​Sporki (pronounced Shporki) makaroni translates to dirty macaroni. Now obviously it doesn't mean the dirty you would normally think of when we say dirty. What it does mean, is this simple beef sauce just coats the pasta and dirties it. 

This dish is from Dubrovnik in Croatia and traditionally it's served on the feast day of the City’s patron saint, St. Blaise. The dish dates back to the days of aristocracy in Dubrovnik when the wealthy would, after having eaten all the best meat on the feast day,  mix the remaining meat sauce with macaroni for their servants on feast days and at celebrations.

Usually when I make a beef ragu it is very saucy and rich. This one uses a less meat than I normally use and adds a few other simple ingredients to make a simple, yet delicious sauce. My family love it.

This is a great budget dish as you can feed many with very little meat.

Recipe adapted from Rick Stein's cookbook ' From Venice to Istanbul'

Serves 4-6

30ml olive oil
600g chuck steak, cut into a 2cm dice
3 small red onions, chopped
3 small carrots, sliced
1 bay leaf 
Salt and pepper, to taste
2 tablespoon tomato paste
2 cloves of garlic, minced
300ml chicken stock
300ml full bodied red wine 
600g pasta tubes, like penne, long macaroni, rigatoni


Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over high heat and brown the chunks of beef in batches. Set aside until needed.
​
Reduce the heat to low-medium, add the onions, carrots and garlic. Saute for 3-4 minutes. Return the beef to the saucepan​, add the bay leaf, season with salt and pepper, to taste. Stir in the tomato paste and fry for a couple of minutes before adding the chicken stock and the red wine.

Bring to a simmer, cover with a lid and cook for 1 1/2-2 hours, until the beef is tender.

Cook the pasta in plenty of salted boiling water following packet instructions, until al dente.

Drain the pasta and add to the meat. Stir well and allow to cook over a low heat for 5-10 minutes to combine all the flavours and give the sauce time to thicken and dirty the pasta.

To save the recipe to your favourites go www.whatscookingella.com/sporki-macaroni.html 
Pin it: www.pinterest.com.au/pin/399413060705621943

​If you make this recipe, please let me know! Leave a comment below or take a photo and tag me on Instagram or Twitter with #whatscookingella

​We all know that banana bread is not really Italian, but like it is popular around the world, it's also popular in Italy. 

Now the only claim to this recipe being Italian is the addition of espresso coffee, some may say that's not enough, but I'm okay with it, so I am going with that and saying this is an Italian style banana bread.

This recipe makes one large loaf, but Nigella says you can also bake these in 1 x 12 bun muffin tins. They bake in a 200C/180C fan forced oven for 20 minutes.

I have several different banana bread recipes on this site, each slightly different, and each on here because I need to make them for different reasons. All I have been making for years and this espresso version is now one of them.

If you are like me and you feel you can never have too many recipes for banana bread, then this is one you really need to try, you'll be making it again and again.

​Recipe adapted from Nigella Lawson's cookbook 'Nigellissima'

Makes 1 loaf

150ml flavourless vegetable oil, plus some for greasing
3 medium ripe bananas, approx 400g
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
2 eggs
150g caster sugar
175 grams plain flour
½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
4 teaspoons instant espresso powder
​
​Preheat the oven to 170C/150C fan forced.

Grease and line with baking paper one large loaf tin.

​Mash the bananas with the vanilla extract and salt and then beat in the oil.

Now beat in the eggs, one by one, followed by the sugar.

Mix the flour with the baking soda and espresso powder, and beat these dry ingredients into the batter.

Pour the batter into your prepared loaf tin, and bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until slightly coming away from the sides of the tin. A skewer inserted in the cake should come out virtually clean.

Cool in the tin for 20 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

​This bread tastes even better if allowed to 'rest' overnight in a covered container. It really does improve with age. But if you can't wait, slice and Enjoy!

To save the recipe to your favourites go www.whatscookingella.com/italian-breakfast-banana-bread.html 
Pin it: www.pinterest.com.au/pin/399413060705610962/

​​If you make this recipe, please let me know! Leave a comment below or take a photo and tag me on Instagram or Twitter with #whatscookingella

​I've always loved the Aperol Spritz, this just makes it even better.

This is the perfect summer party drink as you can prepare the Aperol slushy in advance, then just serve when needed.

Recipe adapted from Giada De Laurentiis' cookbook Giada's Italy

​2 cups freshly squeezed orange juice (from 4 to 6 oranges)
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice (from 1 to 2 lemons)
1/3 cup sugar 
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt 
2 cups bitter orange liqueur, such as Aperol 
1 x 750ml bottle prosecco


In a small saucepan, combine the orange juice, lemon juice, sugar and salt. Warm over medium heat to just below a simmer, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon to help dissolve the sugar. Once the sugar is dissolved, remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in the liqueur. Set aside to cool completely.
​
Pour into an 20cm baking dish and freeze until completely frozen, at least 4 hours and up to overnight.
​
Scrape the surface of the frozen mixture with a fork to form large shards of ice. Spoon about 1/2 cup into champagne coupe or any glass you like and top with prosecco.

To save the recipe to your favourites go www.whatscookingella.com/spritzer-slushy.html 
Pin it: www.pinterest.com.au/pin/399413060705606309

​If you make this recipe, please let me know! Leave a comment below or take a photo and tag me on Instagram or Twitter with #whatscookingella

​This drink is dedicated to my favourite drinking partner, technically she's my aunt, though as we are close in age, she's just Jo to me.

Every family party we enjoy having a drink or two or three together. Sharing many a laugh together. 

Aperol Spritz is the drink of summer in the south of Italy, it is a light cocktail made with aperol, a bitter orange liqueur and proscecco. 

With the prosecco, choose one you like to drink, I don't love a sweet prosecco, so I choose one that is a bit more dry.

This is simple to make, looks great and I find lovely on a Sunday afternoon out on the deck.

​Serves 1
​
Ice
60ml Aperol
60ml dry Prosecco
20ml (a splash) soda water or unflavored sparkling water
Orange slice, for garnish


Add ice to a wine glass until it is nearly full. Pour in the Aperol.

Pour in an equal amount of Prosecco. Top your drink off with a splash of club soda and add a slice of orange.

To save the recipe to your favourites go www.whatscookingella.com/aperol-spritz.html 
Pin it: www.pinterest.com.au/pin/399413060705606032

​​If you make this recipe, please let me know! Leave a comment below or take a photo and tag me on Instagram or Twitter with #whatscookingella

​This is something I make on a weekday when I have afternoon sports with my kids, I make it during the day and then when I get home from sports I just heat up the sauce and cook the pasta. Some days I'm lucky my husband and kids would have done the reheating part for me, so dinner is ready when I get home.

This is a lighter sauce than when you make a beef ragu, but still worth making. The pork shoulder or neck, gets soft and tender and falls apart with little resistance.

If you are looking to try something new, something light, give this sauce a go.

Recipe adapted from Giada De Laurentiis' cookbook 'Giada's Italy'

Serves 8

1.5kg pork shoulder roast, cut into large chunks
1 1/2 tablespoons salt 
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 
3 tablespoons vegetable oil 
2 medium Spanish (red) onions, sliced thinly
5 cloves garlic, chopped 
1 cup white wine 
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
8 sprigs thyme 
1 bay leaf (fresh or dried)
1/2 cup chicken stock
800g tin crushed tomatoes 
7cm piece Parmesan rind 
1/2-1 teaspoon red chilli flakes 
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
500g penne pasta
6 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan, plus more as desired
​

Dry the pork well and sprinkle it on all sides with 1 tablespoon of the salt and the pepper.

Heat 2 tablespoons of the vegetable oil in a Dutch oven over high heat. Working in batches to avoid crowding the pan, brown the pork on all sides, about 4 minutes per side. Remove the pork to a plate and set aside. 
​
Once all of the pork has been browned, reduce the heat to medium. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in the pot. Add the onions and the remaining 1/2 tablespoon salt. Cook for about 8 minutes, stirring and scraping up any browned bits that have formed on the bottom of the pan. Add the garlic and cook for another 2 or 3 minutes.

Deglaze with the white wine and cook until reduced to nearly dry, 6 to 10 minutes.

Add the chicken broth, crushed tomatoes, Parmesan rind, chilli flakes, rosemary, thyme and bay leaf and bring to a simmer. Return the pork to the pot, tucking it in under the sauce. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, covered, until the pork is fork tender, about 1 hour 45 minutes.

Remove the pork and shred into bite-size pieces using two forks. Remove the rosemary, thyme, bay leaf and cheese rind from the sauce and add the pork back to the pot. Stir in the extra virgin olive oil and half of the grated Parmesan. Keep warm over low heat.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the penne for about 1 or 2 minutes less than the package directions. Drain, reserving one cup of the cooking water, and add the pasta to the sauce, tossing to coat. Finish cooking the pasta in the sauce, about 2 minutes, adding a ladle of pasta water, as needed.

Serve topped with the remaining grated Parmesan, or more as desired, and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. 

To save the recipe to your favourites go ​​www.whatscookingella.com/penne-with-pork-ragu.html 
​Pin it: www.pinterest.com.au/pin/399413060717315569

​If you make this recipe, please let me know! Leave a comment below or take a photo and tag me on Instagram or Twitter with #whatscookingella

​Italy is proving to be a real winner in our Eating Around the World Adventure. I always knew I loved Italian food, but this has allowed me to try things I had never tried before.

Schiacciata is a cross between foccacia and pizza. It's a free form thin bread.

One of the advantages of making a free-form bread is you can use whatever baking tray you have handy. For this one, the ideal thickness of the base before proving is about 1cm. Apart from that, the size and shape are up to you.

The dough is easy to make, the topping delicious.

This is worth trying on a lazy Sunday afternoon, it's easy and delicious.

Recipe adapted from Australian Gourmet Traveller 'Italian Cookbook Our Best-Ever Collection'

Serves 4-6

3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
50ml extra-virgin olive oil
1 small red chilli, thinly sliced
¼ cup (loosely packed) oregano
100g mascarpone, at room temperature
Finely grated rind of 1 lemon
80g thinly sliced hot salami, coarsely torn
80g provolone piccante, thinly sliced and coarsely torn

Olive oil dough:
450g (3 cups) bread flour 
7g (1 sachet) dried yeast
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil


For olive oil dough, mix flour, yeast and 3 teaspoons fine sea salt in the bowl of an electric mixer on low speed to combine. Add oil and 280ml chilled water, and knead on medium speed until smooth (the dough will be very sticky and wet but becomes less so as you continue kneading), then increase speed to high and knead for a further minute. Rest for 5 minutes, then repeat twice. Transfer to a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and stand at room temperature until doubled in size (30-40 minutes).

Preheat oven to 190C/170C fan forced. Combine half the garlic in a small saucepan with oil and chilli, and stir over low-medium heat until garlic is light golden (1-2 minutes). Remove from heat, add half the oregano, season to taste and set aside.

Roll dough on a lightly floured surface to a 1cm-thick oval and place on an oven tray lined with baking paper. Press all over the dough with your fingertips to form dimples, then spread mascarpone over, season to taste and stand uncovered until slightly risen (15-20 minutes).
​
Scatter with lemon rind and remaining garlic and oregano, then top with salami and provolone. Drizzle with a little garlic and chilli oil mixture.

​Bake, turning tray occasionally, until golden brown and cooked through (25-30 minutes). Serve warm or at room temperature with remaining garlic and chilli oil.

To save the recipe to your favourites go www.whatscookingella.com/salami-provolone-and-mascarpone-schiacciata.html
Pin it: www.pinterest.com.au/pin/399413060705593201

​​​On our Eating Around the World Adventure-Italy, I was introduced to fregola. 

Fregola is a type of baby pasta, some say similar to cous cous, but please do not substitute regular cous cous into this recipe, it's not the same. Fregola is a toasted Sardinian cous cous which is more like dense pasta peas than semolina grains that normal cous cous is. If comparing, fregola is more like Israeli cous cous. 

I ordered fregola online as I couldn't find it in stores, but since then it is becoming more readily available, and I have found stores that stock it, some supermarkets and Italian delis also have it. If you do find it, buy a few packets, it's worth it. But if you really can't find fregola rather than substituting a cous cous, use another pasta shape like ditalini or risoni. But in all honesty try and find fregola.

This dish is like a light, but clam rich, tomato spiced soup. I made this when my parents came over one day and we all loved it. I have since tried other similar recipes with fregola using mussels, vongole prawns and we are loving them.

For the vongole, I soak them in a bowl of cold tap water for about 5 minutes, to remove any sand they have in them. I change the water a few times and keep doing it, until the water is no longer murky.

If you don't want to buy vermouth, you can use white wine.

This is so easy to make, it takes about 15 minutes to make, you have no excuse not to try it.

Recipe adapted from Nigella Lawson's cookbook 'Nigellissima'

Serves 4

1kg small clams, such as pipis or vongole
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 shallot, peeled, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled, finely chopped
½ teaspoon dried chilli flakes
1 tablespoon tomato paste
750ml light chicken stock (made up with less powder or concentrate to water than usual)
60ml dry red vermouth
200g fregola
Finely grated rind from 1 lemon
2-3 tablespoons chopped parsley, plus more for sprinkling
​

Soak the clams in a large bowl of cold water, and sort through them, discarding any shells that remain open or are cracked or smashed.
​
Heat the oil in a large heavy-based pan that comes with a lid, then add the chopped shallot, stirring for a minute, add the garlic and the chilli flakes, stirring again over the heat so that it sizzles, though not long enough to let the garlic brown.

Stir in the tomato paste, then add the stock and the vermouth and let it come to the boil.
Add the fregola – it should be covered completely by the liquid – and let it simmer, still uncovered, for about 10 minutes (or as instructed on the fregola packet).

Check that the fregola is nearly ready, about the 7-8 minute mark, and then add the drained clams and cover the pan with the lid. Leave to cook for three minutes at a fast simmer, then uncover the pan to check that the clams have opened. Any clams that, once cooked, stay closed should be discarded.
​
Sprinkle in the finely grated lemon rind and the chopped parsley and stir to let everything combine before ladling into four warmed bowls to serve, sprinkling with a little more chopped parsley as you go.

To save the recipe to your favourites go www.whatscookingella.com/fregola-with-clams.html 
Pin it: www.pinterest.com.au/pin/399413060705593865

​​​If you make this recipe, please let me know! Leave a comment below or take a photo and tag me on Instagram or Twitter with #whatscookingella

​On our Eating Around the World Adventure-Italy, I was introduced to fregola. 

Fregola is a type of baby pasta, some say similar to cous cous, but please do not substitute regular cous cous into this recipe, it's not the same. Fregola is a toasted Sardinian cous cous which is more like dense pasta peas than semolina grains that normal cous cous is. If comparing, fregola is more like Israeli cous cous. 

I ordered fregola online as I couldn't find it in stores, but since then it is becoming more readily available, and I have found stores that stock it, some supermarkets and Italian delis also have it. If you do find it, buy a few packets, it's worth it. But if you really can't find fregola rather than substituting a cous cous, use another pasta shape like ditalini or risoni. But in all honesty try and find fregola.

Now to talk about the recipe. When I first found this recipe I knew I wanted to try it. When I started to cook it, I could not believe how fast and easy it was to make, but I was still a little worried that it wouldn't be as good as I would want it to be. Boy was I wrong, this was amazing, every bite absolutely delicious.

This dish can be made in about 20 minutes, including preparation time. It's so quick and easy to make.

For the mussels, I scrape off an ugly bits from the shells and debeard them. For the vongole, I soak them in a bowl of cold tap water for about 5 minutes, to remove any sand they have in them. I change the water a few times and keep doing it, until the water is no longer murky. For the prawns, you can buy the prawns already peeled and deveined, but I tend to buy whole prawns and do it myself. The shells I freeze to make soups, another day.

With the vegeta, I added it as I use it often. I added it as I wanted more flavour in the dish, rather than adding too much salt. The original recipe did not use it.

So if you are looking for a quick and easy dinner idea, this one is fabulous.

Recipe adapted from Silvia Colloca's cookbook 'La Dolce Vita'

Serves 4

500g fresh mussels, cleaned and debearded
​500g vongole, rinsed
150ml white wine
100ml extra virgin olive oil
8 raw green prawns, peeled and deveined
2 shallots, finely chopped
2 tablespoons finely chopped flat leaf parsley stalks
1 small red chilli, thinly sliced
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
350g fregola
1/4 teaspoon vegeta, optional
Salt and pepper, to taste
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
Flat leaf parsley leaves, to garnish
 
Heat a large heavy based frying pan over a high heat. Add the mussels, vongole and the wine, cover with a lid and cook for 3-4 minutes to allow the steam to open the shells. As soon as they open lift them out with a slotted spoon into a large bowl, set aside until needed. Discard any that have a broken shell or that won't open.

Strain the liquid into a jug, set aside until needed.
​
Add 2 tablespoons of the extra virgin olive oil to the same pan, add the prawns and fry for 1-2 minutes on each side, until just cooked, Remove from the pan, set aside until needed.
​
Reduce the heat to medium, add the rest of the oil. Now add the shallot, parsley stalks, chilli and garlic, saute for 2 minutes or until fragrant. Add the fregola and stir well to allow all the flavours to mingle. Pour in your reserved mussel liquid and enough water to cover the fregola by 1-2cm ( I added about 750ml), it is best to add less water, then top up with boiled kettle water, if it is drying out before the fregola is cooked, than to add too much water initially. Add vegeta, if using, season with salt and pepper, to taste. Cook over a medium heat for 8-10 minutes or until the fregola is al dente. The end result you want there to be liquid, but you don't want it to be a soup, like a risotto.
​

Turn the heat off and add the mussels, vongole and prawns.

Serve sprinkled with fresh parsley leaves and grated lemon zest.

To save the recipe to your favourites go www.whatscookingella.com/fregola-with-mussels-vongole-and-prawns.html 
Pin it: www.pinterest.com.au/pin/399413060705582426

​​If you make this recipe, please let me know! Leave a comment below or take a photo and tag me on Instagram or Twitter with #whatscookingella

​Recipe adapted from Silvia Colloca's cookbook 'Made in Italy'

Serves 6-8

600g type 00 flour
100ml extra virgin olive oil
4 tablespoons white wine
Tip of a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda
1-2 tablespoons salt flakes
150-200ml sparkling water
​
Preheat your oven to 220C/200C fan forced.

Place the flour on a board or in a large bowl and make a well in the centre. Add the olive oil, wine, bicarbonate of soda and salt and mix with a wooden spoon to encourage the dough to come together. Add the sparkling water, a little at a time, to form a soft dough. Start by adding 150ml, then see if you need to add the rest.
​
Knead the dough on a floured surface for a few minutes, then flatten it out with a rolling pin to a thickness of about 1cm. Put the dough on an oiled baking tray and score it with a serrated knife to create a criss-cross pattern.

​Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until golden and the scent of wine and olive oil is starting to waft through the air.

To save the recipe to your favourites go www.whatscookingella.com/pizza-scima.html 
Pin it: www.pinterest.com.au/pin/399413060705562456

​If you make this recipe, please let me know! Leave a comment below or take a photo and tag me on Instagram or Twitter with #whatscookingella

​​Recipe adapted from Daniela e Stefania's cookbook Saporito
1 clove garlic, chopped finely
1 brown onion, diced
400g tin diced tomatoes
2 x 680g bottles Tomato Passata
Salt and pepper, to taste
Olive oil
8-10 Fresh basil leaves, to taste
1 teaspoon of sugar, if needed

In a large saucepan, add 1-2 tablespoons olive oil. Add the onion and garlic, saute for 2-3 minutes.

Add the tomatoes and tomato passata. Stir, season with a little salt and pepper, bring to a simmer, then simmer for 1 hour.

​After 1 hour, add the basil, taste for seasoning, and if you need to add sugar, add it now. Keep simmering for a further 30 minutes, during this time, add more basil and seasoning if needed, to taste.

Serve this with your favourite pasta or gnocchi.

To save the recipe to your favourites go www.whatscookingella.com/simple-neapolitan-sauce.html 
Pin it: www.pinterest.com.au/pin/399413060705527837/

​If you make this recipe, please let me know! Leave a comment below or take a photo and tag me on Instagram or Twitter with #whatscookingella