I've bragged about making colourful pasta recently, today the more interesting variety I've been making: pasta decorated with leaves. It's absolutely gorgeous - both visually and flavour-wise! Might seem a bit on a time-consuming side, but I guess if I've got time to make my own pasta, adding a few bits (or a sparkle, if you like) to it is not too much to ask for. The ingredients are identical to the plain plain pasta recipe: 200 g plain flour 2 eggs a pinch of salt a handful of leaves (basil, oregano, mint, rucola, chervil or parsley) Mix the ingredients in a large bowl and knead the pasta until smooth and elastic. Cover with cling film and leave in a fridge for 30 minutes to rest. Roll it as thin as possible - this is when the pasta maker comes handy - I don't honestly think I'd be able to roll it as thin as it does. I roll it through all the setting (from 1 to 9 on mine). Each time you need to get 2 similar sheets of pasta. Place one on a ...

If you think it's all about the sauce, and pasta is used merely to bulk the dish, you couldn't be more wrong. I've advanced my pasta making to decorative varieties. :-) First off, the colourful pasta. So far I've mastered the white shade (basic pasta dough), green and red - so a pasta dish in Italian coluors was inevitable. Due to the proportions, we ended up with enough food for 3 meals (ravioli), and at least 5 servings of soup pasta! :-) Red pasta: 200g of plain flour 1 egg 75 g cooked beetroot a pinch of salt extra flour for dusting Blend the beetroot in a food processor to a smooth paste. Add flour, salt and egg, mix all the ingredients into a dough, adding more flour if too sticky, which often happens with this type of dough as beetroots tend to be really moist. . Knead for a couple of minutes, until it's smooth and flexible. Cover the dough with cling filma and put it into the fridge for about 30 minutes to rest. Roll and cut into desired shap...

I got a pasta maker for my birthday and we seem to be eating nothing but pasta since! Though the every first attempt was far from successful, I quickly sussed it out. The fact that I naturally tend to start with the most complex things, didn't help here, either. Instead of taking baby steps and making simple spaghetti or tagliatelle first, I had a go at making ravioli :-) Well, I ate my humble pie and next time I made simple soup pasta. Successfully! :-) It reminded my of the childhood days when my gran would make a delicious soup with home-made pasta when I stayed with her. Of course, I keep hearing questions, like: why bother making something you can buy in every single shop? Well, I bother as the home-made pasta is incomparably better! :-P To make basic pasta dough you need: 1 cup of flour 1 egg a pinch of salt a dash of olive oil water if the dough is to dry more flour - if the dough is to sticky, also to sprinkle on the worktop The proportions above are enough fo...

A birthday wouldn't be complete without a proper birthday cake. And by proper birthday cake I understand a gateau type cake - and it needs to be moist and sweet. Usually they are a sponge cake type cake, dripped with punch, with layers and cream sandwiched in between. My cake, however was a poppy-seed cake, with coffee cream. Though, it's always been my favourite cake, it's the first time I made it, so I was a tad comprehensive. Luckily, everything turned out fine, the cake was fabulous, and I had a fantastic day, which makes gettign older more bearable ;-) Kidding, don't really care about that. The cake is quite time-consuming, but believe you me, it's well worth it! For the cake you need: 200grammes of ground poppy-seed 150 grammes of icing sugar 6 eggs 4 table spoons of bread crumbs 1 packet of vanillin sugar almond aroma butter or margarine to grease the baking tray Whisk the egss with sugar and vanillin sugar to a fluffy mixture. Add poppy seed,...

I first tried this meal back in Italy, and fell in love with it instantly. It is a great example of how to get the maximum of flavour with minimum of ingredients. Usually, we either have a small portion of it as a starter, followed up by the main course (most often involtini di pollo), or a large portion of smoked cheese is the main course, after a pasta dish first (pomodoro e basilico is my natural choice here). Today, however, as the temperature has hit over 30C, we decided to go for a small meal. You need: a large piece of smoked cheese a handful of fresh sage leaves 5-6 slices of parma ham a dash of olive oil salt and pepper Cut the cheese into slices of about 2cm thick. Place a sage leave on each slice of cheese, and wrap a slice of ham around it and season. Put the slices into a bake dish, or a small baking tray, sprinkle them with a dash of olive. Grill it for about 15-20 minutes.

I came across this meal in one of my mags, and it looked cool enough to give it a go. Worked so well that it has become one of our staple dishes since. Though the original recipe had Gorgonzola cheese in it, we've tried it with a variety of other blue cheeses and it worked equally well. Also, the first time I made it I used rose, instead of white wine, and must say that it probably worked even better. You need: about 0.5 of boneless pork chops 3 cloves of garlic salt pepper some dry basil and thyme a handful of fresh parsley leaves 3 tbsp of oil 5-6 slices of Gorgonzola 200 ml of wine (white or rose) Slice the meat and season it, sprinkle the herbs on top. Pre-heat the oil on  a frying pan, seal the chops on both sides (fry about 1 minute on each side, or until it turns golden brown), then move into a bake dish. Peel and finely chop garlic and parsley, place them on frying pan and fry them on a small heat in the remainder of the oil from dealing the meat. Pour in ...

 Although it is the simplest soup of all (I don't count the instant Chinese noodle soups or canned ready-made ones here), it's been my favourite since I can remember. Back when I was a child, it was an absolute must for a Sunday lunch. When I was old enough to try to make my own one, I was so sure of myself that I nearly forgot to add half of the ingredients :-) Luckily, I sussed out something was wrong early enough to salvage the soup! It still astounds me how could one cock up such a simple thing, but as they as "impossible is nothing " ;-) To make the soup you need: chicken meat (it may be 1 whole chicken, or parts - I usually use 4 legs and 3-4 wings) 4-5 carrots 3 parsnips half a small celeriac a bit of parsley 1 garlic clove 3 bay leaves 3-4 allspice grains 3-4 black pepper grains 1 chicken stock cube salt and ground pepper a pinch of dried lovage (optional) 1 tbsp dried veg mix  Preparation: There are two ways of cooking the soup, depending...