Recipes

Now You’re Cooking! Just because you love food doesn’t always mean you know what’s for dinner.  Don’t worry! We’ve got you covered. Find a sampling of our favourite recipes to make your every day gourmet.

Salsa di Pomodoro (Tomato Sauce)

  • 1.5kg fresh or canned tomatoes
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 1 cup olive oil
  • 2-3 sprigs basil
  • 2-3 sprigs parsley (optional)
  • 1 teaspoon oregano (optional)
  • salt and pepper to taste

Wash, peel, chop tomatoes and remove seeds (if fresh). Sautee the crushed garlic in a cup of oil using a moderately deep pan. Add the chopped, peeled deseeded tomatoes to the pan. Canned tomatoes may need some sugar to reduce bitterness. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cook for 30 minutes on moderate heat. If using oregano, add shortly before taking the sauce off the heat.

Serves 6.

Spaghetti con Polpette (Spaghetti with Meatballs)

  • 4-5 cups soft breadcrumbs
  • 2 tablespoons milk
  • 1kg minced lean beef
  • 2-3 sprigs parsley (finely chopped)
  • 2 eggs (lightly beaten)
  • 1 1/2 cups parmesan cheese (grated)
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 clove garlic (very finely chopped)
  • 4 tablespoons butter
  • flour
  • oil for deep frying
  • 5 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 small onion (diced)
  • 1kg tomatoes
  • 1 teaspoon tomato paste
  • 1 1/2 packets of spaghetti.

Mix milk-moistened breadcrumbs with meat, parsley, eggs, parmesan, salt, pepper, butter in a bowl and knead until thoroughly blended. Shape mixture into round balls, dust with flour and deep fry in oil until golden brown. Leave them to drain on paper towels.
In a separate pan, sautee onions in olive oil until golden and add tomatoes (peeled, chopped and seeded). Cook for 5 minutes on moderate heat then add tomato paste (diluted with boiled water), salt and pepper to taste. Partly cover the pan and cook for 40 minutes. Add meatballs to the sauce and cook gently for a further 10 minutes. Top the cooked spaghetti with the meatballs and sauce.

Serves 6

Risotto ai Funghi (Mushroom Risotto)

  • ½ cup butter
  • 1 small onion (diced)
  • ½kg mushrooms (thinly sliced)
  • small bunch parsley chopped coarsely
  • 1 cup dry white wine
  • 3 cups Arborio rice
  • 7 cups approx. vegetable or beef stock
  • 1 cup parmesan cheese (grated)

In a deep pan cook onions in melted butter until soft and golden. Add thinly sliced mushrooms and stir well. Coat the rice with butter mixture and stir on high heat until “glassy”.  Add dry white wine stirring until evaporated. Start adding a ladle of stock at a time, stirring continuously until each ladle has been absorbed. Continue stirring and adding stock until the rice is creamy and ‘al dente’. Take off the heat and mix in the parmesan cheese and parsley.

Serves 6

Minestrone (Vegetable soup)

  • 1 cup dried white beans (soaked overnight)
  • 1 clove garlic(chopped finely)
  • 2-3 sprigs parsley (chopped)
  • 1 onion(thinly sliced)
  • ¼kg bacon (thin strips)
  • 3 large potatoes (peeled and small cubed)
  • 2-3 carrots (diced)
  • 3 stalks celery (diced)
  • 2 zucchini (thinly sliced)
  • 2 ripe tomatoes (peeled and finely chopped)
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 small cabbage (shredded)
  • 2 cups shelled green peas
  • 4 teaspoons basil (finely chopped, optional)
  • parmesan cheese

Boil beans until tender but firm. Sautee garlic, oil, parsley, bacon and onion in a large pot until onion is soft and golden. Add all vegetables except the cabbage and peas. Cover with water, add salt and pepper to taste and bring to boil. Lower the heat and simmer gently for 1.5 hours. Add the cabbage and peas. If using basil, add it prior to taking the soup off the heat.

Serves 6 to 8

Tiramisu

  • 2 egg yolks
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 1 packet vanilla sugar
  • 500g mascarpone
  • ¾ cup strong black coffee
  • 1 tablespoon kalua (or other coffee liqueur)
  • 24 small sponge fingers
  • 1-2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

Mix egg yolks, sugar and vanilla gently in a bowl until it is a creamy consistency. Add mascarpone to create a cream. In a separate bowl mix the coffee with the coffee liqueur and then dip each sponge biscuit into the mixture until they are coated yet not saturated. Arrange layers of coffee coated biscuits into a container of your choice and alternate layers of biscuits and mascarpone mixture, the last layer being mascarpone. Dust the tiramisu with cocoa powder and leave to set and chill for at least an hour.

Serves 4 to 6

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