This week we welcome Lucia from Torta di Rose as the host of both the English and Italian editions of Weekend Herb Blogging.

While it's called Weekend Herb Blogging we don't limit ourselves to just posts dealing with herbs - we celebrate vegetables, fruit, nuts, seeds, flowers, grains - in fact if it is plant based, then we'll love to hear more.

Your posts can either be informative and/or include a recipe where your featured ingredient is the main ingredient of the dish. If you've found a new way to cook an old ingredient or discovered a new ingredient, you're more than welcome to share it with WHB.

Posts can be written anytime during the week but need to be sent to the host by the appropriate deadlines. You can find more information by checking out the WHB rules.

Send your entries tortadirose.blog AT gmail.com
with WHB#386 in subject line and the following details:

• Your Name
• Your Blog Name/URL
• Your Post URL
• A photo: 400px wide

Your entries need to be received by:

• 3pm Sunday - Utah Time
• 10pm Sunday - London Time
• 11pm Sunday - Rome Time
• 7am Monday - Melbourne Time

Cinzia from Cindystar is hosting Weekend Herb Blogging and this week I've found another variety of an old favourite - the Tarocco Blood Orange.

Cinzia from Cindystar is kindly hosting both the English and Italian editions of Weekend Herb Blogging.

To take part all you need is to write a post that is either informative and/or includes a recipe where your featured ingredient is the main ingredient of the dish. If you've found a new way to cook an old ingredient or discovered a new ingredient, you're more than welcome to share it with WHB.

Posts can be written anytime during the week but need to be sent to the host by the appropriate deadlines - posts should include the phrase Weekend Herb Blogging and a link to your host.

Entries must be submitted by:

• 3pm Sunday - Utah Time
• 10pm Sunday - London Time
• 11pm Sunday - Rome Time
• 7am Monday - Melbourne (Aus) Time

Send your entries to cmc AT cindystar DOT it
with WHB#385 in subject line and the following details:

• Your Name
• Your Blog Name/URL
• Your Post URL
• A photo: 400px wide

The fabulous Brii from Briggishome is hosting this edition of Weekend Herb Blogging and this week I'm featuring these fantastic Peas

Simona from Briciole is hosting Black and White Wednesday and the subject for my photo this week are my new favourite tomatoes - Merinda tomatoes from Sicily.



I've almost become evangelical in my praise for these tomatoes but they have impressed everyone that has tried them. From their appearance and colour, texture and taste, they are the type of tomato that is as close to perfect as you can get.

This week Brii from Briggishome is hosting Weekend Herb Blogging.

If you'd like to join in, it couldn't be easier. While it's called Weekend Herb Blogging we don't limit ourselves to just posts dealing with herbs - we celebrate vegetables, fruit, nuts, seeds, flowers, grains - in fact if it is plant based, then we'll love to hear more.

Your posts can either be informative and/or include a recipe where your featured ingredient is the main ingredient of the dish. If you've found a new way to cook an old ingredient or discovered a new ingredient, you're more than welcome to share it with WHB.

Posts can be written anytime during the week but need to be sent to the host by the appropriate deadlines.

Entries should be submitted by:

• 3pm Sunday - Utah Time
• 10pm Sunday - London Time
• 11pm Sunday - Rome Time
• 7am Monday - Melbourne (Aus) Time

Send your posts to briiblog at gmail.com
with WHB#384 in the subject line and the following details:

• Your name
• Your Blog/URL
• Your Post URL
• Please include a photo sized: 300px wide

Don't forget that the Kris from Tutto a Occhio will be hosting the Italian edition.

Simona from Briciole is hosting this edition of Weekend Herb Blogging and this week I've finally found myself some cherries.

There's been a few changes in Alba since I was last here six months ago and one of the more pleasing changes appeared before me in a sign...no not the truffle sign, the Buffalo one.


There's now a Buffalo butcher in town which means easy access to locally grown Buffalo and a full range of meat and dairy products, including a rather excellent Buffalo milk.

Now I'm sure this is going to be a regular haunt of mine and my first dish is a typical Spezzatino. The cut of meat I've used is very helpfully called "spezzatino" - it's basically cubed meat that is best used for stews. As buffalo meat is fairly lean I've added in a little bit of tasty fat in the form of pancetta. I know that in southern Italy it's not uncommon to use a local white wine in a spezzatino di bufala so I've applied that method and used a local white called Arneis.

This week Simona from Briciole is hosting both the English and Italian editions of Weekend Herb Blogging.

If you're new to Weekend Herb Blogging or haven't joined in for a while, here's a quick recap of the rules.

You have the week to post about any herb, fruit, vegetable, seed, nut, flower - in fact if it is plant based then we'll love to hear more. Your post can be informative, spotlight a particular ingredient and/or include a recipe where your chosen ingredient is one of the primary ingredients in the recipe.

Entries should be submitted by:

• 3pm Sunday - Utah Time
• 10pm Sunday - London Time
• 11pm Sunday - Rome Time
• 7am Monday - Melbourne (Aus) Time

Send your posts to simosite AT mac DOT com
with WHB#383 in the subject line and the following details:

• Your name
• Your Blog/URL
• Your Post URL
• Attach a Photo: 400px wide

As a side note, Simona is also hosting this month's Pasta Please event - if you have an interest in home made pasta do take a look and join in.

Wandering around the Mercato delle Terra on Saturday I was stopped in mid stride by the sight of two unusual eggs - one could say that sizewise, they were complete opposites.



At the top of this photo is your regular hen egg - the enormous white egg is a goose egg (uovo d'oca) and the small egg at the left is a guinea fowl egg (uovo di faraona) - I'll be dealing with that egg in another post.

In an earlier posting on goose egg I used to to make an omelette but I'm taking an even easier route and combining it with something I haven't used before but has just come into season this week - summer truffle.



I know some look down upon summer truffles and have written quite disparaging things about them but I was quietly impressed by it's terrific aroma - I suppose the lesson here is to keep an open mind and make your own judgment.

So I've used these two items to make a slightly indulgent Sunday Brunch dish for two


I've fried the egg in lots of lovely local butter - it does take a little while, so keep the heat low and place a lid on the skillet. There's a lot of yolk to get through and heated to the right temperature but you'll be rewarded with a seriously rich and creamy yolk.



The best part of using the summer truffle is that you can really pile them on! Serve this with crusty bread and you'll be wishing you could do this everyday.

Elena from Zibaldone Culinario is hosting Weekend Herb Blogging and this week I really couldn't go past the first Morels of the season.

It might surprise some to know that Nigella didn't invent Mozzarella in Carrozza - it's actually a traditional dish from Campania. From what I've read it initially used stale bread (pane raffermo) so I'm not quite sure how that morphed into using the equivalent of white supermarket bread.

There are a few rules with this dish - when it comes to the mozzarella, buffalo is preferred. It is a richer cheese and doesn't leech liquid as it cooks which means it won't turn the bread to mush. When it comes to the use of anchovies, that seems to be a matter of preference - looking at Artusi's recipe from 1891 it only uses mozzarella. While you will see square and triangular versions, round are preferred as this resembles the wheels of a carriage - after all, the dish is called mozzarella in a carriage.

For my interpretation, I'm sticking with buffalo mozzarella having sourced it straight from the burrata man. I've topped the slices of mozzarella with fresh basil and then wrapped it all in a paper thin slice of prosciutto. Finally, rather than frying it in oil, I've cooked them in butter.

If you could capture the spirit of Spring in a single food, then there's a case to be made for these vibrant Strawberries.