Orecchiette with courgette and goat’s cheese sauce

This food stylist wannabe got crazy when she saw yellow courgettes in farmer’s market for the first time – until then I had only seen it on books, magazines and food TV shows. Of course I brought some home and immediately thought of something tasty and visually beautiful to make with it.

For this recipe I used red onion so I could have a nice color contrast, however after that day I made this

Loaded potatoes with spinach, cheese and bacon

I work for a Swiss company and this week several of my peers from Switzerland have been asking me about/wishing me a good Carnival – it is funny because I am not a Carnival person (they do not know that), but I do enjoy the days off (Netflix, here I come!). :)

To me these loaded potatoes are perfect for lazy days: just a handful of ingredients, easy prepping, and delicious results. My versions

Vegetable tagine and some planning in the kitchen

There are times when work is pretty intense (like last week, for instance), and something I have been doing for those times is to have ready or almost ready meals in the fridge or freezer – it makes a huge difference. Planning is, indeed, everything.

Meatballs, tomato sauce, pesto sauce, soups, beef stews – these have been my usual suspects lately. Now I will add one more dish to my list:

Red onion tarte tatin with rye pastry

I was never a pie/tart maker (one look at the blog index can confirm that), but I do love pies and tarts: I just don’t have much time for them, I guess. Two things that have helped me with this matter is making the pastry in one day and assembling and baking the pie on the other, or keeping an extra batch of pastry in the freezer – nothing like having the pastry ready when you find beautiful

Spinach, cheese and chorizo calzones

When I have difficult and/or very busy days I usually take a breather and go to People magazine’s website: I get to read about celebrities and for that I don’t need to use any of my brain cells. :D

Today I read about how Kim Cattrall “killed” the plans of a third SATC movie, and for that we all have to send Kim a big thank you card – the first movie was nice, but the second was absolutely

Stuffed zucchini, not like my grandma's

One of the dishes that remind me of my grandmother the most is stuffed zucchini: she would make these quite often when she lived with us because my father liked it a lot.

I did not like meat growing up and back then I did not understand why my grandma would make this dish so often, but now that I am all grown up it makes a lot of sense to me: it is delicious – when prepared properly – and it

Asparagus and gorgonzola galette with corn flour pastry and creative days

I could start several posts with “when I was still working on the book project” because during that time I exercised my creativity almost on a daily basis. Everything I saw was a source of inspiration, and a trip to the grocery store or the farmers’ market would turn into an idea, that turned into a recipe, that turned into several tests in my kitchen. Several times my husband and I ate the

Zucchini, bacon and cheese clafoutis

Those of you around here for a while know that the other habitant of my house used to be a very picky eater until he spent (precious) days in China - one of the things he did not eat back then was heavy cream (!).

That has luckily changed and many times in the warmer months, when we wanted something light but still delicious I made savory clafoutis for lunch and served with a big salad.

Zucchini and chorizo risotto - a truly delicious recipe

You might think that I obsess over sweet ingredients only – and taking a look at the blog, who can blame you? :) – but some savory ingredients make me so happy I want to include them in just about anything. Chorizo is one of them: ever since I tried it for the first time I have been using it in several dishes, always with delicious results.

I make risottos often and it was only a matter of

Hasselback baby eggplants

If you have been reading me for a while now you probably know that I am a huge fan of Nigella Lawson – I was lucky enough to meet her a few years ago and got one of my books autographed. She is the one who, ages ago, introduced me to Hasselback potatoes, a recipe I find not only delicious but also really pretty.

When I was still working on the book project, I thought one day: “why not

Roasted tomato and red lentil soup and freezing feet

I believe that one of the reasons why my love for the winter has considerably decreased is the fact that at least here in Sao Paulo we are not actually prepared for cold temperatures: there is no heat inside most of houses and apartments, stores and restaurants – one suffers with the cold both outside and inside. Taking a shower is a nightmare, getting dressed another one. :S

As I type this

Broccolini, caramelized onions and mozzarella frittata, or eggs are my kitchen heroes

I can surely say that eggs are one of my favorite things to eat and to cook with: I love how tasty, healthy and versatile they are. No matter how empty your fridge and cupboards are, if you have eggs on hand you have dinner, and usually quickly.

I make frittatas quite often for in them I can use whatever I have begging to be used in the fridge. The one I bring you today is one of my favorite

Roasted butternut squash, bell pepper and chickpea soup with chorizo and a change of mind

Those of you who have been around here for a while know that I love cold days and that I also complain a lot about the hot summer temperatures – well, my dear readers, people can change their mind, can’t they? Not sure what happened in the last year, but as of now I no longer like the winter weather – I have felt miserable in the last days waking up to 9-10°C degrees days.

The ones in colder

Chayote, carrot and white bean soup

Days ago I was watching a clip about the last Berlinale in which there were a few interviews with directors and actors, and that included The Lost City of Z cast.

There was a lot – A LOT – of screaming when Robert Pattinson hit the red carpet and I truly cannot understand why someone would go crazy over him like that while Charlie Hunnam was on the very same red carpet. :)

That made me think

Brazilian carrot cake waffles with chocolate glaze

One of the childhood memories I most cherish is the image of my mom in the kitchen baking cakes – she was a hell of a cook but was also famous for her sweet treats.

The two cakes I remember the most are the chocolate cake and the carrot cake – the Brazilian carrot cake, with chocolate glaze: oh, so delicious (there is a recipe here for those of you not familiar with it).

One day I got myself

Broccolini and gorgonzola risotto

As I was choosing and editing the photo for this post I started to think of how and when I became such a great fan of risottos and… I could not remember. I can’t remember when I first tried risotto or which flavor that was, and I can’t remember when I first cooked a risotto myself either.

I usually have strong memories linked to my favorite foods, but not this time – I have no recollection

Stripy courgette, tomato and polenta tart

New cookbooks can be a lovely surprise, a big disappointment or something in between – even with the “Search Inside” feature at Amazon I’ve had my share of regret buying some of them.

My latest purchase, however, was an epic win: I got Annie Rigg’s beautiful cookbook on fruit and Georgina Fuggle’s Take One Veg, and they’re both insanely beautiful – I feel like making each and every recipe on