Category Archives: Vegan-Vegetarian

The vegetable gratin for excellence

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Before the summer finishes, I want to share this amazing vegetable gratin dish with you. My interest in this recipe started as a way to get rid of my mountains of zucchini and trombetta di Albenga squash. Instead it became my favorite summer dish. I made it so many times this summer and now I’m getting sad thinking that I won’t be able to prepare it again until next year, because my garden is producing less and less every day.

I made few changes from the original recipe I found on America’s Test kitchen and used what is available in my garden. There are only few vegetables in this gratin: zucchini, trombetta di Albenga squash but you can use yellow zucchini, white onions and cuore di bue tomatoes flavored with garlic and fresh thyme. The vegetables are then covered by a crunchy layer of whole wheat bread, Pecorino cheese and minced shallots. Continue reading →

Let’s party with some grilled pizza!

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What took me so long to discover grilled pizza? Years ago I  watched Christopher Kimball on America’s Test Kitchen explaining how to make the perfect grilled pizza. I was amazed by it and decided to give it a try as soon as possible. I wrote down the recipe and instructions, then I filed the recipe away and forgot about it. A  few days ago I found the same recipe online and this time though I made it right away.

It was a pretty intense experience, if you consider that the temperature outside was 35° (95°f) and the BBQ was hot. We did it, though, and the pizzas were so good that we completely forgot the  effort and sweat it took us to prepare them. The recipe called for four large pizzas to cook in a round grill. I happen to have a rectangular one, so I prepared smaller pizzas, and I should say that I prefer the smaller size. I don’t have a lid for my grill so I used the lid of my wok, which is pretty big and worked perfectly. Continue reading →

Orange-lemon cake

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I was cruising  on the  internet when I stumbled upon one of Molly’s recipes for a “Marmalade cake“. I bookmarked it and made it with only some little changes a few days later because I couldn’t wait to try it. I fell in love with this recipe. I had a similar recipe but it was made with butter and also had considerably more  sugar so I never made it. Hers was my dream cake,  it had olive oil instead of butter so it was perfect for dairy intolerant people like myself  and it was not packed with sugar.

The cake came out just like I expected when I read the recipe. I don’t know about you, but when I read a recipe I often “taste” the dish before actually making it. The cake itself doesn’t overwhelm by its looks. It appears as a simple soft cake but as soon as you bite it you’re immediately captured by its citrus-almond texture, softness and the complexity of flavors. I couldn’t stop eating it and the funny thing is that every time I make it for friends or family the result is always the same. They all start with a small slice as they are uncertain by its appearance, but as soon as they taste it they keep asking for more. One evening two friends of mine liked it so much that after the fist few servings they asked me to hand them the knife. They kept cutting pieces of it until they finished it all. They were so embarrassed about it, but I was more than happy because they don’t usually like cakes that much. Continue reading →

Crostini with fava bean spread

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Fava beans also known as broad beans, Windsor beans or English beans just to name a few are one of the first spring legumes to appear on our tables. They have been a beloved food for centuries in Northern Africa, Asia and Europe. During the Roman empire favas were eaten by the plebeians and consumed in different ways. They were dried then grounded into flour, and used to make puls a grain mush, the ancestor of polenta prepared mainly with farro flour. They were also eaten raw which is still common or cooked together with lard.

In the last few years there has been a growth of new recipes and a re-elaboration of classic ones using this legume.  The recipe I prepared is a re-elaboration of one of the classics, “Fave e pecorino” (Pecorino cheese with fresh fava beans), typical from the Lazio region. Fava beans are eaten raw, when they’re still small and soft, accompanied by slices of Pecorino cheese. Continue reading →

Quinoa with cream of leeks

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Few years back, as some of you already know, I decided to vary my diet introducing different cereals like millet, kamut, spelt, barley and quinoa to name few of them. Quinoa made quite an impression on me for its  organoleptic properties and nutritional value.

Quinoa is actually a pseudo-cereal, closely related to species like spinach and beets. It has been cultivated in the Andean highlands for nearly 6000 years. Considered sacred by the Incas it was called, chisaya mama, the mother of all grains. Nowadays the majority of quinoa is still imported from South America where it grows in poor soil, arid climates and high altitudes. There are over 100 species of quinoa, but only three main varieties are cultivated: the white or sweet variety, the red and black quinoa.

Quinoa is highly appreciated by vegetarians and vegans for its high content of proteins. It’s actually a complete protein, meaning that one can obtain all 9 essential amino acids from the grain. It’s also a good source of dietary fiber phosphorus and is high in iron and magnesium. Quinoa has more calcium than milk and its fat, mostly polyunsaturated, provides the essential fatty acids our body needs. Being gluten-free it’s an alternative for people with celiac disease. Continue reading →

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