Sweet Sunday

There is so much amazing produce at the farmer's market right now! Out of everything available strawberries and asparagus are definitely tied for the number one spot of most purchased.

This weekend I decided to make jam out of some of the strawberries


The jam is super easy to make and so much more delicious than anything you could find at the store. I roughly followed the recipe here (I highly reccomend checking out The Kitchen Sink blog, where I found this recipe, - it has become my go to for new recipes).

But in the end I could not stop at jam...I needed a vehicle, a vessel for the jam so I made this

Strawberry tart!

I did not have enough dough or pastery skills to make a lattice top hence the cookie cutter heart topping. The flavor was really nice - a perfect balance of sweet and hint of tartness that kept it light.

I am looking forward to making many more of these tarts as the various summer fruits come into season and I am sure Andrea will not mind as this tart is nearly gone after only two days.

Yums

Andrea and I have recently started going to the Farmer's Market here in Bologna on Saturday mornings. All of the fresh, beautiful, local produce has inspired me to spend extra time in the kitchen and to try out new recipes. Here are a couple of the recipes I tried this weekend:

Soup is one of my absolute favorite things about winter time! This Split Pea is extremely easy to make and your whole house will smell delicious. The end result is hearty and flavorful and in my opinion is best paired with some crusty bread and red wine. You can find the recipe here (and while you over at The Kitchen Sink blog checking out this recipe - I recommend browsing the rest of Kristin's site. She has some amazing, super yummy recipes!).

These little gems are hazelnut shortbread cookies sandwiched together with dark chocolate and finished with a sprinkle of roasted hazelnuts. They are buttery and crunchy with a rich chocolate presense and hints of hazelnutty goodness. You can find the recipe here.