Homebaker’s Cookbook: Aromatic Crisp Bread / Il Ricettario di Homebaker: Pane croccante aromatico

Today for Homebaker’s Cookbook I present you with a recipe for a crispy bread, loosely based on South Tyrol’s Schüttelbrot. A versatile bread which is ideal for an aperitif served in combination with cheese and salami, you can also break it in small pieces ad add it to soup and guess what, it is amazing paired with jam…for a slightly different breakfast. Trust me, I tried it with an orange jam and was ecstatic!

Homebaker’s Cookbook: Yogurt bread/ Il Ricettario di Homebaker: Pane allo yogurt

I too often get excited when going shopping fro groceries. Family packs are my thing…usually I stock up on crackers, lupins and one-kilo natural yoghurt jars. Usually the next weeks all sort of unexpected things happen and I find myself with a lot of ingredients coming close to the end of their shelf life. And get in a panic. This is more or less how this loaf, which I now propose for Homebaker’s Cookbook, was born. Fragrant, soft and long-lasting, it was a great discovery given by necessity and total randomness. The great thing is that you can forget about it and leave the dough to rest in the fridge for a few days, in fact your loaf will acquire more flavour!

MTChallenge nr 60: Marchesa Casati’s tapas / MTChallenge nr 60: Infiniti auguri alla nomade! O anche le tapas della Marchesa

Another month, another MTChallenge! Mai‘s challenge is a tough one. Tapas! This month our MTC judges were really tough on us and we were asked to develop three recipes.

A piadina that believed itself to be ravioli, sweet version / La piadina che si credeva raviolo, versione dolce

In this post I propose the original recipe for the piadina that believed itself to be ravioli. Oh yes, the recipe was originally conceived as a sweet and only later I was asked to change it into a savoury version. In fact, the first recipe’s name should have been “Piadina that believed itself to be ravioli… but also a bit cannoli”because of its sweet filling made with goat cheese and candied fruit, like the traditional cannolo. Since no recipe goes to waste and blog posting optimization has become vital to me I propose the recipe with a slight modification in the dough too, with a mix of fine semolina and AP white flour which is reminiscent of fresh pasta. I recommend using goat cheese because it is much more delicate on the palate and less creamy (too much creaminess is likely to cover the flavours of the other ingredients). I added lemon zest and fennel powder to give some freshness to the filling which would be otherwise a little too bland. Sometimes it takes very little to make a recipe special and I am very happy to say this one passed the guinea pigs test with no problem, despite the presence of candied peel which are not always to the taste of everyone. If you are among those who do not like candied peel you can always replace this ingredient with chocolate chips or other ingredients you like the most.

Maroggia’s Mill Cookbook: Ricotta and Butter Panini Buns / Il Ricettario del Mulino di Maroggia: Panini alla ricotta e burro

Nothing makes me happy as inviting friends over to have breakfast, lunch or dinner. To prepare a lavish feast with all of the best foods, and pick the favourites according to my friend’s taste, to embellish the table with red mats and placing a nice bowl of fresh fruit on the table. To knead and wait patiently, to shape the dough and wait for another while, the nose stuck to the oven glass in contemplation of the soft dough rising, glossy, giving off an amazing scent throughout the house. I especially love breakfasts. Sweet, savoury…nothing is missing from my table (well, nothing missed…now with macro dieting I cut out all dairy and goodbye to my beloved cheese and yogurt). Usually I bake ciabattas and baguettes, but a little leftover of ricotta inspired me to bake these sandwiches. I never imagined they would turn out so perfect on the first try…but yes they truly are perfect. A well-leavened, soft and light dough. Another recipe which is ideal for a snack and for breakfast, or even for a sandwich to have on the fly on a lunch break. This is my gift to Maroggia’s Mill Cookbook and to all of you. Enjoy!

Delinquent bread, don’t try this at home! An offence to bread baking but still tastes good. Excess sourdough wholewheat bread / Una pagnotta criminale o anche un affronto a tutte le regole della panificazione. Pane integrale agli esuberi brutto ma buono.

New year, new goals, new…news?
I’m still in a transitioning phase in which scheduling has to be done, ideas must not only be put on paper but need to get in action and unfortunately time is short. So short I’m posting a plain recipe, no anecdotes, no funny story…oh well maybe there’s something funny about this bread and a few things to say.

MTC Challenge’s Chestnuts: Chestnut flour Ravioli, stuffed with walnuts and bread, topped with melted cheese / Le Castagne dell’MTC Challenge: Ravioli alla farina di castagne ripieni di noci e pane, con fonduta di formaggella ticinese

And here I am, out of breath, red faced and perpetually late. Kind of funny, because this is not my usual self. Indeed, more than often I am the one standing at the meeting point staring nervously at the clock ten minutes in advance (In fact I was almost one hour in advance at the Migros contest!). But with the blog things work differently and last minute posts are the rule.