PASTA WITH PISTACHIO AND MIXED HERB PESTO

I feel a certain excitement rising inside me now when September is almost here, I didn't realize that I like that month this much until I 'analysed' this feeling and found that it is because it feels as the year starts anew again. I know we are many who share this feeling of being born again, schools starts, summer is over, I have far more energy now than in January when all I want is stay in bed with the duvet over my head until lovely spring arrives. September is also the beginning of the bad but it feels so far away right now so I cannot care less, new year I here I come.

Pesto is truly a saver when you are in a hurry but feel like eating something tasty, what is easier to quickly whizz (yes I know, it should be made with a pestle and a mortar but I am talking quick here, aren't I? and then you whizz things together!) basil, pine nuts, parmesan, garlic and a good olive oil and just add freshly cooked pasta. But not everyone like basil, nor pine nuts or pesto as such. Or you might feel like changing the menu but still want something simple and herby, this is the time to try this pistachio pesto with herbs like thyme, rosemary and sage. I love it and I can tell you that this pistachio pesto can be used in a myriad of other ways as well.

PASTA WITH PISTACHIO AND MIXED HERB PESTO
4 servings

pasta for four
6-7 tblsp pistachio nuts, shelled
4 tblsp parmesan, freshly grated
2-3 tsp chopped mixed fresh herbs, for example rosemary, thyme and sage
1 pinch salt
6 tblsp extra-virgin olive oil

Start with throwing the pasta into boiling water.

While the pasta cooks, put pistachios, parmesan, herbs, salt in a blender and run while you add the olive oil gradually. If you want, blanch the pistachio nuts before putting them in a blender. Taste to check if salt is needed.

Drain the pasta and toss with the pistachio pesto in a bowl before serving.

Nature's disarray

There's a beauty in disarray although it looks better in nature than in my home where it seems to be as abundant as in any field! For those of you who appreciate a certain disorder, here are some photos for you to look at!

LARGE PRAWNS WITH HOT TOMATO SAUCE AND ARGULA/ROCKET/RUCOLA

A sudden return to summer heat and humidity and some work has made me a very bad blogger indeed and when it coincides with a general loss of blogging mojo and serious doubts about whether I should blog at all, it can have almost fatal consequences but I am heaving myself up through the hole in the ice to try to get back to normality or a new kind of normality maybe. Anyway, this is one of my favourite dishes right now, this summer we have eaten it more than ever. If you are lucky and happen upon good big shrimps or mazzancolle as they are called in Italian, they are sweet and full of flavour and there is a sort of symbiosis between sweet and hot, salt and sour that I find difficult to resist. And it is such an easy dish to make as well and you know how much I like that!

LARGE PRAWNS WITH HOT TOMATO SAUCE AND ARGULA/ROCKET/RUCOLA
3-4 servings

450 g/8.8 oz big shrimps
5-6 big tomatoes, mature and sweet
1 big handful of argula/rocket/rucola
chili pepper flakes
1 clove of garlic
salt
extra-virgin olive oil

Chop the tomatoes, I keep the skin on but if you are fussy you can remove it, and simmer them in some olive oil together with chili pepper, salt and the slightly crushed garlic clove for about 10 minutes or until it has become a thick sauce. If the sauce is too acid, add a little sugar or honey to make it a little sweeter.

If you use already cooked shrimps, add them together with the rucola, stir and heat up for a minute. If you are using raw one, add the shrimps and let them cook for a minute or two before adding the rucola. The rucola should just be a bit wilted and the shrimps just cooked when you serve the dish with some nice bread that you can dip in the sauce!

It is Sunday and here I go with yet more links and photos

I realize that I have mostly links relating to photography this week but you might find them interesting anyway. I hope.

It is incredible what colour does to an old photo, take a look at these beautiful 100 yrs old photos from Russia and tell me if you feel as removed from them as you would have felt if they were shot in black and white or sepia?

It is a touching story and I think it is right that his day by day documentation over 18 years should be told. Polaroids are/were great.

This is useful for all of us with a camera!

An interview with the food stylist Christine Wolheim.

And finally something more directly food related-How to make the perfect meringue.

And to finish this list of links, why didn't I think of this before, it is such a good idea!

LEMON AND THYME MARINATED LEGUMES AND BARLEY SALAD WITH RADISHES AND RUCOLA

I promised to be a better blogger and I usually keep my promises so here is another recipe that has been hiding in the background for a while. I happen to like pulses and legumes, I like the taste and the texture and way they keep off hunger so well. Well at least for some hours and I can tell you that I need that. I seem to be on one big eating trip right now, I could stuff myself non-stop I suspect and then legumes are so good because they do fill up my doubting stomach. And I feel healthy too. You can always use your own favourite legumes if you don't like my choice.

LEMON AND THYME MARINATED LEGUMES AND BARLEY SALAD WITH RADISHES AND RUCOLA
4-6 servings

100 ml/ 0,42 cup split peas, dried
100 ml/ 0,42 cup green soya beans, dried
100 ml/ 0,42 cup chickpeas, dried
100 ml/ 0,42 cup barley
1/2 big lemon, zest and juice
fresh thyme
10 radishes
1 large handful of fresh rucola/rocket
parmesan flakes, optional
salt
extra-virgin olive oil

Soak the dried legumes overnight.

Start cooking the chickpeas for about 20 minutes before adding the rest of the legumes and the barley and then let it cook for another 20 minutes or longer if needed.

Meanwhile you mix lemon juice and zest with as much fresh thyme as you feel is needed and with 2-4 tblsp olive oil. When the legumes are ready, pour the marinade over them while still warm and then leave them for about an hour to soak up the flavours.

Slice the radishes thinly and add them to the salad, add the rucola and mix well. Top with parmesan flakes before serving.

Sweet Portuguese Bread: Massa Sovada - Bread Baking Babes

It is time for this month's Bread Baking Babes bread but first I have to tell you about the changes we have gone through. To be honest, I'm a bit late because I should have done that last month but I backed out of that challenge for various reasons so I'm doing it now. First of all we have decided on a fixed date, the 16th each month, when we will post about the month's bread challenge, then we have four new Babes too, Susan from Wild Yeast, Astrid from Paulchens FoodBlog, Pat from Feeding My Enthusiasms and Elizabeth from blog from OUR kitchen - a nice addition of 4 lovely ladies who are enthusiastic bakers.

So now you are updated on the news and I can get on with this bread that our Big Babe Tanna choose for us. Tanna is one of the most generous people I have met during these years I have spent here on my blog and I am sure that all of those who have come into contact with her agree with me. And this bread is generous too, just like she is! It is a nice, soft and moist sweet bread that is easy to bake, it is pretty obedient as well and I can tell you that the Babes loved that after last month's tricky but interesting bread! Check out what my fellow Babes did with the bread, list is found here and if you want to be a Bread Baking Buddy (who doesn't?), check out Tanna's blog when she wakes up over There.

Sweet Portuguese Bread: Massa Sovada
adapted from A Baker's Odyssey by Gregg Patent

over night sponge:
72 grams bread flour
2 1/4 teaspoons osmotolerant yeast I USED ABOUT 12 G FRESH YEAST
114 milliliters potato water, or whey or water (potato water or whey really make it extra tender & soft)

dough:
6 tablespoons butter, room temp.
30 to 100 grams brown sugar
lemon zest
1 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs, room temp
120 milliliters milk, room temp
460 grams bread flour, I USED HALF BREAD FLOUR AND HALF SPELT FLOUT
2 tablespoons flax seeds, ground

Mix together the sponge the night before baking the bread. Leave sitting at room temp 8 to 12 hours.

Beat sugar and butter until creamy. Add zest and salt and beat. Beat in each egg separately and completely; mix will appear curdled. Stir in milk and sponge. Stir in 2 1/2 cups flour and beat vigorously (in a stand mixer it would clear the sides of the bowl, by hand lifting the spoon up should stretch the dough about a foot.)

Add remaining flour to make stiff dough. Knead 5 minutes or more to incorporate all the flour, dough should be smooth, soft and very supple with a slight stickiness. Looks a little like very thick cake batter or a brioche dough.

Shape into ball, oil bowl and dough ball. Cover and allow to rise about 2 hours, should almost or triple in size.

Divide into loaves, shaped into balls. Allow to rest 20 to 30 minutes before final shaping with rolling pin. Press the handle of a rolling pin or something similar four times into each loaf, thus shaping a multiple cross which divides the loaves into wedges. See photos.

Shape and place into well oiled cake pans seam side down. I PUT THEM AS THEY WERE ON A BAKING SHEET. Allow to rise an hour to 2 hours; more than double in size.

Brush with egg wash if you want that beautiful glossy finish. Brush with melted butter when hot from the oven.

Bake 350°
50 minutes as two loaves
35 minutes as four loaves

It's back-Links On Sunday!

The web

This last week I haven't been very active on the recipe front, it is not due to any lack of them, I just didn't feel like writing down the actual recipes, it can be so boring but I will be better next week, I promise! At least I'm back to normal Sunday procedure, today I'm posting some Links On Sunday again and I have a lot of them to share with you, hopefully you will find at least one that make you happy. Or happier.

This is brilliant little film!

This is a post on the Wonderful Machine blog about how we look at photos, why look at them and how we talk and write about them.

I like this because it shows how we can use what seems to be blurry and unplanned for creating wonderful and unforeseen things, look at these drawings and think about how this can be applied to our lives, we are so easily stuck with routines and what we always see and do that we need to look again and see all the other possibilities we are offered.

To take a very hands-on example, check out this for example.

And when it comes to books, music and movies, this might help to discover new paths to stumble onto.

and it can even be applied to composting as well! (I'm a compost freak as well although I don't dare to look closer at mine, I have a feeling that someone is living inside it and I don't mean those who should live there)

And now a couple of food links, Kalyn makes food that I always feel kindred to, I am looking forward to the day when I can sit in her kitchen and eat at her table. I absolutely love cucumbers, I often eat them like others eat apples but this dish is definitely worth making!

Sandwiches are always worth exploring in my opinion, here's a great place to do that!

And if you are interested in exploring Tuscany's DOP or IGP product's here you have a great map over at Tuscanicious!

And to round up, I have two blogs that I would like to recommend, both with a food connection. The first is A Food Lover's Journey which is the blog of Anh, a very talented food blogger and photographer. I find her very inspiring.

The second blog is Still*Life~Style by the prop stylist Paula Walters, I'm very happy she started blogging after the Food Props on Sunday series here, I learn something or get inspired every time she puts out a new post!

Morning in Tuscany

grass, tree and sunlight

When things go contrary to my plans, when I wake up with a cloud hanging over my head or I'm just bored, there's nothing better than going out with my camera and that was what I did this morning. When I and my camera go out, I stop thinking and start looking and I cut off everything else than looking at the world around me; it is the most peaceful and relaxing thing I know. Apart from sleeping but then you run the risk of bad dreams. This morning I went on one of those walks and I would like to share a few images of an early August morning in the Tuscan countryside with you.

animal life


twirly


cypress

TOMATO MILLEFEUILLE WITH MOZZARELLA AND MEDITERRANEAN SALSA

I was going to make and post this month's Paper Chef entry today but a dead car battery killed my creative spirit, or should we say that I applied it on finding a way to fix it despite car being parked in an awkward position. And it wasn't that difficult, I just phoned to our local petrol station and asked if he could help me out and yes of course, as soon as he can, he will pop up to us and get it going, I just love living in a small context, people always know who you are and are ready to help. It also helps that his brother is one of our neighbours. Anyway, this little incident disturbed my plans so I picked out this dish instead. Depending on how big the tomato is, you can either use it as a starter or as a light lunch, anyway you choose it is an easy dish to make and you can use a lot of other ingredients for the salsa to suit your own taste.

TOMATO MILLEFEUILLE WITH MOZZARELLA AND MEDITERRANEAN SALSA
1-2 servings

1 mature tomato
1 mozzarella, I prefer buffalo but any fresh mozzarella is good
2 tblsp grilled peppers in oil, finely chopped
6-8 black olives, finely chopped
2 tsp capers
5-6 basil leaves, finely chopped
1-2 tblps extra-virgin olive oil

Slice the tomato and the mozzarella.

Mix the rest of the ingredients.

Put the first tomato slice on a dish, put a slice of mozzarella on it and then drizzle a spoon of the salsa on that. Put another tomato slice on it and then continue like before until you think the tomato is high enough, top with the cut off tomato top.

Ready to serve, that couldn't have taken more than 5-6 minutes right?

Walking on the Slopes- A Photo Essay from Switzerland

OK, prepare yourself for a long row of photos from Switzerland and the surroundings of Verbier where we stayed. We went out hiking every single day except one when it rained, some days it was hard and we came back destroyed but happy, other days it was light and we came home happy. We picked lots of wild strawberries and even some wild blueberries, we saw cows and cows and cows and it was lovely to be there on the sloping sides of the mountains. We went up and we went down, on winding paths or small roads, always moving forward, a bit like all those cows now when I come to think of it. There is something about walking that I really enjoy, it relaxes me and you can choose if you want to think or just exist and take in the scenery, the times when I distance myself from my being are invaluable because I need to forget about myself now and then, it's like going on vacation! I get so fed up with myself now and then that I'm happy when I can take those 'trips'! Enough, now I will let the photos speak, I hope you will enjoy them:

SARDINE AND CHICKPEA 'HUMMUS'

When I was a little girl I used to love tinned sardines but then I completely forgot all about them for about the rest of my lived life, they surfaced a few times but were never reinstalled in their former glory - now I am ready to regress back to my childhood love and I plan to stay there.

Beginning with this mock hummus because I don't dare call this hummus, I strongly approve of dogmatism when it comes to names of food (though I deviate now and then), because a name denominates a dish with certain ingredients and proceedings to how it is made with a certain degree of variations allowed before it is transformed into another dish. So I don't feel that I can really call this hummus just because it has chickpeas in it but I feel that I can call it a mock hummus or 'hummus'. And now when this is said I will proceed to the much talked about mock hummus, it is really easy to make and you can serve it in many ways, you can put in on cucumber slices like I have done here, you can use it as a spread on a sandwich or on crostini or you can use it as a dip, anyway you use it is easy to eat, I actually think I have to go and make some now, for lunch later on....

SARDINE AND CHICKPEA 'HUMMUS'

150 g/ 5,3 oz tinned sardines in olive oil
150 g/ 5,3 chickpeas, cooked
4 tsp sesame seeds
1 tblsp parsley, finely chopped
juice of 1 lemon, less if you want
chili pepper, optional
salt
extra-virgin olive oil

Carefully remove the spine from the sardine fillets and put them in a blender together with chickpeas, parsley, sesame seeds, lemon juice, chili and 2-3 tblsp olive oil. Run until smooth.

Taste and add salt if needed. If it is too stodgy add more olive oil or a little tepid water until you get the right consistency. Adjust heat and tanginess with chili and lemon and then enjoy it in the way you feel like.

HOME-MADE HERB AND SPICE SALT

I'm back and it feels great to be here again, as usual going away served its purpose and I feel inspired to create and I have lots of ideas that I want to try out to see if it is something I can serve you here on Lucullian. As to my trip to Switzerland, I will post about that later this week with lots of photos for those of you who are curious about what it looks like there!

It is so ridiculously simple to create your own spice and/or herb salts that I wonder why we have to buy them at all, here you have a version that I personally like very much, it is spicy and herby and even a little sweet which contrasts well with the salt, I hope you will like it as much as I do! It is pretty wonderful on fresh tomatoes, I can tell you that!






HOME-MADE HERB AND SPICE SALT

1 tsp black peppercorns
1 tsp coriander seeds
1 tsp fennel seed
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp pink peppercorns
2 tblsp table salt of the sort you prefer

There are two ways to do this, one is to use a mortar and pestle to crush the herbs and the spices and the other is to whiz all the herbs and spices in a spice mill or food processor. Whichever way you choose, you add the salt after you have worked with the spices and herbs. That's it-your herb and spice salt is ready to be used!

A quick first visual report from Switzerland

Still in Switzerland but want to share the first of many photos from here. I'll be back in Italy next week! Love & peace to all of you!






n.b. no religious intention here, just nice motif!