70g of parmigiano reggiano (aged 24 months)

30g of pecorino sardo

30g of pinenuts

1 garlic clove

80g fresh basil leaves, preferably small leaves

150g of extra virgin olive oil, preferably from liguria

1/2 teaspoon of salt

Ideally you should press the leaves with a MORTAIO but you can simply mix all the ingredients in a blender.

Secrets from Nonna:

- basil leaves must be integral, otherwise you might get a "grassy" flavour. Also, they must be completely dry because water oxidizes them and they become dark. Ideally the leaves should not be washed.

- a normal mixer is better than an immersion mixer because the latter lets in too much air which oxidizes the leaves. Pour oil over the leaves immediately in the mixer in order to protect it from oxygen!

- make sure all ingredits and utensils are cold when you are ready to make the pesto: even the mixer and blades must be ice cold in order to not blacken the leaves with the heat

- a local (la spezia) favorite is to make pasta with the fresh pesto and also some boiled potatoes (cut into small dices) and green beans ( left quite long). This is the "pasta del contadino", the farmer's pasta!

800g of zucchini (or peppers, onions, any other vegetable)

80 g of mortadella (optional but we like to use it)

2 tablespoons of parmigiano

2 pieces of toast bread (pancarrè)

1 egg

Milk

Breadcrumbs

Marjoram

Salt

Extra virgin olive Oil

Cut the zucchini in half (the long side) and boil them for 5 minutes.

Soak the soft bread (without the crust) in a bit of milk.

Scoop out the pulp (white part) and mix it with mortadella and the soaked bread.

Add the egg, breadcrumbs, salt and marjoram. If you like it, add some parmigiano. Mix this well.

Place this cream into the zucchini and add a little bit of grated parmigiano on top.

Cook them at 180°C for about 30/40 minutes, or until they are golden.

They can be eaten warm or cold. The next day they are even tastier.

for 8 people:

900 ml of water (room temperature)

300g of chickpeas flour

50g evo oil

10g salt

Pour the chickpea flour into a bowl and make a hole in the middle, where you will slowly add the water. Mix this composition very well with a whisk and make sure there are no lumps. It must become homogenous and creamy.

Grease 3 baking tins (32cm in diameter) with olive oil. Traditionally we use tin of copper or aluminium but you can use a normal anti-adherent tin.

Pour the compost and even out the top by using  a fork – it must be flat.

Heat the oven at 250°C  and place the baking tin on the bottom of the oven for the first 10 minutes. Then move the tin to the upper part of the oven for another 10/15 minutes, until the farinata has become a beautiful chestnut, golden color. 

1.2kg of rabbit

100g of taggiasche olives

1 onion

1 garlic clove

1 cup of wine (red or white)

2 rosemary sticks

1 teaspoon of thyme

2 leaves laurel

1 handfull of pinenuts

4 tablespoons of evo oil

Pot of meat stock (preferably homemade)

The rabbit must be cut into pieces. You must eliminate the fatty parts and the organs, as well as small bones that you can find. Wash the rabbit under running water to eliminate all the blood and let it dry.

Stir fry the onion in a big pan, and then add the rabbit – turn the stove on high heat!

Add the wine and let it evaporate. Add salt and let the rabbit cook on medium heat for 30 minutes, slowly adding the meat stock so that the rabbit is never dry.

Add the olives (we like them whole), the pinenuts, garlic, herbs (tie them in order to avoid them floating around in pieces). Mix everything in and let the rabbit cook for another 30 minutes, adding more stock if it starts drying.

Serve the rabbit with a few more olives on the plate and a pretty piece of rosemary.

Secrets: Some people like to use the kidneys, liver and head of the rabbit. The dish will have a much stronger taste this way.

If you have bought the rabbit whole, you can use its head to make the meat stock.

The more herbs you use, the better.

For 8 people:

500g mascarpone

150g sugar

300g Savoiardi biscuits

6 egg yolks (very fresh)

4 teacups of Italian coffee

Dark chocolate powder

Make the coffee in the moka and let it cool (you can put it in the fridge).

Start by blending the egg yolks with the sugar until it becomes white and foamy ( you can use an electric whisk ).  Then add the mascarpone and mix until it turns into a homogenous cream.

Pour the coffee into a wide plate.

Dip the biscuits very quickly on both sides into the coffee and start placing them side by side in a rectangular baking dish (ours is 20x25 cm 4/5cm tall). Fill the bottom of the baking dish with the soaked biscuits and then add a layer of the cream. Then another layer of soaked biscuits and so on. Usually we do about 2/3 layers of biscuits. However, the top layer must be cream.

Let it cool in the fridge at least a couple of hours.

When it is time to serve,  sprinkle the top of the tiramisu with the dark chocolate powder by using a sifter.