Make it Italian

Blueberry Cake

I love blueberries: they’re not just delicious fruits but, as a University of Michigan Cardiovascular Centre study suggests, they may help reduce belly fat and risk factors for cardiovascular desease and metabolic syndrome. I loke eating them with my breakfast bran cereals but I love also using them as ingredient for cakes and salads. Today’s recipe is my blueberry cake. You can eat it for breakfast (if you love sweets things as we Italian people do), as a snack during the afternoon or as a dessert. If you want to make it creamy, add a couple of tablespoons of the white chocolate desire. White chocolate taste matches perfectly with blueberries! Here is the recipe.

Suggested movie: My Blueberry nights (Kar Wai Wong, 2007)

Aubergine Parmigiana
It’s still summer, although the weather this year doesn’t want to allow the sun to pop up regularly. Today I want to share with you one delicious summer Italian recipe: Aubergine Parmigiana. It’s a perfect dish for a lunch on the beach, for a pic nic or for a meal with friends. It’s definitely easy to prepare, but remember you need time to cook it. On Make it Italian blog you can find the original recipe but there are a lot of variations you can prepare: you can use provolone cheese rather than mozzarella and, if you want an healthier version of this tasty recipe, you can grill your aubergines rather then fry them ;) I have nothing else to say but Buon Appetito!
Suggested movie: The Gold of Naples (V. De Sica, 1955)

White chocolate desire
I definitely love white chocolate. Although it is better to be careful with it, avoiding big quantities, sometimes I love to pamper myself with a couple of white chocolate small cubes… oh how delicious they are!!! It’s an admissible transgression if you have an healthy lifestyle, eating a lot of fruit and vegetables and training regularly ;)
White chocolate is the main ingredient of today’s recipe: White Chocolate Desire. The combination of this creamy and delicious dessert with blueberries is a perfect marriage for my taste buds. I hope it will be the same for yours. ;) Here you can find the recipe.
Suggested movie: The manual of love (G. Veronesi, 2005)

Summer Fruit Salad
It’s summer, time for holidays, perfect for spending hours  on the beach, relaxing and listening just to the sounds of the waves. Everybody wants to look gorgeous with their bikini on. Achieving this aim is possible following two simple rules: regular training and healthy nutrition. Fortunately Summer is the season of a  lot of delicious different kinds of fresh fruits and vegetables :) Today’s recipe is a fruit salad with a lot of summer fruits, perfect for breakfast as well as at the end of your meal or as a snack. It’s definitely quick and easy to make. If you think it’s too ‘healthy’, you can make it more ‘greedy’ adding a scoop of Vanilla ice cream. Here is the recipe!
Suggested movie: Rio (C. Saldanha, 2010)

Jewel: Birds! Birds need flying. Flying is… err… freedom, and, and not having to rely on anyone. Don’t you want that?

Grandma’s Pasta
Have you ever wonder how to manage the remaining food after a party?
The first option is eating it as it is, of course.
The second option is using it as ingredient for new recipes.
Grandma’s pasta is the result of the second option. I had meatballs at home and I needed to find a way to finish them. So I remind what my Granma used to do with them when I was a child: crushing them and making a delicious meaty sauce for pasta. Here is the recipe! Enjoy :)
Suggested movie: Bycicle thieves (V. De Sica, 1948)
Antonio Ricci: “There’s a cure for everything except death.”

Carrot and Chocolate Cake

My mom says I am like a bunny because I like crunching carrots. I can’t explain why but I love raw carrots… and recently I realized how good they are with chocolate. The recipe I want to share today is a cake made by grated carrots and dark chocolate. I think the bitterness of the dark chocolate matches perfectly with the sweet taste of carrots. Try it and let me know! Here is the recipe!

Suggested movie: Looney Tunes: back in action (J. Dante, 2003)

“Bugs Bunny: Oh, I hate to see a grown man cry… especially when it’s a girl.”

Mediterranean Brueschette

Summer is here or should be, although in London the sun hasn’t any intention to pop up. Have you already planned your holidays? I have but I still have to wait for a while before having some rest.

… but this is not a big issue for my culinary passion! It’s summer and here is one of my favourite recipes for this season: Mediterranean Bruschette. If you have friends at home or you fancy a summer light meal, try it! Here is the recipe :)

Suggested movie: Roman Holiday (W.Wyler, 1953)

“Reporter: And what, in the opinion of Your Highness, is the outlook for friendship among nations?
Princess Ann: I have every faith in it… as I have faith in relations between people.”

Courgette Mini Quiches