Slow-roasted tomatoes: Crispy on the outside and moist and succulent in the middle with fresh herbs on top.

Posted on May 22, 2013 by Rita

slow-roasted tomatoes with herbs

London, 22nd May 2013 – This is the British Tomato week and I celebrate it by posting a tomato recipe. British growers put time and effort into growing this amazing fruit which likes dry and sunny weather.

tomatoweek2013 In Britain tomatoes are mainly grown in glasshouses, where the desired sweetness is obtained by ripening fully on the plant before harvesting.

I also grow my own tomatoes and my young plants are ready to be moved into the glasshouse. I will also plant a few tomatoes plants outside and hope for a dry, sunny British summer…

young tomato plants

These roasted tomatoes are crispy on the outside and moist and succulent in the middle. In order to obtain this result I slow-roasted the tomatoes in the oven at 140 degrees without using the fan mode and being very careful not to overcook them. The roasting time depends on the tomato size; for this recipe I used tomatoes with a diameter of 6 cm, and I roasted them for two and a half hours.

slow roasted tomatoes with herbs

The topping is a flavoursome spread made with many herbs blooming in my garden at the moment, and with Mediterranean sundried tomatoes and capers.

Slow-roasted tomatoes are perfect for a tasty and elegant starter. Any leftovers can be roughly chopped used as a pasta condiment with a bit of oil and plenty of Parmesan for lunch the next day.

I enter this recipe into the May Herbs on Saturday challenge which is organised by Karen from Lavender and Lovage and this month is hosted by Anneli over at Delicieux.

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Disclosure: I have no affiliation with the British Tomato Association and all opinions expressed here are mine.

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Tortiglioni pasta with creamy sauce: Mix the delicate flavour of asparagus with salty pancetta!

Posted on May 14, 2013 by Rita

Tortiglioni with Creamy Asparagus Sauce

London, 14th May 2013 – Finally fresh British asparagus is in season so lets enjoy this lovely vegetable.

I love to mix the delicate flavour of asparagus with salty pancetta and obtain a delicious contrast of flavours. I also add cream in order to combine these two flavors and make the sauce smooth and rich.

In Italy, I use ‘panna da cucina’, this is a cream more dense than single cream but less thick of double cream. Here in England I often replace it with double cream diluted with the pasta cooking water.

  • I am entering this into the May One Ingredient Cooking Challenge hosted by Franglais Kitchen and How to cook good food. The ingredient for this month is Asparagus and is hosted by Laura over at How to cook good food.
  • I also submit this recipe into May Simple and in Season which is organised by Ren Behan.
  • Finally, I wish to thank you, Petra, food writer of Food Eat Love, for awarding me the Best Moment Award. It’s nice when people appreciate your blog. I would like to give the same recognition to blogs that I like in a different way linking to their posts when an opportunity comes up.

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Lagane pasta has an irregular shape and a rustic texture thanks to the semolina.

Posted on May 10, 2013 by Rita

Lagane in purple sprouting broccoli sauce

London, 10th May 2013 – I like to make my own pasta. It reminds me of my childhood when I often used to play with scraps of my Mum’s pasta dough. Making pasta takes time and patience but the end result will satisfy any pasta lover.

Lagane durum wheat pasta and water

The flour

Lagane is simple pasta from Southern Italy. The ingredients used to make the dough are semola di grano duro (durum wheat flour) and water. The Lagane are similar to Tagliatelle but have an irregular shape and a rustic texture thanks to the durum wheat flour. This type of flour is less refined than white flour and is perfect for pasta dough without eggs such as Lagane.

In England you can now find refined white pasta flour type 00 even at the supermarket. Italian semola di grano duro is less popular and more difficult to source. I decided to substitute it with fine semolina that’s readily available in most places. I obtained elastic, and not too sticky, dough which was very easy to knead and shape.

Handmade Lagane pasta

The handmade pasta rules

The rules that I follow for making handmade Lagane using fine semolina (or Italian semola di grano duro) are:

  • Use lukewarm water (50 ml for every 100 g of fine semolina)
  • Let the dough rest in order to develop the gluten.
  • Cut the dough into smaller pieces and roll them with a roller pin
  • Do not worry if the pasta does not look perfect and is not uniform: handmade pasta is supposed to be rustic.

The sauce

purple sprouting broccoli allotmentI enjoyed this homemade pasta with a simple sauce using the purple sprouting broccoli which is blooming in the allotment. I blanch the young tender broccoli in boiling water and then stir briefly into garlicky, spicy oil.

The result is a simple and hearthy meal.

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I am entering this recipe into May Pasta Please which is organised by Jacqueline from Tinned Tomatoes and this month is hosted by Simona over at Briciole.

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I used a few grams of dried Porcini to enrich my mushroom tomato sauce.

Posted on April 25, 2013 by Rita

tomato sauce with porcini mushrooms

London, 25th April 2013 – I love cooking with dried porcini mushrooms. This is an expensive ingredient, but fortunately it only takes a few grams to flavour any type of dish.

DriedPorcini mushrooms in soaking water

This time I used Porcini to enrich a simple mushroom tomato sauce. The result is amazingly good and a simple sauce is transformed into something special. I cooked a large portion because this is perfect for serving with pasta or even gnocchi during a dinner with friends.

Chestnut Mushrooms

In this recipe as in my previous post ‘Pappardelle with Porcini mushrooms’, I use chestnut mushrooms in combination with dried Porcini Mushrooms. Chestnuts not only provide an additional flavour to the dish but also texture.

I simmer the tomato sauce for more than an hour. However, to avoid overcooking the Chestnuts (I like mushrooms in my sauce al dente -firm to the bite-!), I cook them separately. I then add the mushrooms, with the flavoursome juice they have released during cooking, to the tomato sauce and mix thoroughly.

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