Acquasala

Aaaaaaaand I'm back with another food post!

I recently discovered that the panini I had bought to eat on a particular day had been forgotten about. Left to go stale. No longer fresh and soft.

So, instead of seeking out some ducks (which would have been difficult because I swear, in the 2 years and 9 months that I've lived here, I haven't seen a single one...) I decided that the only logical thing to do was rinse the bread in water, mix it with some fresh tomatoes, add salt, oregano and then finally, lashings of olive oil.

That, my friends, is what you call an acquasala.

TIP: rinse the bread. Don't soak it. Otherwise it will just be soggy bread, and no one wants that...

Caprese creations!

What is a 'caprese'? A bit of mozzarella, some tomatoes and some basil arranged nicely on a plate, maybe with a bit of oil drizzled over in an artistic fashion? Well, it can be. Or, it can be a little more interesting than that. I'm all about the simplicity factor when I'm cooking/making a mess in my kitchen, so doing things based on a caprese salad is perfect. Here, I've got two easy ideas for you. Both are light and tasty, and definitely no-fuss.  

• This light lunch couldn't get any more simple if it tried, and it's perfect for a hot day. If you prefer to up the carbs, add some nice crusty bread on the side...

Take your fresh mozzarella and tomatoes, put into a bowl and add some salt, olive oil and basil (fresh or dried works fine, here I've used dried).

 Cook some chicken with a little oil, garlic and salt (don't chop up the garlic, leave it whole, but don't forget to remove it later!), leave to cool, then add to the caprese.

You could try some pesto with it too, to make it a bit more flavoursome.

•  Now these lovelies are way more impressive on the aesthetic front. Perfect for a starter, and too simple for words. So I'll let the photos speak for themselves...

I have recently bought an actual basil plant, so I'm trying to think of interesting ways to use these tasty leaves in my cooking/making a mess in the kitchen. These caprese creations are the perfect way to make use of them. And look how Italian they are, all red, green and white. Dunk these in olive oil or in pesto to make them even more scrummy. But watch out...the tomatoes have a tendency to spurt everywhere when you bite into them. So don't forget your napkins ;)

Buon appetito!