Jamie’s Chocolate Panettone Bombe

Posted: 02 February '11 by Niall and Kelly

A panettone has become a traditional Christmas purchase in our house. The Italian sweet bread sums up everything that is good about the Christmas holidays – the decorative “wrapping” paper around the base, the spiced scent, the candied peel secreted in the fluffy bread, the sheer size of the thing – it’s unapologetically, excessively festive…

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Categories: Recipes


Orecchiette with duck

Posted: 10 December '10 by Niall

Theo Randall's orecchiette with duck

Last weekend I turned to what’s quickly become known as “Old Faithful” in our house – Theo Randall’s ‘Pasta’ cookbook. I’ve already posted a few of his recipes, so you’ll know exactly how highly I rate Theo Randall, and the recipes in this book in particular. This recipe for orecchiette pasta with duck is indulgent:..

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Categories: Recipes


Penne with sausage, pancetta and Swiss chard

Posted: 17 September '10 by Niall

We recently gave away three copies of Theo Randall’s “Pasta” cookbook – without a doubt, this was our favourite from a collection of delicious, authentic, Italian recipes. The choice of sausage is really important here. You need to ask your butcher for a spicy sausage with a high meat content. We chose some Haggis sausages..

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Categories: Recipes


Italian Fennel and Orange Salad

Posted: 01 September '10 by Niall

As the temperature in Northern Ireland soared to a stifling 23° last week, we were in the mood for a lighter meal when we got home from work. What better than a zesty Meditteranean salad! Kelly is a big fan of citrus flavours so this Italian Fennel and Orange salad was a sure-fire winner. I..

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Categories: Recipes


Pasta by Theo Randall

Posted: 13 August '10 by Niall

Just looking back through our recipe-list it’s pretty obvious that Italian cuisine is a big favourite of ours. I think I’ve bought most of what Antonio Carluccio, Giorgio Locatelli, and Elizabeth David have written on the subject. So it says a lot about Theo Randall’s abilities that we became such huge fans of his so..

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Categories: Books for Cooks


Pappardelle with crème fraîche, parmesan and asparagus

Posted: 23 July '10 by Niall and Kelly

Kelly’s love of Italian food knows almost no bounds, and one of her favourite chefs is Theo Randall. I’d have to agree – his dishes always seem so flavoursome, often quite simple, and smack of authentic Italian cooking. Perfect for the home cook. With the publication of his new book Pasta there’s now a great..

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Categories: Recipes


Chicken Parmigiana

Posted: 10 June '10 by Niall

I honestly can’t remember where I came across this recipe, but I always thought that it would make a quick and easy mid-week meal. We were housing-sitting for Kelly’s Mum and Dad recently and had to come up with a menu that Kelly’s sister would also enjoy. Katie has very exacting standards when it comes..

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Categories: Recipes


Pasta al nivuro di siccia

Posted: 21 May '10 by Niall

Ever since I managed to find some sachets of squid ink I’ve been dying to make pasta al nivuro di siccia – pasta in squid ink sauce. I’d never seen the dish in person and I’ve only managed to track down a few photographs online, which only added to the mystique. It’s always seemed like..

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Categories: Recipes


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