A simple delicious starter for your next soiree
Posted: 09 January 2024
We share the perfect dish for your next gathering. It’s easy to make and a visual showstopper which will have you wanting seconds. Shared with us by our friend Lukas who runs and owns Casa Lawa (which we have bookmarked for a future trip) we hope you enjoy trying it for yourself at home.
When we recently interviewed Lukas for the perfect Sicilian itinerary we had readers reach out wanting to learn more. So the perfect opportunity arose to encourage Lukas to style his rustic table setting with our Ivy Gingham Tablecloth and share a spread cooked by his good friend Georgia Lahiff who also happens to be a very talented Australian chef who has worked at leading restaurants in Australia, London and Rome.
The table dressed in our French Flax Linen Table Cloth in Ivy Gingham
Recipe: Stuffed Zucchini Flowers, Rice and Herbs
Ingredients:
- 12 zucchini + 12 flowers
- 4 spring onions
- 2 cloves garlic
- 200g rice basmati or Arborio
- 200ml white wine
- 200ml water
- 2 lemons or 2 preserved lemons
- 1 big bunch of parsley
- 1 bunch mint
- 1 bunch of fennel tops or dill.
- Olive oil
The Method
1. Preheat your oven to 190 degrees celsius
2. In a wide-based saucepan add plenty of olive oil and saute your olive oil, and garlic until soft, add rice, and allow to toast. Add white wine and allow to cook off. add water. Cook rice until the liquid has absorbed, approximately 10 minutes. Rice should be very al dente as would be cooked again in the oven.
3. Remove from the heat, and stir through zest or preserved lemon juice. Add your chopped herbs.
4. Remove stamens from your flowers and stuff with the rice mix and twist the tops to close.
5. Place zucchini in an oven tray big enough to fit all. add 150ml water 150 white wine 50ml olive oil and pinch salt. Bake for 20 minutes, and serve at room temperature.
In conversation with our hosts…
Q: What was the overall menu for the day?
– Farinata with fennel seeds
– Sheep’s milk ricotta, lemon zest, black pepper and olive oil
– Vignarola (peas, fava, spring onion, green garlic, lettuce, and white wine)
– Stuffed courgette flowers (rice, cumin, chilli, finochietto, parsley, mint, lemon) for which I hope you enjoy this recipe
– Strawberry Rye Galette with almond frangipane
Q: What do you love about the dish you chose to cook?
A: We love simplicity, seasons, and effortlessness in our kitchen, the rest you can see in the pictures.
Q: How do the linens work as part of your design?
A: We love primary colours at Casa Lawa and so is our brand identity, the green linen work perfectly with our lava walls, and the colourful plating we made.
Q: For your ultimate Supper Club, you can invite 6 celebrities dead or alive, who would they be?
A: Julia Roberts, Jeniffer Lopez, Adele, Jeniffer Coolidge, Angela Merkel and Aung San Suu Kyi.
