Tips for Everyday Cooking

You may already have a system but I will share some of my thoughts:

• I always plan meals Monday to Friday on Sunday night then get groceries organised on Monday. My tips for during the week are to choose dishes that are speedy such as the pasta with peas and pancetta, or with mushrooms, risotto, burgers, rosemary chicken, veal cotelleta, etc

• I always keep pantry staples such as oil, anchovies, lots of pasta, tinned tomatoes, and fresh herbs in little pots or in garden on hand. Also you buy long life good quality pancetta vaccum packed to store in fridge along with the obligatory parmesan cheese.

Tips for Entertaining

I believe in simplicity and planning when it comes to having friends and family over .

I don’t do a sit down entree then main course, I prefer to have platters of substantial appetisers then sit down to the main meal. The platters are easily prepared in advance and the main meal is mostly prepped and ready to put together so you can sit and enjoy the festivities rather than fuss in kitchen doing a fiddly dish.

My go to platters of appetisers are:

• obviously italian cured meats (prosciutto, salami, pancetta), cheeses (asiago, tallegio) and olives with freshly sliced bread

• bruschetta of tomatoes (chopped earlier, add a little salt and dried oregano to bring out all the juices, then just before serving add a teaspoon of balsamic vinegar and a generous coating of olive oil and basil leaves to serve on grilled bread)

• some prepared risotto balls (from my leftover risotto the night before)

• good quality anchovies served on fresh sourdough bread with butter and chopped chives and parsley

• artichoke dip (blitz a tin/jar of drained artichoke hearts, 250g ricotta, 1/2 cup grated parmesan , fresh parsley, squeeze of lemon juice, salt, pepper) served with italian flatbread

• freshly grilled vegetables of zucchini and eggplant and oven roasted capsicums with skins peeled

For main course I tend to cook dishes that require a long slow process then simply heat serve with freshly cooked pasta or other sides when everyone is ready to eat. eg braised veal shoulder, stracotto, beef ragu.

I also love to bake a cake in the afternoon and serve this for dessert with cream and icecream, but if this is stretching the preparation time for you you can always buy something nice from the local patiserrie or serve good quality ice cream with a nip of your favourite liquor and crushed amaretti biscuits on top or good old affogatto (ice cream with a shot of espresso)

I will post some of my desserts on this site in due course