Ages ago we visited Sorrento in Italy! I might at some point post some photos (when Andy sends them to me) but in the mean time here is my Italian inspired post.
Eating vegetarian food in Italy is not too difficult as there is always pizza and pasta on offer, however they have no idea of vegetarian cheese, and seem to love parmesan on everything, so I do like to try to find cheese free food when I can. Luckily we found a lovely organic veggie and vegan cafe in Sorrento called the Mondo Bio Cafe. It is on the side of a little health food store, and was only open until 8pm so one night we got there too late, but we did eat there twice. The menu was fab, with veggie and vegan options, as well as other dietary options such as gluten free- they offered spelt, kamut and some other sort of pasta for all their dishes. I had the most amazing gnocchi with tomato sauce and Andy had a lovely basil pesto dish, and then I think the second time I had some sort of baked tofu with tomato sauce (I think Andy had the pesto pasta again as he loves that).
If you fancy checking it out, there are some Trip Advisor reviews here.
Anyway, at Christmas I was given an Italian cook book, and recently have been attempting some of the recipes.
I have always wanted to try biscotti. This means twice baked- (and where the word biscuit comes from)- bake it once, then slice it and bake again to make it crispy.
They turned out really well- I used macadamias and almonds as the nuts (was meant to be pistachio) and they were especially good with a little nutella (also Italian!).
But the main dish I fancied trying was a gnocchi dish.
The recipe did call for ready made, so I am not cheating! The only passata available was this Pizza Express stuff, which turned out to have salt added, but it turned out so well.
Basically, chop an red onion and cook in a little olive oil, then add the passatta and simmer for 10 minutes, adding basil leaves at the end. Then cook the gnocchi.
Smelled so good already!
Then put it all in a baking dish with some mozzarella, and bake for 10 minutes.
It was delicious- we topped ours with more fresh basil as we bought a pack (I never have much success with keeping those little pots alive)! We had it with a salad, although the suggestion was some crusty bread.
Yum. I had never even had gnocchi before that trip to Italy, and am really glad I tried it. I am not the greatest potato fan, but the rich tomato sauce was just delicious and went really well with them.
What is your favourite Italian food?
Favourite holiday food find?
Your gnocchi looks great! How great that you found a gluten free/vegan option it Italy! I’m always on the lookout for those kind of places on holiday, always interesting to see what different countries make with limited ingredients. I’ve been watching United Cakes of America and the biscotti looked so good but I think yours sounds better – almond and macadamia dipped in Nutella sounds divine!
United cakes of america sounds like my kind of show! I must look it up!
Those biscotti look amazing! I wish I could go back to Sorrento, when we got married there I was as much of a foodie as I am now, I would appreciate it much more I think 🙂
We saw lots of bridal things there (pampering packages etc) as well as wedding things- obviously a very popular place for a wedding! It was very pretty 🙂
Ahhh I love gnocchi, haven’t had it in ages though. I love it baked with mozzarella on top, or with pesto and fresh veggies, yum!
I like the idea of having it with pesto.
Ah, I never realised biscotti meant twice baked. I have never tried Gnocchi before but love to try local dishes out when we go away on holiday and I’m looking forward to testing some new dishes out in Italy on our honeymoon this Summer!
Yes- the bi = two (like bicycle) and the cui (in biscuit) is like cuisine, meaning cooked, or something. Interesting 🙂
You will have a wonderful honeymoon there, just save some space for all the delicious gelato flavours.
The restaurant sounds great- also good to know of options for different places. I’m not a big fan of Italian food, I don’t like pizza or pasta so we never really go to Italian restaurants.
Italian food tends to be our staple for eating out on holiday as I know it will have veggie options. Although not so good if you don’t like cheese!
I’m not a big fan of biscottis I must say. They’re a bit too crunchy for me and dry. But dunked in a cup of tea might work 😉
My favourite Italian food…I really don’t like pasta (gosh I do sound fussy don’t I?) but I do love a nice pizza that’s not covered in too much cheese. I much prefer seafood toppings or veggie toppings and less cheese. (BBQ chicken is probably my favourite but probably not that Italian!!)