Only Recipes, by Alessandra Zecchini ©

I am surprised when I see people buying already made soups, especially the very simple ones. Ok to buy them if you are going camping. Or if you are staying in a motel and don't want to eat out. Or if you don't have any cooking facilities, for whatever reason. Ingredients and instructions: peel and cut the potatoes, wash and cut the leek, put olive oil in the pot (for me, or you can use butter) to sauté the veggies, then add vegetable stock to cover and simmer. Blend. Done. Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini  ©

I have a lot of carrots in the garden, but because the soil is 'pottery quality' clay, they rarely grow long, and I have to start using them now before they get too knotted! I picked a few, including the tender leaves (yes you can eat carrot leaves) and a couple of thin celery sticks, plus two leeks that never managed to grow beyond spring onion size. I washed, peeled and chopped the lot and then I made a batter with some tempura flour and water. Kakiage is a kind of tempura where more vegetables are mixed together, a bit like a fritter, but lighter, and if you use tempura flour also easier (no need to whisk eggs). Add the chopped veggies to the batter (in a proper Japanese kakiage the vegetables should be cut into strips, here they were just roughly chopped) and spoon into hot oil to fry on both sides. Sprinkle with salt and serve. Very very simple and perfect for those kids who don't eat vegetables: they will probably eat any kind of veggie if it is hidden in a ...

Chop one large leek and wash it, then sauté with olive oil until soft. Add one cup of shelled edamame (I used the frozen ones) and sauté until the edamame are starting to cook. Add 400 g arborio rice and stir, when the rice is hot and starting to toast add a glass of white wine at room temperature (not chilled). Stir and after the wine has been absorbed add about 1 l of vegetable stock, one ladle at the time, stirring often until cooked.  Serves 4 Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini  ©

A few weeks ago my little boy started wearing dental plates, and since it is still hard for him to chew I have been making lots of creamy soups. Soups are nice, and quick, but not necessarily photogenic. To make it more fun I have been using the Camera+ iPhone application that  Arfi  showed me. Roasted leek and Potato Soup with Leek Broth Generally I sauté the potatoes and leeks in the pot to make this soup, but I wanted to try something different. So I cut the potatoes (Agria) and leek in big chunks, placed them in a roasting dish lined with baking paper, added olive oil and salt and roasted everything for about 30 minutes. I didn't want the potatoes to become brown, just lightly roasted on the outside, and soaking up the flavour from the leeks. I washed the green leaves from the leek (the ones that are too hard to be eaten) and place them in a pot of  water with some rock salt. I cooked the leaves until I got a fragrant and light leek broth. I removed the...

Photo by Alessandra Zecchini © Ingredients: 1 cup dried mixed Chinese mushrooms 1 l water 1 vegetable organic stock cube 4 nests noodles 1 sheet nori seaweed 1 baby leek, sliced (or spring onions) soy sauce to serve (boiled egg optional) Serves 4 Soak the mushrooms for 30 minutes, then simmer for one hour with the vegetable stock. Cook the noodles and drain. Divide between 4 bowls. Top with the stock and mushrooms, cut the nori into 4 pieces and place one on each bowl. Add the chopped baby leek, and a drop of soy sauce. If you like you can add a boiled egg or a piece of tofu.

Photo by Alessandra Zecchini© For this soup I used a packet of 3 parboiled cereals: rice, barley and spelt. The brand is Gallo – a mainstream Italian rice brand. Traditionally Gallo brand had rice only, so I was happy to discover this 3-cereals combo, which is easy to use. Ingredients 1 carrot ¼ green cabbage 1 leek 1 celery stalk, with leaves 100 g fresh or frozen borlotti beans a few parsley leaves, chopped 2 l water rock salt to taste black pepper 200 g Gallo brand mixed rice, barley and spelt 1 tbsp tomato puree Extra virgin olive oil Cut the vegetables and place in a large pot with the water. Bring to the boil, remove the scum that may form at the top, add salt and pepper and then simmer slowly, for 10 minutes. When the beans look cooked add the cereals (they are parboiled so they will take about 15 minutes, but cook them for at least 20 to get the flavour through). Add the tomato puree, and then remove from the heat. Serve hot or warm, drizzled with olive oil. It taste...