We travelled to Naples and its surroundings in March, for Marcel’s birthday. On Procida, an island I had wanted to explore for a long time, we were gifted many lemons. So, when we returned home, Marcel made limoncello.

What did he use?

8-10 organic lemons

1 litre of 96% alcohol

750g sugar

1 and a half litres of water

Carefully peel 10 medium organic lemons (as the Procida kind is large, we peeled 8), not to add the white part (which turns the drink bitter and cloudy). In a three-litre jar, pour the alcohol. Leave to set for at least 2 weeks (preferably 3) in a cool spot (but not the fridge); stir every 2-3 days.

After 2 or 3 weeks, melt the sugar in the water. Let it cool. Then, pour it over the mix in the jar (strained from the lemon skins). Leave another week to set fully.

• Spring version

Dough:

200g flour

5g fresh yeast

100ml buttermilk

salt

Filling:

2 orach bunches

salt

butter

1 green garlic

+1 small egg

Variant: Add ewe cheese on top of the filling if you wish.

• Fall version

Dough:

240g flour

5g fresh yeast

160g sour cream

salt

Filling:

300g orach

salt

butter

1 pestled garlic clove

+2 tbsp of milk

Baking pan: 20x20 cm

Orach was the ingredient of this year for me! I fell in love! I felt lucky to be able to bake this orach pie in spring and fall!

The recipes are almost similar. To make the dough, mix the yeast with the buttermilk or the sour cream, adding the required amount of flour. You’ll get a non-sticky dough, slightly hard. Let it rise for 1 hour. 

Then (a kind man named Marcel helped me), wash the orach leaves. Be careful, that pink liquid stains (I used red orach). Let the orach leaves simmer in butter; add the salt, the green garlic or the garlic clove, depending on the season.

Roll out half of the dough in a buttered and floured baking pan. Add the filling and the ewe cheese if you wish. Then, add the other half of the rolled-out dough and stick the two pieces together.

Brush the egg or milk on top of the pie, then bake it in the preheated oven at 180°C for 20 minutes. 

I fell in love with this cake in Lebanon (I have a special relationship with ’ashta’, the cream used everywhere in Phoenicia, anyway). I baked it for the first time on my birthday in 2023, adapting it (it’s not easy to bake with semolina!); I kept preparing it. This is what happens when a result is tasty!

For the cream:

In a large baking pan, mix and boil (low heat)

530ml whipping cream

420ml milk

67g flour

5 tbsp of sugar + 135g sugar

Before removing it from the heat, add a drop of

orange blossom water

rose water

You’ve made ashta.

Continue with the dough. 

In a bowl, mix

330g semolina

100g coconut or date sugar

3g baking powder

a pinch of salt

4 tbsp of sour cream

150g (melted and slightly cooled) butter

Divide the (sticky) dough into two equal parts; place the first part on the baking parchment by pressing fragments of the dough into the 34x24cm baking pan. (Don’t worry; it will all get homogenous through baking.) 

Sprinkle as many crushed pistachios as you like. 

Pour the ashta. 

Add another layer of crushed pistachios. 

Then, spread pieces of the remaining layer on top of the cake.

Bake for 25 minutes in the preheated oven at 180°C.

Cool in the fridge for at least 3 hours.

Savour it. It is a creamy and delicious cake, one of my favourite desserts ever! ♥

If there’s a dish I baked most last summer (even at the beginning of fall), this was it! It was even appropriate during our detox (or I made it so)! The cherry tomatoes you're using must be delicious!

The ingredients needed for a round baking pan of Φ 22 cm are:

(for the) FILLING

350g cherry tomatoes

1 teaspoon of dried thyme

1 & ½ tbsp of maple syrup

15g butter

+ 1 medium onion

+ 1 tbsp of butter

(for the) CRUST

1 tbsp of psyllium seeds

2 tbsp of (hot) water

125g gluten-free oatmeal

25g tapioca flour

60g (melted and cooled) butter

1 tbsp of apple vinegar

a pinch of sea salt

Wash the cherry tomatoes and place them in the baking pan. Sprinkle the thyme. Pour over the maple syrup. Cut out small pieces of butter and sprinkle them all over the cherry tomatoes.

Place the baking pan in the preheated oven for 14 minutes at 190°C.

Then, let it cool.

Meanwhile, clean the onion, chop it, and fry it in butter. Then, add it over the cherry tomatoes.

Make the crust using the recipe here.

Roll out the crust and cover the cherry tomatoes, ensuring you tuck the dough under the tomatoes.

Bake it in the preheated oven for 20 minutes at 170°C.

I was inspired by a vegan menemen made with tempeh. We were undergoing an atypical detox, but the vegan menemen tasted like the classical menemen that I love and have served so many times!

What do you need for a vegan menemen?

4 tbsp of olive oil

1 onion

2 bell peppers                                                                   

3 tomatoes

a pinch of dry oregano

a pinch of sea salt

a dash of pepper

How to make it?

Sauté the onion over low heat for 2-3 minutes.

Add the diced bell peppers; simmer them for 5-6 minutes.

Dice the tomatoes and mix them in with the oregano, sea salt, and pepper.

Add the tofu 3-4 minutes later (chop it in the pan or dice it before adding it).

 Serve it warm! Enjoy your meal!

This was a first!

I’ve been thinking of baking them for a long time, and I finally did!

Here's the recipe (makes 7)-

125g oatmeal

2g baking powder

a pinch of sea salt

12g butter

25ml hot water

35ml cold water

Mix the oatmeal, the baking powder, the sea salt, the butter, the hot water, and the cold water.

Knead.

Roll out the dough.

Cut out the oatcakes (Φ 7cm).

Bake on baking parchment, in a baking pan, for 20 minutes, at 180°C.

They’re so much tastier than the packaged version!

P.S. For the other recipe – kapia pepper stew with onions –, please ask Marcel, he was the chef. 😊

One year and a half ago, I tried NoMoMoo's products for the first time. I got drawn to them before tasting them (I then understood why)! It was love at first bite! They are not only exquisitely made but also the most delicious vegan cheeses (and more!) I’ve tasted! They're made with soul and you can feel it!

So here I am, wholeheartedly trying to include them in a good-looking dessert.

It is still their season, so I chose peaches! Here’s what I got! [As I baked without lactose and eggs, I also wanted a gluten-free dessert.] Its star is NoMoMoo’s Cajoont Clasic; you’ll need one.

What to use?

FOR THE DOUGH

125g gluten-free oatmeal

35g tapioca flour

2 tbsp of brown sugar

a pinch of sea salt

115g Cajoont Clasic from the fridge

1 ice cube

2 tbsp of icy water

FOR THE FILLING

4-5 medium peaches

1 tbsp of brown sugar

1 tbsp of tapioca flour

10g Cajoont Clasic

+15g Cajoont Clasic to sprinkle over the galette

How to bake it?

Use a blender to mix all the ingredients for the dough in the specified order; you can knead them into a dough, too.

Spread the dough over a ceramic tart mould (use water and tapioca flour to help you do this); leave elongated pieces of dough on purpose.

A little elf helped me clean and cut the peaches into slices. Mix them in a bowl with the brown sugar, the tapioca flour, and 10g of Cajoont Clasic.

Then, place the peach slices next to one another on the dough; fold the elongated pieces of dough over the fruit slices.

In the end, sprinkle the remaining bits of Cajoont over the galette.

Bake it for 15 minutes in the preheated oven at 220°C.

How do I know if I like a dessert? When I crave another slice immediately after the first one!

I hope you’ll try it and agree. And that you’ll also go crazy for NoMoMoo’s Cajoont! 

P.S. To make it easier to bake this lovely galette, add one teaspoon of psyllium seeds to two tablespoons of spring water. Let the mixture sit for 5 minutes, then add it to the other dough ingredients. 

It was by far our favourite dessert during our end-of-spring detox.

What do you need for the ...?

DOUGH

3 tbsp of water

1 tbsp of flax seeds

125g gluten-free oatmeal

25g tapioca flour

60g (melted and cooled) butter

a dash of vanilla bean

1 tbsp of apple vinegar

a pinch of salt

FILLING

3 big apples (chopped or grated)

some nutmeg

some (grounded) cinnamon

4 teaspoons of date sugar

15g butter

How to bake it?

First, let the flax seeds sit in water for 10-15 minutes.

Meanwhile, clean the apples, cut them, and chop them in a blender or grate them.

Add the apples to a pan and let them simmer with the nutmeg, cinnamon, date sugar, and butter. Mix when the butter melts and remove from heat. You’ll know when they’re ready because they’ll smell divinely.

In a medium bowl, mix the gluten-free oatmeal, the tapioca flour, the melted and cooled butter, the dash of vanilla bean, the apple vinegar, and the salt. Mix in the flax seeds and the water, too. Knead until the dough is no longer sticky.

Shape the crust in a buttered and floured tart mould. Add the filling.

Bake for 25 minutes at 160°C in the preheated oven.

I served it alongside a cooling sour cherry sorbetto made by Marcel on a torrid day.