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Buongiorno!
We’re back with Episode 2 of “Cooking With Nonna” and today Nonna is showing you how to make her delicious lasagne!
In Episode 1, we showed you how to make the fresh pasta and bolognese sauce and today is all about using the same ingredients and putting them together as a lasagna!
Nonna has some great little nuggets of wisdom to share so I hope you enjoy the video!
(My Nonno also makes a special appearance towards the end, so stay tuned for some rather amusing outtakes!)
Today I'm sharing the recipe for my current favourite breakfast - a delicious and super simple Bircher muesli!
I've always been a fan of bircher muesli but had never actually tried making it myself until last month when I was flicking through Lola's Berry's book - Beauty Food (a lovely Christmas present from my parents-in-law!)
I was inspired and decided to give it a go, with a few adaptations to simplify it (using ingredients I already had), and although my version is much more streamlined, it is still very yummy!
As many others do when a new year begins, I've set myself a health related "resolution" or "intention" and this year it's all about promoting wellness and energy through mindful eating
(+ movement!)
I'm not someone who is particularly enthusiastic about spending time in the kitchen, but I'm slowly adding simple and healthy recipes to my repertoire and have actually been really enjoying the process!
I thought that I would share some of these "cooking adventures" on the blog as I go along, in the hopes that it will inspire you too! ... and if I can make them anyone can - trust me!
First up is this yummy (and simple) tuna, parsley and olive salad. Even if you're not a fan of tuna (Tom doesn't usually eat it but really enjoyed this meal!) I'd recommend giving this a go as the other ingredients mean it doesn't taste "tuna-y" at all!
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Today I made a spinach and pumpkin salad which turned out rather well (if I do say so myself), so I thought I'd take some photos and share it here with you. It's very simple and easy to make and is perfect as a side salad or even a main meal as the pumpkin and nuts really bulk it up. I would usually use pine nuts for this salad, but as I didn't have any on hand I substituted them with cashews and I think I actually prefer it this way! Feta cheese is also a nice addition if you have it on hand!
Ingredients:
*Baby spinach
*Butternut pumpkin
*Cashews (or Pine nuts)
*Avocado
*Feta Cheese (not included this time but my favourite is Danish Feta)
*Olive Oil
*Vinegar
*Pepper
Let's Do This:
Ok so it's pretty self explanatory - basically you want to chop the pumpkin into small bite size pieces, coat with a little olive oil and pop it in the oven at 180 degrees Celsius for around 25 minutes. This timing is approximate though so it may be a little longer or a little shorter.
Place the cashew nuts (or pine nuts) in a non-stick frying pan over medium heat, continually stirring so they don't burn.
For the dressing, stir together a little vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper.
Place the spinach, pumpkin, avocado and nuts into a bowl. Crumble over the feta and then drizzle the dressing over the top.
All Done! There you have an easy-peasy, super yummy and filling salad!
I like making salads like this as you don't need to be precise and you can throw in whatever you happen to have on hand. That's the kind of cooking I enjoy - adding a little dash or this or a handful of that. I'm not fond of really precise cooking where you need to measure everything out exactly - this probably explains why baking is not my forte!
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this slightly different kind of post. I always planned for this blog to be a bit more varied and not
just
fashion based - so hopefully this will be the year that I mix it up a bit!
Let me know if you have any favourite salads. I'd love to get some ideas!
Lots of Love
Lauren
xxx
On a completely off topic note, while I was eating this salad tonight I watched
and I had forgotten how much I love that movie - it is
hilarious
, and Meryl Streep is fantastic as always.
Just thought I'd mention it in case anyone's in need of a fun feel-good movie suggestion!
There's just something so Christmassy and lovely about the smell of gingerbread baking in the oven. I made it for the first time last year, and it's a pretty simple recipe so I thought I'd take some photos this time and share it with you.
Gingerbread is perfect as a little home-made gift, or just to bring round if your'e visiting a friend. The recipe I used is from last years
Christmas catalogue and is super yummy!
(On a side note, Kikki.K has some great gift packs if you're Christmas shopping for stationery lovers!)
This recipe makes 60-70 cookies. I didn't read that part last year and decided to double the recipe... That was a big mistake - unless you want a crazy amount of gingerbread!
Ingredients
For the Gingerbread:
* 200g butter
*250ml golden syrup
*400g white sugar
*1 tbsp ground cloves
*1 tbsp ground ginger
*1 tbsp cinnamon
*250ml cream
*1 tbsp bicarbonate soda
*7-8 cups plain flour
For the Icing:
*2 large egg whites
*2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
*3 cups icing sugar (sifted)
*food colouring
Method:
Gingerbread
*Note - you'll need to prepare the dough a day in advance
1. In a medium saucepan on low heat, melt the butter and combine the syrup, sugar, spices and cream.
2. Pour the mixture into a large mixing bowl and add the bicarbonate soda and 7 cups of flour. Mix to combine ingredients into dough.
3. Leave the dough to rest in the fridge overnight
*
I suggest taking the dough out of the fridge about 10 minutes before you plan to roll it out so it has time to warm up a bit (otherwise it's very hard to work with!)
4. Preheat the oven to 175 degrees Celsius
5. On a floured bench, work the mixture with your hands as you add the remaining flour.
This is what the recipe said, but I basically just scooped out a chunk of dough from the bowl, added flour as needed and rolled it out as thin as I could.
6. Cut out shapes using your cookie cutters and place on a tray lined with baking paper
I actually found it easier to roll out the dough, transfer it onto a piece of baking paper and roll it out again a bit more thinly. This way you don't have to transfer the cookies from the bench to the paper and risk decapitating the poor gingerbread man.
7. Bake for 5-6 minutes or until golden brown
8. Cool on a wire rack - Ensure the gingerbread is completely cool before you start icing them.
Icing
1. Beat the egg whites with the lemon juice or vanilla extract until frothy
2. Add the sifted icing sugar and beat on low speed until all combined, smooth and shiny
3. Beat at high speed for about 5 minutes until stiff and glossy
4. Separate into bowls and add food colouring
5. Scoop into sealable sandwich bags, cut a tiny hole in one corner and pipe the designs onto the gingerbread.
I made a mistake with the yellow and cute the hole a little too big so ended up with quite thick icing. Just experiment and you'll find the best way to manipulate it.
I hope you enjoyed!
Let me know if you give them a try!
Lauren
xxx
© 2023 Lauren Natalia
