Occhi Siciliani – Occhi Belli

Tags

Anice, Marettimo, Pane Siciliano, Semola rimacinata, Sesamo, SIcilian Bread, Sicily

An English version of this post will be found here

Durante il nostro soggiorno sulla meravigliosa isola di Marettimo, la più lontana delle Egadi, ed a Palermo, la città più frenetica del mondo, una delle cose più memorabili che ho mangiato era anche la più semplice. E’ stato il pane, che era fra i migliori che io abbia mai assaggiato. Appena tornato a casa, mi sono messo a cercare una ricetta. Ne ho trovato una in “The Italian Baker” di Carol Field, e per fortuna avevo portato dall’isola un sacco di semola rimacinata (ingrediente molto difficile da trovare qui in Inghilterra).

Su Marettimo si faceva il pane sotto forma di bastone, ma io ho voluto fare due forme più interessanti della tradizione siciliana, cioè occhi e mafalda. Non sono sicuro fino a che punto ci sono riuscito: la mia pagnotta occhi è meno ricurva che avrei voluto, e la mafalda è un poco tozza. Ma sono stato abbastanza contento del loro aspetto e sapore, e mi potevo immaginare di nuovo sulla nostra terrazza di Marettimo, guardando le acque cristalline del Mediterraneo mentre mangiavo questo gustoso pane con del miele di rosmarino dell’isola.

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Rosemary and Sultana Bread

Tags

Breakfast Loaf, Fresh from the oven, Honey, Rosemary, Sultana

This light textured bread is subtly flavoured with rosemary and honey, and although it contains a lot of sultanas, is not overly sweet. I thought it would be ideal for this month’s challenge on Fresh from the Oven, hosted by La Cuisine de Sarah, which was to make a fruited breakfast bread.

Although Rosemary is often thought of as a savory herb, it works beautifully in sweet recipes too. In this bread, it plays a quite understated role, and if you didn’t know it was there, you might wonder what exactly was lending that interesting undertone to the smell and flavour of the bread.

I Also Made… Classic French Madeleines

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Madeleine, Vanilla

These madeleines, flavoured with vanilla, can be made using the same method as the Rose Madeleines that I posted about earlier today.

Rose Madeleines

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Madeleine, Nigella Lawson, Rose, Rosewater, Tea Time Treats

I have always loved Madeleines, and once, in a fit of excitement, I bought myself a tray to make them in. I’m embarrassed to admit that that may have been as much as fifteen years ago, and in all that time the tray sat unused in the cupboard, silently reproaching me every time I moved it out of the way to find a tin for a less challenging recipe (challenging in my eyes that is).

I Also Made… Lemon Drizzlers

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Beurre noisette, Brown Butter, Drizzle, lemon

In a recent post, Little Loaf got rather excited about brown butter. Very excited, in fact. So excited that I thought “I will have what she’s having!”

Pear and Ricotta Ravioli with Pancetta

Tags

Balsamic vinegar, quanti modi di fare e rifare, ravioli, semolina

Nota per lettori italiani/e:  troverete un riassunto alla fine del post

This recipe took me well outside my comfort zone. I had only once before made pasta, and that was at least 15 years ago. On that occasion I used a rolling pin, and not only was it very hard work, but the results were not that wonderful. Recently I’d been hankering to give it another go, and so was glad to find that this month’s challenge on Quanti Modi di Fare e Rifare (an on-line Italian cooking group) was for ravioli. What’s more it was for a recipe with a very unusual (some might say alarming) combination of flavours, that actually worked very well together.