Frittata di salvia e cipolla (Sage and onion frittata)

A frittata is an Italian  deep omelette, similar to a Tortilla Española, usually made with vegetables and served as a main course, often after a pasta starter.  Sage and onion always make a terrific combination, and for this dish the onion is slowly sweated in extra virgin olive oil until golden and lightly caramelised before

Roast duck à l’orange

These days this dish is often considered a retro classic, but in France  it remains very popular and continues to be served in Bistros and Brasseries.  And while a whole duck only feeds 4 people, it is very rich and satisfying. In France it is often served with crispy skin and rare meat, but I

Fritto misto di mare (shallow fried seafood)

Versions of this dish can be found in any Italian coastal city, using  the freshest of seafood landed at the quay that very morning.  It’s a simple dish which lets the seafood shine with minimum adornment, dredged in seasoned flour and quickly fried until you have a delicious crispy crunch and succulent just cooked flesh

Squid ink risotto (Risotto al nero di seppia)

Squid and cuttlefish both have ink sacs as a defence mechanism, and the ink is delicious when cooked with either pasta or,  as in this recipe, risotto. It can be quite messy to prepare, so I usually use a pasteurised concentrated Spanish ink in a jar called Tinta de Sepia for an identical flavour.  The finished

Coniglio in porchetta (Rabbit with rosemary, fennel and garlic)

Rabbit is very popular in France, Italy and other parts of the Mediterranean, but if you don’t like the idea of eating it, you can substitute  800 grams of turkey breast, cut into 3 cm strips.  It’s not difficult to debone a rabbit, but can be quite fiddly if you’re not used to it, in

Whole fish roasted with potatoes

I first had this dish cooked with the freshest of sea bass a number of years ago at a relative’s house in Rome. Like so many Italian dishes it is a case of less is more, with a small number of perfect ingredients cooked simply to allow them to shine. We can’t get Sea Bass

Porchetta (roast pork with rosemary, fennel and garlic)

A kind reader has requested the recipe for Porchetta, which is a whole pig, deboned, stuffed and slow roasted on a spit and found throughout Italy, most notably in the central Italian provinces of Umbria, Lazio and Toscana.  It’s quite easy to replicate at home using pork loin and belly, and is unusual in that