Tag: Italian food

Posted on by — 2 Comments

Basil, mint and Pecorino Romano pesto

Growing up in South Korea, basil was not an ingredient that I was ever familiar with. I ate dishes with basil at Italian restaurants, but I had never seen the fresh basil until I went to study in London. First thing about fresh basil that hit me before anything else was its fragrance. The unique and intoxicating aroma of basil blew my mind instantly. Like Marcella Hazan wrote in her book Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking, “The less basil cooks, the better it is, and that its fragrance is never more seductive than when it is raw.” …What a beautiful thing to say. Continue reading Basil, mint and Pecorino Romano pesto

Posted on by — 4 Comments

20 minute meal – Squid ink spaghetti with crab and green chilis

crab chili squid ink pasta

I came down with a terrible flu last week. So terrible that I didn’t even have much appetite (that rarely happens to me), and couldn’t think of what to have for dinner. Fortunately my appetite came back after a couple of days, which I figured as a sign of recovery, and one of the first things I wanted to eat was pasta. In fact, I could eat pasta pretty much everyday, not a problem for me at all. Continue reading 20 minute meal – Squid ink spaghetti with crab and green chilis

Posted on by — 8 Comments

20-minute meal – Garlic and caper butter with parmesan linguine

Have you ever watched ‘Jamie’s 15-minute meals’ and tried to replicate his recipes?  Unfortunately I was never able to make the dishes from the show in 15 minutes. Well, I am not Jamie Oliver after all so it is understandable I guess. Cooking technique or the speed is one thing but the most challenging part for me is the space. 15-minute meal is all about having everything ready to go in front of you and this includes all the equipment and tools. But I simply cannot layout more than 3 pots or pans in my tiny humble kitchen. So speedy cooking for me usually means that I am making 1-2 pot dishes, and pasta is just a natural choice in this case. Continue reading 20-minute meal – Garlic and caper butter with parmesan linguine

Posted on by — 9 Comments

My version of Sicilian pesto – ‘Pesto alla trapanese’

I love Italian food. Dare I say I love it almost as much as I love Korean food, and definitely eat as often as Korean food. Although I enjoy cooking Italian dishes, I am a little afraid of posting my recipes here. Italians are known to be very specific about their food, and many Italian people I’ve met over the years have proven that. So in order not to disgrace traditional ‘Pesto alla trapanese’ I have read and watched videos of many different types of recipes, from Nigella Lawson’s to a sweet Sicilian nonna’s. And after some researching and experimenting, I have come up with my favorite version, which is vegetarian without anchovy fillets and has no raw garlic. I know what you’re thinking, no garlic in pesto?? Believe me I have tried… Continue reading My version of Sicilian pesto – ‘Pesto alla trapanese’

Posted on by — 2 Comments

Whole wheat penne with funghi porcini tomato sauce

As my healthy-ish eating continues after an over-indulgent holiday, I just couldn’t stop dreaming about a bowl of pasta. Honestly, who doesn’t like pasta? I think the world will become much happier place if we can all eat pasta everyday without worrying about the carbs…Anyways, I have kept some whole wheat penne in my cupboard so I’ve decided to make rich tomato sauce to go with it, but without any meat or seafood. Instead I am using dried ‘funghi porcini’ (porcini mushrooms), which will give the sauce great depth of flavor. I came across with these magical little ingredients a couple of years ago, and I rarely leave them out when I make meatless tomato sauce. Continue reading Whole wheat penne with funghi porcini tomato sauce