We have more than 20 doors in our house, and they all need to be painted (or we want them to be white ;-)). Every door side needs 4 layers of paint. In summertime this would be a great job outside, but in wintertime the ‘cantina’ is my workshop. I can do 2 sides at … More Cold, rainy and windy weather = time for soup
Buy a small good tasting pumpkin of approx 1.5-1.8 kilo. Cut in 2 halves. Remove the seeds. Put both halves in an oven dish. Spread a large drizzle of good olive oil. Cover with aluminium foil and bake in the oven at 180-200° until the meat is almost soft (approx 1h). Use the oven at … More Pasta with pumpkin, chestnuts and gorgonzola
Oil a round oven dish. Clean 400 grams of carrots, chop in quarters. Clean 300 grams of green beans. Chop 4 garlic cloves and 1 peperoncini. Cut 300 grams of small potatoes in halves. Put everything in the oven dish. Buy 1 small chicken. Cut in pieces. Keep the bones, wings and spine to prepare … More Easy cooking
Steam 500 grams of chopped carrots in the microwave until al dente. Drain and add 1 can of drained chickpeas, 3 garlic cloves, 1 peperoncini, 1 teaspoon of cumin seeds, 1 teaspoon of dried basil. Blend, taste, add pepper and salt. If the mixture is too liquid you can add some breadcrumb. Oil your hands … More Vegetarian burgers without pickles 😉
Living in Castelnuovo Berardenga now where there are two little supermarkets, fresh fish will be a good reason to go to Siena. Ottolenghi’s last book, Simple, is amazing. The ovenbaked rice with caramalized tomatoes and mackerel filet with pistachio and cardamom seem a wonderful combination. Put 500 grams of cherry tomatoes, 6 chopped garlic cloves, … More Fish on the menu
The November magazine of ‘my’ supermarket Coop offers a lot for 1euro. The ‘crostata di polenta integrale con formaggio e broccoletti’ looks really attractive. No bacon and more vegetables and the recipe becomes a docV;-). Prepare 120 grams of whole wheat polenta in salted water (add some thyme for extra flavor), following the instructions. Pour … More Recipes and gastronomic culture
Last week our neighbours brought us a special welcome gift : extra vergine olive oil from the olive trees of our common olive trees. How wonderful to have our own olive oil, approx 15 liters!!! The local olive oil has a wonderful reputation in Tuscany. Soon we will try to follow a course to learn … More Special gift, special feeling
If people ask me what my favorite dish is, there is no way I could give you an immediate answer. Followers of my blog can probably notice that I love to serve everything on one large plate ( call it Ottolenghi style or docV’s ;-)). I prefer to combine lots of vegetables (min 300 grams … More Wintersalad
Cauliflower has it all : cheap, healthy, good looking and a creative protagonist in the world kitchen. Cut the cauliflower in smaller pieces. If the cauliflower is fresh, you can use it all. Blanch shortly. The brand new book of Ottolenghi, Simple, gives me even more inspiration. Chop and fry 1 onion, 4 garlic cloves … More Always a hit, cauliflower
We try to understand the italian system of rennovation works. Prepared with a long list, with our priorities, we meet our lovely geometra (also a real italian profession), Filippo, to discuss our plans. We try to understand each other in the best way and realize that it’s a good idea to send a weekly ‘reminder’. … More Late appointment, quick meal
Doc V's Healthy Kitchen 