Pollo in umido con spinaci, pinoli e uvetta - Chicken Stew with spinach, pine nuts and sultanas

Spinach is a popular ingredient in the Milanese cuisine. It is usually served as a side dish, either just boiled and dressed with oil and lemon, or sautéed, preferably in butter, and sometimes combined with sultanas and pine nuts.

Here in my recipe, I serve pine nut and sultana spinach with braised chicken as a main course, and I dress my dish with saffron and lemon. It is a new combination of traditional ingredients from my hometown kitchen.

Zuppa lenticchie e cavolo nero - Lentil and Cavolo Nero Soup

‘How do you create your recipes?’ people often ask me. ‘Never from scratch’, is my answer. The Italian kitchen shapes my taste and gives me the basics, while my curiosity broadens my repertoire. Different sources inspire my new recipes, such as tradition and contemporary trends, memories and practice, friends’ tips and stories, social networks and television, food magazines and books.
I like to play with ingredients, but without loosing the Italian taste. I feel lost and illiterate outside my own boundaries.

Polpette di pollo. Chicken Boulettes

I like meatballs because they give me the chance to combine different ingredients - herbs, spices, bread, egg, vegetables, cheese -, to play with different flavours and the final result is  never too 'meaty'. 

Zuppa castagne e cavolfiore - Chestnut and Cauliflower Soup

Here I propose an hearty soup for these cold days. Chestnut is one of my favourite winter ingredients I add to many recipes.  Nutritious and comforting, the chestnut soup could easily be served as a main course. 

Farinata di ceci - Flat Chickpea Bread with Rosemary

The Ligurian farinata, also know as cecina in Tuscany, is a thin and crispy flat bread, made of chickpea flour, water and oil. You eat it piping hot with chopped rosemary in Liguria and a simple twist of the pepper mill in Tuscany. 

Insalata fregola e ceci - Giant Couscous and Chickpea Salad

Our eating has changed in the last decade. Now grains and pulses combined with a variety of vegetables don't have to be 'sides' to meat or fish, but are regarded as a main course. 

Moreover, the range of uncommon ingredients we eat and we creatively combine - dried fruits, seeds and nuts in savoury dishes; pomegranate seeds and molasses in salads, specific varieties of chillies and spices in soups, risotto and pasta - has grown, making food more interesting and inventive.

Clafoutis pere e mandorle - Pear and Almond Clafoutis

Clafoutis is a French pudding of fruits, traditionally black cherries, mixed with a sweet batter and baked in the oven. So simple and versatile, the clafoutis is the perfect last-minute dessert.