Ambrosiac musings of a food maniac

These gnocchi are awesome; the bright pink from the beet and the bright green from the chard-ricotta sauce is quite the eye candy and the taste is just amazing. The beets don't dominate the gnocchi, they just add a hint of beetiness.

Thanks to our friend Yael for providing the basic gnocchi recipe that she brought home from her stay in Italy.

Last January Keren and myself celebrated my birthday at the 'Salon' restuarant in Tel Aviv, one of the most applauded restuarants in Israel. Lots has been written about Mr. Shani and his restaurant and by greater writers than yours truly, so I will leave the superlatives to them.

I love springtime. It's when some of my favorite green vegetables become available: snow peas, brussel sprouts, fava beans and the king of spring vegetables, the green garlic. When very young, before the bulb has separated into cloves, I like to slice them whole and make into green aglio e olio. A few weeks later, the bulbs are all grown up and can be used just as the plain dry garlic, but with a twist.

Risotto is probably the king of Italian cooking for me. Its texture when done right is amazingly soft while not being too heavy and allowing you to enjoy a myriad of different tastes - the rice, the stalk, the cheese, the vegetables, the wine...

I love ganache domes. Quite like truffles (or like the Italian variant, Tartufo Nero) but softer due to the higher cream to chocolate ratio. I like to use 70% cocoa solids Guanaja chocolate from Valrhona but any good chocolate works.

Usually I add some whisky (15 year old Dalwhinnie works great), orange liquer or espresso, but this time I wanted something different, and balsamic vinegar seemed like an interesting choice. I was pleased to discover how well it works together with the ganache!

Invented when I had to find use for leftover celeriac and chard leaves, this turned out to be a tremendously delicious dish. This ragù is excellent as a pasta sauce or served on top of plain white rice or mashed potatoes.

This is one of the first breads I've made on the new baking brick Keren has got me for my birthday, and is probably one of the best breads I've made. It's got a rich and full-bodied nutty flavour thanks to the honey and... well... nuts.

I've been using a lot of sweet potatoes and pumpkin lately, as my CSA provider keeps sending me them week after week. This forces me to try creative ideas (or at least, more creative than the usual ingredients I use), and this week's dish is one outcome of this. The ravioli filling is simple but really delicious and can probably stand on its own as a spread or pasta sauce.

This ragù is based on the traditional Bolognese ragù but replaces half of the beef with lamb. Note that the meat is roughly chopped rather than minced, this gives the sauce a more 'meaty' texture. The use of sage as the sole herb compliments the lamb's aroma.

My twist on the good old creamy orange goodness includes a pinch of chili hotness and a hint of roastness from the bell pepper.