Il Solito Posto, Melbourne

A little while ago, Tim and I again dined at Il Solito Posto (meaning "The Usual Place"), an Italian restaurant entered via a Melbourne laneway.  You can read about our first visit here.

On this occasion, we received some delicious bread to go with the antipasto della casa at the top of this post ($19 for one, which we shared):

It was absolutely scrumptious.  I particularly loved the mozzarella balls.

Tim again had the pork and beef meatballs, but this time, for main, I went with the daily special of cannelloni:

It tasted as wonderful as it looks, with plenty of sauce to flavour the filling.

For dessert, Tim had this wonderful raspberry crostata with chocolate icecream and cream:

while I opted for some wonderful zeppole (Italian donuts) with chocolate sauce that I forgot to photograph, but here's the evidence that they were good: 

Il Solito Posto is a terrific place to enjoy good Italian food, but I recommend booking - they always seem to be very busy.

Il Solito Posto

Basement, 113 Collins St

Melbourne VIC 3000
Phone: (03) 9654 4466

Pear and Chocolate Cake (Torta Di Pera E Cioccolato)

 

There is a free food newspaper called Gram that is found at various locations aorund Melbourne.  Tim always picks up a copy for his Dad.  In one recent edition, Tim found a recipe for Pear and Chocolate Cake that he thought I'd like to make, and sent me a copy. The cake was from Florentine by Emiko Davies.

This cake is deep and dark and chocolatey, with moistness and sweetness from the pear:

I was also impressed with the sunray pattern on top of the cake formed by the pears - so easy to do yet so effective.

It was a gorgeous cake, and I would definitely make it again. 

Lola Berry's Beef, Broccoli and Cashew Stir Fry

I own Lola Berry's The Happy Cookbook.  It contains some really good recipes for those times when I am trying to eat a little bit more healthily.  I have previously made Lola's Paleo Chocolate Celebration Cake and her Fig, Peach and Cardamom Paleo Loaf from this cookbook.

This time, I decided to make one of her savoury recipes, and chose Lola's Beef, Broccoli and Cashew Stir Fry, the recipe for which is online here.  This recipe is unlike the stir fries that I normally make because there is no sauce added to it - you just have the juices from the vegetables and meat.  I worried that this would make the stir fry a little lacking in flavour, but it surprised me - it was so simple yet so tasty, and no sauce was required.  

I would definitely put this stir fry on regular rotation as a light, healthy main meal.

Vapiano, Flinders Lane, Melbourne

One recent Sunday night, Tim and I were off to the Madonna Rebel Heart Tour concert at Rod Laver Arena.  The concert didn't start until 8pm (or had we known at the time, much later), so we started off our evening with dinner.  

In keeping with the Italian flavour of the evening, we decided to go to Vapiano, a pizza and pasta restaurant for which I had a discount voucher in the Entertainment Book. 

Vapiano is very informal.  You can't book, and there is no table service.  You choose your own seat, and order and pay for your food at the counter.  Once the food is ready, you go and pick it up yourself at the counter.

Tim ordered a pizza (~$20) - I am not sure which one, but it looked good:

I ordered Fusilli bolognese ($18):

For pasta, you choose your own pasta and sauce, and whether you want garlic or chilli or both, and they cook it on the spot.  It was surprisingly delicious.

For some greens, we shared a rocket and walnut salad ($11):

There is a bar with a large selection of beers and wines to accompany your meal.

Vapiano became very busy very quickly, so I recommend going early.

I prefer a restaurant with table service, but the food at Vapiano was quite good and reasonably priced.  We would go again.

Vapiano

347 Flinders Lane

Melbourne VIC 3000

Ph: (03) 9620 3335

Adam Liaw's Chocolate and Almond Easter Cake (Mona de Pascua)

In the Sunday newspaper magazine this week, Adam Liaw had published a recipe for Chocolate and Almond Easter Cake, a cake of Spanish origin known as Mona de Pascua.  It looked irresistable, so I decided to make it this week.

What can I say - rich chocolate paired with apricots and almonds is absolutely delightful:

The dense chocolatey glaze on top really made it.  It was really "the icing on the cake".

Happy Easter to all! 

Marshmallow Rabbits for Easter

Here is this year's crop of marshmallow bunnies:

This year they are all pink and are flavoured with raspberry flavouring.  I also made some little "eggs" in my silicone egg mould.

If you want to make your own bunnies for Easter, the recipe is here.

EwE - Super Soups - Curried Pumpkin and Tomato Soup

Our theme for Eating with Ellie this week is Super Soups, chosen by Chaya.  Regular readers will know that, scarred by childhood condensed soups, I am very wary of soup.  However, I have had some very good soups in the US, and my choice from Weeknight Wonders this week was a US style soup - Curried Pumpkin and Tomato Soup.

I adored this - it had just the right amount of kick to make it interesting, and the flavours melded beautifully.

To see what the others made for Super Soups, visit the LYL section of the EwE website.