One of the many joys of winter in Italy is the abundance of radicchio, and there are so many varieties, like this long and compact beauty, perfect for risotto.

I also found my Mum's old green pot (about 50 years old) which she always used to make risotto, and discovered that it is suitable to my new Italian kitchen's induction cooker. It may look a bit battered but it cooks beautifully!  

To start chop a white onion and sauté with butter (plenty of butter!) then add the chopped and rinsed radicchio with a pinch of salt, put the lid on and simmer, stirring from time to time, until the the radicchio is all wilted and doesn't taste too bitter.

It should take about 20 minutes on low, and look like this (with a bit of juice). Now add the arborio rice,  (I made risotto for 8 with about 600 g of rice, only one onion and one radicchio!).

Stir until the rice is hot and then start adding the vegetable stock, ladle by ladle as needed, you will need about two litres of it.

Keep stirring and adding stock until ready. When working with large quantities of rice it is better to rinse it first to remove a little starch, otherwise it will become too hard to turn, and too sticky.

Risotto with Radicchio is a great Italian classic, very popular in Veneto and Emilia Romagna (the best radicchio is from Treviso). Possibly in Veneto you would accompany it with one their fine whites, but in Emilia I paired it with a Pignoletto and it tasted great! Grated Parmigiano or Grana Padano are optional. Enjoy!

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Sono mezza veneta, cresciuta con radicchio, non ne sono mai stata entusiasta eppure adesso mi manca. Ma ad Auckland cresce a fatica, troppo caldo e umido nel bush. Tentativi miseri e se non lo mangio quando le foglie sono piccole mi finisce subito in semenza. E cosa cresce invece? Orchidee!! Ho sempre sognato di avere orchidee, e adesso le ho sia in casa che in giardino! In giardino!!! Quando posso vado anche alle mostre di orchidee, queste sono cresciute da professionisti e appassionati, molti belle e curate.

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

I had more mushy bananas so I made another banana cake, but vegan this time. The original version is here, I just changed the ingredients a little, removed the eggs and added sultana and grappa!

Vegan Banana Cake

2 tbsp sultana

1 small glass of grappa

5 ripe bananas

A few drops of lemon

100 g icing sugar + some for dusting

100 ml vegetable oil

200 g self rising flour

Soak the sultana in the grappa. Mush the bananas with the lemon juice, add the sugar and the other ingredients and beat well, then fold in the sultanas with the grappa. Grease a cake mould and pour the cake mixture in, bake at 180°C for approximately 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. Reverse onto a serving plate and serve warm or cold. It will be moist and I think that this cake taste better than the previous one, great with tea or coffee, although it may not be as suitable for breakfast. (Don't worry about the grappa, you can barely taste it and the alcohol is all gone!)