So I made a flatter and thinner version of it.

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There are some different ways to make it but I will share the way it was taught to me, even though in this particular recipe I will show an alternative to ‘cotiche’ which is basically the smoked skin (rinds) of pork. The kind you find on whole pieces of ‘guanciale’ (pork cheek) or ‘panchetta’ (pork belly).

You can use either or both at the same time.

For this recipe I used white beans, but any type of bean is fine except green.

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Tastes slightly tangy and to my understanding the taste may vary depending on how much sugar or the type of bread you use.

It is possible to make this naturally alcoholic but since I started drinking this first thing in the morning (even before my coffee), I do not make mine alcoholic.

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It is one of the easiest recipes but the result is a delicious side dish or salad ingredient.

Boiled, salted and oiled bell pepper.

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But I think I have distinguished three different versions of it, correct me if I am wrong.

• It can refer to the cultivated cichoria which is a green leafy plant. Not to be confused with chicory which is something else entirely, although also an edible and not cultivated.

• It can refer to the leaves of the dandelion which is also cultivated for consumption, at least in Italy. But can also be foraged and found in the wild.

• Or it can refer to the combination of dandelion and two of its lookalikes which are found in the wild and not cultivated. And is actually very popular in rural Italy, the field next to our house is often visited by people looking for them to sell and/or eat.

In this article I will show which specific plants I used, how to recognize them, how to cook them and what to potentially combine them with. Although in Italy this is usually served as a ‘contorno’ which are standalone dishes of (often) seasonal vegetables or potatoes, which are enjoyed after the ‘prima piata’ (pasta) and/or ‘secondo piata’ (meat or fish) have been finished.

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I saw it on facebook, a page that cooks historical recipes and this is that recipe:

https://eatshistory.com/the-roast-of-kings-13th-century-andalusian-roasted-lamb/

But!

I did have to make some modifications to the recipe because I did not have all the ingredients and quite frankly I don’t even know what ‘murri’ is and I did not like the idea of soy sauce on lamb. I also didn’t have caraway and I have never even seen it being sold in any of my local supermarkets. I also added some ingredient that is not in the original recipe.

The side dishes you see on the picture will be posted soon after, they contain some foraged ingredients which are currently growing everywhere in my neck of Italy.

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I have ordered growing bags to do it in but they haven’t arrived yet.

This recipe uses some herbs from the garden, and as I am definitely going to want to restore the chicken coop, in the unforeseeable future we will also have fresh eggs.

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I have added a part on making your own vegetable stock but you can of course buy stock to use. The stock I made for this is the easiest you can make.

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And sweet onion sauce is something that can go very well with game and pork dishes, but also as a garnish or dip.

There are two types that are made through the same process but with different onions (optional) and only one different ingredient that you add to the red version but not the white version.

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Candied orange peel.

And it is very easy.

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I do not grow my own potatoes nor leek … yet! But I sure hope to do so in the near future as they are relatively easy to cultivate and care for.

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In this recipe I will show how I pickled some of it, why it is such an underrated edible forageable and a few ideas on how to incorporate it in recipes.

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Normally the best time to harvest rosehips is the day after the first frost.

But since I live in Italy, when the first frost arrives it will be too late so I usually start harvesting them nearing the end of October and start of November.

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In this recipe I used marmelade made from oranges but you can use all types of marmelade, best ones are the ones you make yourself.

Since we have an overabundance of kakis right now, one of my future recipes will be of how I made marmelade with that.

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And plenty of times I have been asked to compile a cook book with my recipes.

The time has come!

Perhaps one day I will compile all these into one physical manuscript and self publish on lulu or similar sites.

In the future these will be for my paying subscribers on this SubStack, but for now I will share a few for free. With pictures and step by step directions. So you can get an idea of what my idea is for this type of article.

Once these articles become for paying subscribers, I will do my best to put out a recipe once a week.

The recipes will include: food, homeopathic remedies and home medicine, all with ingredients that I either grow or collect myself.

As it is now, we are still cleaning up the garden and it is simply impossible to plant anything. And it is too late into year to sow most of the things I already have the seeds for.

Tomatoes are one of those things, and it would be a crime against the Italian spirit to not grow them here!

Pepperoncini I did sow in a large plant pot (yesterday) because next year the seeds would have been expired, so I might as well take my chances with it anyway.

So starting off with:

Spicy Dip

The Ingredients:

• (pacchino) tomatoes

• a pepperoncino

• two soup spoons of olive oil

• salt to taste

• optional: a clove of garlic if you like the taste of raw garlic

Recipe:

Quite easy. As easy as it gets.

Wash your tomatoes and pepper. Peel your garlic if you want it in.

Chop everything up.

Blend together with a blender.

Serve.

In the picture I suggested tortilla chips but you can put a spoon of the mixture in an omelette before you fry it up in a pan, for both color and taste.

You can serve it as a sauce with pork chops.

Use it as a marinade for ribs.

Add it to spaghetti sauce or salads.

I personally do add the garlic clove to my mixture which gives it a rather strong taste which not everyone is a fan of.

I opted for pacchino tomatoes which are rather small but I chose those because they have a very rich flavor. You can of course use other tomatoes but I do not recommend using the ones that are very watery on the inside as the mixture will become watery as well. If you only have watery tomatoes then just cut out the seeds and only use the meat of the fruit.

Thank you very much for your readership and support!