Only Recipes, by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Photo and Recipe by Alessandra Zecchini  © Ingredients 4 ripe bananas Juice of one lemon 100 g icing sugar + some for dusting 1 pinch ground cinnamon 100 ml vegetable oil 2 eggs 200 g self rising flour Mash the bananas with the lemon juice, add the rest of the ingredients (in the order given above) and mix well. Grease a cake mould and pour the cake mixture in, bake at 180°C for approximately 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. Reverse onto a serving plate (I used my Mum's cameo plate), dust with icing sugar and serve. We have this for breakfast with caffellatte. And if you like to consider where you coffee and banana come from... please join us at Slow Food Waitakere for:  SLOW FOOD   WAITAKERE   FAIR TRADE COFFEE BREAK Slow Food Waitakere is hosting a Coffee Break, as part of Oxfam's Biggest Coffee Break during Fair Trade Fortnight and it would e great if you could co

Photo by Alessandra Zecchini  © I have a special bog candy for you this week:  Fresh As  products! Two lucky readers will receive the set as shown in the picture: 1 pack of strawberry powder, 1 pack of strawberry slices, and 2 packs of mandarin segments (plus recipe cards). You can also see the products  here , and for a sample recipe look here . If you live in New Zealand Click here to enter Good Luck!

Ok, the TTT name is my invention, but the recipe is really Taiwanese. Several years ago I had a Taiwanese baby-sitter, she was also vegetarian (in Taiwan there is a strong vegetarian Buddhist tradition) and she didn't cook with garlic, onion, chives and leeks (this is the old Buddhist tradition). She taught me a lot of recipes... no, not recipes, maybe I should say 'ways of cooking'. This recipe is so basic that I almost thought of not putting it on the blog, but the fact is that it is quite amazing!! In my Italian brain I never thought of combining tomatoes with tofu and soy sauce this way, it didn't feel right, and I was quite skeptical when she showed it to me. And then I tasted it: WOWOWOW, it works! And not only it works, the kids love it, and it is so easy and quick... and in a way it feels so ... ethical! Yes, just a few low cost ingredients, not much time or energy needed, and lots of proteins. I usually used some red ripe tomatoes, but I

The other day I posted  this way of cooking artichokes  ( alla romana , Roman style) because it is the best way for me... and because we only had 4 artichokes :-). Then Sandra and John gave us 14 artichokes, 4 we gave to friends who came to visit us on Sunday, and 10 (a real luxury in NZ) I cooked yesterday. Loredana  suggested that I fill them with bread, egg, cheese and parsley (and maybe garlic) and I wanted to try.  I prepared 5  my usual way  but also added some fresh basil leaves because I didn't have enough parsley, then I kept a bit of the chopped herbs and garlic aside and added one egg, some breadcrumbs and some grated parmesan. I made 5 'balls' and pressed them inside the artichokes. Topped with olive oil, added water at the bottom, and simmered everything for a couple of hours. Ready! 5 of us for dinner, so one of each type for everyone, and we really liked them.  Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchin

My motto is "when in doubt bake some bread!" Not cake but bread, my kids like bread over cakes, which is good, since I like it too! This is easy, a mixture between flat bread and focaccia really: place 300 ml warm water in a large mixing bowl, add 2 tsp active yeast granules and 1/4 tsp raw sugar. Wait 5 minutes then add 400 g high grade flour and 1 tbsp wheat gluten flour, plus a good pinch of salt. Mix with one hand (sticky!), then dust with four, cover with cling film and let it rise for 2 hours. After 2 hours flour your hands and then pick up the dough and divide into two pieces which you will pull to make two long loaves (like in the picture).  Place the loaves on a long baking tray (I have a 90 cm oven) or make 4 smaller loaves if you have a regular oven. brush with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and then with seeds. I used sesame seeds on one loaf and cumin seeds on the other one. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 200° C for approximately 20-25 mi

Kazuyo  gave me 4 artichokes, so we got one each and I cooked them  alla romana,  the   best way to make a few artichokes go a long way. Cut the spikes off, and the stalks and then immediately put the artichokes in water and lemon (so that they don't become black) to wash them. Finely chop plenty of Italian parsley with garlic and a pinch of salt, and use this to fill the centre of each artichoke. Place the artichokes side up in a pot, drizzle some olive oil in the centre of each artichoke and add a little water at the bottom (about 2 fingers). Cover with a lid and simmer on low for a long time (1-2 hours) adding water from time to time. The artichokes are ready when the leaves easily detach with your fingers.  This is Vegan and Gluten Free To eat the artichokes remove the harder outer leaves with your fingers and just scrape the flesh off with your teeth (keep a bowl on the side to discard the used leaves) until you get to the heart, which can be eaten whole

Our friends Fiona and Jonathan recently got married in Las Vegas, a bit of a surprise really, so upon their return (and once we actually found out) we invited them for dinner with other friends. What better excuse for a dinner party? Instead of cake I thought of having some wedding cupcakes, and Arantxa got really enthusiastic about making a small bride and groom to put on the top cupcake, using fondant. She set to work using white, almond, pink and chocolate fondant, and her miniatures were as small (or smaller) than mini Polly Pockets dolls!!! Just look at her finger next to them! Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini, fondant bride and groom by Arantxa Zecchini Dowling ©