Pasta e Ceci is a comforting Italian dish of chickpeas, short pasta, and a fragrant soffritto. Creamy, cozy, and traditionally vegan, it’s perfect any night.
Italian
Cavallucci (Tuscan Christmas Cookies)
These Tuscan Christmas cookies are made with aniseed, cinnamon, walnuts and candied peel. Warm, spiced and perfect for festive gatherings or gifts.
Gelo di Mandarino (Italian Mandarin Jelly)
Transform mandarin juice into jelly with this Sicilian Gelo di Mandarino – a refreshing way to enjoy seasonal citrus in a smooth, sweet-tart dessert.
Lolli con Fave (Pasta with Fava Beans)
Lolli con Fave is a traditional Sicilian dish with creamy fava beans, veggies and homemade pasta, a hearty naturally vegan stew rooted in Cucina Povera.
Pappa al Pomodoro (Tuscan Tomato and Bread Soup)
Cucina Povera, Italy’s kitchen of the poor, has long been known for its use of simple, humble ingredients and frugal cooking methods. With a lack of expensive ingredients, resourcefulness became a priceless way to make food more flavoursome and nourishing. And often that resourcefulness would start with making use of leftover bread. Among poorer communities, bread was considered far too valuable to be thrown away. Instead, it was simply left to naturally dry out, at which point it became an entirely new ingredient for a whole range of dishes. Pappa al Pomodoro is one of them.
Biancomangiare (Sicilian Almond Milk Pudding)
Using only a few key ingredients, Biancomangiare (translating to “eating white”) is a dessert of purity and elegance that shines a spotlight on one of Sicliy’s most prized treasures. Almonds.
Castagnaccio (Tuscan Chestnut Cake)
Tuscany’s chestnuts, once a humble food, are now a luxury. This Tuscan chestnut cake celebrates their rich flavor and has won Italian hearts for generations.
Pane e Cazzilli
Ask locals about traditional Palermo street food and Cazzilli will be high on the list. Also called Crocchè di Patate (potato croquettes), they are made from mashed potatoes, flavoured with pepper and mint and finally fried until golden and crispy.
Pane e Panelle
When I travelled to Sicily to discover Italy’s traditional plant-based dishes for my series Vegan Cultures, Panelle was on the top of my list. It’s a popular street food in Palermo, but what surprised me was the use of chickpea flour to create thin chickpea fritters that are then served with a generous drizzle of lemon juice in a bread bun.
Ribollita (Tuscan Bean, Bread & Vegetable Stew)
Ribollita, Tuscany’s famous bread soup, dates back to the Middle Ages, when servants gathered leftover bread from the banquets of their superiors and combined it with vegetables into a nourishing meal. The name of the dish translates to ‘reboiled’.
Farinata (Italian Chickpea Pancake)
One of my favourite twists to making chickpea tofu is to turn it into farinata instead. Farinata is a thin chickpea pancake that originated in Genoa and is known in France as ‘socca’. Traditionally, it’s made from chickpea flour, but just like with the Burmese-styled tofu, you can start with whole, dried chickpeas.