Only Recipes, by Alessandra Zecchini ©

This salad is really simple: I just chopped half red onion and marinated it for 30 minutes in white balsamic condiment of Modena (FYI, white balsamic vinegar of Modena doesn't exist, it can only be called 'condiment') and then I added one can of Italian butter beans and one can of Italian chickpeas (obviously drained and rinsed...), salt, extra virgin olive oil, and flowers from my garden: chive flowers, borage flowers and calendula petals. Easy but yummy! Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini  ©

This type of bread is typical of my area of Italy, in the province of Modena. In other parts of Italy some people call them tigelle , but tigelle is the name of the terracotta disks in which they were originally baked in. Terracotta disks are still used, but today most people use large iron plates with long handles called cotte , or the more modern version, made from aluminium. Personally I still prefer the iron cotte , they are heavy and many years ago I carried them to New Zealand via Japan, almost half of my luggage allowance, but worth it. Great food for cold nights, and the children go crazy about them! They helped, Max chopping the rosemary that goes in the filling, and Aranxta dividing the bread dough into small balls. The balls are flattened and then placed on one of the hot plates, which I greased with vegetable oil (not olive oil, I used rice bran oil, which has a high burning point and no flavour). Then you cover them with the other hot plate. So this bread 'bakes'...

From my garden This is what I got from my garden: yellow and green beans (a few of the yellow beans where overgrown so I collected the big purple beans inside), celery, tomatoes and my first mini pumpkin. All in the pot, with some rain water and rock salt. Yep, rain water, our water comes from the sky and we collect it in a big tank. Can't stop thinking that a soup like this is almost self-sufficient, a part from the salt! Since my leeks are not ready and I don't have any onions or garlic in the garden, I thought of adding some chives at the end, for that ' oniony'  kick. But you know what? When I lifted the lid it smelled like I had just entered a huge veggie garden. The aroma was so strong and perfect that I didn't add anything else. It was a filling and satisfying garden soup (I called it  zuppa dell'orto ), you can add a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and/or some freshly ground black pepper in the end, or some pasta for a...

I wrote this recipe two years ago for the New Zealand Vegetarian Magazine. I am sorry I don't have a photo for it. Italian Butter Beans in Tomato Sauce Ingredients: 1 small onion 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 1 can Butter Beans 250 g Italian tomato sauce (or fresh chopped tomatoes) Salt and pepper to taste A few leaves of fresh basil More extra virgin olive oil to serve (optional) Slice the onion and sauté with the olive oil until tender. Add the Italian tomato sauce (or chopped tomatoes) and then the beans. Cook until the sauce thickens (5 to 10 minutes), add salt and pepper to taste, fresh basil And a drizzle of olive oil, if desired.