge or cupboard, or fresh seasonal produce first making a timid appearance in market stalls. These are my favourite ones: I feel almost haunted by colours and shapes, I touch and smell and a dish, or a faint outline, more like a desire, starts coming together. For this salad, it all started with mandarines- of which I used to not think much  for quite a long time. Then suddenly, a while ago, I started finding them utterly irresistible. I love when that happens- it’s like having a new friend and start making all sorts of exciting plans for adventures to share together. [READ MORE]

Green pasta salad with parsley & thyme vinaigrette

in Savoury, Taste -

I am a little bit obsessed with this green pasta salad with parsley & thyme vinaigrette- I’ll be making it all summer long and I hope you will too.

Green pasta salad with parsley & thyme vinaigrette

Like with any good salad, it all starts with a delicious vinaigrette- which, in this case started in the same way most of my dishes begin: with a pinch of this and a dash of that, with whatever I had in hand and thoughts of how flavours and ingredients pair nicely together. The first time I made it, I had a plate of wholewheat penne and a can of tuna to play with. As simple -and frankly- as boring as it gets. [READ MORE]

Pea, pesto & egg salad with radishes & sourdough

in Savoury, Taste -

A pea, pesto & egg salad with radishes & sourdough as colourful as spring and as beautiful and fresh as the seasons inspires. 

Pea, pesto & egg salad with radishes & sourdough

Somewhere between spring and summer (as it usually is the case in London- the weather jumps from winter to blasting heat and back again and again), I find myself overwhelmed, inspired, too hot to cook, too enamoured with all the beautiful fresh produce available (strawberries! asparagus! baby potatoes! peas!) to choose. In the last few days, I’ve been mostly gravitating towards tartines, eggs and salads; some are simple and hastily tossed together with extra virgin olive oil, a touch of balsamic and fresh torn basil. others are a tad more elaborate, still however following my basic rule for spring and summer cooking- and eating: spend as little time in the kitchen, and especially over a stove- as possible. [READ MORE]

Chilli, lemon zest & parmesan popcorn

in Small bites, Taste -

Chilli-lemon-parmesan-popcorn

Happy first of November y’all! I like this time of year- it’s not “OMG it’s Christmas” spectacular, nor “can’t wait to hit the beach” carefree, yet there’s something about this month, with it’s dark afternoons and first cold blasts, that fills me with a somewhat calm sense of comfort and an ever so slight excitement for the more glamorous month which follows. [READ MORE]

Parmesan, za’atar & sesame straws

in Small bites, Taste -

Parmesan, za'atar & sesame straws

Throughout the holidays, one of the things I enjoyed the most about the various dinner we attended or hosted at home was the starters. Not the meat, which was in overwhelming abundance, not the wine, which was flowing non stop, but the little bits and pieces available before the actual meal: different kinds of cheese paired with fresh and dried fruit, beautiful charcuterie, smoked salmon- they were all not only delicious enough to almost keep me from enjoying the rest of the meal, but also so pretty. [READ MORE]

Parmesan, nigella & mustard seed biscuits

in Small bites, Taste -

ParmesanBiscuits-620-3

Soon after I moved to London, I discovered scones. Once I did, I celebrated this discovery by religiously consuming a scone once a week, every Saturday morning right before work. I was hooked: rich, not too sweet, crumbly and buttery, scones were pretty much the sole reason I was only moderately miserable having to wake up early of a freaking Saturday. [READ MORE]