“Cuochi d’artificio”: Alice in Wonderland / “Cuochi d’artificio”: Alice nel Paese delle Meraviglie

Last year she turned 150, and I can say I was there celebrating her birthday having participated to the gorgeous Dinner in Wonderland organized by my dear friend Antonella. It’s Alice Liddell, the famous protagonist of “Alice in Wonderland”, one of the most famous children book ever written and the theme chosen for this episode of “Cuochi d’artificio”.

“Cuochi d’artificio”, creativity and a piadina that believed itself to be ravioli / “Cuochi d’artificio”, la creatività e delle piadine che si credevano ravioli

What is creativity? An impulsive motion triggered by sudden illumination which moves the pen, the brush, the fingers on the keys of a computer or a piano? Or rather is it an education to see, to hear, to reinterpret things that surround us? As Bruno Munari well says in his book “Fantasia” it is both. A reading I much enjoyed during my university study and which I’ve picked up lately to help me coming out with new ideas for the theme of the second episode of “Cuochi d’artificio” I have been cooking for. Obstacles are often an instrument for the development of new projects so I started from the assumption that the recipe should be prepared in a limited time and shouldn’t pose too many practical problems as long proofing times or handling a messy dough. The simplicity of a flat bread, modest, versatile, provides with a thousand possibilities of interpretation. And what if this piadina wanted to be something else? Maybe it would like to be turned into cannoli…or ravioli! To be able to come up with new ideas we need to subvert all preconceptions we have. Piadina is a staple of Rimini’s street food, stuffed with sweet or savoury filling. Is this recipe untouchable or can play with it to transform it to our liking? I decided to play with it, transforming it in a bite sized treat. One bite and the hand is already reaching out to the next “ravioli piadina”. Soft ricotta whipped with just the right amount of grana padano hits the tastebuds. Enough to salt and not cover the flavour of pistachios, which now creak under the teeth, and the one of chives, refreshed by a touch of lemon zest, an ingredient which is always able to bring back the dead. Blessed zest, blessed citrus flavours that make our palate sing! The hand is reaches out, but the plate is now empty.

This is the recipe told in words. Here you can find the video where it is explained step by step, and here you will find all the ingredients and quantities needed to make your taste buds dance. If you not so much into some of ingredients just be creative, customize the recipe, play with it, have fun. Use your imagination!

A Spring Menu nr 4 / Un menù primavera nr 4

This is the last appointment with my spring menus (you can check the first, the second and the third menu by clicking directly on them). Here are the four courses of my forth spring menu:

Kidney Bruschetta on Rocket and Hazelnut Spread
Gnocchi with nettles, butter and mint
Fried Lamb Chops with Mustard and Apple Compote
Frothy Custard with Saffron, Cardamom and Rose Water

Maroggia’s Mill Cookbook: Trofie with Chestnut and pumpkin sauce / Il Ricettario del Mulino di Maroggia: Trofie alla salsa di castagne e zucca butternut

It has been quite a while since the last time I posted a fresh pasta recipe for Maroggia’s Mill Cookbook. My choice fell on a classic of Genoese cuisine, trofie, which are accompanied with two typical ticinese ingredient, pumpkin/butternut squash and chestnuts. There’s nothing more autumnal than this, and considered the cold weather nothing better than a good seasonal dish to warm our hearts and bodies isn’t it?

Sourdough Surprises: Gozleme filled with Kohlrabi, Aubergines and Parmesan Cheese / Sourdough Surprises Luglio: Gozleme ripieni di crema di cavolo rapa, melanzana e parmigiano reggiano

As you may well know by now the 20th of each month is dedicated to the beautiful sourdough bread – and not only, do you remember my lattst recipe for apple fritters? – collection Sourdough Surprises. This month the choice fell on a turkish filled bread, Gozleme. Those of you who know me well will know I absolutely love all kind of Middle Eastern foods. The ones who know me better and in person know about my regrets of going to Istanbul and not being able to profit fully of the experience, especially from a culinary point of view (I guess I’ll have to organize a trip with my friend Michela). It sounds so daft I know, but the only Gozleme I have ever eaten was savoured walking up and down the nice turkish market in Kreuzberg, Berlin.

Testaroli with almond sauce / Testaroli con salsa di mandorle

We already tried once before, but I had failed miserably. We have not talked about since, most certainly because both taken by other duties, maybe I was just a little embarrassed by my terrible flop. But in the end we made it.

Depressed soufflé, Shrimp, Turnip and Redo Oranges zest Soufflé with Licorice sauce / Del soufflé deprimé o anche un soufflé ai gamberi, rapa bianca e scorza d’arancia rossa con salsa di liquirizia per l’MTC

I will be very straightforward and come clean to all of you. This month my participation to the MTC Challenge was more painful and depressing than ever. I’ll try to be brief and exhaustive listing the various problems that I encountered. I’m not a soufflé lover, which doesn’t help. Definitely more prone to be attracted to the sweet version of this recipe I had to deal with the strict rule imposed by Tiziana, aka Tagli e Intagli, MTC‘s hostess for this month: only savory recipes. Panic. I admit that although the blog post date had already been written down on my blog-schedule after the “recipe of the month post” came out (the last day of the contest as usual) I did not have a single idea until the end. Or rather, until the day that I set out to cook the recipe.

Buckwheat Lasagna with Scampi and Leeks / Lasagna al grano saraceno con scampi e porri

There are some culinary first times you cannot forget. The first look, the first taste, the first time that you venture into cooking a new recipe. I do not remember the first time I tasted a lasagna but certainly I’ll never forget the first time I made one. I was about 17-18 years old and madly in love with my first boyfriend, Christian, despite on and off and the usual teenage love drama.