Blog Comments

We bought an outdoor 'pizza oven' : https://www.castironchimineas.co.uk/...za%20oven.html

it's lovely to sit round and watch the wood fire - completely rubbish to actually try to cook anything in

We want to see the results mate! Pictures are mandatory

Interesting read, and beautiful pictures! I've been meaning to make my own pizza from scratch at some point (only thing is I don't have the proper oven, but electric will do I guess..), maybe it's finally time!

Chapter 3 is up!

I've just posted the new chapter, A nightmare made of Pizza

lol I forgot to mention one thing, that sometimes you really "don't see it coming".. it happens, probably, as much as the other way around

Chapter 8 - Many defeats, and many fruitless victories... is up!

Chapter 8 - Many defeats, and many fruitless victories... is up!

I think I'm gonna sue them

Well I suppose that if one does not have any parmigiano cheese, putting some milk in the sauce can work as a surrogate .. but well I can ensure you that no traditional "bolognese" sauce has milk in it

Lol, I did use the milk in the end, and it actually tasted OK!

looked at various recipes including this one

Originally Posted by makanyane

Thanks for the pic Flinn! looks yummy - not trying that yet but am doing a slow cooked Ragu tonight - do you put milk in yours? It seems odd to me to have milk in a tomato/meat based sauce... but the 'traditional' recipes seem to have it

erm milk, that's definitely a "no" from me

where did you get that recipe from?

Thanks for the pic Flinn! looks yummy - not trying that yet but am doing a slow cooked Ragu tonight - do you put milk in yours? It seems odd to me to have milk in a tomato/meat based sauce... but the 'traditional' recipes seem to have it

@ Mak; look at the pic below

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

pic from last Friday, this is Spaghetti with seafood (shrimps, clams, cuttlefish and ciliegino tomatoes) prepared as I explained in my last reply above; this phase is when you put water in the pan after you have put halfway cooked pasta and all the ingredients.. after 5-7 minutes of cooking the water will go away and you'll get the fantastic cream I many times referred to

Originally Posted by makanyane

Thanks Flinn, they all look great. I definitely want to try the "saltare in padella" method with some mixed seafood. I like seafood pasta (prawns, clams, squid) but tend to fail with the sauce and just end up adding lots of butter

ah I see, if I may suggest you a way to cook it... first only olive oil and garlic, when the garlic is golden remove it; put the prawns, they have to stay there 30 seconds, no more, and take them out.. put the clams in and have them go for a couple of minutes maximum and take them out; last put in the squid (cut in pieces) and have it go for 1 minute or so, also pour in some white wine (half a glass), cut the fire and let it rest 5 minutes.. when the pasta is cooked al dente (even better if rather than 1-2 minutes before you take it out 3-5 minutes in advance), add it to the sauce (but be sure that the sauce is hot again before adding pasta!) then pour in like 3-4 ladleful of water from the pasta, add the other fish and cover it... let it go for 4-5 minutes covered, then uncover it and move it a lot.. soon the water will dry out and will become a cream.. Enjoy with a bottle of Vermentino!

Thanks Flinn, they all look great. I definitely want to try the "saltare in padella" method with some mixed seafood. I like seafood pasta (prawns, clams, squid) but tend to fail with the sauce and just end up adding lots of butter

Great tips, these dishes look delicious!

Chapter 2 is up!

Originally Posted by Alwyn

Cool first chapter, I'm looking forward to learning those cooking secrets!

soon

Cool first chapter, I'm looking forward to learning those cooking secrets!

there would me much more to say Mak, I limited myself to the most "interesting" points ; if I have to say something, there's a lot to learn in this experience, it'e very formative and it's worth the hassle, even in a country like Italy

...and let us know if you ever do get that Central Government money...

it was not much money, roughly 20k €, still for a small Municipality like ours, it represents circa 2 months of regular maintenance expenses..