Photo by Armelle Habib
Whenever I see a picture of anything Julia has made, I want to eat it, and whenever I read a recipe of hers, I want to cook it! This makes me the ideal reader for her latest book Good Cooking Every Day, though it’s hardly a small club. Justifiably popular in Australia, Julia — who is of Italian and Maltese heritage — has an enthusiasm for food and cooking that is positively infectious and a charm that’s equally irresistible. There’s no vanity or ego in her recipes, she just delivers page after page of unfussy food that exudes a kind of glamorous simplicity.
As I said earlier, I want to eat it all, but let me pick out a few favourites for you so that you get the drift: bruschetta with lemony mozzarella, peas and anchovies; Focaccia with Sweet Onions and Cherry Tomato; Sesame Flatbread; Pizza Bianca (shown appetisingly in her book stuffed with mortadella); Chestnut, Rice & Porcini Minestra, a soup that truly speaks to the season right now, at least in the Northern Hemisphere; chunky little Mezzi Rigatoni with Broccoli, Almonds, Mint and Anchovies; Brothy Seafood Rice; Pasta alla Norcina, which denotes a white-wine-and-cream sausage sauce, pale in colour but bold in flavour; One-Pan Chicken with Oregano, Orange and Green Olives; Stuffed Cabbage with Sausage and Porcini; Lamb Meatballs with Baguette Verde, a green sauce from Piedmont that’s often served with Bollito Misto; Beef Tagliata with Tonnato Sauce; Roman Stuffed Tomatoes and Chips; Potato and Silverbeet (Chard) al forno; Greek Fennel Fritters; and a particularly luscious Parmigiana di Melanzane. And while — as makes sense for a book that that has “everyday” in its title — savoury recipes are in the majority, the sweet side of things also gets a look in, and here I must mention in particular, her Olive Oil Loaf Cake with Pear and Hazelnut; Almond Crumble Cake with Peach and Blackberry; Pistachio Saffron Cake; and a particular favourite of mine, as taught to me years ago by Anna del Conte, the delicate light sponge that’s made with potato flour/starch that rightly goes by the name of Torta Paradiso, and is here served with garnet-glossy stewed plums.
This is a beautiful book, but a big one — its dimensions are more those of a coffee table book than a regular cookbook, though I concede cheerfully that there’s more space for everything in Australia than there is here! Still, I’m more than happy to push my kitchen clutter out of the way to use it, and the recipe I’ve chosen to share with you today, both to celebrate the book and the season is the gorgeously warming Pumpkin and Sage Soup with Mascarpone.
Good Cooking Every Day by Julia Busuttil Nishimura.
Photos by Armelle Habib.
Published by Plum, an imprint of Pan Macmillan Australia.
