Tuesday, 17 March 2026

Late Winter Salad with Fennel, Orange and Olives : 'Insalatina di finocchi, arancia e olive'

Welcome to the last days of Winter. The sunlight are getting longer and the temperature is slowly warming up. Fresh fennel and blood red oranges (in fact any variety of oranges) are at their best, and last season's cured olives are now ready to eat. Here is one of my favourite seasonal salads. This salad is easy to make, full of fresh flavours, and will only take you 5 minutes to prepare.

In Italian it is called 'Insalatina di finocchi, arancia e olive' meaning 'Italian Fennel, Orange and Olive Salad'. It combines some wonderful flavours: fresh and crispy fennel, juicy sweetness of the orange, and the salty full flavour of local olives (black olives are best to use).
Home made  'Insalatina di finocchi, arancia e olive'
using blood and local oranges, our own cured olives, plus locally grown fennel

Ingredients:
½ - 1 fennel
2 oranges peeled (blood orange and / or navel oranges)
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (Sabina D.O.P.)
1 large handful of black olives, (gaeta, leccino, carboncella, suggested varieties)
Pinch of fine sea salt, to taste

Instructions:
Chop your fennel in long thin strips, along the grain of the fennel. Cut your juicy ripe peeled oranges into cubes. Add both the fennel and the orange pieces along with a handful of black olives into a bowl.  Drizzle over a healthy amount of olive oil ( please only use extra virgin olive oil, as it is the best!) and sprinkle over some salt, to taste. Mix all the ingredients together and serve chilled.

Tip: If you make this salad a few hours before you need it, just mix it and leave it in the fridge. The flavours will blend together.

Please tell me what you think.



Friday, 6 February 2026

Risotto ai funghi - Mushroom Risotto

Risotto ai funghi - Seasonal Italian Recipe

Mushroom Risotto, Risotto ai funghi, is a typical Winter risotto recipe that I enjoy cooking for my family. This risotto combines the earthy fresh taste of mushrooms with the creaminess of rice and parmigiano cheese. Topped with fresh parsley.  It's absolutely delicious and we hope you enjoy making it too.

Risotto ai funghi Recipe

Ingredients (serves 6): For the vegetable stock: 1 carrot, 1 celery stalk, 1 small onion, a large pinch of salt. For the risotto: 500 (17,6 oz) g of 'Arborio' or 'Carnaroli' rice, 300g (10.5 oz) of fresh champignon or porcini mushrooms, 50g (1.7 oz) of butter, 1 cup of grated parmigiano cheese, 1 small onion, half a glass of white wine, salt, pepper and fresh chopped parsley to taste.

Method: Prepare the vegetable stock by placing a whole peeled onion, a carrot and a stalk of celery together in a large pot of water with a large pinch of salt. Once the stock is boiling, lower the heat and keep it simmering while making risotto.

Finely chop an onion and gently fry it in most of the butter (leave a curl for later). Add sliced mushrooms. Add dry rice and let it fry with all other ingredients for a minute or two, stirring. Pour in white wine and let it evaporate. Pour enough boiling vegetable stock to cover rice. Stir rice from time to time but not continuously. Add more boiling liquid if necessary. Check salt and add a pinch if necessary. When rice is 'aldente' (cooked but firm) add Parmigiano cheese, a curl of butter and stir vigourously. Garnish with fresh finely chopped parsley. Serve immediately and hot.

Buon appetito!