Recipes in English

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Cream of butternut squash and golden apples

Another butternut squash summer recipe for the joy of Gloria and Franci. To be eaten warm or at room temperature but not cold otherwise the squash smoothy flavour will be lost.

Ingredients: 1 medium butternut squash, 1 onion, 2 golden apples, 800ml vegetable stock, 1 Tbsp sultans, 1 Tbsp chopped walnuts, 1 Tbsp natural yoghurt to garnish, oil, salt and pepper

Chop the butternut squash and put it on a baking tin in the oven at in 250 C for 20 minutes or as long as it takes to soften the pulp and roast the exterior. In the meantime fry the chopped onion with a bit of olive oil. Add the chopped apples and stir to brown them. Put the sultans in a couple of spoons of boiling water to soften. Take the butternut squash out of the oven, remove the skin, and put it in the pan whit the onion and the apples. Mix well for a couple of minutes. Add salt and pepper. Mix everything with a blender or an electric mixer adding the stock to obtain a smooth cream. Serve it by garnishing with yoghurt, sultans, chopped walnuts and golden apple slices.

Caring Oranges

They take care of you and you should take care of them. That's how caring oranges are. A moment of tenderness, a way to care for yourself and for the ones you love. Very easy to prepare, for breakfast, for lunch, tea time or dinner. Choose your favourite fruit, the freshest one, the one you prefer, the one in season.

Ingredients: 2 oranges, 1 banana, few strawberries, few cherries, 50gr dark chocolate, a splash of orange liqueur, few pistachios, 1Tbsp sugar, the juice of 1 lemon juice, few mint leaves

Half the oranges and with the help of a knife and a spoon, take the content out and put it into a bowl. Add chopped strawberries, chopped banana, unstoned cherries, lemon juice and sugar. Mix very well. Melt the chocolate in a double saucepan splashing with orange liqueur. Finally, arrange the mixed fruit into the orange bowls, add the melted chocolate and garnish with some chopped pistachios and fresh mint. Serve immediately.

Butternut squash Ice Cream

I know I have been too lazy these past weeks! Too many recipes behind to be translated but perhaps it's never too late! You can always have a look at my Italian blog for all the recipes. But for now, I am coming back with this beautiful ice cream which I would never imagine to eat one day. Butternut squash is one of my favourite vegetable, and one of my favourite among all squashes. Easy to handle and cut, versatile, you can do so many things with it, great flavour and last but not least the color! It speaks for itself! Very summertime and very unusual, not only for its shape! With this I'd also like to remind you of a Summer Ice Cream Event hosted by Sam. Have a look and be ready to start making your favourite ice cream!

Ingredients: 300gr butternut squash flash, 3 eggs yolk, 75gr sugar, 80ml maple syrup, 300ml double cream, 1/2 tsp nutmeg, 1 tsp powdered vanilla essence

Cut the butternut squash, remove the skin and cook it in a small pan with little water, otherwise steam it until soft. Work it with a fork quickly until smooth and let it cool. In another bowl whisk eggs and sugar with an electric mixer, until creamy and thick. Gradually add maple syrup and finally the butternut squash flash. Transfer the mixture into a bigger bowl. Beat the double cream with nutmeg and vanilla, then fold it into the squash mixture. Pour it into a plum cake stamp and freeze for at least 4 hours. After four hours, remove the stamp from the freezer, break it with a spoon and process the mixture again with a blender or a mixer until smooth. Freeze again until ready to serve.
Alternatively use your own ice cream maker and follow the instructions.

Squash soup with sage and honey

This recipe comes from a restaurant in Dartmouth which I have been over last weekend. I will talk about it when I return and have a few pictures to show as well, as it's really worth a try. In the meantime, this is one of the dish I ate. The recipe I am giving it's not the original, I have been inspired of course and although Paul had been very friendly to me, I didn't dare to ask for the recipe! The original recipe is called butternut sqash soup with sage and honey but I have used a big mama squash for mine and done a bit of improvisation on the quantities. The result is delicious, very much similar to the original.

Ingredients: 800gr big mama squash flash or butternut squash flash, 1lt vegetable stock, 10 leaf fresh sage, 4 Tbsp honey, dry sage, extra virgin olive oil

Cut the squash flash in big pieces, add them in a big saucepan with the vegetable stock. Cook for about 10 minutes or until soft. In a small saucepan, heat a bit of olive oil, add the sage and fry until crisp. Put both the sage and the squash in a mixer and blend well until smooth. Add more or less stock accordingly to your taste. Pour the soup back into the saucepan, add honey and simmer until dissolved. Serve hot sprinkled with dry sage if you have it.

Nettles tart

Springtime is the best moment to go out and enjoy the first wild food available for free. Nettles are one of those things you see all over the places but only few people dare to pick them and eat. It's one of the best greens available in nature, and contain lots of mineral and vitamins. You just need a pair of thick gloves and that's it. Pick the best leaves on top, which are tender and younger. Avoid paths where dogs walk or choose nettles that grow higher. They are most delicious cooked in many ways, this is just one of those.

Ingredients for the brisée: 500gr flour, 125gr butter, 2 eggs, 1 pinch salt
Ingredients for the filling: 300gr nettles, 1 small leek, 2 eggs, 240ml single cream, 4 Tbsp grated cheese, 1/2 tsp nutmeg, salt, pepper

Prepare the brisée adding all the ingredients in your mixer and mix until they stick all together. Add a bit of cold water if necessary. Pour the brisée in a round cake 25cm tart pan or other of your choice. Work with your fingers to smooth the dough in the pan. Let it rest in the fridge for about 30 minutes.
Prepare the filling by beating the two eggs in a big bowl. Add the lee finely cut, grated cheese, nutmeg and cream. Wash the nettles carefully and boil them in salted water for about 2 minutes. Drain them well, pour them on a plate and cut them roughly with a knife. Add the nettles to the rest of the filling and mix all the ingredients together. Finally add salt and pepper to taste.
Take the tart pan from the fridge and pour the filling over it, helping yourself with a spoon. Cook in a pre-heated oven at 190 C for about 40/45 minutes or until the borders of the dough become golden. If the tart starts burning too quickly, cover it with aluminium foil. As usual times vary accordingly to your oven. Mine is a gas oven. Let it cool well before cutting.

Ginger Tea

Springtime has arrived in many countries, except here, in Devon where it's still cold and windy and too cloudy to be true. This is the perfect drink for those, who like me, are not only in the cold, but have a cold. Wheter the ginger, wheter the weather, the cold has gone after drinking it. Give it a try!

Ingredients: 2 cm fresh ginger, 1 tsp brown sugar, 250ml water

Bring the water to a boil. Add greated ginger and let it stand for 3 minutes. Add sugar and drink when it's still very warm. If you don't like how ginger tastes, filter the tea before drinking it