Only Recipes, by Alessandra Zecchini ©

This is real ' cucina povera ', a simple dish made with humble ingredients and leftovers. Chop two red onions and sauté with a couple of tbsp of olive oil and some fresh thyme. Add 1 litre of vegetable stock and one or two crusts of parmesan cheese. Simmer until the onions and the parmesan crusts are soft. At this point you can either remove the parmesan crusts and cut off the softest parts (to put back into the soup), or keep simmering the lot until the crusts are really really soft (you will need to add another half a litre of water). I usually use only the softest part and then cut the rest of the crust (which is a bit chewy) for the cats. Dogs also love it!  Blend everything with an immersion blender and serve with some home made bread! Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini  ©

Busy month this one! I wonder if I will manage to post every day like I did last December! Anyway, I have a lot of Xmas decoration ideas to publish and recipes too, this is a good one for the roast potato side dish (to accompany a Xmas roast, nut or other!).  Cut the potatoes in small cubes. Chop one or two red onions, and some good olive oil and mix. Place on an oven try lined with baking paper and sprinkle with salt. Bake on high for about 30-40 minutes, shaking the potatoes from time to time (I do this by lifting the baking paper). When the potatoes are ready add a few thyme sprigs and mix well (I like to add the thyme at the end, it will smell lovely!). I also like to use thyme with red onion, but sage could be a good alternative. Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini  ©

I could almost call these  mini parmigiana , but there is no Parmesan, so I am not quite sure. Still, same principle, but they are little individual portions, and they look quite good for a party, entree or fancy dinner. Slice the eggplants and 'sweat' with salt for at least an hour. Rinse and pat dry. At this stage you can either fry the eggplant slices (with olive oil) or grill/bake them. If you fry them they are tastier, but a bit greasy (remove excess oil with kitchen paper) and it does take time! If you decide to grill them or bake them just put them on a baking tray lined with kitchen paper, brush with olive oil and add a pinch of salt. Place under the grill or in fan oven at 180°C until they look cooked on one side, turn them over and cook them on the other side. The grill is quicker, the oven tends to dry them up, so when I turn them I also cover them with more baking paper so that they keep some 'steam'. I prefer the baking method but for special o...

Ingredients spinach feta egg breadcrumbs Olive oil for frying thyme (optional) Wash and cook a big bunch of spinach, then chop as finely as you can/wish. Place in a bowl and add some feta (about 100 g for each bunch of spinach), one egg and as much breadcrumbs as you need to make a mixture that can be shaped into small walnut size balls. Pan fry in olive oil turning them often until cooked. Place on some kitchen paper lined with fresh thyme (if using) to remove excess oil and give the polpettine a hint of thyme flavor. Serve hot, or even cold. My kids love them! Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini  ©

I have been so busy lately that I had no time for blogging, or visiting other blogs much (sorry!). And no time for taking photos of food either, or preparing photogenic dishes, for that matter. The other day I cooked some silver beet (chard), leaves and stalk separately. We had the leaves as a side, hot and dressed with some Japanese soy sauce and lemon juice, and I kept the stalks for the day after. I love lemon juice and have plenty of lemons now, this recipe is so simple that it is not even a 'recipe' but it is all I have time to post now, and I can assure you that it is magic! Lemon and Thyme Halloumi with Chards Ingredients: 2 tbsp olive oil 1 block of plain halloumi cheese A few chard stalks, boiled in salted water and drained Fresh lemon juice Fresh thyme Heat the olive oil in a frying pan and then sauté the holloumi on both sides until the edges start to colour. Remove the Halloumi from the pan and add the chard stalks. Sauté them q...

Ingredients: 1 red onion 2 tbsp olive oil 2 kg pumpkin flesh 1 celery stick with leaves 2 l vegetable stock Salt and pepper to taste A few sprigs of thyme A few rosemary flowers Instructions  Chop the red onion and sauté with olive oil. Add cut and peeled pumpkin, a celery stalk with leaves and some vegetable stock. When the vegetables are cooked blend the soup, adjust with salt and pepper and then decorate with fresh thyme and rosemary flowers (these can be eaten and will give the soup a lovely rosemary flavor without any of the woody leaves!). Photos and Recipe by Alessandra Zecchini