Isla Bennett
Recipe Developer
I compare layered Maltese and Sicilian techniques.
Articles by Isla Bennett
- Find chicory, endive and dandelion greens at Melbourne markets and greengrocers, then choose seasonal substitutes for home cooking.
- To assemble Maltese timpana, coat macaroni in meat sauce, layer it into a pastry-lined tin, seal the crust, and bake until golden.
- Water-cure fresh green olives by soaking them daily, then preserve their mellow flavour in a Mediterranean brine with lemon and fennel.
- Use leftover ricotta in qassatat, pasta, toast, fritters and sweets, with practical Maltese-inspired ideas for every last spoonful.
- Yes—Mediterranean recipes can remain authentic while adapting to local produce, household budgets, seasons, and the cook's own table.
- Egg yolks, cornstarch, and natural gums improve scoopability differently; learn how each controls water, body, and ice crystals.
- We must rescue the Maltese Sunday lunch because it keeps family memory, slow cooking, and heritage alive at the table for children.
- Bake these traditional Mediterranean cakes for a tour of Moroccan pancakes, Portuguese pineapple cake, custards, clafoutis, crumbles, and more.
- Start with imqaret, figolli, and pudina tal-ħobż, then branch into ricotta pies, chestnut sweets, and orange-blossom pastry traditions at home.
- Mediterranean nut desserts belong in your pantry when they balance almonds, pistachios, walnuts, honey, citrus, spice…
- Blind Baking Without PanicMay 2026Blind bake pastry calmly by chilling the shell, lining it well, using enough weights, and baking in stages until the base is dry and set first.
- Choose pastry by structure: shortcrust for tarts, filo for layered pies, biscuit bases for slices, and puff only when lift and flake matter.
- Bake these rich chocolate desserts next: torta gianduja, cheesecake, clafoutis, Nutella bites, tiramisu ideas…
- Make Mediterranean tarts at home by mastering shortcrust, blind baking, fruit fillings, frangipane, glazes, and rustic…