Sugo di pomodoro con alloro e cannella (tomato sauce with bay leaves and cinnamon)

17/01/202517/01/2025 ~ stefano arturi ~ 17 Comments

A few days ago, I helped a friend to clear his garden after the previous day’s severe pollarding that followed a storm which had toppled one of the trees. At first, I did not pay much attention to those thick branches that carpeted the grounds; then I picked up one of them, scrunched a couple of leaves and my nostrils were hit by the unmistakable, wonderful perfume of bay: lemony and with hints of nutmeg and pine.

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Hazelnut ragù (ragù di nocciole)

18/12/2024 ~ stefano arturi ~ 9 Comments

An unusual recipe where toasted hazelnuts replace minced meat. I discovered this idea online, but there is not much information about it – I suspect this is a relatively modern recipe.
The chopped hazelnuts lose their crunchiness, and, with the support of tomatoes, dried ceps, spices and red wine, become a deeply flavoured sauce, as satisfying as a conventional meat ragu’.
This really is a sumptuous condiment for pasta and polenta, which happens to be vegan.

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Polpette di pane – bread polpette or breadballs, if you insist

19/04/2024 ~ stefano arturi ~ 20 Comments

Lucca, June 2022 .
London, August 2022. This has been the best, most rewarding recipe of this summer. Just love it

I am a bread collector. All those stale loaf-ends (apparently called “the heels”) that cannot be eaten but cannot be turned into breadcrumbs either, I put aside – “I will make a bread pudding or a pancotto, an Italian bread soup”, I solemnly declare. P and Lucia roll their eyes, because they know their chickens: often these grand plans are not acted upon and, after weeks of ignoring it, I bin my bread, with a bad conscience.

This time, I looked at my collection of odd ends of bread and I decided to make polpette di pane, bread polpette and what an inspired decision that was. Over the last month I have cooked them a few times, actually buying and collecting bread with this purpose in mind.

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Parmigiana di zucca (Butternut squash parmigiana)

15/01/2023 ~ stefano arturi ~ 11 Comments

Aubergine parmigiana is one of the most famous Italian dishes: layers of fried aubergines, tomato sauce, mozzarella and parmigiano reggiano (in its most basic version). It is not, however, the only parmigiana in town: one can make artichoke, courgette, potato, fennel, celeriac, mushroom parmigiana and even a butternut squash one, which I am sharing with you here. The principle is always the same: the chosen vegetable is first cooked and then layered with tomato sauce and cheese. In richer versions, mortadella and sliced hard-boiled egg are added.

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Pomodorini scattarisciati – crackling cherry tomatoes (Puglia)

19/06/2022 ~ stefano arturi ~ 18 Comments

Update: summer 2022, Lucca: with top Italian pomodorini this dish is even more spectacular. I noticed they improve after a good rest, i.e. the day after they were even better.

Original version:
It is now summer, or at least this is what the calendar says; it has been raining for days here in London and the sky is grey, an elegant pearly shade of grey, but grey nonetheless. Not fun. To raise my endorphins, I decided to make this Apulian tomato sauce, pomodorini scattarisciati, literally crackling tomatoes (in the local dialect) — vibrant, intensely tomatoey and uplifting.

The cherry tomatoes are fried in a rather indecent amount of oil, on high heat, uncovered until they start bursting. Continue reading “Pomodorini scattarisciati – crackling cherry tomatoes (Puglia)” →