Asparagus, lemon and mint risotto
If there is one language I long to speak, it is Italian. It is a language that you don’t just speak – you inhabit it with your entire body. Watching people at a train station talking on their...
View ArticleNduja, bell pepper and basil risotto
If you enjoy this recipe, please VOTE FOR ME in the Nduja challenge on Facebook – voting open till Friday 19 August! It's often been said that the world can be divided into two types of people –...
View ArticlePasta with creamy chanterelles and toasted almonds
They say that travel broadens the mind. I can certainly attest to that, but I could also add a few other talents that travel has. It empties the pockets and fills the camera memory card. It broadens...
View ArticleArtichoke, caper and lemon risotto and a Good Fork Italian box
Perspective. So much of our experience of this thing we call life is coloured by it. Where some people see problems stacking up against their business as the economy rollercoasters, others see new...
View ArticleSteak on a blue cheese, spinach & pecan risotto
As I have said before, I do love a good simile. One of my favourite wine-related similes is this: Men are like a fine wine. They all start out like grapes, and it's our job to stomp on them and keep...
View ArticleConfetti rice salad – celebrate!
A pessimist sees only the dark side of the clouds and mopes; a philosopher sees both sides, and shrugs; an optimist doesn’t see the clouds at all – he’s walking on them – Leonard Louis Levinson It's a...
View ArticleFregola Sarda with a tomato, anchovy, chilli and olive sauce
Many wealthy people are little more than the janitors of their possessions - Frank Lloyd Wright Stuff. Why are we so addicted to it – acquiring it, having it, keeping it? On my recent trip to...
View ArticlePapardelle with goat’s cheese, beetroot, rocket & pine nuts
So you think you got it bad? Stressful job; nagging spouse; unruly kids; aches and pains; a ridiculous mortgage; and a soul-destroying commute? Well, here's a reason to cheer up: at least you're not...
View ArticleRagu Bolognese – the official version
What’s in a name? Not much, you might think, going by the the tried and tested po-tay-to/po-tah-to line of reasoning. But if you are under any illusions as to the importance of a name, here’s a...
View ArticleEasy crab chilli and rocket pasta
Isn’t it funny how we humans insist of describing various human characteristics by reference to animals? Take for example: as brave as a lion; as quiet as a mouse; as mad as a badger; as bald as a...
View ArticleBlack squid ink pasta with chorizo & basil and a Foodies Larder hamper
We’re funny creatures, human beings. We eat our sleekly packaged organic granola for breakfast; we spend our days at our computers talking on the Interwebs to invisible folks on the other side of the...
View ArticleCreamy chicken, pea & pesto pasta recipe
My tax law lecturer at university used to say: ”There are only two certainties in this life: death and taxes” – but I beg to differ. There is also the certainty that at any given moment on any given...
View ArticlePattypan squash pasta with capers, chilli and Parmesan
The Afrikaans language, my mother tongue, is nothing if not creative in its descriptions – and sometimes far more so than English. Think, for example, of: trapsuutjies (literally “walk quietly”) = a...
View ArticleSpaghetti with chorizo meatballs and homemade tomato sauce
There are those people who say that you shouldn’t mess with classics. People who start hyperventilating with indignation when you suggest putting anything on a pizza other than the ingredients that a...
View ArticleBeetroot risotto with goat’s cheese and pine-nuts
With touching faith in the reliability of our own senses, we humans are fond of saying “I’ll believe it when I see it with my own two eyes”. But as anybody who has spent 10 minutes in a criminal court...
View ArticleSpaghetti squash, feta and chilli risotto
“Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans” - John Lennon So on Saturday 9 February I was planning to have quadrilogie de canard for lunch at LeVaffiue, Les Get in the French...
View ArticleAsparagus and smoked salmon pasta
Some people have an uncanny knack for being permanently in fashion. They seem to have been born with an innate sense of trends and always seem to be one step ahead of the fashion pack, unveiling hot...
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Creamy broccoli, semi-dried tomato and chicken pasta
Don’t loaf and invite inspiration; light out after it with a club, and if you don’t get it you will nonetheless get something that looks remarkably like it. Jack London Ah, inspiration, that most...
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Beef, broccoli and udon noodle stir fry from “The Japanese Larder” by Luiz Hara
When I was six months old, my parents took a trip to Japan. I was my mom’s first child, but my dad’s fifth – so she was understandably worried about leaving me behind whereas he had learnt that babies...
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