Bacon, Egg and Cheese Sandwich with Garden Vegetables

In a couple weeks I'll be off to Malta and my heart is already there. There isn't a single day that passes without thinking of my family and friends in the Mediterranean. With every month that summer gets closer, I feel the urge to go there and the pain of not yet being there becomes almost unbearable. As much as I love Berlin - it's my home - I see myself spending far more time on my beloved archipelago south of Sicily.

You can ask any Maltese person living abroad what he or she misses the most and almost everybody will tell you the sea and family. I'm not Maltese, but I agree. With every passing year I feel closer and closer to the life we live there. Being surrounded by the sea and the people who are so important in my life is a great gift I don't really want to let go off, but it's also the food, the pace, the culture and lifestyle that makes me miss this place so much.

In two weeks I'll be starting my days with a cup of tea in my Maltese mama's garden, sitting under her citrus trees. Then I'll pick some honey sweet fruits and crisp vegetables from my favourite mobile vegetable truck in Msida and prepare a luscious breakfast. For whatever reason we started the ritual to have very opulent and rich breakfast sandwiches when we live in the South. If we leave out my spontaneous (but very regular) visits to bakeries, cafés and pastizzi shops, we only eat twice during the day: before we go to the beach and afterwards, and both meals are little feasts. We end our days with Mediterranean inspired dishes but we start the day following the small country's British tradition. There are fried eggs, different kind of cheese, and a bit of meat on the table. Be it crisp bacon or a selection of course sausages from our butcher in Sliema - classic Maltese style with fennel and coriander or English sausage with apple and sage - our breakfast is quite a hearty affair, often sandwiched between two slices of Malta's amazing sourdough bread. But what comes with baked beans in the cold North is served with fresh garden vegetables in the South. Juicy cucumber and tomatoes, sweet bell peppers, or sautéed zucchini - qarabali in Maltese - there are always the freshest fruits from the garden involved. You could easily leave out the meat and keep it light and vegetarian, sliced fennel bulb, sautéed onions, or a juicy caponata are nice too, but the current star of the toast scene - thinly sliced avocado - made it into my creation, along with cucumber and red bell pepper.

This is the third sandwich of the tasty trilogy I created for Leerdamer:

Egg, Bacon and Cheese Sandwich with Garden Vegetables

Makes 2 large sandwiches

  • olive oil

  • bacon 8 thin slices

  • organic eggs 4

  • flaky sea salt

  • peppercorns, crushed in a mortar

  • large rustic buns, cut in half, 2

  • Leerdammer cheese, or another mild hard cheese, very thinly sliced, about 170g / 6 ounces

  • small red bell pepper (and or tomato), cut into rings, 1

  • small organic cucumber, rinsed and scrubbed, very thinly sliced with a mandoline or cheese slicer, 1

  • medium ripe avocado, very thinly sliced with a mandoline or cheese slicer, 1

In a heavy pan, heat a splash of olive oil and cook the bacon until golden brown and crispy. Transfer to a plate lined with kitchen paper, but leave the fat in the pan.

In the pan used to cook the bacon, cook the eggs for a few minutes until the egg yolk is still liquid, season with flaky sea salt and crushed pepper.

Divide the cheese between the bottom sides of the buns and arrange the bacon and vegetables on top. Drizzle with a little olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Finish it off with 2 eggs for each sandwich and close the bun. Squeeze and enjoy!

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Mediterranean Roast Vegetables with Tomatoes, Feta and Basil

The secret behind this scrumptious Mediterranean pan lies in the separate cooking of the vegetables. First, I sautéed sliced zucchini until golden but with bite, and then I cooked a large handful of aubergine and bell pepper chopped into tiny cubes. The small size let them release a little more of their juices in the hot pan, within minutes they turn into a chunky stew. Mixed with the zucchini, it just needed a bit of salt and pepper and it was done.

You could easily leave it at that but I was after a colourful pan full of fresh flavours. In summer, I like the combination of cooked and raw vegetables, so my pan got a crunchy topping with cherry tomatoes, milky feta chunks and fresh basil leaves. All the wonderful aromas of a Mediterranean garden on a plate! There are a million variations of this dish, you could top it with lemon ricotta (instead of the feta cheese) and make a moussaka, mix in some spaghetti for a richer meal or cook all the ingredients in the oven, like my vegetable casserole. So many options, so many warm months and ripe and tasty vegetables ahead of us. Kitchen life is just great at this time of year!

Mediterranean Roast Vegetables with Tomatoes, Feta and Basil

For a lunch for 2 you need

  • zucchini, sliced thinly, about 200g / 7oz

  • olive oil

  • salt and pepper

  • garlic, crushed, 2 cloves

  • aubergine, cut into tiny cubes, about 200g / 7oz

  • medium bell pepper (colour of your choice), cut into tiny cubes, 1

  • cherry tomatoes, cut in half, 8

  • feta cheese, broken into chunks, about 100g / 3 1/2oz

  • fresh basil leaves 10

Heat a slash of olive oil in a large pan and sauté the zucchini on medium-high heat until golden brown with a little bite. Season with salt and pepper to taste, transfer to a plate and set a side.

Put the pan back on the heat, pour in a splash of olive oil, stir in the garlic and let it turn golden (not brown!) for about 1 minute. Add the aubergine and bell pepper, season with salt and pepper and sauté until golden and soft. Take the pan off the heat, mix in the zucchini and tomatoes and season to taste. Stir in the feta and basil and serve immediately, or as a warm salad, with fresh ciabatta bread.

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meet in your kitchen | Joanna Bonnici cooks Maltese Bragioli

When my gorgeous friend Chris told me about his friend Joanna Bonnici and her fabulous skills in the kitchen I knew that I had to meet her! He praised her food so much that I sent her an email the same day he mentioned her!

Many generations of women in Joanna's family have been great cooks and food lovers. Her grandmother and aunts, her sister who lives in Sicily, but her mother especially, all influenced and taught her to become the fantastic cook she is today. Her cooking is honest, very intuitive with lots of respect for good ingredients. She likes to go back to the traditional cooking of the past and to adjust it to her personal style. Joanna loves to enjoy life, she loves to cook, to eat and to share her creations with her family and friends. She reminds me a lot of my mother, the two women celebrate cooking in a similar way and appreciate the time they spend in their kitchens. For them, the feast doesn't start at the table but in their culinary working space.

At one point Joanna decided to compile all the wonderful family recipes in a book to pay tribute to the creations of these women and also to save their recipes for future generations. She has a little box stuffed with cards, recipes for soups, cakes, puddings, pastry, meat, fish and pasta dishes, which she plans to turn into a book. It's a culinary treasure box and I'm very happy that I got the chance to try a few of these creations.

Joanna told me that she would cook a traditional Maltese meat dish with me called Bragioli (Bragoli in Maltese), beef olives stuffed with egg, bacon, cheese, parsley and breadcrumbs, but Joanna makes her roulades with pork. They were divine, the meat was juicy and tender, the sauce was thick and rich in flavours. She prepared two versions, one made the traditional way with peas and the other one is her creation, with green bell peppers. This dish is often served as two courses, first the sauce with pasta or potatoes and then the meat as a main course.

We met Joanna in the morning, my boyfriend happily joined in when I told him about her cooking, and she treated us to the most amazing food for hours. She served our coffee together with Maltese bread pudding, a recipe by her mother, which I will share with you on Sunday and which was the best bread pudding we ever ate (my Maltese Mama Jenny agreed on that after she tried a piece)! We had fresh bread from a bakery in Gharghur sprinkled with olive oil, a luscious salad of rucola and sweet figs stuffed with soft blue cheese (like dolcelatte) before we savored the delicious Bragioli. Joanna finished the menu off with little short crust tarts lined with a thin layer of sponge cake and filled with ricotta and candied fruit. She garnished the tartlets with bittersweet chocolate and hazelnuts, a perfect Mediterranean dessert similar to kannoli. When she offered us her homemade ice cream made of condensed milk (a Maltese speciality) with a big smile on her face, we couldn't refuse. This woman just loves to share her kitchen creations!

I fell in love with Joanna's food, so much that I decided to ask her if she would like to share some of her recipes once in a while on eat in my kitchen. We will start this Sunday with her Maltese bread pudding and there will be a few more. There's so much I can learn from her about Maltese cooking and I look forward to the delicious recipes to come!

Maltese Bragioli

For 4 people you need

  • pork slices (silverside) 1kg / 2 1/4 pounds

  • organic eggs, hard boiled, 3

  • parsley, chopped, the leaves of a bunch

  • onions 2

  • carrots, cut into sticks, 3

  • green peppers, sliced thickly, 2

  • garlic, 2 cloves

  • streaky bacon, chopped, 200g / 7 ounces

  • organic egg 1

  • fresh breadcrumbs, a big handful

  • Kefalotiri cheese, grated, 100g / 3.5 ounces

  • thyme, a sprig

  • bay leaf 1

  • stock cube

  • ground coriander

  • a pinch of mixed spice

  • a pinch of Ras el Hanout spice mixture

  • tomato paste 3 tablespoons

  • Worcestershire Sauce

  • white wine 1 glass

  • salt and pepper

  • plain flour to dust the roulades

  • vegetable oil

Chop 1 onion and 1 garlic clove finely and sauté them in some oil for a few minutes. In a mixing bowl crumble the hardboiled eggs, then add the chopped parsley, the sautéed onion and garlic, the chopped bacon, fresh breadcrumbs, the cheese and bind the mixture with a raw egg.

Put 2 tablespoons of this mixture on each slice of meat and roll them up tightly. Finally give them a light dusting of flour.

In a large saucepan fry the bragioli searing them well. Season them well (with salt and pepper) and add a dash of Worcestershire sauce and a glass of white wine. Let the wine reduce and remove from heat. Now in a casserole pot sauté 1 sliced onion, 1 chopped garlic clove, the carrot sticks and pepper slices.

Next add the bragioli, the tomato concentrate, the stock cube, the spices and herbs and some water. Let the bragioli simmer for at least two hours until the meat is tender. Add water if need be but be careful not to render the sauce too watery. Serve with mashed potatoes or fries.

Who are the people in your family who influenced your cooking the most and why?

I had the fortune to live minutes away from my maternal grandmother’s house and we spent the larger part of the day there because my mother had to take care of the elderly members of the family while her sister – my Aunty Fifi, who was unmarried, worked as a home economics teacher. My grandmother, great-aunt and mother were all very traditional but excellent cooks, while my Aunty Fifi introduced me to more sophiscated cooking. All four of them in their own way influenced me but the confidence I have is the merit of my mother. When I was nine years old, I baked her a Mocha cake for mother’s day and it was an absolute flop. She made me slice it up and bake it again like crostini and told me that my next one will be better. We ate the crostini and I was happy enough to go on to my next cake. I also have to mention my sister Mariella and my sister-in-law Miriam who are both amazing cooks and we exchange recipes and ideas constantly. My brother Ray, engineer by profession, now part-time organic farmer taught me all there is to know about food regarding the ingredients and how important it is to source out the best.

You've decided to compile the favourite recipes of the women in your family in a cook book, what have you found through this work besides the collected recipes?

When my aunt and my mother passed away it seemed to me that a chapter in my life was sadly closed. The two persons who taught me the little I know were here no more so I felt the need to pay them tribute and pass on what they gave me to the next generation of wives and mothers-to-be in my family. This compilation is also a reminder that simple wholesome food should still feature on our dinner table. Lentil soup and Toqlija (pasta soup) are simplicity itself and have been firm favourites with my family for generations so they also have a place in this collection. Most of the recipes are imprinted with the personality of their owner – for example Aunty Fifi’s gateau was the subject of many a discussion. This sublime dessert is flamboyant, rich and sweet and it portraits my aunt’s personality making it her signature dish. The timing when it was served, however, was not optimal because we usually had it after a heavy Maltese Christmas lunch and to do it justice it should be eaten after a very light meal. On the other hand, the Maltese pudding reflects my mother’s simplicity and goodness. Going through the recipes and remembering the wonderful memories attached to them has reinforced my belief that there are few occasions that beat the ones when family and friends gather around a table to share good food.

For how many years have you been cooking for your family and how did your culinary style develop over the years?

I have been cooking since I was 9 years old. My sister and I loved to prepare afternoon teas for my parents and we set the table like we were entertaining royalty (which they were, in our opinion). I will never forget that. Unfortunately my father died when he was 53, so when I got married I lived in my mother’s house together with my husband and my sister. So that was 3 women in the kitchen but we got along very well because our style was very similar. Eventually my sister got married and moved to Sicily but my mother lived with me till she died last February. She made amazing soups and pastries and I could never beat her at that. I became more adventurous by time and tried out many recipes which my aunt passed on to me. Before I got married, I bought the Robert Carrier’s cookery books and they opened up a new vista. I used to wait for each new release to add to my collection, and my sister and I spent many lovely afternoons trying out new dishes. I still go back to his books and am continually amazed at how progressive he was. Nowadays the internet makes everything more accessible but in the eighties, this was really something special. I guess my style is not a sophisticated one. It is a mish mash of all the good things my family and friends cooked over the years, together with a good dose of inspiration from Robert Carrier.

What are your favourites in the Maltese cuisine?

There are few dishes which are typically Maltese because our cuisine had been influenced by our neighbours, invaders and colonizers throughout the years. However these are my favourites.Timpana – A rich pasta dish of layers of maccheroni with a meat sauce, bechamel sauce and hard-boiled eggs, encrusted in flaky short-crust pastry. This is our traditional pasta dish for Christmas and even though I would like to be more original my family does not let me remove it from the menu so it is there to stay. I love the combination of gooey pasta with the crispiness of the pastry and the taste conjures up the image of all my family seated at the dinner table devouring this delicious pasta and begging for more ... The first time I tasted it cooked this way, was at my Aunty Maria‘s and she passed on the recipe.Tuna, Anchovy and Spinach Pie or Lampuki Pie – Two of my favourite pies. My mum used to cook these for me. I can still picture her chubby, capable hands kneading the dough. She made the most divine pastry. The tuna and spinach pie is delicious and my great aunty Terry used to top the filling with sauteed potatoes or chips. I still make it that way and it’s delicious.Stuffed Calamari – I love them because they taste of summer. When the calamari are good (sometimes they are disappointingly tasteless), this can be a lovely summer dinner main course. My aunty Fifi taught me how to cook these, and the stuffing with walnuts and the tentacles from the calamari is simply delicious.

What is your feeling about the state of home food culture in Malta today? What changed over the past 5, 10 or 20 years?

Unfortunately I tend to see too many young families in restaurants and fast food joints. I cannot understand why people find it so difficult to dish up a meal for their family. I think the Maltese are too influenced by the media and advertising and they are forgetting their roots and their culture. I have battled this all my life even with teachers who took my children (on a school day trip) to eat a burger instead of offering them a simple but delicious Maltese hobza biz-zejt. I think that home food has changed in Malta. Some dishes which were staples (such as widow’s soup) are forgotten by the younger generation and convenience foods are becoming more and more popular. Nevertheless, people are becoming more aware of what they eat and hopefully the Maltese will gravitate again towards the simple and wholesome dishes and resist the temptation to eat junk.

What was the first dish you cooked or baked on your own, what is your first cooking memory?

Mocha cake for Mother’s Day when I was nine. It was a disaster.

What are your favourite places to buy and enjoy food in Malta?

  • Restaurants: Fumia and Sciacca for fish

  • Bar: Bridge Bar on a Friday night for jazz and wine

  • Cafe: Cordina’s in Valletta for its old world charm, people watching and capuccino

  • Shopping for food: Veggies just round the corner from my house from Salvu who grows his own, from Lucy because she is a nice lady, from Sunny because I have known him for years and from Alex and Paul who own the mini-market 5 minutes away from my house. Also sometimes from my brother Ray.

Where else do you get your inspiration for your recipes apart from your family?

From my friends Maria and Gordon who are both superb cooks; from cookery books which I still prefer to the internet although that is where I go when I need ideas in a hurry.

What did you choose to share on eat in my kitchen and why?

I chose Bragioli because it is a very popular Maltese recipe, however I will be doing it my way.

If you could choose one person to cook a meal for you, who and what would it be?

It would be Gordon Axiaq (not a trained chef but the best cook I know) and I would ask him to cook his fabulous pasta with Maltese prawns and crema di noci.

You're going to have ten friends over for a spontaneous dinner, what will be on the table?

Pear, walnut and parmesan salad with rucola and some bruschette. For main pasta with my home-made Maltese sausage and dolce latte and for dessert my vanilla and lemon ice-cream. All stuff I would normally have in my fridge or freezer.

What was your childhood's culinary favourite and what is it now?

Rice and lentil soup, bread, pasta and pizza. Still bread, pasta and pizza.

Do you prefer to cook on your own or together with others?

Both.

Which meals do you prefer, improvised or planned?

Both as long as they are good.

Which meal would you never cook again and why?

Liver. I hate the texture and do not cook it or eat it.

Thank you Joanna!

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Mediterranean Feta and Vegetable Casserole

It was a cold, grey evening when my aunt Ursula invited us to dinner a few years ago. We meet quite often to enjoy good food and wine together but that day we felt tired from work and weren't in the mood for a heavy meal. When we arrived at her apartment we saw that she hadn't set up the table in the dining room as she normally does but created a comfy dining scene in her living room. The low table was packed with loaves of bread with herbs and dried tomatoes, a few dips and a bottle of red wine was just waiting for us. Our mood was lifted straight away, this was exactly what we needed, a relaxed evening on the sofa! When Ursula came out of the kitchen with a steaming dish in her hands, filling the air with the smell of roast vegetables and herbs she had our attention and we felt awake again!

The meal she served became one of my most beloved dishes, Mediterranean vegetables on top of a thick slice of feta roasted in the oven for only half an hour. By the end of it you have a plate full of juicy, partly crunchy vegetables that you can spoon onto a thick slice of bread together with the aromatic cheese and herbs, it's delicious! The mix of zucchini, red and yellow bell pepper, aubergine, red onions, garlic and lots of thyme and rosemary became my favourite, personal variation on this recipe. Just throw together a composition that suits your taste and put this on a slice of a French country bread, ciabatta or focaccia and I'm sure you'll be as happy as I am whenever I cook this meal!

I love to make this when friends come over, I just put one or two big casseroles on our long table, a few loaves of bread, some wine - this is the perfect food and atmosphere to let the laughing and chatting begin! Or to celebrate that Germany won the World Cup!

Mediterranean Vegetable and Feta Casserole

For 4 people you need

  • feta cheese, 2 slices, around 2cm / 3/4" thick, 400g / 14 ounces

  • medium aubergine, cut into 1cm / 1/2" cubes, 1

  • medium zucchini, cut in half and sliced, 1

  • yellow bell pepper, cut into cubes, 1

  • red bell pepper, cut into cubes, 1

  • medium tomatoes, cut into cubes, 3

  • medium red onions, cut into 8 pieces, 2

  • garlic, 8 cloves in their skin

  • olive oil 60ml / 2 ounces

  • thyme, a small bunch

  • rosemary, 6 sprigs

  • salt and pepper

Set the oven to 200°C / 390°F (I use the Rotitherm roasting setting).

Put the feta cheese next to each other in a baking dish, cover with the vegetables, garlic and herbs and season with salt and pepper. Pour the olive oil on top and mix until everything is coated in oil (add a little bit more if it's not enough). Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes or until the vegetables are soft, they shouldn't burn. Check the aubergine first as it needs the longest to cook. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve with rustic white bread.

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Feta and Tomato stuffed Bell Pepper with Mint

The smell of fresh mint is still in my nose! I spent last weekend at my mother's house in the countryside, more precisely in her garden and kitchen and the smell of herbs and flowers was always around us. She is one of those lucky people who has a green thumb and lots of space to prove it. The strong sun and heavy rain of the past days turned her garden into a blossoming green world with various shades of red, pink, violet and yellow. Whenever I passed her flower and vegetable beds a cloud of roses, thyme, lavender and mint followed me. This was aroma heaven and the the strong mint was a very persistent companion! My mother's vegetable garden made me jealous, artichokes, lettuce, carrots, potatoes, peas and many more, she can honestly compete with my market stands at home! Her herbs grow like weeds, some of them have had their roots in this ground for almost twenty years.

The path from her garden to the kitchen isn't long and we brought lots of these goods inside the house in the past days. We cooked big artichokes with three different kinds of dips, a delicious, light pasta recipe with tomatoes and bell pepper and fish soup. On the sweet side, we had strawberry tarts, ice cream in espresso and I also got to love a great summery aperitif with Limoncello, white wine, lemon rind and mint, needless to say that it was all wonderful and I will write more about it in the coming days.

Back to the fresh mint, here is a recipe so quick to prepare, it looks beautiful and combines a few ingredients which I love for my cooking in summer, bell pepper stuffed with feta, tomatoes, parsley and mint. After twenty minutes in the oven it's done, having four or ten people to feed doesn't make much of a difference, this is a real crowd pleaser!

Feta and Tomato stuffed Bell Pepper with Mint

For 4 people you need

  • red bell peppers 4

  • feta cheese, 250g / 9 ounces

  • medium tomatoes, chopped, 3

  • parsley, chopped, 3 heaping tablespoons

  • mint, chopped, 8-10 big leaves

  • salt and pepper

Set the oven to 200°C / 390°F.

Cut the top off the bell pepper and set aside. Mix the feta, tomatoes and herbs and season with salt and pepper to taste. Fill the bell pepper with the cheese mixture, close the fruit with the lid and put in a baking dish. Bake for 17 minutes, the bell pepper should be al dente.

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Mediterranean Meatloaf with Zucchini and Bell Pepper

Meatloaf was one of the few meals with meat that I really liked as a young child (apart from Wiener sausage). My mother used to make a big portion of it which we ate cold the following days. I still prefer it that way! When we were younger, my sister and I weren't very experimental when it came to our food, that changed over the years and it effected my mother's cooking. Now she fills her meatloaf with vegetables and herbs, a Mediterranean version but in those days she kept it simple to please our sensitive taste buds and picky taste.

I hadn't made meatloaf for years, I had forgotten about it to be honest, but two summers ago my mother cooked it  for a garden party. My whole family (which is quite big) was there, it was a hot day in July and no one wanted to stay inside the house. We just went to the kitchen to fill our plates at the long table piled with lots of summery dishes and then went straight outside again to sit on the grass. It was a big picnic, a beautiful day with eating, drinking, laughing and playing music - and the cold meat was my happy rediscovery!

This meatloaf is very juicy, it's cooked with zucchini, leek, bell pepper and lots of herbs. Thyme, oregano and rosemary give it a Mediterranean touch, either warm or cold, it's best with a light salad and some baguette on the side.

Mediterranean Meatloaf with Zucchini and Bell Pepper

For 6-8 people you need

  • minced beef 1kg / 2 pounds

  • zucchini, roughly chopped, 140g / 5 ounces

  • red bell pepper, roughly chopped, 160g / 5.5 ounces

  • yellow bell pepper, roughly chopped, 160g / 5.5 ounces

  • leek, cut in half and thinly sliced, 100g / 3.5 ounces

  • milk 360ml / 12 ounces

  • dry breadcrumbs 45g / 1.5 ounces

  • organic eggs 2

  • thyme leaves from a small bunch

  • parsley, chopped, 4 tablespoons

  • rosemary, finely chopped, 3 tablespoons

  • oregano 1 1/2 tablespoons

  • salt 3 1/2 teaspoons

  • pepper

Set the oven to 170°C / 340°F (I used the Rotitherm setting but you could also use fan).

Mix the milk and breadcrumbs. In a large bowl mix the other ingredients, add the milk and combine well with your hands or a mixer. Put the mixture in a baking dish and form a loaf. Bake in the oven for 45 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm or cold, the meatloaf is great for summer parties and picnics!

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Fusilli with sweet Bell Pepper and Red Onions

This pasta dish is one for those nights when I just want to get cosy on the sofa with a plate of hot pasta on my lap and relax! It's quick to prepare, it's hearty but still light and all it requires is usually to be found in my kitchen anyway, pasta (for this meal I prefer fusilli as it mixes well with the long strips of the vegetables), red bell pepper, red onions or shallots, garlic and parmesan. This time I added finely chopped spring onions, it's not necessary but the added spiciness was a nice contrast to the sweet flavours. When I fry the bell pepper and onions and they start to brown I deglaze them with white wine or vermouth or I just use the water from the pasta. The liquid helps the juices and roasted bits and pieces to combine to a thick sauce, perfect to glaze the spiral pasta.

For 2, I cooked 200g / 7 ounces of fusilli in lots of salted water al dente and kept 75ml / 2.5 ounces of the water used to cook the pasta. I always start frying the onions and cooking the pasta at the same time which allows me to take out the water when I need it. I cut 1 big red onion in half and sliced it finely, likewise the bell pepper (about 3mm / 0.1 "). In a large heavy pan, I fried the onions in a splash of olive oil on medium heat for about 5 minutes till golden and soft and added the slices of bell pepper. After a few minutes of frying and tossing I deglazed the vegetables with a splash of vermouth which you could replace with white wine, preferably a sweeter one, and poured the water I kept from the pasta on top. I immediately covered it with a big lid, let it simmer for a few minutes until soft and seasoned it with salt and pepper. Mixed with the pasta I filled everything in big plates and sprinkled it with thinly sliced spring onions and freshly grated Parmesan, time to get cosy!

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