

On Christmas eve dinner I ate the same amount of food I usually eat in three days. It’s time to make it right, clean my body, eliminate all the sugars and fats accumulated over the last couple of days. It’s also time to spend less time in the kitchen and concentrate on outdoor activities. Today’s weather in Naples is extremely lovely, winter is elsewhere, not here, not today at least.

Rays of sunshine lie down on food projecting sharp and yellow shadows. I woke up with no hunger, I skipped the breakfast (well, I drunk a sugar-free barley drink) and only when lunch time arrived I felt like eating. I could think nothing else but veggies. This is my mum’s recipe, a quick and light dish based on cooked endives (yes, you can cook endives: it’s delicious!).

Take as many heads of endive as the eating persons are. Wash them very well and cook in plenty of water (with a pinch of salt) inside a large pan for about 15 minutes.

Meantime rinse the capers to wash away most of the saltiness. Once the endive is cooked, filled it with cheese (I used italian scamorza, a kind of smoked mozzarella) olives and capers. Sprinkle generously with bread crumbs and season with a bit of soy sauce (or just oil, salt and pepper).

Then just wrap all the ingredients in the head of lettuce. This is it, quick and healthy!

I finished off the meal with a side of gherkins, honey mushrooms and smoked salmon.