Recipes
At il circolo we cook with extra vergine olive oil! We are big fans of the typical Sicilian kitchen which literally is a melting pot defined by different cultures that either visited Sicily as merchants or invaders. With our recipes we want to share our enthusiasm for the Mediterranean lifestyle and the Sicilian kitchen. Mediterranean cuisine has a tradition of eating fresh, seasonal ingredients with extra vergine olive oil as a base ingredient in almost every meal. It is a model for a regenerative and healthy diet that refrains from using frozen and processed ingredients as much as possible.

In the Mediterranean kitchen, seasonal food is a way of life that borders on a sacred rite. In our recipes we combine this seasonal approach with minimizing food waste. We focus on leftovers and whatever is at hand in the fridge that pairs well with il circolo olive oil. We use seasonal and healthy ingredients that we buy at the local markets, and we support local providers as much as possible.
Our recipes, cooking, and groceries shopping reflect the slow food philosophy with its values of quality, fairness, and sustainability.

Fluffy lemon cake with olive oil
This isn’t anything like the lemon cakes you have tasted before. The amazing fluffy structure of the cake comes from the use of both baking

Risotto with lemon and fennel
Risotto is one of the best-known and most popular traditional Italian dishes. Every season has its own risotto. In autumn, mushrooms or pumpkin are perfect

Vegan pizza fritta
This pizza belongs to Napoli like the chaos on the streets of the city. It is typical streetfood and comes from the postwar period. Even

Feta in the oven
This dish makes us instantly cheerful. It is maybe not typical Italian but reminiscent of a sunny summer’s day on the Mediterranean. You don’t have

Gambas in the oven
Would you like to prepare a seafood dish? But you don’t have time or want the hassle of scaling and fishbones? Gambas make a delicious

Mini frittatas with pancetta
Pancetta is the Italian version of bacon. It is cured with salt and sometimes also with herbs. The pancetta forms a crunchy crust around these

Stuffed Portobellos
Portobello is a variant of the chestnut mushroom and is available all year round. The flesh is firm and hardly shrinks during baking. Because of

Pumpkin soup with rosemary and crispy sage
Pumpkin soup is easy to make and there are lots of variations. We have chosen to share a recipe with herbs that grow in the

Seabass in a herb salt crust
Also known as the recipe with the hammer. The herb salt crust becomes so hard during baking that you need a hammer to break it.

Orange polenta cake with olive oil
This is truly a seasonal recipe for December when in Sicily the almonds are harvested not long before, and the oranges are ripening on the

Lemon biscuits with olive oil
December is the season for lemons and for baking. This recipe in Mediterranean style uses olive oil instead of butter. It is easy and fun

Mandarin marmalade on olive oil
Are you completely hooked on good extra virgin olive oil? Are you addicted to the lush fruitiness of mandarins? Do you use olive oil for

Spaghetti with fennel and salami
Fennel is a common vegetable in Sicily. The aniseed flavour of fennel is combined in this dish with the savoury and spicy flavour of the

Rigatoni with cavolo nero pesto
Cavolo nero was a rather unknown vegetable to us. This recipe, however, persuaded us to give it a try. The refined taste of the cabbage

Crispy polenta with mixed mushrooms
Fancy something other than pasta, rice or potatoes? Then try polenta. It is made from corn flour, is gluten-free and can be prepared in many

Smokey Frittata with Cauliflower and Scamorza
Frittata is a simple Italian dish made with eggs and a combination of vegetables, cheese and/or meat. Or whatever you imagine to be a tasty

Spaghetti aglio, olio & peperoncino
This pasta dish is the southern equivalent to pasta carbonara from the North of Italy. With its four quality ingredients it is very easy and

Minestrone
Minestrone is real comfort food. Perfect for a cold or rainy day. Literally translated it means ‘big soup’ and traditionally Italian peasants made it from

Beef stew
Our kitchen is all about seasonal vegetables and local ingredients. Whenever we serve a meat dish it needs to be really worth our while. Like

Pasta with almond and lemon pesto
Almond trees have flourished in Sicily since the times of the Arabs. Most orchards are concentrated around Noto and Avola, and scattered around the province

Pasta alla Siciliana
Pasta alla Siciliana is a traditional Sicilian pasta dish and a specialty of Messina. It’s made with linguine or spaghetti, and a collection of powerful