Food Inspiration from a holiday in Sicily

I have a fantastic set of friends from all the chapters of my life in the UK. They send me food photos of delicious meals they enjoy whenever they travel. I call it a calorie-free indulgence. I visualise the meals and see if anything that they have eaten can be worked into a recipe or an idea.

My fabulous friend Fiona sent me these photos from her recent Sicilian holiday. My daughter’s first friend at nursery school was Fiona’s daughter and their home was the first play date she was invited to all those years ago! The girls are now 22 and we have created many wonderful memories together over the years.

Isn’t this a lovely way to serve a Caesar salad? Or make a wedge salad of iceberg lettuce cut into a wedge and drizzle on my blue cheese sauce and some crumbled bacon. Yum and so quick to create.

The combination of fish and samphire is delicious, and this plate’s colour palette is offset by the red roasted tomatoes, while hidden under the samphire are baby new potatoes. A quick, easy, and impactful meal to serve to yourself or friends.

You could serve a piece of fish with my pesto sauce, or beetroot gin and yoghurt sauce, or beetroot and gin chutney.

Mussels

This photo made me go out and buy a packet of pre-prepared mussels. They are so handy to keep for a day when life hasn’t afforded you the opportunity to cook or you just need a day off! I keep bake-at-home bread in my cupboard, and with its long shelf life, you can have a meal on the table in minutes.

This charcuterie board looks inviting, and the styling is simple and easy to recreate at home.

The Italian elegance carries over into the styling of their food.

Scilly is known for its pistachios and Fiona treated me to the most delicious pistachios. The taste is intense beyond anything I have tasted before. In this photo, Fiona is ‘sharing’ her pasta with pistachio pesto and enormous prawns. We often use basil pesto, but switching it up for pistachios is a beautiful, indulgent option. In Palermo, they serve Sicilian pistachios over gnocchi as part of a delicious gorgonzola sauce. That is easy to recreate at home. If you are near Eatly, Bishopsgate, London, they have Sicilian prawns on their fresh fish counter and they sell fresh and dried pasta too.

How lovely was this lemon-inspired buffet addition?

I hope that this article will inspire you to look at food in restaurants and incorporate their tips and techniques into your entertaining or home cooking. Bon appetito.