Only Recipes, by Alessandra Zecchini ©

This is a really yummy way to cook cauliflower, and to transform a side vegetable into a masterpiece! Remove the leaves and wash the cauliflower under running water, then place whole into a stock pot filled with salted water. Bring to the boil and simmer for a few minutes (it will depend on the size of your cauliflower) until it just starts to soften, but it is still nice and firm (i.e. no florets breaking off!).  In the meantime prepare a marinade with plain yogurt and the spices and seasoning of your choice. I used smoked paprika, crushed garlic, cumin, olive oil and salt. Roast the cauliflower until the top is crunchy (I roasted some potatoes and onions at the same times, but the potatoes had been part-boiled before, so about 30 minutes. The cauliflower can be cut into slices, there was a lot and the leftover slices I pan fried the day after and they were even better (like all leftover fried food lol!).  I did try this recipe with a raw cauliflower to s...

Wash and cut two small bunches of silver beet, (or a big bunch) then steam the stalks for 10 minutes and the leaves for 5 minutes. Measure the spices: 1/2 tsp ground cumin 1/2 tsp ground coriander 1 tsp turmeric 1/3 tsp ground chili Peel and roughly chop two shallots. In a heavy pot heat 2 tbsp of vegetable oil (or ghee) then add  the shallots. Stir and add the spices. Stir to coat the shallots. Add the silver beet and a little water, plus a pinch of salt, cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Add a handful of chopped coriander and blend with an immersion blender. In the meantime pan fry one block of paneer, cubed, with two tbsp of vegetable oil, a pinch of salt, coriander seeds and cumin seeds. Add the hot paneer to the silver beet curry.  Stir and keep warm while cooking the rice. Use the same pot where you fried the paneer: keep the leftover cumin and coriander seeds, add a few c...

Ingredients: 2 blocks of tofu, frozen for one day and then defrosted 3 tbsp olive oil 1 large onion 1 tsp sweet paprika 1/2 tsp hot paprika (or to taste) 2 carrots 4 large potatoes 1 green capsicum (bell pepper) 1 red capsicum (bell pepper) 2l l vegetable broth Salt to taste If you freeze the tofu and then defrost it it becomes porous and easy to cook in stew without breaking up. Also it will absorb flavors really well! Once the tofu is defrosted cut it in big cubes. Chop the onion and sauté with the olive oil. When the onion is translucent add the paprika, the sweet paprika will give flavour, and the hot one… heat, so use this according to taste. Then add the tofu cubes and stir well. Add the vegetables and the hot vegetable broth. Simmer until the carrots and potatoes are ready, but before the potatoes start to break up. Goulash is more like a soup than a stew. If you prefer a thicker stew just cook it for longer, stirring often and breaking up the po...

This dinner is Vegan and just improvised with what I had in the house. I rubbed some tofu in a mixure of chili, salt, oregano (oregano seems to be the only dried herb really used all over Mexico, although the name is approximative - there are several varieties!) dried coriadner, cumin and smoked paprika. The doses were totally random! Then I sautéed the tofu with a little olive oil. I kept the tofu aside and used the same pot (with the very spicy oil) to sauté some chopped celery and onions, I added some rice, then a can of red beans, and finally a couple of cups of vegetable stock. Lid on and cooked the rice by absorption. In the end I added the tofu, just to warm it up. For the Guacamole I followed  this recipe , with the difference that I didn't have fresh coriander at home, but I used a bit of chili (I always have chili in the freezer). Also because this was a really rushed job (and I had the whole chili, seeds removed) I blended everything with an immersion blende...

 Please note that the chilies here are not mine except for the fat black one (I had two, a couple more still on the plant, not sure if I will ever harvest them though…).  My son Max loves  arrabbiata , one of his favourite sauces, as long as it is not toooo hot. So I just used one chili and put it in the pot with the cut up tomatoes. I cooked the lot until the tomatoes where mashy (most were cherry tomatoes so it didn't take long!), then I put the tomatoes through a sieve and collected the pulp minus seeds and peels. I cooked this until thick, added olive oil and salt, and the sauce was ready. Another way would have been to cook the tomatoes first and then add the chili to the tomato pulp, but this worked well.  Max fascination with chili led him to do a science project two years ago (NZ school year 8), and it was very interesting for me too. He bravely tried different chilies several times over a course of a few weeks, looking for the best antidot...

Manu invited me to a  'Swap'  on her blog, and my swapping partner is Billie from Scotland. We had to send each other an ingredient and then make a recipe with it. I sent Billie the  Fresh As raspberry powder , and I look forward to see what she will do with it! She sent me some Kasmiri Masala, but because I got it late (I forgot to tell Billie my address, silly me, but fortunately she copied it from the parcel I sent her!). The best thing about a Masala is that you don't have to sizzle all the spices at the beginning and work out the doses, in fact a masala should be added at the very end, to enjoy the fragrances of the aromatic spices (and the Kashmiri Masala is definitely very aromatic!!). So even if I was running around like mad I managed to throw together something starting with the leftover juice of a peperonata (stewed capsicums with celery, carrot, and garlic). I had all that wonderful bell pepper's stock left from the night before (we ate all the ca...

This is an aromatic vegan and gluten free soup, light and delicious. 500 ml vegetable stock 1 can coconut cream or milk + one can of water (rinsing the coconut cream) 1 large yellow courgette (zucchini) 2 fresh red chilies 1 block of tofu a pinch of freshly grated ginger Vermicelli 1 stalk lemon grass a few coriander leaves Cherry tomatoes Simmer all together for a few minutes until the zucchini are soft but not mushy. In the meantime soak the vermicelli in hot water until soft then divide between 6 bowls. chop a few cherry tomatoes, and wash some fresh basil and some thai mint Pour the hot soup over the vermicelli, making sure that each dish has equal parts of tofu and veggies. Decorate with the tomatoes, basil and Thai mint and serve immediately. Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini  ©

Ingredients: Two blocks of soft tofu 1 shallot 2 fresh red chillies  1 can coconut cream 500 ml vegetable stock 1/2 teaspoon fresh grated ginger fresh coriander fresh Vietnamese mint (or basil) Drain the tofu and cut into slices. Finely chop the shallot, and roughly break up the chili, discarding the seeds unless you like your food very spicy. Place everything in a pot with the coconut cream and vegetables sock and simmer for 20 minutes. Grate the ginger and add to the tofu, finish off with some fresh coriander and Vietnamese mint leaves. If you don't have Vietnamese mint use fresh basil. Serve with Thai rice or noodles. Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini  ©

1 can chickpeas 1 tbsp Moroccan spices 1 pinch salt A few cherry tomatoes 4 tbsp natural yogurt (Vegans can use soy yogurt) A few mint leaves 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil 1 apple cucumber 80 g mixed salad leaves to finish Drain the chickpeas and place in a bowl with the Moroccan seasoning and salt, mix well and then place on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Bake on medium for 10 minutes, adding the tomatoes at the last two minutes so that they will just start to roast, but will be still whole. In a serving bowl mix the yogurt (or soy yogurt) with the mint leaves, broken up with your fingers, and the olive oil, add the chickpeas and tomatoes, still hot, then an apple cucumber, peeled and chopped. Fold well and then add the salad leaves, give the salad a last little stir and then serve. Delicious and so quick and easy! Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini  ©

An easy recipe with chocolate, cardamom and berries, and the kids loved the glasses!!! These are quite cute grappa glasses that sit on the side and can roll around like a spinning top, in fact I don't use them much because they are quite wobbly, but they do give that 'ship-in-a-bottle' feel to food, and are perfect for verrines and fancy dinners. I made a chocolate cream with one  egg, 1/2 tbsp flour, 2 tbsp sugar, 50 g dark chocolate and 250 ml milk. In the end I added a few seeds of cardamom. I poured the chocolate pudding into the glasses and when it was cold I added raspberries, strawberries and other berries... but I have to say that this part wasn't that easy, I should get myself some long and skinny tongs! Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini  ©

Or with capsicums... In the last month I had a larger number of visitors form the US for all of my blogs, and I was asking myself if I am using the right English names for them. There is one person who keeps 'correcting' me ("we call them this and we call them that") so for once (once!) I changed the title! On the other hand... maybe I could call this recipe  Paprika Tofu ! :-) I chopped two stalks of celery, one small onion, and sliced a carrot. I put everything in a large pot with olive oil and sautéed for 5 minutes. I added one yellow, one orange and one red bell peppers/capsicums/paprika and then after 5 minutes I added one can of Mutti tomato pulp (like a thick  passata ), one cup of vegetable stock and one block of tofu cut into cubes. I simmered the lot for 30 minutes, then I added salt and smoked paprika to taste (quite a bit of smoked paprika actually, I love it!). I simmered everything again until the sauce was quite thick, and then I added...

The original recipe is  here , and I have to say that I make it often because it is one of my favourite potato creations. A curious fact: when I published this recipe the first time I pointed out that it didn't have anything to do with Nigella Lawson, I that I called it nigella potatoes because of the nigella seeds. But funny enough after a few days I started receiving the Nigella Lawson newsletter in my inbox. I never signed up for it, so some web robot must have picked up my blog reference and details, and signed me in! Nigella must have a great PR team! Anyway, back to the potatoes: the recipe is the same but I cooked the potatoes differently because my husband presented me with a big tajine :-). Nigella Potatoes slow cooked in a tajine Ingredients: 500 g potatoes (Agria or similar ‘floury’ potatoes) 2 tbsp vegetable oil 2 garlic cloves, peeled 1 tsp nigella seeds Half tsp ground coriander Half tsp cumin powder 1 tsp turmeric Salt to taste Wate...

The original recipe (which was for a silver beet, not spinach, paneer) is  here , but I changed a few things, like adding celery, and more spices. Fist sauté with 2 tbsp of vegetable oil or ghee 1/2 tsp ground cumin, 1/2 tsp ground coriander, 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper and 1 tsp turmeric. Then add a couple of roughly chopped shallots, a good pinch of salt and finally 500 g chopped frozen spinach (defrosted at room temperature) and three celery stalks, with leaves. Add a little water too, about a cup, and simmer for 20 minutes. Then add 1 tsp garam masala, 1 tsp freshly grated ginger, and salt to taste. In the meantime cut a block of paneer and sauté until lightly golden on the borders (Vegan use tofu). Blend the spinach with an immersion blender, then add the paneer. This is my very favorite Indian dish!  Ah, and I made chapati too, the edges are not very smooth, but I was in a hurry! I used 1 cup wholemeal flour, mixed with 2 tbsp vegetable oil and then enoug...

Potatoes and Cape gooseberries The veggie garden is full of small potatoes, I picked a few, some really tiny, but I didn't want to leave them there, and the kids love them. I washed them and boil them, in three batches, from the largest to the tiniest. After boiling them, the larger (but still new potato size) were then sautéed together with small steamed carrots and green beans in olive oil, garlic, smoked paprika, cumin seeds, chili flakes, coriander seeds, and salt. A very satisfying combo! The smaller potatoes were sautéed with garlic, olive oil, rosemary, sage and salt. A real luxury to eat such small potatoes, but I need to make more space in the garden, and there are plenty more to dig up!  Any suggestions for more tiny potato recipes? Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini  ©

I got the idea from  Zero in Cucina , recipe  here , so thank you  Chiarina-ina  :-).  Chiarina's version called for some yogurt, mushed cardamom seeds and saffron (I used a sachet of Italian saffron) and she adds a little icing sugar just before serving. I did it a bit differently, I added a tbsp of bush honey to my. I use Cyclop yogurt, thick and creamy. Put everything in a gauze or fine cotton cloth and let it drip for a night (I did it for a bit more). It tastes delicious and quite... citrusy!! In fact it is difficult to guess the ingredients, everybody said lemon!! I liked it like it was, but the rest of the family added some maple syrup to it (I guess that it was a bit too... sour for their taste). After straining the yogurt I had all this saffron 'juice' left. OK, it is not that much, but still, not something that I would want to discard! So tomorrow I will show you what I did with it! Photos and Recipes by Alessand...