There is something very special about sharing meals together on a Sunday morning, don’t you think?

Menu
1.  Organic cherry tomatoes prepared with basil, sea salt, olive oil on multi-grained french broad.  Added creamy balsamic sauce (infused with mountain raspberry flavor) on top to give extra kick to the taste buds.
2.  Cucumber salad spread over dark rye bread with pieces of old Gouda cheese on top.
3.  Organic yogurt (natural flavor) layered with acacia honey, granola with raisin and fresh blueberries.

Don’t get me wrong, this is not a “I am shit and I hate the way my life has turned out” post. It’s a “I’m super excited to tell you all of the ways I want to improve” post. 

So here we go. Today, at work as a checkout chick at Coles, I was serving a lady who was buying a lot of caustic soda. A LOT of caustic soda. She told me she was making soap, because she had seen someone post a super easy recipe on her blog. Being mildly interested in all things I’ve never done before, I asked her what else was involved in the making of soap. She explained the process, and told me all about the other exciting things I could find on the blog. 

I had a quick look (http://witcheskitchen.com.au/making-soap-in-time-for-christmas/) and found it really inspiring. Although she is far more enthusiastic than I am, it made me want to be a little bit more conscious of my own consumerism. Again. 

Not that there is anything wrong with consumerism, I absolutely love shopping and buying. A WHOLE lot of people make their living because we are a consumerist society. But that doesn’t mean we have to be an unnecessarily wasteful society either. 

One of the main areas that I’d like to improve is to do with food. Every week, I look through my bank statement and kept receipts and track my spending into an Excel document, to see where all my money goes. I try to streamline my spending and look for areas I can save more money, and shock horror – I spend shitloads on food. Mostly take-aways, and I justify it in all kinds of ways. I spend five nights a week away from home, and breakfast always seems to be on the go. I spend my mornings and days off work at University, and rarely have time to pack a lunch so I end up eating at the cafeteria. I work at a supermarket surrounded by food, and located right smack bang in the middle of a food court with nearly 20 fast food options. So thats dinner out as well. All in all, I wouldn’t be surprised if I spent between $150 and $200 on food a week. Just for me. 

WHAT IS THE PLAN OF ACTION?? I hear you yell, exasperated by my endless excuse-making. Well, I feel like I should cook at home more. I feel I should MAKE time to prepare my meals. Maybe on a day off, I could spend a few hours cooking some meals to freeze and take to uni/work? Maybe I could swing past home to grab a bite to eat for breakfast before continuing on with my day? 

Sounds good. In theory. I’ll let you know how it goes… by posting successful recipes! Aren’t you excited? 

Our first Permablitz prolonged through the weekdays and due to each of us busy schedule, we only could manage to start working in the garden after 2 PM. Not to mention in the changing weather. This become a three days of work instead of one. We learned a lot from this experiences and had more evaluation on time efficiency which Permablitz could only do a maximum of two days of work in a weekend. Despite all things, we all had a great time gathering together and in the end a ready-to-plant eatable garden

Each day summary is as follow:

DAY 2

We had a new crew joining for us in the second day: the local children They were excited to help along although very shy at first. They help us in compiling and separating more rocks. Yeah, more and more rocks still. Some of us become so engaged in chopping the banana trees for green composting layering, it becomes very addictive. The food by Sonya and the “Rat Poison Kitchen Team” was marvellous. A great day indeed!

DAY 3

We had another challenge today, the first rain after so many hot days in Jogjakarta. Some of us are even still excited to work under the rain condition. It is great to see how the waterways starting to works and be tested under the huge rain we had. Some planting also started today Warm food serves, good laugh around, life is good.

DAY 4

It was raining hard but we had to wrap it out today. It’s a nearly all girls team today. All going down under the rain with shovels, cangkul, wheel carts, dirt, cow dung and plants. We finish off everything today and finish the early planting stages. Our first Permablitz has finally over. A lot of things waiting to be evaluated, but for now, the experiences had been the greatest, the laugh has been the loudest and the food the yummiest. A long four days which combine a diversity of people, friends, community. An unforgetable experience for all. The greatest blessing and gratitude. Thank you, all!! See you in the next Permablitz

We Are,But Have You Noticed?

I am 46 so if your a lil younger you may not of noticed this,but it is something that particulary pisses me off.What’s that i hear you say,fur balls,noisy neighbour’s,no its the fact that company’s think they can change the size of things by making them smaller hike up the price’s and think we are that stupid and we don’t realise? Having been a life long chocolate lover i get really pissed with the downsizing of chocolate bar’s and the rise of the price,how do they get away with it,if they decrease the Mar’s bar any

 more it will be what used to be a fun size one!Oh and look at Wagon Wheels hardly a Wagon Wheel more like a roller skate wheel.For those of you who do not know they used to be a mighty big biscuit,now they are a miserable nothing,2 bite’s and they are gone!Oh and what about crisp’s,don’t you think it is disgusting how many crisps you actually get in a pack?,when i was younger and had the munchie’s i loved nothing more than a crisp sandwich,you have no chance of a decent crisp sandwich out of one bag now,you would be lucky to make one out of one slice of bread it’s diabolical,but the company’s know some people love these foods so are going to buy them anyway.We all

 love and deserve a treat now and then and we are being royally ripped off.This apply’s right across the board with foodstuff’s so as best as i can i make my own cakes,cookie’s etc,but some thing’s you cannot make,i have stopped buying these thing’s now,i refuse to line their already fat bank account’s while getting fleeced myself,these days its just not affordable.So it’s back to basic’s.Myself i got very lazy buying ready chopped veg etc,now i buy from the farmers market, if you live in South East London,there is a great one in Blackheath every Sunday behind the railway station and i feel that’s the way to go,it’s cheaper,supports local producer’s and you no what your buying so there’s no chance of eating horse if you don’t wish to.As for the chocolate bar’s with the price’s they are charging it’s best to join something like “The Chocolate Club”,it’s great value,you can choose what you want and it is delivered to your door,super! It’s very sad that the sense of community has been lost,where we used to help each other now it seem’s it’s every man for his self and even more sadly i cannot see us ever getting that back again,there’s so many reason’s why that is and we will chat about that some other time.For now my friends don’t get ripped off get yourself a cookbook if your not too good at cooking and start making for yourself,it’s cheaper and you are sure in what your putting in yours and your family’s mouth’s.Take care all and have a happy and safe day,and remember YOU ARE Wonderful:)

Your friend,

Tracy:)

Then I’m going to share my friend, MM’s, easy, no-cooking-the-noodles lasagna. It’s the only way I will ever fix lasagna.

You will thank me for these recipes.

WARNING: This lasagna is highly addictive to busy moms, hungry dads, & calorie craving kids. I like to put my yoga pants on after consuming this!

So-Saucey Tomato Sauce

All the ingredients you need for this AWESOME tomato sauce.

Chop the onion & bell pepper. Cook in about 2 tbsp. of olive oil.

I like to add a couple of spoonfulls of garlic to the onion & pepper. You can add more or less, whatever you like.

I wish you could smell this!

Add the 3 cans of crushed tomatoes. Now bring on the HEAT! Be careful not to add too many red pepper flakes. I’ve set this sauce on fire by getting a little too generous.

Add about a tbsp. of oregano.

It’s about to get “SAUCEY” in here!

Turn the heat to low, cover & let simmer for 1 hour. Stir occasionally.

Easy Lasagna

You need these ingredients, and…

homemade tomato sauce or 1-2 jars of store-bought sauce, and…

1 lb ground meat.

You need about 2 cups of grated mozzarella. I like to grate my own, but you can buy the pre-shredded.

Combine 1 1/2 cup mozzarella, 1 cup cottage cheese, 2 eggs, & 1 Tbsp of dried oregano.

Mix it all together. Cheesey goodness is in that bowl!

In a 9″x13″ casserole, ladle in enough sauce to coat the bottom of dish.

Pour 1/2 cup of water over the sauce.

Start layering your noodles.

Dollop 1/2 of the cheese mixture on top of the noodles…

and smoosh it all around to cover the noodles.

Sprinkle the ground meat to cover the cheese mixture.

Top the meat with enough sauce to cover. We like a lot of sauce in our lasagna, which is why I recommend 2 jars for this dish.

Then repeat the layers: noodles, cheese, meat.

Top of with more sauce & sprinkle with remaining mozzarella, about 1/2 cup.

Add some grated parmesan to top it off.

Cover with foil. Try to tent it a little so it doesn’t stick to the cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for an hour.

1 hour later you have oh-so-yummy easy-to-make lasagna.

Recipes

Please remember that I don’t normally “measure”. Since the lasagna is a friend’s recipe, I have those measurements, but I haven’t used them since the very first time I made this. Remember you can add to, but not take away. Change these recipes up to suit your taste & make them yours!

So-Saucey Tomato Sauce

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 bell pepper I like to use red, yellow or orange.
• 1 medium onion
• 2-3 tbsp. minced garlic Adjust this to your taste. We love garlic around here.
• 3  28 oz. cans crushed tomatoes
• 2 tsp. red pepper flakes Again, adjust to your taste. I’ve added way too much & set my mouth on fire! A little goes a long way.
• 1 tbsp. dried oregano

Directions

1. Heat the olive oil up over medium high heat in a large cooking pot. Add the onion & bell pepper. Cook for 5 minutes or so, then add the garlic. Stir. Cook until veggies are soft.
2. Add the crushed tomoatoes, red pepper, & oregano.
3. Stir it all up, then put the lid on & let it simmer over low heat for about an hour.

Note: Sometimes I like to add chopped mushrooms to the onion & bell pepper.

Another Note: I’ve cooked this sauce for as little as an hour & as long as 3 hours. I can’t tell any difference. My stove burners cook hot, even on low, so I stir the sauce every 15 minutes or so to keep it from scalding on the bottom. After it cooks for an hour, I turn the heat off & let it sit. If I’m not using the sauce right away, I put it in gallon freezer bags & refrigerate or freeze. You will have left-over sauce when making the lasagna; how much depends on how much you use. Be sure to save it for a quick spaghetti lunch!

Easy Lasagna

Ingredients

• 1 recipe of So-Saucey Tomato Sauce OR 1-2 jars of prepared spaghetti sauce depending on how “saucey” you want your lasagna to be
• 1 lb cooked ground meat We use venison, my friends us beef; use whatever ground meat you like best.
• 1/2 c water
• 2 eggs
• 1 c cottage cheese
• 2 c mozzarella, 1 1/2 c for mix, 1/2c for topping Sometimes I’m feeling cheesey and I use more! My thighs don’t think this is a good idea…
• 1 Tbsp oregano
• 1 package lasagna noodles
• 1/4 c parmesan cheese

Directions

1. Combine the eggs, cottage cheese, 1 1/2 c of mozzarella, & oregano. Mix well, making sure eggs are broken down.
2. Spread enough tomato sauce to coat the bottom of a 9″x13″ casserole dish. Add 1/2 c water over the sauce. If you are only using 1 28 oz. jar of store-bought sauce,use about 1/2 c.
3. Layer your noodles over the sauce & water. NOTICE YOU DON’T HAVE TO COOK THE NOODLES! AWE-SOME!
4. Spread 1/2 the cheese mixture over the noodles. I like to dollop & spread.
5. Sprinkle 1/2 of your cooked meat over the cheese mixture.
6. Cover the meat with the tomato sauce. Again, how much you use is based on your own personal taste. I usually do about 3-4 ladles full. If you’re using store-bought, I’d say to use about 1 1/4 c.
7. Repeat the layers: Noodles, Cheese, Meat, Sauce.
8. Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 c of mozzarella over the top.
9. Top it off with 1/4 c of parmesan.
10. Cover with foil. I like to put my casserole dish on a baking sheet just in case it bubbles out & over.
11. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until noodles are soft & cheese is all bubbley.

• 4 apples (whatever kind you want), peeled and cut in to small cubes
• 1 lb of frozen strawberries (I literally bought a few lbs of strawberries and froze them cuz they were on sale), defrosted with all the juice and whatnot
• a tiny bit of cinnamon sugar (like half a tablespoon)

Put this all in a pot that fits it. Smash up the strawberries a little and they will release more juice and make a liquid for the apples to kind of cook in. After it cooks for a bit until the apples are soft, let cool and then put in a food processor or magic bullet or whatever. Or just mash it up with a masher if you don’t care or don’t have those things.

Thanks, this is a recipe I like so you may like it too.

My nearly 3 year old daughter has never tasted a fast food chicken nugget and I’d like to keep it that way. But we all know that kids love finger foods! Back when “S” first started being able to chew foods such as chicken, I started experimenting with some fun meal ideas. About a year and a half ago, I fell in love with panko. Panko is a Japanese bread crumb but it stays more crunchy than standard bread crumbs. When I initially sought out to buy some I had a hard time finding it, but now I see Panko at most grocery stores.  ”S” and I made these panko and parm chicken fingers for dinner last night and as an afterthought I realized I should post it here.  I used this recipe, but I changed a few things.

Here is my version:

Ingredients

1 package of  chicken tenders (You can use chicken breasts and cut them into strips)

Sea salt, fresh ground pepper and garlic powder (to taste)

1 cup flour

2 eggs

3/4 cup panko crumbs

3/4 cup Parmesan cheese

Directions

Clean chicken and dry on paper towels. The place the flour on a plate and set aside.  Crack eggs in a separate bowl and mix to create the “egg wash”.  Combine the panko, salt, pepper and garlic powder on a third dish.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees and prep your baking sheet or glass pyrex (which is what I use) with some oil or cooking spray so the chicken won’t stick.  Then create an assembly line with the ingredients and dip the chicken strip into the flour, shake off gently, coat it in the egg wash and then dip it into the panko mixture and be sure to cover the strip completely. Dip, wash, coat. After all your strips are coated, pop them in the oven for about 20 mins or until cooked completely. An internal temp of 165 degrees means they are done.

For the dipping sauce, my daughter prefers ketchup. I prefer to mix some sriracha with mayo and call it a day. Marinara sauce would also be delicious.

Woke up covered in a bizarre rash. I’d noticed it when I went to sleep last night, but as it was just on my elbows, I thought it was an unusually severe psoriasis flare-up. But no: woke up with it all over my arms and legs. Looked in the mirror: my lips were swollen. Rang the doctor and got an appointment a few hours later. Bunny got off uni early so she came over to look after me. I was pretty much fine, so we went to the supermarket to get dinner, then she took me to the doctor. Who advised me to take anti-histamines and possibly bathe in an oatmeal solution. So we went back out to get some Piriton (other brands are available) and also buy a microwave. So that was fun.

Then home to Bunny’s. Watched the first episode of Black Mirror with her housemates and some cider – although we had to stop halfway through because they can’t sit still, so we went upstairs to watch the rest alone. Then dinner: lamb fillets, potato croquettes, and asparagus with balsamic vinegar. My lady cooks a fricking perfect meal.

Discussed Black Mirror for ages, watched two episodes of Adventure Time, and then went to bed.

This year we have assigned each of us specific days of the week that we are each responsible for dinner.  The dinner menu must include the main dish and at least one of the following:  some type of salad, bread, and/or dessert.  Another consideration is a beverage.   One of the central ideas behind this plan, other than the diet change, is to teach each other ways to put these courses together.  Colors, textures and tastes are all important.  For instance, if we eat a white rice and chicken dish, vanilla pudding and white bread with a glass of milk, the meal would get us by, but not be very exciting.  There would be too much white, too much soft mushy food, and not much complementing flavors.  

However, expecting the kids or the husband to consider all of the possibilities at once would be too overwhelming.  So one change to that example meal is a good start, such as a green salad.  An additional rule is that most of the meal needs to come from fresh food recipes that need preparation.  Boxed and canned foods are limited as is inclusion of something like a frozen cheese and broccoli mix.  If a frozen lasagna is chosen, nothing else can be a processed product.  

We have 10 or so Cooking Light annual cookbooks, a large pile of the Betty Crocker or various brand small ones found at the check stand, a few oddball cookbooks collected over the years and, of course, the internet. 

So, from here on for awhile, I will be blogging about our family adventures with food, recipes, and food art ( color, presentation, texture a spice). Thanks for joining me on this journey. 

Did you wake up hungry but you’re in a hurry this morning? Make some quick and easy breakfast burritos and eat it on the go!

I am sure most of you are sailing in the same boat. Not only children but even adults like us love to eat French fries. Little wonder then that French fries with burgers, wraps and soft drinks top the menu at all Fast Food joints.

Many brands sell their French fries along with different dips like cheese, mayonnaise, Sichuan sauce. Some brands even sell flavoured French fries. They have masala fries, salt and pepper fries, Italian spiced french fries, Mexican french fries which are normally served with a tomato salsa.

All that is really yummy yet we would still want to be sure about the quality of food our children eat outside, don’t we? And why not… so let us explore how to make them healthier.

French Fries are something that can be easily prepared at home. Homemade food, as we all know, is anytime better as compared to what our children would get to eat outside. To make French fries at home, the first thing to do is to shop for non starchy potatoes. Non starchy potatoes are also called new potatoes which have less amount of starch as compared to old potatoes. Now you may well ask why we need to use non starchy potatoes to prepare French fries. It is because when the starch is exposed to heat, it breaks down into glucose, which is a form of sugar. Sugar when heated caramelises and turns into golden brown colour. Since the quantity of starch is less in non-starchy potatoes, it takes time for the starch to break down into glucose, and the potatoes do not turn brown very fast and remain crisp.

Peel the potatoes and cut them into even sized fingers. These days you get cutters which give you even sized fingers making your job less laborious. Plunge them in salted boiling water and boil till they are half cooked. Drain them thoroughly and pat dry on a kitchen towel. Once completely cooled, divide them into portions and pack them into separate zip lock bags and freeze. I said pack into separate bags so that whenever you want to use them, you can take out just as many as you want. Do not thaw them, just take them out of the zip lock bags and fry in hot oil. As simple as that but do it in batches, because overcrowding the frying pan with too many fingers at a time, will bring the temperature of the oil down and the fingers will become soggy and limp instead of crispy.

You can make potato wedges too in similar manner: cut the potatoes into wedges, keep the skin intact. Parboil the wedges in salted water. Drain and put them on a kitchen towel to dry off excess water. Roll in seasoned refined flour and freeze for 6-8 hours. Just before serving, take them out of the freezer and deep fry in hot oil. You can even bake the wedges to make them healthier. Nowadays frozen French fries and potato wedges are easily available not only in the supermarkets and even in smaller shops.

100 grams of French fries contain 327 calories and that is quite a bit considering you cannot stop yourself with just that much. However you can have them occasionally without much guilt pangs. Well after gorging on them, run a mile or two more so as to burn off the excess calories consumed.

Well there is some good news for you. These days, air fryers are easily available in the market, which consume 80% less oil as compared to deep frying in the conventional way. All you need to do is brush the food with a little oil, place them a basket that fits into the body of the fryer and adjust the temperature depending on the food you want to cook. The food gets cooked in hot air and hence a boon for the health conscious. I use it frequently and gorge on the supposedly fried goodies without feeling guilty.

Recently while doing a live show, I came up with an innovation. I made fries from sweet potatoes instead of using regular potatoes. I used oil spray to spray a little oil on the fries and baked them in preheated oven till crisp. Tossed them in chaat masala, red chilli powder, some salt and a dash of lemon juice, I served them with great flair and believe me they were super hit.

So learn how to make the basic recipe of fries and then sky is the limit. You can then serve them with a variety of dips and sprinklers and see them disappearing faster than you prepared them. Bingo!

Here are some recipes to get you started!

Of course, I don’t really need to mention that launch day is 10 days away, and we’ve just had a blizzard…

So, today, I decided to make the most of it and spend some time in my kitchen. Rob and I have decided that we need to do more producing and less consuming in our home. We’ve already started a new batch of home brewed beer. We use a mix, right now, but we use malt extract instead of dextrose, which makes for a much richer flavor. After a week, we’ll bottle it, and then it will be ready to drink a week after that. One batch yields so many bottles, that we’re always looking for friends to share it with!

At Save a Lot, they have delicious whole grain pitas, and we go through a lot of them! I decided to start soaking the flour for these pitas. We used to always soak our grains, but we’ve fallen off the wagon in the past year.

Finally, when I was going through the cupboard, I found an empty plastic ketchup bottle. When I asked Rob why we had that, he said, “Oh yeah, that’s for home made ketchup!” So guess what I made? It’s much too thick for the bottle though, so we’ll be storing it in a jar.

How do you spend snowy days?

I kinda have a busy night ahead of me.  Since my beloved has to work tonight, I have taken it upon myself to do the dinner and the whole 9 yards.  I really don’t mind.  Honestly.

So tonight, we are having:                                                                                                                                                                                                   

I have never made lasagna before.  Ever in my life.  But I have heard it is easy.  :)  

And then we are going to have homemade dinner rolls.  Once again I have never made                            

homemade bread nor anything that has required yeast or having it rise.  :/

And then for dessert, which I have made quite a few times, is the no-roll sugar cookies, which taste soooo bloody good.  But this time I am going to frost them with pink frost.  Just for this occasion.  ;)

And then, to finish the evening, we will watch a movie.  We were lucky enough to get an advanced copy The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Pt. II.  LOL, yes, how appropriate.  I have been waiting the whole bloody day to watch it.  Well, actually longer.  8 months.  

Sorry  :(  Had to do it.

But I shall leave you with this and wish you all a great end of the rest of the evening or if the day is already finished for you, I hope it was pretty awesome!  If you had a great Valentine’s day, whether you are single, in a relationship, or are married, and you care to share, plz feel free to do so below!  Thanks!

Till Next Time,

Serenity

]]> http://fadedseasidemama.wordpress.com/2013/02/09/why-wont-they-just-eat-their-food/ Sat, 09 Feb 2013 18:30:29 +0000 mummysallygg http://fadedseasidemama.wordpress.com/2013/02/09/why-wont-they-just-eat-their-food/ http://foodandteatraveller.wordpress.com/2013/02/07/salmon-dishes-for-birthday-edition/ Thu, 07 Feb 2013 17:00:34 +0000 foodandteatraveller http://foodandteatraveller.wordpress.com/2013/02/07/salmon-dishes-for-birthday-edition/ Hi there!

I have been waiting to do this for some times..

As this is a birthday edition, I finally back to the kitchen and cook something that I love. Today I cooked salmon mayo and salmon teriyaki for dinner. I only have a small cut of salmon and made it half-half as mayo – teriyaki sauce. Another highlight of today’s cooking was that I used a torch to cook my salmon. These two were what I cooked with all of the ingredients available in my fridge and I learned this from my cousin when I stayed at his house last year. I am a fan of easy and fast cooking dishes so these two are really suitable to those who are in the same line with me

Ingredients Salmon Mayo:

1. Salmon fillet
2. Mayonaise (I used Kewpie mayonnaise)
3. chopped parsley
4. salt
5. pepper
6. 1 lemon wedge

Ingredients Salmon Teriyaki :

1. Salmon fillet
2. mirin
3. soy sauce
4. sugar

*Mix mirin, soy sauce and sugar in a bowl then cook it with a little bit of oil until thickened, better if you add sesame oil and seeds

Methods :

1. Mix mayonnaise, salt, pepper and lemon juice in a bowl and stir well (I put them until reach my expectation so don’t hesitate to taste the blend)
2. Add chopped parsley and stir, leave the blend
3. Press the salmon’s skin with tissue paper to reduce the water content so you can make the skin crispier
4. Heat the pan with oil and add the salmon
5. Cook until your desirable cook level (I love to have it half-cooked)
6. Remove the salmon from pan and put it on a refractory base
7. Use the torch to cook and make the color prettier                                                                                             
8. Smear the mayonnaise bled over the salmon’s skin then use the torch to brown the top side  
9. I used all the same method for the teriyaki one and the only different thing was the sauce. I poured the teriyaki sauce after the salmon cooked to make it not too soaky as I wanted it crispy. 

…so VOILA! My friend, her Italian roomie from Torino, and I made dinner I learned that making bruschetta is not rocket science, wine is overly cheap, and Italians don’t use any dressings for salad…they just use olive oil and vinegar – a habit I wish to acquire!

So I’ve decided that instead of letting my heart linger and long for other earthly homes, I will be grateful for what I have here, right now. So…here’s a few things that I feel blessed by right now:

1. Our three chaotic puppies:           
2. Colorado sunsets and sunrises:   
3. Amazing homemade food:        
4. Being back with beautiful friends at The Rock:     
5. The ability to go barefoot and do art (at the same time!):  
6. Seeing family again:                                                      
7. That God still reveals His love to me in personal ways:  

The quantity Zanzana has prepared could feed 3-4 persons, but she and her husband made it disappear completely

Ingredients

200 gr durum wheat flour (normally you would use 00 or other types of white flour, but durum wheat makes them more tasty, but this flour is more common in Sothern Italian recipes than in Northern ones);

100 gr buckwheat flour (you can modify the quantities, but the proportion 2/3 flour-1/3 buckwheat flour should work);

1/2 cup warm water;

a little salt;

1 bunch of Ligurian chard, or spinach;

150 gr Valtellina Casera cheese (better if it is a little seasoned);

butter;

pepper, nutmeg.

Mix all the ingredients with a little water, adding more water or flour if needed. Be careful, because it is not so easy to knead with buckwheat flour, as this is not a cereal, so you will need a little patience. Work a little on it, untile you make a ball, then let it rest for a while. Wash the chard and make it boil in a large pot ; if you want, you can alsoboil some potatoes, but Zanzana did not.

Take the mixture you have prepared, roll it with a rolling pin until it measures around 2mm thick, then cut it in strips, around 1×3 cms.

Cutting Pizzoccheri into strips

These are your Pizzoccheri ready to be boiled. You can also prepare them the day before, but be careful about how you store them, as they will try to stick to each other

Pizzoccheri almost ready

When the chard is cooked, add salt and Pizzoccheri directly into the water, and make them cook for 5-7 minutes; prepare a pan with some butter, then add Pizzoccheri, chard and Casera and make them cook 3 more minutes, grating your mix of pepper and nutmeg directly on them.

Pizzoccheri just before the attack

Now Zanzana would need her blogging friends to help her with the wine choice…in any case, buon appetito!