Comfort cooking
Risotto, osso buco and baked apples!
Last year in November, my first children’s book, Sundays Under the Lemon Tree was published. Extraordinarily illustrated by Myo Yim, it’s a story about family, food and traditions. And last week in Sydney it won Small Publisher’s Children’s Book of the Year! We were so over the moon! Thank you to everyone who has bought a copy and loving it!
Melbourne event!
I’m hosting a very intimate dinner with Chadstone on Sunday June 14. Tickets are limited and I would love to meet you!
With winter just a few days away, I’m really leaning into comfort cooking. Slow braises, oven bakes, lots of pasta!
Today I have three recipes again for you! The most delightful radicchio risotto which is just such a beautiful way to use this absolutely delightful vegetable.
For the longest time, only radicchio di chioggia was available here in Australia. It is still the one most readily found, and fortunately the one I reccomend for this risotto, but there are so many other incredible varieties that growers like Ramarro Farm are producing. It used to be just a pipe dream to access these here. We are so lucky!
My first test of this recipe was with white wine, but the radicchio goes a bit of a muddy colour once cooked and really needs the red wine to give a more appealing hue.
For the stock, I make a very simple vegetable stock by simmering a carrot, celery, fresh bay leaf, onion or shallot and some parsley in water for around 45 minutes. So light and lovely.
Also today is a simple Osso buco recipe which I have been making a lot lately. It’s rather tomato heavy as I use the sauce for multiple pasta dinners and serve the meat separately - it really goes far!
And then a very simple baked apple recipe or Mele al forno. These are kind of retro but when done simply, are so good. Served hot with cold cream is a really beautiful seasonal dessert. Granny Smiths are my preferred apple for this dish, but on this occasion, I used pink ladies, which are fine, but not the best best!
My new cookbook goes to print in a few weeks and I am so excited to share with you all the cover and more about it soon. Some BTS below!
Thank you for subscribing!!
Julia x
Mele al forno (Baked apples)
Serves 6
6 apples, cored
Roasted Hazelnuts, halved
Raisins
Unsalted butter
1-2 tbsp demerara sugar
50 ml marsala or vin santo
80 ml warm water
Custard or cream, to serve
Preheat the oven to 180C.
Arrange the apples in a baking dish and stuff with 3 or 4 hazelnut halves and 3 or 4 raisins. Sprinkle the sugar into the apples then dot each apple with a little butter. Pour the marsala or vin santo and water into the base of the baking dish.
Bake in the oven for around 35 minutes or until the apples are starting to split and the flesh is soft.
Serve hot with cream or custard.
