Dropping in: Zucchini & Basil Spaghetti

Summer has blown through Australia, leaving us all wondering if time just dissipates like sea spray in the wind. Or like an ice cube in the sun, or like chocolate ice cream in my bowl.

Thankfully, summer produce is still trickling out of Nonno & Nonna's garden.

When I dropped in to say hello this Saturday, it was already midday (weekend sleep-ins are precious to the newly working woman!) so of course we had another drop-in lunch.

Nonna cheerfully started frying zucchini and basil for a quick and easy spaghetti dish.

I never cease to be amazed at how the most simple, fresh ingredients can make the most tasty, healthy meals.

Springtime: Artichoke Soup

Hey look, a blog post!  It's only been about seven months: seven months of ups and downs, and uni assignments, and road trips, and one broken camera, and plenty of cooking with Nonna.

The broken camera was one of the scarier moments, but it means I have a beautiful new lens to debut, so keep an eye out for some experimental focusing.

September means another springtime full of fresh, leafy greens, moist soil, and edible blossoms.

I sincerely believe it is a crime to ignore the beautiful signs of the seasons, which means we all need to spend some quality time outside of buildings, getting our shoes dirty.

Growing along the fence line of Nonno and Nonna's vegetable garden are a row of leafy, grey plants which sprout pretty artichoke globes.  I've been peeking through the leaves for a couple of weeks now, but still no sign of these tasty treats.

These pictures are last year's artichoke wonders, which were made into soup, or pickled in olive oil and oregano to be smashed over pizzas all year through.

Stuffed artichokes boiled in a deliciously rich broth is one of the most perfect dishes for a crisp, chilly September evening.  

Once these lovelies cooked for hours, I added some boiled fava beans and spaghetti and had a very satisfied stomach.

Now I'm off to check those artichoke bushes again...

Fried Zucchini Flowers

Every summer the vegetable garden starts filling up with nice, big, green zucchinis.  Some are picked while still quite small and dark, while others are left until they become big and stripy, full of seeds and perfect for stuffing (but that's another blog post).

Secretly, I think the best part of the zucchini plant are the flowers.

Over several days, Nonna goes out to the garden and picks two or three flowers (not many come out at once).  When she has a big batch she fries them up in a light batter for hungry grandchildren.

We call them 'Flowers'.

Autumn is for planning

In Nonno's vegetable garden the last of the basil is tempting me.

The smell of basil is tempting me, to be exact.  Tempting me to pick it all at once and blend it up into some tasty pesto, or shred it all into a fresh tomato salad.

But apparently if you pick all of a plant at once then it doesn't grow back properly or something.  The basil is safe for now.

Here is the last of the artichokes.

No more fresh stuffed artichokes until next summer (I'm learning a lot about the garden and plants and seasons today).

And the parsley has gone to seed.

It's autumn 2013 and I'm planning the cookbook with Nonna.

When I'm not getting distracted by cherry tomatoes (only the very last ones of the summer season).

Or these random dried chillis.

Actually, the biggest distraction was the jar of biscotti left on the table.

We still got some planning done.

And then Nonna revealed the last of the zuchinni flowers, and she fried them up for me on the spot. 

But that's another post...