From the Sardinian recipe box: Gigantic Zucchini … Bread

Posted on June 27 by Jennifer Avventura

A friend who lives 3km down the curvy mountain road cultivates her own vegetables: eggplant, tomatoes, every herb known to man and gigantic zucchini. Each and every year her surplus is big and beautiful and this year I’m able to taste the fruits of her labor.

For the first time in recorded history … I’ve made Zucchini Bread. Many moons ago, my sister went on a zucchini bread making binge which lasted months, she gave zucchini bread away as gifts for birthdays, Christmas and weddings! At the time she was new to gardening and wasn’t aware of the growth potential in zucchini, hence, her gigantic garden of zucchini and the hundreds of loaves that followed. I’ve been a zucchini bread lover since. Here’s the recipe I scoffed off the internet for which, the author is a gigantic zucchini lover too. Continue reading →

From the Sardinian recipe box: Tortino di patate ~ Potato Pie

Posted on June 18 by Jennifer Avventura

Think of it as a potato lasagna but without the tomato sauce and you’ve got yourself an easy winner for lunch or dinner any day of the week.

I first posted this photo on my Facebook page and it got a lot of comments for the recipe, so I decided to share the recipe and the little story of how it came to be. I hope you enjoy.

Tortino di patate ~ Potato Pie

Monday morning – it’s market day and I have no idea Continue reading →

My Top 20 {at home} Sardinian Food Delights | A Photo Montage

Posted on October 8 by Jennifer Avventura

If you love food as much as I do, then you will drool over the following photo montage of my favourite Sardinian delights.

Sardinian Sweets – My all-time favourite, in the whole world!

All local produce: Cheese, Olives and Artichokes

Boiled artichokes

Baked artichokes & potatoes

Freshly picked parsley & baby tomatoes

Sardinian Porceddu – Sardinian Pork with white myrtle

Grilled orate

Fresh Sardinian Squid

Sardinian cookies

Getting ready for a baking with potatoes & olives

Sardinian Squid Ink Pasta & local red wine

Artichokes, tomatoes and asparagus – all local!

Local Eggs

Local veggie stir-fry

Grilled local veggies

Baked Orate & Potatoes

Cooked porceddu with myrtle berries

Baked pancetta with local mushrooms (hand-picked)

Freshly cut Sardinian Artichokes

Freshly baked Sardinian Bread

Everything that you’ve seen here is locally farmed, produced and hand crafted from age-old traditions that still ring true today. (I’m still, slowly learning the art of patience in the kitchen.)

I try my best to buy only products (fruit, veg, meats, cheese and wine) which are produced in Sardinia. It’s difficult sometimes but I can proudly say that 80% of the products consumed in my house come from Sardinian farms.

I think it’s important to keep our struggling Sardinian economy going and have bought only local produce for many years. I find the food tastes better, looks better and lasts longer than the produce shipped over on the boats.

Do you support your local growers, farmers and shepherds?

Top 10 Taste Sensations to Leave Your Mouth Watering in Sardinia, Italy

Posted on June 8 by Jennifer Avventura

Everyone loves a good nosh, and there is no other place in the world where they do food, as good as they do here, in Sardinia.

The Sardinian natives have for centuries used the land to farm pig, sheep, wild boar and rabbit. Never in my life have I tasted food so fresh and unique, my taste buds scream with happiness every time I take a bite.

If you are planning a trip to Sardinia, I offer one piece of advice: Eat like the locals, enjoy the flavours and uniqueness that only this island can offer.

Top 10 Taste Sensations to Leave Your Mouth Watering in Sardinia, Italy

10. Horsemeat or cavallo is high in protein, tender, sweet and low in fat. You will find horsemeat on most restaurant menus and in the butcher shop. Horsemeat in Sardinia is as natural as eating a 14 oz beef steak in Texas. Ask for: cavallo.

Continue reading →

How to Make Tomato Sauce Like an Italian

Posted on March 20 by Jennifer Avventura

I always thought tomato sauce came from a can, jar or my Mother’s kitchen. It never occured to me that people took the time to make this savoury sauce from scratch and not poured from a can. I can proudly say that I have finally mastered the fine art of Italian tomato sauce, and with all good Italian things, one requires patience and persistence.

If this is your first time making tomato sauce, I wish you luck and I hope my step-by-step photo guide helps.

I love Italian cooking and eating. I am a Canadian, who learned the fine art of Italian tomato sauce by trial and error, and a lot of questions. And this is what I came up with, I hope you enjoy.

How to Make Tomato Sauce Like an Italian

Continue reading →

Yesterdays Lunch

Posted on March 7 by Jennifer Avventura

This is my all time favourite Sardinian meal yet! It’s super easy to make and jam-packed with oodles of protein and yummy goodness.

2 freshly caught Sardinian Orate
3 Potatoes chopped
2 tomatoes chopped
1 zucchini chopped
Herbs to your liking.
Bake for 45 minutes at 180 degrees.
Remove and enjoy!

How do you like your fish?

How do you eat your artichoke?

Posted on December 15 by Jennifer Avventura

Spinoso Sardo

The artichoke farmer stopped by the house one rainy afternoon and with him he carried freshly picked artichokes. Four spinoso Sardo artichokes and four globe artichokes.

Artichokes are my favourite winter vegetable and in Sardinia they grow in abundance. My favourite way to eat an artichoke is in risotto. Husband eats the artichoke stem, raw.

I’ve baked, steamed, and fried artichokes. They are wonderfully delicious to eat any way you like.

Love artichokes? Are you looking for a new and easy recipe? Click the following link. There’s even a few pictures of the artichoke farm, plus a super easy recipe.

Eating Made Easy | Oven Baked artichokes & Potato

How do you eat your artichoke?

Sardinian BBQ in December

Posted on December 5 by Jennifer Avventura

This past weekend we were invited back to the 12lb Snapper House for a traditional Sardinian BBQ. Being Canadian and one who was brought up on the best BBQ’s the world has to offer, I was excited to try a traditional Sardinian BBQ.

Ajo. Andemu in Cuzina per cena. Maureddu ha lu carne, e voule fare un BBQ. My husband said to me in his barbaric dialect.

Come on! We are going to the kitchen for dinner. Maureddu has meat, and he wants to have a BBQ.

I was a little thrown off as the 12 lb Snapper house is a bachelor pad with a nice fireplace, a sofa and a big screen on the wall but no BBQ. I figured ok, what the heck and left it to the two Sardinian guys and opened a bottle of Cannonau.

Sardinian BBQ

We are having a BBQ in the family fireplace? Continue reading →

How to Eat a 12lb Sardinian Snapper

Posted on November 23 by Jennifer Avventura

A few nights ago we were invited to a friend’s birthday celebration. With all celebrations in Sardinia the food was endless, and well, big.

On the table before us sat a beautiful 12 pound Sardinian Snapper. In Italian this fish is appropriately called dentice, the root of the word denti means teeth, and this snapper was full of them.

Sardinian Red Snapper - Dentice

Never in my life have I seen a fish so big and never in my life had I partaken in eating a fish this size. Continue reading →

How to Pickle a Wild Sardinian Mushroom

Posted on November 21 by Jennifer Avventura

Pickling a wild Sardinian mushroom is no easy task, if you’ve never pickled anything in your life. I’ve eaten pickles, been pickled (a few too many times) and even, yes, had a pickle party, but I have never pickled a wild Sardinian Mushroom.

Wild Sardinian Mushrooms

I had no choice in the matter when Husband came home from the mountain top with six pounds of the freshest of fresh wild Sardinian mushrooms. You could smell the dung. We all know where mushrooms grow, right? Continue reading →