Greetings from Bella Italia

June 1st, 2018 | main dishes

The temperatures keep up with Bella Italia, the bright colours of this Italian Minestrone soup make you happy. When snipping all the fine vegetables you can almost see him in your mind’s eye: Luigi, who rattles with his red Vespa on the Tuscan country roads. Close your eyes and dream a little bit about Italy… A light meal for those hot days, a feast for all the senses.

Italian minestrone

(serves 4)

4 spring onions

4 celery stalks

1 kohlrabi

400 g potatoes

1 big carrot

1 red pepper

cut vegetables into rings or cubes

1 handful of Brussels sprouts

cut in halfs

4 TS olive oil

heat, sauté the vegetables in it

2 ts brown vanilla sugar (see tip below)

sprinkle over the vegetables, caramelize

100 ml white wine

deglaze

600 ml chicken broth (preferably homemade)

add, simmer for 10 minutes

4 TS pesto

½ bunch of basil, cut into strips

ciabatta or baguette bread

arrange the soup with one tablespoon of pesto per plate and strips of basil, serve with the bread

and this is how the wife of the captain does it

I spice up a lot of dishes with vanilla, because vanilla does not only fit in desserts, but is also a very delicious spice with hearty treats. I put each scraped vanilla pod in a tin box with brown sugar, which quickly assumes the wonderful vanilla flavour. A teaspoon of this sugar is often the icing on a dish.

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December 10th, 2017 | main dishes

Heligoland “Knieper“ [Crab claw] @home

For many years I pestered my love, the captain, to travel to Heligoland [island in the North Sea] and eat „Knieper“. As a child of Cuxhaven I had so fantastic memories of that. Unfortunately we never managed to go there during the scanty holiday periods with all the other dates. What did I see yesterday on our weekly market at the market stall of our fish seller (you know, the one with the pulpo WhatsApp)? Knieper – incredible! Purchased, brought home and into the pot.