Tomato Passata sauce, part 1
Tomato Passata sauce, part 2
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Mussels soutè
Ciao, here I am back in Umbria ready to share a few words and many images with you showing what has made November an amazing month for me ,full of incredible emotions and beautiful experiences.
After flying to London for the second time this year I arrived in my “other kitchen” and with my [...]

Homemade Pappardelle fresh pasta served with Ragù alla Bolognese
A few days ago on my Sagraincasa Face Book page and on Twitter I announced what for me was very exciting and great news “ the Umbrian country girl chef will arrive to work in London this February “ . Mamma Mia, the positive responses [...]

Pigeon breast,figs and pancetta served it with fondue potato and sweet and sour shallots
After exactly 13 years of living in this beautiful corner of Umbria near Orvieto, I decided the time had come for me to master the cooking and eating of a local favourite, pigeon!
You must understand that for me ,originally a [...]
Crispy potato threads, lamb and fresh spinach
Hello to you all
I know it’s been a long time, so after weeks of not only doing lots of cooking but also working really hard in the garden, I thought it was about time I brought you up to date with what`s been happening in our very [...]

Handmade sausage, served on a white bean truffle puree and Porcini mushrooms
“Ciao Simona,”said my friend Eva “ unfortunately today we have to slaughter one of our pigs, and I`m just calling to ask if you would like to come over on Sunday afternoon to help us make some sausages?”…………………..
Well that`s how it all [...]

Lamb with artichoke drops
How is your winter going? Here in Umbria the weather is fairly good , yes days are wet and gray but we can’t really complain after all it is still winter, right?
These months, when you live in the countryside, are always very slow and boring. Each day starts with taking [...]

Chocolate tagliatelle pasta served with a spicy wild board sauce
After about three months the hunting season is now almost over and most of the Allerona’s hunters will have their freezers full of wild boar meat and jugs of sauces to go with this meat have been prepared and are [...]

Lumachelle
Last weekend Orvieto hosted a big event called “OFF” (Orvieto Food Festival ). It was advertised everywhere, even in the Vanity Far and Style Magazine! The idea was for Orvieto to show to as many people as possible all the good food and wine that is produced here. Along with tours, wine tasting and lots [...]

Homemade olive ascolane
For the farmers around Orvieto , the situation is serious this year. To start with although the vines produced excellent grapes that were full of sugar, unfortunately there was far less of them and the overall harvest in the area was reduced by almost 40%. Now, we are coming up to [...]

Rabbit cooked in red wine and prunes
Coming out from a routine is what a good break is all about . Waking up and realizing that it isn’t your turn to make a cappuccino, feed the chickens , cats, dog or goat is what I call a HOLIDAY.
Short but sweet: we had a couple [...]

Nigella Lawson's Chocolate pasta with Pecans & Caramel
A few days ago I was contacted by a Daily Mail journalist, her name was Jan and she was calling from London. She had this idea to organize a culinary day in my kitchen here in Umbria with myself and a local housewife/ nonna (nana),cooking 8 [...]

Chicken breast with sun-dried tomatoes, fresh herbs wrap in DOP mortadella. Gentely sous vide cooked.
This year the vineyard has done very well, we have lots of big, beautiful grapes. The maturation is complete , so now it’s time, like every year, to harvest. In fact, even the wild boar have realized that our [...]

Paccheri with Amatriciana fish
Once upon a time in the hills of Umbria there was a “young” lady called Simona who every springtime worked very hard on her land preparing it for her vegetable plants .This year she planted many things including: 6 cucumbers plants, 10 zucchini 9 eggplants and 80 tomato plants. She [...]

pork tenderloin baked in a salt crust
Hello, yes I am alive! To give you an idea of what has been happening here over the last few weeks, I’ve made a short list :
1. Preparing the soil for this summer’s vegetable garden ( very hard work with a rotovator , best left to Nick) [...]

Mazzafegato and Lentils soup
Encouraged by the enthusiasm ,curiosity and the desire to test and learn everything ,shown by the new group of students from the Culinary Institute of America ,I decided to introduce them to some of the typical produce of areas protected by THE SLOW FOOD ASSOCIATION. Promoted as an alternative to fast food, [...]
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100% Typical Italian
Homemade Pappardelle fresh pasta served with Ragù alla Bolognese
A few days ago on my Sagraincasa Face Book page and on Twitter I announced what for me was very exciting and great news “ the Umbrian country girl chef will arrive to work in London this February “ . Mamma Mia, the positive responses [...]