Horray for Spring

GOODBYE winter and cold temperatures, HELLO sunshine and trips to the beach! 

Spring arrives tomorrow and we are ready!

The Togninis team are always very excited by a new season as it brings a selection of new seasonal fruit and vegetables. Zucchini is a great Spring vegetable that is tasty and very versatile. We love this grilled Zucchini salad. Yum.

Zucchini, pine nut + currant  salad w raspberry dressing

Ingredients:

• 2-3 medium sized zucchini
• 1 cup picked flat-leaf parsley chopped finely
• 5 leaves of mint
• 2 tablespoons currants
• 2 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted
• 2 tablespoons PGM raspberry dressing *
• 1 tablespoon extra raspberry vinegar
• 3 tablespoons Joseph first run olive oil
• Crushed salt and pepper

Method:

1. Chop the top and base off the zucchinis and - slice the zucchini into 1-2mm thickness pieces Brush the zucchini with olive oil and char grill on a grill pan or fry pan for a few minutes on each side. Allow to cool on absorbent paper.
2. Soak the currants in the extra raspberry vinegar. Mix the pine nuts, chopped parsley and sliced mint in a bowl.

To Serve: Place slices of zucchini on a platter, sprinkle with soaked currants, pine nut mixture and dress with remainder of raspberry vinegar + olive oil and season with salt + pepper.

*Available at Togninis

Pariya... Meaning: Fairies and other heavenly creatures. 

OR as we think of it, delicious Persian inspired products and treats.

 

Here are just a few of what is new from Pariya on our shelves.

- Sumac

- Barberry’s (As featured on Masterchef 2012).. Must try!

- Green rasins
- Rose petals
- Persian nougat 

- Lime roasted pistachios

Here is one of our FAVOURITE recipes:

Blackbean and barberry salad...We love having this with some cold cuts of turkey and ham from the deli. 

You will need:

 1 can La Morena black beans* drained and rinsed thoroughly
 1/3 cup Pariya barberries
 1 small red chili, deseeded and finely chopped
 1 cup parsley, roughly chopped
 
2 cups rocket leaves
 120g soft goats cheese , we use Yarra Valley Dairy “Gentle Goat” *

Dressing:
1 ½ Tbs. Joesph First Run extra virgin olive oil*
½ Tbs.  Simon Johnson white balsamic vinegar*

½ Tsp.  The Regimental Condiment Company seeded mustard*
Pinch of salt and cracked black pepper*

Method:
Combine the black beans, barberries, chili and parsley together in a bowl.

Mix together in a small jar the olive oil, vinegar, mustard and seasoning.

Pour over the salad and stir through.

Serve the salad over a bed of washed greens with goat’s cheese crumbled over the top.

ENJOY :)


*All products available at Togninis Spring Hill and Togninis Milton 

HAPPY BASTILLE DAY

Celebrate all things FRENCH this Saturday 14th July on Bastille Day!!

What better way to do it then with some GREAT french cheeses... yum!

To mark how much we LOVE french cheese we have 10% our three favourtie cheeses.

-The Washed Rind Petit Pont Leveque

-Clariens

-Banon

Avaliable at our Spring Hill and Milton stores. 

This special is only available till end of day Saturday

say CHEESE!

We are loving having a cheese board full of lovely goodness with a  matching vino in this cool weather! (Actually we love it anytime but hey ;) ) The Togs crew are pretty excited, just arrived from France are some old favourites and a few new cheeses for you to try:

Washed Rind Petit Pont Leveque

Pungent and creamy this cheese is perfect for a winter evening in front of the fire with a sweet pinot noir.

Clarines

A luscious triple cream made even more delicious by warming it in the oven – just crack the seal, add a splash of white wine and bake in the oven for 10 mins on medium heat, dip bread in and enjoy the lusciousness of it all.

Banon – Le Vache de Chalais

A handmade cheese from Givors- France, delicately wrapped in a vine leaf , this traditional cheese made from cow or goat's milk aged a month. The one's in store now are cow's milk .Match it with champagne or sauvignon Blanc. This cheese is as BEAUTIFUL as it is DELICIOUS.

Beautiful Banon

You can find all these cheeses living in the Cheese Room at Tognini's Trattoria Spring Hill and an even larger range at our Milton store.

MAMASITA

mamasita.

there are few moments outside of an authentic home that you can enjoy fabulous mexican, and then you get to melbourne. tucked away up a narrow stairway in the middle of the city is a funky little restaurant called ‘mamasita’. it is one restaurant not to be missed. with cute wait staff and a fresh fit out, it places itself in my melbourne top 5.  that was before any food arrived. after looking at the menu i knew we were in for a real treat. grateful i was there with a fellow food lover, who is never shy of over ordering and by over ordering i should just say over indulging. so we started with the ‘tostaditas de cangrejo’, 4 per serve of a gorgeously fresh 2.5 inch fried tortilla. out of control good, fresh tender crab meat served with avocado, cucumber, tamarind mayo and habanero. pumping with flavour, could have gone for round two of those. but we had a lot to come. something that i never would have ordered without Jem was the ceviche, for those non foodies out there, raw fish marinated in citrus juice. it was served in a tall shot glass, we chose the ‘ceviche de yucatan’ which was the market fish of the day (king fish) with green tomato, chilli, mint, lime and coconut milk. the most memorable dish by far was however desert, an incredible pumpkin mousse filled bluecorn flautas with slithers of praline. if this hasn’t made you want to jump on a little jet plane and make your way to melbourne, i don’t know where else to go to find mexican food like this.


Check out www.mamasita.com.au 

Sunday Lunch in Milan

Wander behind the Duomo to a little piazza San Fedele on Via Tommaso Marino and you will find a delightful trattoria serving one of the best risottos in town.

Spilling outdoors to the paved street and nestled between marble buildings so typical of Milan, you will not be disappointed with the restaurant. You may pay premium price but the meal it is well worth it - risotto €15 - 18 - meat dishes at €2.

We shared a Barolo 2007 from the Piedmont region - Terre del Barolo - perfect for the ossobuco con risotto alla Milanese (while in Rome!).

Mark had a Porcino risotto served in a Parmesan basket. He loved the delicately flavored fresh porcini creamy and slightly al dente but was a little disappointed with the addition of fresh tomato to the risotto.

Just around the corner is a gelati store not to be missed - cioccolat Italian. It's arguably the beat chocolate gelati in Milan and Nastassia's favourite while living in here .

Judging by the line outside - solid for the time we have been eating lunch - she's not the only one who thinks so.

Papa Francesco 

Melbourne Cup

Here's our Melbourne Cup menu -

ARRIVAL Complimentary glass of French bubbles

TRIO OF TAPAS Crab cakes w lime aioli, Sicilian ricotta meatballs w tomato sugo, Polenta chips

MAIN Oven roasted chicken kiev w bug meat, asparagus + béarnaise sauce

DESSERT Hazelnut + cherry tart w double cream

12.00md Tuesday 1 November 2011
$65 pp @ Tognini’s Trattoria Spring Hill
Bookings ) 3831 5300 | eat@togninis.com