It is tradition in our family to have a special breakfast on birthdays. When we were children our special breakfast consisted of hot chocolate and cookies, growing up it become pancakes! There a number of pancakes recipes that are close to my hart, NYC’s Sarabeth’s is one of them, but this year I decided to…
Category: Vegetarian
Spinach and ricotta tart
Spinach and ricotta tart is an Italian classic, perfect for a picnic, a brunch, or even dinner. I make it very often, especially when I am running low in vegetables as I can use frozen ones, and there is always a slice or two in my freezer ready to be used. The classic recipe uses…
Spinach Cannelloni
When one thinks of cannelloni the first image that comes to mind is a line of little pasta tubes covered in generous amounts of béchamel sauce. However, when I think of cannelloni, I have images of our annual Christmas lunch at my father’s family house. The crackling fireplace on, two big tables, one for grown-ups…
My Minestrone
Minestrone is the ultimate comfort food and an amazing way to clean the fridge! I make it regularly during the winter season and the ingredients tend to change depending on what vegetables I have in the fridge. Usually my minestrone has a a mix of vegetables, few pulses, at least one cereal, a mix of…
Pumpkin Pancakes
Pancakes are our favourite weekend brunch food, I love their thickness and richness and the fact that you can make them as healthy or indulgent as you want. I make them often, when friends are visiting, for birthday breakfasts or simple because I feel like it. Since last weekend was Halloween, it seemed a good…
Pumpkin Lasagna
It’s October and as Autumn settles in I love the copper colours on the trees, the crunchy noise of the leaves on the pavement when you step on them, and the smell in the air and my kitchen. It’s open season for pumpkins, mushrooms, chestnuts and spices! Pumpkin is particularly typical of this time of…
Carrot and Orange Vellutata
Vellutata, an Italian creamy soup, is one of my favourite ‘fridge clean’ dishes! Together with risotto, frittata, and possibly quiche, this is how I usually cook vegetables that need to be used up. This vellutata is a classic example. Few weeks ago I had some soft carrots in my fridge so I added some chilli,…
Riso Venere with Squid
Over the last months I read so many articles and posts referring to Riso Venere that I decided I had to try and use it for one of my risottos. Riso Venere, also known as black venus rice, is a wholegrain black rice from Italy, it is very tasty and nutritious, being rich in minerals…
Asparagus and Feta Quiche
Quiche is the perfect way to cook a quick lunch or dinner and clean up any vegetable and food in your fridge. I love making quiches for picnics and barbecues as you can make them in advance and test just as delicious when cold. All my quiches consist of few basic ingredient: Shortcrust – usually…
Kale and Mushrooms Lasagna
There are several ways we use up vegetables that are about to go bad, soups, frittatas quiches and lasagna! A few Sundays ago, I decided to make lasagna for two simple reasons I had some dry lasagna pasta sheets that needed to be used and lasagna is the perfect Sunday lunch meal! My fridge clean…
PrepAndProper Recipes 