706. Pate di Carciofi

Pate di carciofi is an Italian dip made from artichokes and white beans. It’s super simple - you just blend up artichokes, cannellini beans, garlic and a little olive oil to make it smooth, and that’s it. I used the artichokes that come in a jar with oil so I just used that oil to give an extra hint of artichoke flavour. The result is a bit like a thick hummus and is really tasty with veggies or crackers dipped into it.

707. Matzo

I remember always having matzo in our house when I was younger. Back then I never knew they had any sort of cultural significance or uses more than just being a good tasting cracker. I must say my favourite way to eat them is still to just have them plain with a thin spread of butter.

707 down, 1089 to go

690. Taleggio

Taleggio was another of the cheeses I picked up at Wally’s recently. It’s an Italian cheese which has a texture similar to brie so I used it in the same ways as I would use that. For this dinner I stuffed the chicken breasts with some of the taleggio, then wrapped them in bacon before roasting them in the oven. I also roasted all my veggies in the same tray so that they would pick up the bacon flavour and any of the lovely melty cheese that escaped!

690 down, 1106 to go

686. Black Perigord Truffle

Truffles can be extremely expensive, so I was very lucky to be able to get a very small jar from work and save myself a whole lot of money in the process! I wanted to use them in a luxurious dinner to make sure to bring out the best in them, so I cooked some authentic Italian spaghetti and made a sauce with chicken, mushrooms, white wine and cream, then folded in the chopped truffle at the last minute. The truffle flavour is lovely - it is both strong and subtle and adds an earthiness to the dish. I doubt I will be having them again any time soon though!

686 down, 1110 to go

684. Biscotti

Biscotti are double-baked biscuits (biscotti literally means twice-cooked), which results in them being extra crunchy - perfect for dunking into coffee but likely to break your teeth if you try to eat them dry! I just picked up a single one to take home when I was at a coffee shop, so this was a classic biscotti with almonds. I would like to try making some of my own though as I would add other yummy ingredients like chocolate chips and pistachios.

685. Cafe au Lait

I just recently bought myself a mini French press so that I can make myself proper coffee at home. If I’m just having regular coffee I normally tend to have it black, but I added some milk this time to make it a cafe au lait. Also, this post brings my remaining total down to 1111 which I love (yes, I am easily entertained by small things!)

685 down, 1111 to go

673. Crab Linguine

A little while back, Pie came home from work with a surprise for me. Handing over a carrier bag I found it was filled with 2 huge crabs. I’ve never even cooked with crab from a can before, let alone fresh crab which I have to get out of the shells. I found a tutorial online and got to dismantling them. It took a good while but I ended up with a lot of crab meat (so much so that we ate crab the entire weekend). Friday night’s dinner was this crab linguine. It’s a really simple pasta dish where the crab is just mixed with olive oil, lemon juice, a little chilli and some parsley so that the sweet flavour of the crab is the main star and isn’t overwhelmed. It was delicious and was definitely a great way to eat the crab.

673 down, 1123 to go

665. Gjetost

This was another of the picnic-style lunches that I like so much. I’d visited Wally’s delicatessen in town so I picked out a bunch of list items to make up a pretty fancy meal. The first thing was gjetost, which is a Norwegian brown cheese. It’s a caramelised cheese made from boiled whey, and it ends up having a fudgey texture and a sweet taste. It was just about the weirdest thing I’ve ever eaten in my whole life. Neither the texture nor the taste was anything like any other cheese I’ve ever had. It wasn’t bad per se, it was just so confusing to my mouth that I don’t think my brain really knew what to do with it. It retains a vague hint of cheesiness, but that is overshadowed by the sweetness, so you’re left kind of unsure as to whether you’re actually eating a cheese or if it’s really some odd type of candy. I ended up offering tastes to a bunch of my friends and family and they all had similar experiences.

666. Ajvar

Ajvar is a sauce made from red peppers. I used it here as a dip for veggies, but I think it would also be really nice for a lot of other uses. I’m going to try adding it to grilled cheese sandwiches, and I think it would be great as a ready-made pasta sauce.

667. Prosciutto di San Daniele and 668. Finochionna Salami

I also got a couple of meats from the charcuterie counter. Prosciutto di San Daniele is an Italian ham, which I found was really just very similar to any other kind of prosciutto or Parma ham I have tried in the past. The finochionna salami is a salami made with fennel seed and, as someone who isn’t a huge salami fan, I found it delicious. It was really meaty with a hint of spiciness and sweetness.

668 down, 1128 to go

647. Pea Shoots

I’ve been on a bit of a homemade pizza kick lately. I got one of those pizza stones, so I’ve gone to the effort of making my own dough, and then topping it with literally everything in my cupboards. On this occasion I tossed a bunch of pea shoots on the side to make it seem like my meal was healthy. Pea shoots are weird because they look like salad, but they taste like cold peas.

647 down, 1149 down

646. Petti di Pollo alla Fiorentina

When my dad came to stay a little while back I wanted to make a nice dinner. My dad loves spinach, so I thought this Italian chicken dish would be perfect. Petti di pollo is a chicken breast, and anything alla Fiorentina (or Florentine) means with spinach, so the dish is basically chicken with spinach and cheese sauce. So as to make it into a one-pot meal, I sliced the chicken breasts thin, then pan-fried them before layering them up in a dish with the spinach and cheese sauce (which I had mixed together), and then added a layer of sliced potatoes on the top. It came out tasting great.

646 down, 1150 to go

636. Spaghetti Aglio e Olio

Spaghetti aglio e olio is one of those classic Italian dishes which I’ve often heard about but never tried before. Spaghetti with nothing but olive oil and garlic just sounded kind of dull to me, and also really heavy if you’re having all that pasta and olive oil with very little else to lighten the dish up and cut through the stodge. I decided to give it a go for my lunch though so I heated up the olive oil with a couple of cloves of sliced garlic and mixed in the spaghetti. I found that my suspicions were at least part right. Surprisingly it wasn’t too heavy, the garlic seemed to be enough to give it a kick and cut through the oil; it was dull though. The first couple of mouthfuls were lovely, the strong garlic flavour really came through, but after that I was just craving for there to be something else. Some other flavour or texture to mix it up a little. I think perhaps this would be nice as a side dish, but I wouldn’t have it as a bowl of pasta on its own again.

636 down, 1160 to go

606. Lamb Chops

I had these lamb chops when I went out for a big family dinner for my Gran’s 80th birthday, and they were hands down the best lamb I’ve ever eaten. We went to Nicolino’s which is an Italian restaurant in my hometown that always serves great authentic Italian food. The lamb chops were pan-fried and came with a little parcel of spiced minced lamb rolled in aubergine, some potato gratin and a delicious rich wine gravy. Oh my god. Seriously, I said it before but it was really the best lamb ever. It was cooked perfectly, just a little pink, it was tender and juicy and moist and flavourful and sweet and rich and the tiniest bit charred and I could go on and on. And now I’m starving.

606 down, 1190 to go