Italian blogger Valentina Solfrini sets the tone for her blog with an evocative introduction: “In Via Fratta, between the Marche and Emilia Romagna regions of northeastern Italy, there is a small farm surrounded by fruit trees, vegetable gardens and happily grazing hens. Here, we are blessed with seasonal, fresh, organic food.” Sounds dreamy. Can we come live with you, too? The 23-year-old is enamoured with her home, but it wasn’t always so.
For a number of years, Solfrini lived in New York, where she was swept up by life in the city. When she was diagnosed with a hormonal imbalance condition, she took a good look at what she was eating – then made drastic changes. Today, the spirited Italian has returned to the countryside where natural foods are a given and recipes, which she shares on the blog, follow the seasons. As a web designer by trade, Solfrini has crafted her blog Hortus – Latin for enclosed garden – as a visual feast, with rich images that she styles and shoots. And while it’s clear English is not her first language, the blogger’s passion carries through. For Valentine’s Day, she sets the scene for romance with a rustic summer Italian menu to be enjoyed by candlelight or under the stars.
"Summertime is when the Italian countryside bursts with the brightest colours, and the products of the earth are the most bountiful. The overload of vegetables and wild edible herbs and berries during this time make it a pleasure to cook vegetarian meals of all sorts. My family has a habit of gathering out in the open for dinner in the summer evenings and, shrouded in the smell of citronella, chat over salad, grilled vegetables and homemade bread. What a wonderful setting this would be for a couple on Valentine’s Day! The darkness would make a perfect background for candle lights and the scent of flowers that permeates the summer breeze would accompany these nourishing recipes for two. As would a good glass of wine – or three."
I started my blog to…
"Reconnect with nature after a period spent in the city. I got so used to city life, which I loved, that I had completely forgotten about my bond with the countryside. In a place like New York, where many things can be found all year round and food doesn’t always follow the seasons (unless you visited farmers' markets, of course), I had lost sight of what it was like to have an overload of zucchini in the summer and not know what to do with it, or forage wild edible herbs. But my blog has helped me uncover all the incredible beauty and bounty of the Italian countryside and get close to it once again."
The must-cook recipe on my website is…
"I am especially proud of all of my bread recipes. I encourage using locally milled, high-quality wholegrain flours for baked goods, as homemade bread is only as good and healthy as the flour and water you use. I have a basic guide for country-style bread, a delicious spelt focaccia and my favourite chestnut bread with walnuts and rosemary."
I can’t wait to go back to…
"New York and have the amazing falafel sandwich at Taïm. It represents the Nirvana of vegetarian food for me."
My current food obsession is…
"Soup! For the past couple of months, I have been making every kind of soup – creamy, chunky, half-creamy and half-chunky. I am obsessed. It is the perfect winter comfort food: it’s hot, healthy, can be low in calories and delicious at the same time, packs in nutrients, easy to make and, with the addition of some legumes or grains, can be a complete meal. Plus, the combination of vegetables are endless. My favourite soup (currently) is leek and kabocha [jap pumpkin] with lots of turmeric.
"Eating pasta with tomato sauce takes me back to elementary [primary] school. For lunch, it was a staple garnished with Parmigiano. I can't say whether it is because this is one of the best things I remember as a kid, or because it's actually delicious, but still today pasta with tomato sauce and good extra-virgin olive oil is my absolute favourite way to have pasta."
I learnt to cook from…
"My mother and my grandmother. They have both been working in kitchens their whole life. My grandmother would often travel to Bologna to make fresh pasta for important meetings, while my mum started working at a pastry shop when she was not even tall enough to reach the table, and had to do her job standing on a stool. I learned from two truly great, skilled women."
Friends always ask me to cook…
"My grilled vegetables. Grilled vegetables sound like the silliest thing to make, but most restaurants I go to serve these dry, sad strips of eggplant and zucchini that are just a textural disaster. You have to nail the perfect thickness and be generous with the dressing. I love grilling zucchini, eggplants, peppers and onions, and dress them simply with finely chopped parsley, garlic, a sprinkle of balsamic vinegar and a generous glug of extra-virgin olive oil."
The one thing I can’t cook is…
"Meat. Even when I used to eat it, I was horrible at preparing it, even when following precise instructions. Maybe it was because my family has never been huge on meat, or maybe it was never my thing. My hamburgers were terrible."
"I always have local, cold-pressed extra-virgin olive oil in my pantry, an avocado in my fridge, and diced fruit and berries for smoothies in my freezer."
My most sauce-splattered cookbook is…
"An old cookbook from the '70s that belonged to my grandmother. To me, it feels like a wonderful bible with recipes of all kinds, from starters and everyday recipes to how to make preserves, limoncello and other alcoholic beverages at home. It has no pictures - just a bunch of tiny, cute, etching-like illustrations, and I just love the feeling of leafing through its rough, yellow pages."
The most difficult food to shoot/style and make look tasty is…
"For me, pasta and salad. There are bloggers who can make incredible, delicate, flower-like compositions with their greens, and I envy them very much! Styling pasta feels a bit weird, to be honest. Pasta is the very symbol of a kind of food that is enjoyed with every single tastebud; it is that one meal where it does not matter whether it's served in a silver bowl or in the worst dish you own, as long as it is properly cooked. It is quite common to just eat it straight from the pan. I just do it the Italian way and pile stuff on the dish!"
Beyond my own blog, some of my favourites reads are…
"As far as blogs are concerned, I love Green Kitchen Stories [read our Q&A], 101 Cookbooks and In the Making by Belen for recipe inspiration. I love Local Milk, [read our Q&A], Princess Tofu and Manger for photography and lifestyle inspiration. And for general enjoyment, What Should I Eat for Breakfast Today?, Two Red Bowls and Lady and Pups. I love getting inspired by blogs that talk about natural living, making your own vegie garden and natural homemade cosmetics."
1. Pistachio pesto
2. Sicilian couscous salad
3. Stuffed pizza pie with summer vegetables
4. Strawberry yoghurt bavarese
Source: Valentina Solfrini
Source: Valentina Solfrini
Source: Valentina Solfrini
Source: Valentina Solfrini
Blog Appétit editor Yasmin Newman
Blog Appétit is our curated list of go-to food blogs we love, with a focus on high-quality photography, trusted recipes, strong editorial themes and a unique voice and personality. View previous Blog Appétit entries.
