Italian Archives — Days of Jay

Mushrooms with Creamy Polenta

11th September 20208th September 2020 Italian, Main Course autumn, Italian, mushrooms, polenta, vegetarian

It is mushroom season here in Italy and the hills are full of keen funghi hunters seeking out this seasonal treasure. Whether golden chanterelles, sponge-like morels or the most highly prized of all, the 'king of the forest' porcini, everything is fair game. That is, of course, if you have

Italian Caprese Pasta Salad

22nd August 202018th August 2020 Italian, light-bites basil, Italian, mozzarella, pesto, salad, summer, tomato

Yesterday it rained properly for the first time in weeks, and today we woke up to cool misty weather. It wasn’t long, of course, before the sun burst through, but it was a little hint that my favourite season of all, autumn, is on the horizon. Don’t get me wrong,

Tomato and Rosemary Focaccia

20th August 202020th August 2020 Italian, light-bites basil, Italian, mozzarella, pesto, salad, summer, tomato

At the very first restaurant I ever worked in, we would bake up huge trays of focaccia every evening, varying the topping throughout the week, from classic sea salt and rosemary, through caramelised onion with feta, or even red onion and romesco. Sliced and served with some olive oil and

Zucchini and Feta Pizza

21st July 202021st July 2020 main-event bread, Italian, pizza, vegetables, vegetarian, zucchini

We are still working our way through the seasonal surplus of delicious zucchini, not that I'm complaining! I adore this abundant and healthy summertime vegetable and I'm always looking for interesting ways to cook with it. Mostly in the warmer months it ends up threaded onto kebabs and grilled on

Italian Sausage Stuffed Zucchini

7th July 202019th July 2020 Italian, light-bites, lunch, Main Course, summer baked, easy, Italian, main, meat, traditional, zucchini

You know it must be summer when the zucchini plants suddenly start producing more vegetables than you know what to do with. This year we haven’t planted any ourselves but a few days ago our neighbour Davide kindly gave us some extra-large zucchini – perfect for today’s recipe: Italian Sausage