Strangolapreti (Strozzapreti), with silverbeet, onion weed and sage flowers

I had lots and lots and lots of silverbeet and Swiss chard in the garden, I filled a big basket and though of a recipes to use them all, plus the omnipresent onion weed, plus flowering sage. Strangolapreti is a type of gnocchi made either with spinach or with silverbeet, plus bread crumbs or stale bread. 

First divide the leaves from the stalks and wash well (the stalks will be used in a different recipe)

Then cook the leaves with a little water and a pinch of salt, drain, add the raw onion weed (well washed) and blend.

Place into a bowl, add a couple of tbsp of grated Parmigiano, and some breadcrumbs, enough ti get a soft dough. If using stale bread grate it to breadcrumbs (if very dry), or soak it in milk and break it up, if not dry enough to grate. Add salt and pepper to taste, and if you like add one egg (it will keep the 'gnocchi' more 'together'. 

Shape into longish gnocchi, more or less the size of a cotton bobbin. 

Bring a pot of water to the boil, add salt and then turn the heat down to a gentle simmer. Add the strangolapreti one by one, and if you have big quantities cook just a plate at the time. They will loose some green bits during cooking, but not their shape (unless you did something wrong!) Pick them up when they rise to the surface and place them in a plate.

Drizzle with butter, melted in a pan with a few sage leaves, and sprinkle with fresh sage flowers (and onion weed flowers too, if you like). Add more Parmigiano and serve hot.

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Marzipan with Amaretto

Assorted natural flavours and colours, including green tea, cherry syrup, berry juice, candied citrus,
and some stuffed dates too!

Last Sunday I did a demo about making Marzipan at the Auckland Art Gallery, to celebrate Italian Language week with the Dante Auckland. I have a basic recipe which I always follow (without egg white, thus suitable for Vegans too) and you can find it here. But since almonds don't have much taste in NZ (sorry... need to be said) I always add a few apricot kernels (not too much, they are poisonous!) so follow this recipe carefully! Now, apricots are not in season yet, and I made a little variation, which worked well: I added a little drop of Amaretto.



Marzapane with Amaretto

Ingredients
200g raw almonds
100g icing sugar
1 tsp Amaretto




Blanch the almonds in boiling water and remove the skins. Keep a few almonds aside for decoration, if you like, and ground the rest into a fine powder, almost like a paste. Add the icing sugar and Amaretto and mix until you get a dough. Shape into your favourite morsels, and colour with berries, green tea powder, spirulina, or anything you like. Some ideas for shapes and colours here.

Perfect for presents! Coloured with cocoa, green tea and berries

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Vivere in Nuova Zelanda: Radicchio e orchidee, la vita capovolta

Radicchio leaves with goat cheese and a drizzle of olive oil, on crackers

Sono mezza veneta, cresciuta con radicchio, non ne sono mai stata entusiasta eppure adesso mi manca. Ma ad Auckland cresce a fatica, troppo caldo e umido nel bush. Tentativi miseri e se non lo mangio quando le foglie sono piccole mi finisce subito in semenza. E cosa cresce invece? Orchidee!! Ho sempre sognato di avere orchidee, e adesso le ho sia in casa che in giardino! In giardino!!! Quando posso vado anche alle mostre di orchidee, queste sono cresciute da professionisti e appassionati, molti belle e curate.

E queste sono le mie (ne ho altre, ma non sono in fiore adesso), un po' misere a confronto, ma gli voglio bene :-). Quelle singole (prese dal giardino) sono in mini vasi giapponesi che svolgono la seconda funzione di appoggia-bacchette.

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Halloumi with onion weed bulbs, flowers and thyme

The beautiful white and crunchy bulbs of onion weeds to me taste even better than spring onion, plus you can eat the leaves and flowers too (although here I just had the bulbs and a few flowers.

Nothing could be easier than this dish! Pull out the onion weeds from your garden (while weeding) or from any field where they abound (like here in Oratia), wash and clean, remove the outer skin of the bulbs and sauté in a pan with just a little olive oil. Add the Halloumi and cook on on both sides. No need to add salt as the cheese is already salty and its juices will coat the onion weed too. Finish with a few sprigs of fresh thyme (if you like) and some onion weed flowers (just use the flowers which have not formed a seed  pod yet). Serve with salad or in a burger bun, or with pita and olives, or how you like. You will be digging for more onion weed bulbs in no time!

 For more recipe ideas with onion weed click here

For more recipe ideas with edible flowers click here

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Vivere in Nuova Zelanda: Festival Italiano Auckland

Il Festival Italiano 2017 di Auckland si è tenuto la scorsa domenica, concludendo un mese tutto italiano nella città più grande del paese. Il mese, cominciato il balletto di Romeo e Giulietta, il Cinema Italiano Festival e l'apertura della Mostra Corsini alla Auckland Art Gallery, ha inoltre incluso nel calendario piccoli eventi, come concerti, occasioni speciali di prodotti italiani in negozi partecipanti, e naturalmente tante occasioni 'mangerecce', proposte da ristoranti italiani. Un mese anche pieno di premi offerti dalla pagina FB del Festival per far conoscere al pubblico i nostri produttori, importatori, e ristoratori, e ancor più premi donati al Festival, o sorteggiati, come il biglietto aereo per due per l'Italia (o Europa) in Premium Economy con Lufthansa (quest'ultimo era una lotteria per raccogliere fondi per la scuola dei bambini della Dante Auckland).

Ovviamente il festival è stata la giornata più importante, e nonostante il tempo infelice abbiamo registrato migliaia di visitatori, fra Osborne Street e Kent St, Lumsden Green e dentro al Rialto Centre. Musica, mostre, arte per bambini, mercato, e naturalmente mangiare e bere a prezzi politici, perché tutti hanno il diritto di mangiare bene. 

Abbiamo anche celebrato il primo anno ufficiale come Zero Waste Event, mostrando il film di Bottura  sul riciclo degli avanzi alimentari ad un pubblico selezionato, introducendo piatti e bicchieri biodegradabili, organizzando riciclo e monitoraggio dei bidoni, ed eliminando palloncini e altre cose di plastica. Insomma, siamo felici!

Grazie Auckland e Grazie Waitematā Local Board, Peroni, Newmarket Business Association, e tutti i nostri sponsor!

The 2017 edition of Festival Italiano was held on Sunday 1 October, with a crazy weather (mostly raining) yet people came in great numbers and ate, drunk, listen to music and had fun! 

Grazie Auckland and Grazie Waitematā Local Board, Peroni, Newmarket Business Association, and all our sponsors!

To see more images click here 

Photos by Gianni Flego

Super quick gnocchi alla Sorrentina

Sorry if I have not posted for a while, the Festival Italiano kept me busy!

And when I am busy I often use pasta or gnocchi from a packet (sorry Mum!).

Here I used Divella gnocchi and Mutti Passata, staples in my kitchen!

Boil a big pot of water, add salt (when it boils) and then the gnocchi, and stir. In the meantime heat the Mutti Passata in a large pan, add a pinch of salt and a drizzle of olive oil. When the gnocchi raises to the surface of the water remove them with a slotted spoon and place them into the pan with the passata. Stir well then add pieces of mozzarella or bocconcini, fresh basil, more olive oil and a freshly ground black pepper. If you like you can cover the pot with a lid until the mozzarella melts (or place in the oven). It takes just a minute or two, but I like to serve immediately and then let the mozzarella melt in the plates with the hot gnocchi.

This is very yum, but my boy likes to add Parmigiano too... what do you think? I'll go for it :-)

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©