Alessandra Zecchini: orchids

Showing posts with label orchids. Show all posts

Wednesday, December 19, 2018

Spaghetti 'alla Norma' con fiori di timo - Spaghetti with eggplants and thyme flowers

Spaghetti with eggplants are one of my favourite dishes, and the addition of thyme is amazing, especially thyme flowers, they are so pretty and more delicate than the leaves. Plus I have the garden full of thyme, I had to use it!

First slice the eggplants, add salt and sweat for an hour or so. Then rinse and pat dry with a tea towel.

Then fry in plenty of olive oil, with a clove of garlic if you like (I do). Place on kitchen paper to remove the excess oil and add salt and thyme sprigs.

In the meantime prepare a tomato sauce, you can find a very easy recipe here, or you can use an Italian passata, like Mutti. (but has to be Italian, and very simple (not full or strange ingredients...).

In another pot boil the water and cook the spaghetti al dente. Remember than when you assemble everything the pasta, the tomato sauce and the eggplants have to be hot!

Drain the pasta, toss into the sauce pan, dish on a plate and cover with the hot eggplants. Sprinkle with thyme flowers (they can be eaten, not just decorations!).

And now some old photos of flowers from my garden, from this winter, when I had lots of orchids!

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Saturday, September 29, 2018

Timballo di cavoletti di Bruxelles e patate - Brussels Sprout and potato Italian style terrine

Not everyone likes Brussels, my husband doesn't... generally, but when I cook them he does, in fact after making this he went out and bought some more himself!!!

I love them, they are a great vegetable to use to make a main, and they are so pretty!

A timballo is a baked dish of rice and other ingredients, it can be made with anything, and I usually do it when I have left over long grain rice. It is also a good way to pair rice and potatoes, which may seems strange to some, but it works.

I cleaned the Brussels and slice a couple of big peeled potatoes, and then pass them quickly in a pan with olive oil and a little garlic. Just long enough to heat them, two minutes, stirring (don't burn them or colour them!). Then I covered them with vegetable stock, added a lid and simmer them on low until soft.

Add more stock when needed to make sure that there is always a bit of liquid. The potatoes will make the 'sauce' thick, and soften the bitterness of the Brussels.

Turn the element off, keep some Brussels and some of the best potato slices aside, and mix the rest with the cooked, or leftover, rice. Put in a baking dish and press down very well. Top with the potato slices and bake for 20 minutes, then cover with cheese and bake for other 20. Heat the leftover Brussels and pour over just before serving.

Golly, this was supposed to serve 6 but 4 of us gulped it down in no time!

And now: photos from the garden, and orchids in the house! Happy Weekend

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Thursday, May 10, 2018

Coconut tofu and vegetables strips with Eastern herbs

I planted some ginger roots in my garden from a bought root that started sprouting and got a beautiful plant... but the flower looked like that of the wild ginger (a weed in New Zealand) and I was a bit worried... my neighbour told me that it is a good ginger, the flower is similar but it doesn't make the seeds that birds spread around the forest. Well, since I was worried I remove the plant (the flowers looked good in a vase anyway) and used the root to make gari (delicious, recipe here) and this tofu dish.

Very easy: just simmer some sliced tofu in a pot with coconut milk, vegetable stock, ginger, chili, lemon grass and a shallot. Add some celery, carrots and capsicum strips and simmer for a few more minutes, then turn the heat off and add some cucumber strips, fresh coriander, basil and Vietnamese mint and serve with Thai rice.

And now a few more subtropical delights from my garden: cherimoya (not ready yet) and bananas (the best bunch so far, shared with many friends!)

Had some flowers too, outdoors...

And indoors.

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Sunday, October 15, 2017

Vivere in Nuova Zelanda: Radicchio e orchidee, la vita capovolta

Radicchio leaves with goat cheese and a drizzle of olive oil, on crackers

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.

E queste sono le mie (ne ho altre, ma non sono in fiore adesso), un po' misere a confronto, ma gli voglio bene :-). Quelle singole (prese dal giardino) sono in mini vasi giapponesi che svolgono la seconda funzione di appoggia-bacchette.

Thursday, August 17, 2017

Italian chips and beautiful things in my garden

How silly can a recipe be? I never thought that I would bother writing something so basic, but the world where I live is so full of chips, and terrible chips I must say, that I very rarely eat them out, and very occasionally I like to make them at home the Italian way, patatine fritte, like we made on special occasions, usually on a Sunday. These are not deep fried but pan-fried, and they are flavoured with garlic and rosemary,

Peel the potatoes, cut the potatoes into chip sizes, rinse (or just soak in water) and pat dry. Sizzle some garlic in a frypan with extra virgin olive oil, then add the chips and pan-fry stirring and/or shaking the pan constantly. I add just a little salt at the beginning, and remove the garlic before it burns. Then I add rosemary when they are nearly cooked (they takes about 20 minutes), finish with more salt and eat immediately (although if you cook them this way they are also tasty when cold, unlike British style chips).

And now something from my garden

The pink orchids are glorious this year, the yellow ones will follow soon, and every year they cheer me up in the middle of the Auckland winter.