Prawn & Lobster Ravioli in a Lobster Bisque Sauce

I have just invested in a new, top of the range pasta making machine, and I must say I am so happy with this purchase! Compared to the one I had before, it rolls the pasta to a silky,  almost transparent texture, which is perfect for making stuffed pasta such as ravioli (in case you are wondering, the make is Marcato). I have chosen to christen my new pasta making machine by making these luscious ravioli with a prawn and lobster stuffing, drizzled with a rich lobster bisque-like sauce. A real treat, if you are a seafood lover like me!

Fragrant Fish Curry

 I am calling this curry "fragrant" because it smells divine! The curry leaves, coconut milk and ginger scent makes me think of some sunny, southern India island. The sauce is both sweet and tangy, with a nice kick from the chillies, and does not overpower the fish. I recommend pollock or gurnard as sustainable options for this dish; I would not use mackerel, salmon or other oily fish though, as I find their flavour too strong to work with this sauce.

Fresh Tagliatelle with Prawns & Courgette

Fresh pasta requires a sauce that does it justice. A few selected ingredients that marry well together and go to envelope the silky strands of tagliatelle that you have rolled out with such care a few hours before. I do love the combination of prawns and courgette and use it regularly in my recipes (see king prawns in a prosecco and cream sauce): here, I have grated the courgette to give a creamy texture to the sauce and create a nice contrast with the juicy chunks of prawns. The pink/green/pale yellow colour scheme is a visual feast, too.

King Prawns in a Prosecco & Cream Sauce

Prosecco is a delicious, dry sparkling wine from the cooler, Northern regions of Italy (tipically Veneto and Friuli Venezia Giulia) that in my opinion has little to envy to his more popular cousin the champagne. Italians tend to drink it as an aperitivo (pre-dinner drink) or during a fish meal. A fish dinner accompanied by few glasses of prosecco definitely comes high on the list of my favourite things in life, and it inspired the idea for this dish: juicy king prawns in a creamy sauce delicately flavoured by the prosecco and fresh garlic, with crunchy zucchini slices sautéed in parsley and olive oil, on a bed of fragrant basmati and wild rice. If you are planning to make an impression on a special someone, I suggest you invite them for dinner and make this dish as one of the key elements of your plan of seduction :-)

Red Mullet Fillets with Green Vegetables & Prawn Noodles

This Asian-inspired dish is what I decided to turn the red mullet fillets I bought today into. I am still exploring my neighbourhood in Brussels, and this afternoon I found out that one of the nearby supermarkets has a decent fish counter. The red mullet fillets reminded me of a dish I always have when I visit Sam's restaurant in Fowey, Cornwall: there, the red mullet is fried in a tempura batter and served with coriander and chilli sauce. I shallow fried my fillets instead, to make the dish less heavy, and accompanied them with noodles, vegetables and prawns tossed in my home made coriander, ginger, garlic and chilli paste.

Salt & Pepper Squid with Sweet Chilli Dipping Sauce

Who doesn't love fried squid? I make mine using cornflour and nothing else (no water or egg) as it makes for a light, non greasy and extra crunchy coating. Season it with salt and pepper first to make each bite one to remember. Served with sweet chilli dipping sauce, it's a match made in heaven.

Crab, Smoked Paprika & Lime Crostini

This crostino makes a great starter or light lunch, and it is a nice change from the usual mayo-lemon-crab combination. The smoked paprika works perfectly with the "limey" mayo, encasing the crab in a creamy, rich sauce, the whole thing sitting on a bed of crunchy bread and fresh salad leaves.

Pennette Pasta with Fresh Crab, Plum Tomatoes & Chilli

Crab is in season and I found a beautiful specimen on display on the counter at my fishmonger's, having arrived fresh from Devon on the same morning. A tip on crab: if you can, buy a whole one and pick the meat out yourself, as you will end up with infinitely more delicious white meat than if you'd buy a dressed crab. Sure, it involves a little effort, however for only £10 a whole crab gave me a massive bowl of white crabmeat, which generously serves four people.

Smoked Eel Paté

Forget smoked salmon, smoked eel is the daddy! It makes the most incredible, delicately flavoured paté, of an attractive pale pink. I bought mine from London Borough Market, but any fishmonger worth its salt should be able to track it down for you, if you order it in advance. Not the cheapest item on the menu, but this paté is so rich that a little goes a long way, and after all, precious things come in little packages.

Sole in a Lemon & White Wine Sauce with Parsley Potatoes

Sole has been the star of our lunch last Saturday. This was lemon sole in particular; not that it naturally tastes of lemon at all :-) I understand it is called that because of its shape, which is supposed to remind one of the citrus fruit. Anyways, maybe inspired by its name, I have decided to include lemon amongst the ingredients of this dish, alongside white wine, which everybody knows marries well with fish. Coating the sole with flour will establish the foundation for your sauce, which in Italy is known as "alla mugnaia", which means "millman's sauce" - because of the flour it involves. I find it a very poetic name! The parsley potatoes are a side dish I learnt from my dad; I suggest you use waxy potatoes, which better hold their shape.

Octopus, Potato & Roasted Tomato Salad

Octopus, what a delicacy! If you have never tried it, do it at the first occasion as you do not know what you have been missing until now; if you are too squeamish to do so...well, shame on you :-) These creatures are extremely fascinating, and I have often admired them under water through the lenses of my snorkelling mask, lurking amongst the rocks of some cliff in the Mediterranean sea, waiting patiently for their prey to swim within reach of their tentacles. I also find them equally captivating on my plate, with their tender, delicate but oh so flavoursome flesh. If you cook octopus slowly and for long enough, you'll find there is no need to beat it about with a meat hammer or such to tenderise it, so it is also rather easy to prepare. Here's a recipe for a tasty summer salad.

Gratin of Mussels

I am normally not one for fiddly food that requires a long preparation: these mussels are the exception to my rule. And why is that, you will wonder? Because a single mouthful of their juicy flesh, covered in that golden, cheesy crust, is enough to repay me for the time spent in the kitchen scrubbing them clean, opening them all one by one, scraping the flesh from both shells to go into one and stuffing them with the various ingredients. If this hasn't put you off already from attempting to prepare this dish, please give them a go. I promise you won't regret having put in the effort!

Roast Monkfish with Olive Oil Mash & Aubergine

The week-end is the only time I can go to the fishmonger's; it normally opens when I am already off to work and closes before I get back home. Therefore, Saturday morning is the ideal time to pay him a visit and stock up on the fish I am going to freeze and use for our mid-week dinners. However, I can tell you right away that the freezing part is out of bare necessity (as I can't buy it every day, as I mentioned). If you want to eat fish, the best way to enjoy it is definitely fresh! So when I saw these glistening, pearly monkfish fillets this morning, I simply could not bring myself to do anything else but use them for our evening meal.

Improvised Paella

Saturday evening, I have a terrible cold and going out is not an option. It's still the week-end though, so I want to make something special for dinner. My boyfriend's late dash to our local fishmonger produces a few tiger prawns and some cockles, the remains of the stock for the day, long bagged by more organised people. Despite having run out of saffron and not owning a paella pan, I managed to rustle up a paella worthy of the name. After all, since there are so many variations of the dish and each area of Spain has its own, I believe I am allowed some creativity :-)

Spaghetti with Mussels

Since this is my first post, I thought I'd start with something that is within my comfort zone. Being Italian, that means pasta! A nice plate of spaghetti with mussels is a beautiful thing made by a few simple ingredients; yet as for all the simple things, it is so easy to mess up. The countless times I had this dish and either the spaghetti was overcooked, or the sauce bland, or worst of all I found myself chewing on a gritty mouthful of pasta and...sand.  This is a step by step demonstration that will show you how to create a simple, yet incredibly tasty, spaghetti with mussels.