Homebaker’s Cookbook: Cavatelli with broccoli and anchovies/ Il Ricettario di Homebaker: Cavatelli con broccoli e acciughe

I wanted to make orecchiette…and I came out with cavatelli! For today’s Homebaker‘s Cookbook recipe I studied a lot, watching several videos and discovering an inspiring woman…Nunzia! The problem is that despite my good manual skills that gesture that might seems so easy to do, dragging a dumpling of dough using the tip of a knife, proved to be very difficult and quite frustrating. So after the first ten orecchiette that believed themselves to be cavatelli, I gave in. But I intend to find a grandmother from Puglia willing to spend several hours with me to teach me all secrets that lay behind the famous pasta. I wonder if this site could be of any help (go and take a look, it is truly wonderful!). Ok, no more chatting…fasten your aprons!

“Cuochi d’artificio”: Sweet Pesto Snails / “Cuochi d’artificio”: Lumachine al “pesto dolce”

And here we are, time flies doesn’t it? This is my last episode on this season of “Cuochi d’artificio” as the program is taking a well deserved summer break. A challenging adventure which made me grow so much and discover the fascinating world of tv production, one experience I hope to have the honour and privilege to repeat next year. This episode has for a theme snails. Well, nothing more suitable for bread, as dough is often shaped in this guise, and bread snail can be found in bakeries filled with all kind of ingredients, both sweet and savoury. In the past I have used this shaping to make my Crunchy Licorice Snails, Rye and fennel seeds snails with blood oranges and red onion chutney and Poppy seed snails. This time around I thought it could be fun to bake snails that at first glance might seem stuffed with basil pesto…while instead they are flavoured with a fresh mix of minced mint, pine nuts, white chocolate and a touch of grated lemon zest. The dough is 100% vegan. The use of cocoa butter makes it particularly soft, the best vegan bread I have developed so far…it’s really light as a feather and very similar to brioche dough. You can change the filling omitting white chocolate and put another 100% vegan ingredient. Unfortunately my knowledge in this area is limited and my attempt to produce a vegan vanilla custard failed miserably.

Here is a list of the required ingredients and step by step instructions to bake the bread and to make the filling. Here you can see the episode where I explain all the steps to bake these cute snails at home.

Living on my own: Brown rice, lentils and red cabbage / Living on my own: Riso integrale, lenticchie e cavolo rosso

From this month onwards, slowly and not in too categorical way, my blog will adapt to a new lifestyle I find myself forced to adopt due to health reasons. Many things will be banned from my kitchen, some of which are not such a big deal (such as red meat, that I already eat very rarely), and others that will be very difficult to accept and implement (cheese and dairy products, and most shockingly baked goods). Despite the general ban on leavened and baked goods I will continue to post recipes for bread and the like, which will be put to the scrutiny of my faithful guinea pigs. Stopping my kneading routine? No sir! I will not deny that right now, as I am typing on the keyboard my mood is anything but positive. While recognizing that a change is necessary acceptance is still very far from my landscape. Funnily enough this recipe, which I had cooked a little before knowing about this major change, aligns itself very well to the diet I will have follow probably for the rest of my life (even thought some occasional transgression will surely occur). Sure a change of diet doesn’t mean I won’t be having good food and this recipe is proof. But let us read more about the beneficial properties of the ingredients employed in this recipe.

Chocolate, Orange and Hazelnut Vegan Tart for Nevia, but not for Mimi / Crostata vegana al cioccolato, arancia e nocciole per Nevia ma non per Mimi

Veganism. A choice, a rigid lifestyle and to me, I must admit, a bit of a problem when it’s up to baking and desserts. Until a few months ago I never had to wonder about cooking or baking vegan, but then met Mimi and Nevia.