Tomato Passata sauce, part 1
Tomato Passata sauce, part 2
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Lamb with artichoke drops
How is your winter going? Here in Umbria the weather is fairly good , yes days are wet and gray but we can’t really complain after all it is still winter, right?
These months, when you live in the countryside, are always very slow and boring. Each day starts with taking [...]
Chocolate tagliatelle pasta served with a spicy wild board sauce
After about three months the hunting season is now almost over and most of the Allerona’s hunters will have their freezers full of wild boar meat and jugs of sauces to go with this meat have been prepared and are [...]
Chocolate and gelatin pear dessert served with coffee cream.
After a fun filled hectic Christmas spent with family and friends Nick and I decided we would have a quiet New Years eve with a good dinner, maybe watch a movie and then go to bed! In short, no big celebrations saving all our energy [...]
Lumachelle
Last weekend Orvieto hosted a big event called “OFF” (Orvieto Food Festival ). It was advertised everywhere, even in the Vanity Far and Style Magazine! The idea was for Orvieto to show to as many people as possible all the good food and wine that is produced here. Along with tours, wine tasting and lots [...]
Cod fillet served with red onion marmalade, a cube of sweet green pepper with a sprinkling of black crust
I awoke early this morning with a hundred thoughts and plans running through my head. As the dinner party ,held last week by the Local Winery, went so well they have asked me to return to [...]
Monlus 70% dark chocolate served on English custard and hazelnuts.
Last week I was contacted by a Wine Cellar that produces fantastic wines in this area. They asked me if I could /would create a menu where each course would combine with and compliment their wines ,from the aperitif to the dessert. What a wonderful challenge, I was so pleased and honoured [...]
Fettucie di Garofalo cooked with a Asti Spumante, saffron, goat cheese and white pepper.
It was 1960 when the local river last overflowed here in Orvieto, 52 years later the Paglia has burst its banks again and caused terrible damage , but just as then, people have proved to be courageous, united and ready to help each other. The people [...]
Our freshly picked olives
YES we managed ,it’s done. But let’s start from the beginning.
On Saturday morning by 9.30 am the mist had disappeared and warm sun shine welcomed our guests, twenty three altogether, consisting of 14 nice girls and a young professor all from the American school based here in Orvieto, 4 close [...]
Homemade ravioli served with a chesnut cream, crispy pancetta cubes and fresh rosemary
This morning, while taking what should have been be a brisk healthy walk , but was in fact a slow leisurely stroll with our lazy dog Lui, I came across three of our elderly neighbors who were busy harvesting their olives. [...]
Mediterranean Octopus salad
As we all know this week was Halloween . It’s not something that we really celebrate in Italy , but more recently all the kids seem to be very into it . I suppose it’s the chance to dress up and threaten your neighbors with untold mischief, if they don’t pay [...]
Wild mushrooms risotto
NO BUONO. At the end, we had to cancel the olive harvest!
After spending days and days with our ears pinned to the radio listening to the scary weather forecasts for the olive picking weekend, it seemed we only had two sensible options (1) would be to build a Noah’s ark or [...]
Homemade olive ascolane
For the farmers around Orvieto , the situation is serious this year. To start with although the vines produced excellent grapes that were full of sugar, unfortunately there was far less of them and the overall harvest in the area was reduced by almost 40%. Now, we are coming up to [...]
Poached egg served with truffles and homemade bread
During the last weeks of summer Nicks mum Jacky came to stay. On her arrival we noticed she was wearing a bandage on her wrist. Had she damaged it dragging her suitcase through the airport , we thought… or had she been injured delivering a devastating [...]
Rabbit cooked in red wine and prunes
Coming out from a routine is what a good break is all about . Waking up and realizing that it isn’t your turn to make a cappuccino, feed the chickens , cats, dog or goat is what I call a HOLIDAY.
Short but sweet: we had a couple [...]
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Sweet Friends
Lamb with artichoke drops
How is your winter going? Here in Umbria the weather is fairly good , yes days are wet and gray but we can’t really complain after all it is still winter, right?
These months, when you live in the countryside, are always very slow and boring. Each day starts with taking [...]