This article is about basil pesto, the second most famous Italian pasta sauce, of course after tomato sauce.
However, this is not about the traditional way to make “Pesto Genovese” – using a mortar; there are plenty of good resources on that (as greatly summarized on Food Lover’s Odyssey). This article is about the more modern way to make pesto – using a blender, a method which is quite common also in Italy.
Technically the word “pesto” comes from the Italian ‘pestare’, to pound. Therefore, the purists would argue that this sauce should be called differently when made in a blender.
Aside from how it should be called, does the pesto made in a blender taste the same as the traditional one? Absolutely not. But it does get close, and it’s much better than any pesto that I could ever buy in a jar.
But before we start throwing basil leaves into the blender, it’s important to know that chopped basil is prone to oxidation – it turns dark and deteriorates in flavor when in contact with the oxygen in the air. Luckily oxidation can be countered by allowing the basil leaves to dry completely before blending them so that the oil can create a seal around the chopped leaves, keeping the oxygen away.
Basil also deteriorates and changes flavor when heated too much. To help counter this, the blender must be activated in pulses in order to limit the overall blending time and the corresponding friction produced by the blades. It also helps to chill the blender bowl and blade in the freezer before use.
Pesto sauce is traditionally used on trenette, trofie (pictured below), but also on linguini, spaghetti (as in this post’s feature image), and even gnocchi.
Making Basil Pesto in a Blender
Yield: 4 servings as pasta sauce
Total Time: 15 minutes
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Ingredients
100 g fresh basil leaves (if you can find it, prefer the Genovese kind)
50 g Parmigiano (or a mix of Parmigiano & Pecorino cheese)
25 g pine nuts (possibly, from the Mediterranean)
½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon of coarse salt
1 clove of garlic (optional)
Preparation
Gently wash the basil under cold running water and then lay it on a towel and let it dry completely (fig. 1). Do not bend or crush the leaves.
Meanwhile, put the blender's bowl and blade in the freezer for at least 10 minutes (fig. 2a).
Pour all of the oil in the blender, then add the crushed garlic (if using it) and the basil. Give it a few pulses until the leaves are roughly chopped up (fig. 2b).
Add the cheese, grated or cut in small bits, and the salt (fig. 2c). Give it a few more spins.
Add the whole pine nuts (fig. 2d).
Give a few last spins and extract from the blender (fig. 3).
Notes
If the sauce is not used immediately, it can be preserved in the fridge for up to two to three days. Store it in a tall and narrow container (e.g.: a glass) and top it up with an extra tablespoon of olive oil. Before using it, leave the sauce out of the fridge an hour - don't warm it up, or you'll cause the cheese to lump together and separate from the oil. Pesto can also be frozen, in that case some recommend not to add the cheese until the sauce is thawed.
Paccheri are undoubtedly the most majestic kind of short pasta one can find! With a diameter of 1 ½ inch (4 cm), thick walls, and a rough surface, each guarantees an unbeatable bite, or two!
The Paccheri shape originates in the Campania region of Italy, which is also where you find Gragnano – a town near Naples recognized as the capital of dried pasta. As you can imagine, when I stumbled upon a box of Paccheri made in Gragnano, I couldn’t resist!
However, I was still waiting for inspiration for the right sauce that would bring out the fantastic character of this pasta. As a northern Italian, now that it’s colder outside, I naturally drifted towards creamy mushrooms. But that wasn’t enough. So I added Gorgonzola for a pleasant blue kick and Mascarpone for extra creaminess and depth. The resulting recipe is very straightforward, quick to make, and very forgiving in the amounts, even in the timing.
Ingredients for 2 servings
5 oz Paccheri (150 g) (can also use Rigatoni or other short dried pasta of sufficient presence)
3. Add the sliced mushrooms to the pan and roast them at high heat.
4. Continue sautéing the mushrooms until they have softened.
5. Start boiling the pasta for the time written on the box (usually around 14 minutes), which corresponds to an al-dente cooking level.
6. Add a splash of white wine to the mushrooms and let evaporate completely.
7. When the pasta is 5 minutes from ready, go back to the mushrooms, remove the garlic, and season lightly with salt.
8. Add the Mascarpone, Gorgonzola, and cream.
9. Still keeping very low heat, add ½ of the grated Parmigiano and mix everything into a creamy sauce. Note: should the sauce become too thick, add some of the pasta water.
10. When the pasta is ready, drain it quickly and add it to the pan with the sauce. Note: save some of the pasta water by draining the pasta back into the pan where it was boiled.
11. Finish cooking the pasta in the sauce for a couple of minutes, adding some of the pasta water to ensure the sauce remains silky smooth. This won’t overcook the pasta.
12. Plate gently into preheated bowls, then sprinkle with the rest of the Parmigiano.
Paccheri with Mushrooms, Gorgonzola, and Mascarpone Cream
Yield: 2 servings
Total Time: 30 minutes
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Ingredients
5 oz Paccheri (150 g) (can also use Rigatoni or other short dried pasta of sufficient presence)
In a large nonstick pan, heat up oil and butter, add the crushed garlic.
Add the sliced mushrooms to the pan and roast them at high heat.
Continue until the mushrooms have softened.
Start boiling the pasta for the time written on the box (usually around 14 minutes).
Add a splash of white wine to the pan and let it evaporate completely.
When the pasta is 5 minutes from ready, go back to the mushrooms pan, remove the garlic, and season them lightly with salt.
Then add the Mascarpone, the Gorgonzola, and the cream.
Still keeping very low heat, add 1/2 of the grated Parmigiano and mix everything into a creamy sauce. Note: should the sauce become too thick, add some of the pasta water.
When the pasta is ready, drain it quickly and add it to the pan with the sauce. Note: save some of the pasta water by draining the pasta back into the pan where it was boiled.
Finish cooking the pasta in the sauce for a couple of minutes, adding some of the pasta water to ensure the sauce remains silky smooth. This won't overcook the pasta.
Plate gently into preheated bowls, then sprinkle with the rest of the Parmigiano.
I was recently interviewed by Jo Mackay from Bookings For You. In addition to the great questions she had for me, Jo asked me: Do you have a recipe that you’d be happy for us to feature on our blog? My answer was my version of a dish from the Amalfi coast I have been tweaking: ‘Ndunderi.
‘Ndunderi is a dish I fell in love with fairly recently after being reminded about it by Pasta Grannies, the book. Unlike potato gnocchi, which I grew up with, ‘ndunderi are ricotta gnocchi that are prepared ‘Sorrentina’ style, i.e. baked with layers of cheese (smoked scamorza in this case). I find the use of ricotta instead of mashed potatoes very interesting, as it gives a similar fluffy and slightly grainy texture, but it’s much more forgiving in terms of controlling the water content – only requiring that the ricotta is well-drained.
Butter and Sage sauce is often what comes to mind when showcasing ricotta-filled ravioli, and especially spinach and ricotta ravioli. In Italy, meatless preparations like this are sometimes called “di magro” (literally, “of lean”), with reference to the foods that are allowed during lent according to the Christian tradition. Really, though, this dish is anything but lean – it’s a decadent buttery and cheesy delicacy that is technically not even vegetarian due to the presence of Parmigiano (made with rennet).
As a gentle twist to the common spinach flavoring, this herb and ricotta ravioli recipe makes use of Swiss chard (“bietola” in Italian), which is slightly more bitter, flavored with more sage, parsley, and a touch of garlic.
As for the origin of ravioli themselves, we need to go all the way back to the Middle Ages. Over the centuries, these early preparations have produced several regional staples, from Anolini and Cappelletti, to Tortelli, Tortellini, Tortelloni, Agnolotti, and Casoncelli, just to name a few!
Ingredients for two servings
For the dough
– 100 g flour
– 1 egg
– pinch of salt
– bit of water
For the filling
– 125 g ricotta, drained
– 1 egg yolk
– 20 g Parmigiano, grated
– 150 g Swiss chard
– 25 g fresh sage
– some parsley (optional)
– 1 clove garlic (optional)
– some olive oil
– pinch of salt
To boil
– 2 Tbsp coarse salt
For the sauce
– 30 g butter
– 10 sage leaves
For the plating
– More grated Parmigiano
Preparation
Let’s start with the dough! Put the egg, the flour, and a pinch of salt into a mixing bowl. Mix into a dry crumble, then add a tiny bit of water – just enough so you can knead it into a firm but elastic ball. Cover and let it rest for 1/2 hour.
Meanwhile, wash the chard and put it into a large pan. Put the lid on and cook at high heat, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes until it almost disappears!
Next, put the cooked chard into a potato ricer and squeeze out as much water as you can. Then, chop it coarsely.
Now, wash and dry sage and parsley and chop them finely. Heat up some olive oil in a frying pan. Roast the sage and parsley for a couple of minutes, then discard the garlic.
In a mixing bowl, add the well-drained ricotta, the egg yolk, the grated Parmigiano, the cooked chard, and the crispy sage and parsley. Mix well.
Once a half-hour has elapsed, roll the dough until very thin (max 1 mm thick). Using a sharp round container (about 5-6 cm diameter), cut circles out of the dough. Re-knead the offcuts and re-roll the remaining dough to cut more circles. This is also a good time to start bringing a large pan of water to a boil.
Fill each raviolo with a teaspoon of ricotta mix. Fold the dough onto itself and press around the edge. Continue until all ravioli are filled. Lay them out on a wooden surface or on a floured tray.
Then make the sauce by melting the butter and adding fresh sage leaves. Let it simmer for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, boil the ravioli in plenty of salty water for about 4 minutes.
At this point, plate the ravioli on preheated dishes. Drizzle them with the sage butter sauce, and sprinkle them with some more Parmigiano.
Herb and Ricotta Ravioli with Sage Butter Sauce
Yield: 2 portions
Total Time: 1 hour
Prep Time: 50 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Ingredients
For the dough
100 g flour
1 egg
pinch of salt
bit of water
For the filling
125 g ricotta
1 egg yolk
20 g Parmigiano, grated
150 g chard, can also use spinach
25 g sage
some parsley (optional)
1 clove garlic
some olive oil
pinch of salt
To boil
2 Tbsp coarse salt
For the sauce
30 g butter
10 sage leaves
For the plating
More grated Parmigiano
Preparation
Put the egg, the flour, and a pinch of salt into a mixing bowl. Mix into a dry crumble, then add a tiny bit of water – just enough so you can knead it into a firm but elastic ball. Cover and let it rest for 1/2 hour.
Meanwhile, wash the chard and put it into a large pan. Put the lid on and cook at high heat, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes until it almost disappears!
Put the cooked chard into a potato ricer and squeeze out as much water as you can. Then, chop it coarsely.
Wash and dry sage and parsley and chop them finely. Heat up some olive oil in a frying pan. Roast the sage and parsley for a couple of minutes, then discard the garlic.
In a mixing bowl, add the well-drained ricotta, the egg yolk, the grated Parmigiano, the cooked chard, and the crispy sage and parsley. Mix well.
Once a half-hour has elapsed, roll the dough until very thin (max 1 mm thick). Using a sharp round container (about 5-6 cm diameter), cut circles out of the dough. Re-knead the offcuts and re-roll the remaining dough to cut more circles. This is also a good time to start bringing a large pan of water to a boil.
Fill each raviolo with a teaspoon of ricotta mix. Fold the dough onto itself and press around the edge. Continue until all ravioli are filled. Lay them out on a wooden surface or on a floured tray.
Then make the sauce by melting the butter and adding fresh sage leaves. Let it simmer for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, boil the ravioli in plenty of salty water for about 4 minutes.
Plate the ravioli on preheated dishes. Drizzle them with the sage butter sauce, and sprinkle them with some more Parmigiano.
Eva (Electric Blue Food) is a photographer and blogger based in Sweden who is passionate about food, traveling, and language.
In the episode, we talk about Eva’s upbringing and the places she’s lived. We then focus on Scandinavia and what it’s like in winter for a photographer who works with natural light. We discuss blogging as a diary, but also as storytelling. And about the value of food-blogs over recipe books. To conclude, Eva shares her most special recipe, chicken livers with onion, as taught to her by her grandmother.
My guest today is Christine from Italian Dish Podcast, a fantastic audio project featuring one recipe per episode from Christine’s point of view of an American in Florence. With that as a premise, Christine’s charming storytelling, fueled by her love for food and her fascination with cooking, brings each dish to life via an uncut chronicle of the cooking process, with digressions on the ingredients and the traditions that surround the dish.
During our chat, Christine and I compare our experiences fitting in into the culture of our adoptive homes and how we found it important to try to master the language, but also the local cuisine. Christine also reflects on how talking-while-cooking helps her be her real self and connect with her audience. Finally, we digress on the difficult task of cooking Italian food for native Italians, with the high bars set by their nonnas and with the brutal honesty they are known for!
Ten years ago, I pushed ‘post’ for the first time. What a journey! Honestly, I didn’t quite know what I was getting myself into, and I am so glad I didn’t: I took it one step at a time and learned along the way. The discovery was both on the content front and on the technical side, and there were hurdles on both. At some point, though, things became quite clear and predictable. This blog was not really going to be a blog, as in a “weblog,” rather it became a collection of about 60 of my favorite recipes, a place where to publish short articles or essays, as one could say, on Italian culture, ingredients, and products and the companion website of my podcast, which has 78 episodes to-date.
If you’ve been following me, you have certainly noticed however that, lately, my posts have been lacking significantly and that my presence on the social networks has also gone down. This was an exceptional year, however, and I do plan to resume blogging and podcasting as soon as things will normalize a bit. I’m sure you all know what I’m referring to, COVID-19 has seriously disrupted our lives, if not worse. On top of this, the pandemic hit as we were renovating our new house in preparation for moving in. This, of course, proved to be challenging, but it all worked out in the end!
Moving to a nearby town while lockdown is in place was probably the hardest part. We lost the physical presence of neighbors, friends, and coworkers, as well as familiar places and routines. No more strolls to the neighborhood park, no more day trips to London, no more stopping at the local grocery store where you know where everything is! And of course no more favorite restaurants and cafes. Normally, when one moves, they replace the comfort of familiarity with the excitement of discovery. Well, there hasn’t been a lot of discovery with social-distancing in full effect. Just a few strolls around town, some getting in line at the grocery store, and some careful errands at the post office or the hardware store. Things are getting much better now, with more businesses reopening. But we all know that there is still a significant risk of a second wave and that – really – we should all still try to stay home whenever we can.
Staying home though has its advantages. A lot more cooking! And a lot more planning around what to cook, based on the availability of delivery slots from the online superstore we started using heavily. With more time for cooking as well, this was a win-win situation for us. We experimented with more recipes and cuisines, some baking, and of course still going strong with my sourdough! Speaking of which, the only recipe/article I posted this year was about my proofing and baking method and I couldn’t be more proud of the reliable results I keep getting, still with the same starter which has now been with us for 16 months! At first, during lockdown, everyone seemed to have started baking and it was a bit challenging to get a hold of the strong flour needed for feeding, but with the help of friend bakers we still managed to source enough of it, and it’s now back on the shelves. I hope that more people got into baking as a result!
During the past year, I only published one podcast episode – a chat with writer Andrew Cotto on his lovely novel Cucina Tipica, which is set in Italy and centered on food, as you might have guessed! I have been in touch with future podcast guests and I plan to resume production in the next few weeks.
To end this anniversary post, I would like to thank you all for your support during these months. I wish you all the best and hope to chat with you soon via messages, comments, and – who knows – maybe through a podcast! Stay safe.
Never would have thought I could obtain these results in my regular oven and without special equipment. But after 11 months of weekly baking, fresh sourdough loaves have become a reliable tradition in our family.
I’ve been thinking of posting my method for a while, but only now feel confident that it’s sufficiently streamlined and repeatable–hence this blog post today!
It all began when my co-worker, Jules, kindly gave me part of her sourdough starter, which came from a restaurateur she knew along with their recipe. Baking bread, though, is very much something that one has to tune to their own equipment, method, and of course liking. Over time, I’ve been refining my technique to the point where I’ve been getting consistent results. But by no means is this the only way to bake bread at home and it can certainly be improved.
First, though, you may be wondering – okay, where do I get my own starter? Well, unfortunately, I can’t really help you with that. It is possible to grow it from scratch, but it’s not easy because it is made of a stable symbiotic mixture of yeast and lactobacilli. My friend Mark Preston describes the process in detail, but as you can read it’s a very difficult route that will take a lot of time (and money!) Instead, I recommend asking a baker if they can sell you a piece of their levain starter – or a piece of their uncooked, unsalted sourdough. Speaking of which, there are different kinds of sourdough, each with a different flavor and level of sourness. I like a very mildly sour sourdough, but more sourness (possibly an acquired taste), is appreciated by many (famous is San Francisco’s sourdough, which also names its bacterial culture).
So, say you were able to get a hold of some good sourdough starter, what should it look like? The starter is made of living microorganisms that need feeding and produce by-products. The metabolic process is slower at low temperatures and accelerates with heat. If kept in the fridge, after 5-7 days your sourdough starter will be hungry–it will look bubbly, may have liquid on the top (left image below), and it will smell a bit like beer.
Ripe sourdough starter ready to be fed (left). Feed consisting of 100 g of strong flour and 100 g of water (right).
If you forget to feed your starter, after a couple of weeks it will start to go bad. It’s possible to rescue a starved starter by repeated splitting and feeding, but sometimes it may be too late. If one knows they’re not going to be able to feed for ten or more days, it’s possible to slow down the starter’s metabolism almost completely by freezing it. However, freezing, just like starvation, causes some damage and the thawed starter will need some repeated splitting and feeding to fully come back to life. If at all possible, I recommend treating your starter like a pet and either taking it on vacation with you or arranging for someone to care for it during your absence.
FEEDING
Equipment
Plastic mixing jar.
High precision kitchen scale.
Air-tight tub for storing.
Ingredients
100 g starter to be fed.
100 g high-gluten ‘strong’ flour.
100 g regular tap water, or non-carbonated bottled mineral water if your tap water is especially soft, or very chlorinated. The recipe below assumes water at room temperature.
Instructions
Use or dispose of all but 100 g of starter.
Mix 100 g flour and 100 g water and stir energetically.
Incorporate the 100 g of starter into the mix, stirring from bottom to top.
Put the mix in an air-tight container and keep it in the fridge for 5-8 days undisturbed.
Now that your starter has been fed, you are left with some excess starter that is ripe and ready to be used! The instructions below assume you have about 150 g of ripe starter. If you don’t have enough, keep feeding your starter weekly until you have enough feed leftover to bake with.
BAKING BREAD
Equipment
Proving basket. Using a wooden (rattan) banneton is essential to allow the dough to undergo its final slow rise without drying out while forming a “skin” – the beginning of your bread’s crust. I use a 20 cm round basket, similar to this one. If the basket comes with linen lining, the latter can be used to smooth out the basket’s walls. Since I like seeing the basket rings in the final product, I use the lining as a lid during proving.
Cast iron casserole, a.k.a. Dutch oven. A 4.7 liters one will work perfectly for the recipe I’m about to describe. A casserole is essential when baking in a standard oven because it creates an enclosed space that fills with steam during baking, allowing the bread to do its final rise and cook through without burning. A double-dutch oven (resting on its shallow pan) or a spun-iron baking cloche can also be used and are preferable to the casserole because they allow easier access.
From left to right: cast-iron casserole, double-Dutch oven, spun-iron baking cloche.
Scoring blade (optional), similar to this one. A very sharp paring knife can also be used.
Cooling rack (optional). Two wooden spoons placed flat on a cutting board can also be used to support the loaf while it cools down.
Ingredients
NOTE: These quantities make a ~800 g loaf (about 20 cm in diameter, 12 cm tall) that fits in a 4.7 l casserole.
150 g ripe sourdough starter.
150 g strong flour and 150 g water for the first rise.
330 g strong flour and 150 g water for the second rise.
1 tablespoon rice or semolina flour as a coating for the proving basket.
NOTE: The quantities above correspond to a 67% hydration (the ratio between water and flour). Higher hydration (e.g.: 80%) results in a lighter sourdough with a thinner and crunchier crust. However, high hydration also means a stickier dough during preparation which requires a lot of technique! Since I posted this article, I have been practicing increasing hydration to 72% by reducing the amount of flour for the second rise from 330 to 300 g. The improvement is noticeable, but the proportions above still yield a fantastic product that is also very easy to obtain.
Instructions
NOTE: I’m presenting the slow-rise version of this recipe. It can be shortened by reducing or removing the resting time in the fridge, replacing it with a shorter resting time outside of the fridge (8 hours in the fridge equal to about 1 hour outside of it). However, I should warn you that, for reasons beyond my understanding, slow-risen bread will look and taste better!
Day 1
Mix 150 g flour + 150 g water then incorporate 150 g starter and leave out of fridge 4-6 hrs (4 hrs on a hot summer day, 6 hrs in winter). After this time, the mix should look quite bubbly and have roughly doubled in size. Put it in the fridge overnight in an airtight container.
The first rise, before and after.
Day 2
In a large mixing bowl, combine 330 g strong flour and 10 g table salt. Then add 150 g water and the risen mix from Day 1. Mix as best as you can in the mixing bowl by using a big spoon (can use a food processor as well for this step.) Let it rest at room temperature for half an hour.
Strong flour and salt are weighed and combined. Then, the risen dough from day 1 is added, along with more water.
Place the dough on a stainless steel or stone worktop and knead every half hour for 2 additional hours.
Roll the dough onto itself to create surface tension as demonstrated in the video below.
Brush the proving basket generously and thoroughly with semolina or rice flour. These are preferable to regular wheat flour as the latter tends to become moist and stick to the basket during proving (a quite unfortunate event!)
Put the dough in the basket upside down (seam up), and leave in the fridge for 8 hrs or overnight to prove covered with a towel or linen lid. After this time, the dough should have increased in volume by about 50%.
The folded dough is placed in a proving basket. Then, after a slow rise at a low temperature, the dough is ready to be baked.
Day 3
With the proofing basket still in the fridge, preheat the oven with the cast-iron casserole inside for about 30 mins at 250℃ (480℉).
Take the proving basket out of the fridge, and flip it on a sheet of grease-free parchment paper.
Score the top with a sharp knife or razor blade. These cuts will expand during cooking allowing excess CO2 to escape and the crust to expand for the final in-oven rise. I like to make one big cut, at least 5 mm (1/4”) deep, and shallower cuts as a decoration. Bread scoring is a difficult and fascinating art, I only lately have started to obtain decent results – don’t be upset if your bread breaks in all the wrong places!
Before baking, the risen sourdough is scored with a sharp blade.
Lifting by the parchment paper, place the dough into the super-hot casserole. This operation is easier if using a baking cloche or a double Dutch oven because they have a shallower bottom.
Immediately, put the lid on, put the casserole back in the oven, and bake for 40 minutes at 250℃ (480℉).
Remove the lid and bake for 10 more minutes lowering the temperature to 230℃ (450℉) if you have a fan oven, or maintaining 250℃ (480℉) otherwise.
The sourdough ball is placed in the hot casserole. After baking, the sourdough loaf is ready!
As an easier alternative, the dough can be baked in a cast-iron double-dutch oven (using its deep pan as a lid). The parchment paper is then optional.
After baking, lifting by the parchment paper, place the loaf on the wire rack to let it cool for at least half an hour before cutting into it. If the rise was sufficiently uniform, the scoring cuts will have uniformly expanded.
The baked loaf cools down on a wire rack.
Allow the proving basket to dry in warm air (I leave mine near the oven as the bread bakes), then brush off the excess flour using a dedicated hard brush. If some of the dough is stuck to it, the basket can be washed in cold water without any detergents and then allowed to air-dry.
The resulting sourdough should have a spongy texture.
If things go well, your loaf should be fragrant, slightly chewy, and should have air bubbles of varying sizes trapped in it.
Using flour that is not very strong or mixing in whole-wheat flours will produce smaller, more uniform bubbles and a mealier texture. Small bubbles and a tougher, denser loaf may also result from an under proved or over proved fermentation, or the effect of machine kneading.
Home-Baked Sourdough Bread – At Last!
Total Time: 2 hours
Prep Time: 1 hour, 10 minutes
Cook Time: 50 minutes
Ingredients
150 g ripe sourdough starter
480 g strong flour
300 g water
A generous tablespoon of rice or semolina flour (recommended).
If the loaf is left whole, the crust will provide a natural barrier that will keep the bread fresh for a day. A slightly stale loaf will regain its fragrance if warmed up in the oven, or in a toaster if sliced. If the bread is not going to be consumed within the day, I recommend freezing it in halves or quarters as soon as it has cooled down. Allow the frozen loaf to thaw at room temperature for one hour, or for 5 minutes in the microwave set to the lowest power setting before consuming it.
Other Sourdough Recipes
The recipe I described is very much like a blank canvas! Different kinds of flours can be mixed in (e.g. whole wheat, spelt, sprouted grains), as well as other ingredients added (olives, nuts, dried figs, shredded cheese.) A tablespoon of olive oil will result in a softer loaf that will stay fresh for longer.
One of my favorite variations is to add half a cup of shredded sharp cheddar into the last fold!
What about sourdough pizza, pretzels, waffles, donuts? Yes, please! All of those and more are possible and delicious. I’ve been using my coworker Zoe’s pizza recipe with great results, please see below for the instructions. I’ve also experimented with other sourdough preparations, but my results are still inconsistent. I’ll report back when I’ll know more–please continue to send me your recipes!
Zoe’s Sourdough Pizza
Ingredients: – 30 g mature starter – 380 g strong flour – 250 ml water – 10 g olive oil – 10 g salt
Mix the starter, the water, and the olive oil together separately first. Whisk together.
Add to the flour and the salt.
Mix and leave uncovered for an hour or two.
Fold it a bit.
Cover and leave out of the fridge for ~24hrs.
Shape the dough into 2 balls and leave to rise for 2 hrs before cooking.
Stretching – it literally falls right out into a pizza shape.
Cooking:
If using a pizza stone, leave it in the oven for it to heat up slowly to 250℃ (480℉). Slide the stretched dough with toppings onto the stone. Bake for 2-3 minutes, turn it around, bake for another 2 mins.
If using a perforated pizza tray, bake for 7-8 minutes at 240℃ (460℉) or until the cheese is bubbly.
Sourdough Breadsticks
Breadsticks, or ‘grissini’ in Italian, are another, quicker, preparation that can make use of a sourdough starter.
Ingredients: – 150 g mature starter – 300 g strong flour – 50 g butter, melted – 5 g salt – 2 g sugar – 1 Tbsp rosemary (chopped, optional) – 1 tsp dried oregano (optional) – 1/4 tsp black pepper (ground, optional) – 1 Tbsp milk or beaten egg (optional) – 1 Tbsp coarse salt (optional)
Feed the starter with 150 g of flour and 150 g of water at room temperature.
Let it grow for 3-4 hours outside of the fridge until it almost doubles in volume. Can rest overnight in the fridge if unable to bake on the same day.
Add the rest of the flour, the salt, and the sugar, mixing as much as possible in a bowl.
Work in the melted butter, then continue kneading by hand on a working surface. If desired, add chopped rosemary, or oregano, and/or black pepper.
Divide the dough in half, then in half again, and again until you obtain 8 balls of roughly equal size. Roll them into cylinders.
Warm up the oven to 225℃ (430℉).
Let the cylinders rest for 10 minutes for the gluten strands to relax, then pull them gently to make them thinner and longer, and cut them in half.
Lay the cylinders on a baking sheet previously covered in parchment paper.
If desired, brush them with milk or beaten eggs, then sprinkle with coarse salt.
Bake for 15 minutes until the tips darken considerably.
Cracked pepper and oregano breadsticks, brushed with milk and sprinkled with coarse salt.
In the episode, Frank talks about his blogging process—from identifying a new dish to sourcing the ingredients, executing the preparation, taking the photos, writing the recipe, editing it for publication. In particular, Frank discusses his approach on measurements or lack thereof.
In the second part of our chat, Frank gives his take on how blogging has changed in the last ten years and makes a prediction on how it may evolve in the future.
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Gently wash the basil under cold running water and then lay it on a towel and let it dry completely (fig. 1). Do not bend or crush the leaves. 
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