Breakfast is an important meal and it has to be my favourite meal of the day. This is a typical Italian breakfast that locals would have more on chilled mornings. I consider it to be an all rounded breakfast as it contains both savoury and sweet things. Definitely my kind of breakfast.
Ciao a tutti! Welcome back to another post. Today I'm writing a different style of post to my usual recipes but I really wanted to share this scrumptiousness with you all. It’s been over a year since I’ve last been to Italy. This beautiful country will always have a special place in my heart as it was my first solo adventure (when I studied in Perugia). Since then, I’ve spent a lot of time on this beautiful peninsula.
For the past 13 years, I've been to a few different Italian cities but there's still a lot to visit. Its culture is so rich and having studied about Italy for so long, I get really excited about discovering all these cities.
Nevertheless, the thing that gets me really excited every time I visit is the food. If you’re a foodie like me, you've probably heard about and tasted some of the most amazing dishes Italy has to offer.
Personally, the meal I look forward to the most is always breakfast. I struggle to have a proper breakfast during the week when I'm rushing from one place to the other or trying to write blog posts and creating recipes. Therefore, I try to make it my mission to at least enjoy and indulge on breakfast during weekends.
Since I live in the UK and some Italian products are not as easy to find, I made sure to order a few things I've been craving since I last was in Italy and put together this beautiful tasty breakfast.
Cosa ci serve?
- caffè
- latte
- succo d’arancia/di frutta
- biscotti da inzuppo
- crostatine
- fette biscottate
- miele
- confettura di frutta
- frutta fresca
What do we need?
- coffee
- milk
- orange/fruit juice
- biscuits - macine, pastefrolle
- chocolate/apricot tart
- toasted bread
- honey
- fruit jam
- fresh fruit
Why am I obsessed with the Italian breakfast?
During my travels I’ve tasted a number of different breakfasts, some sweet based, others more savoury. However, the one I keep craving the most is the Italian breakfast because, in my opinion, it's well balanced. Also, the idea of being in Italy and going to a bar (in Italy a cafe is called a bar) and order breakfast makes me really happy. The smell of freshly brewed coffee and its taste is to die for. I highly suggest you try going to a bar for breakfast if you ever find yourself in Italy.
In addition to having a lovely breakfast, being at a bar makes me feel part of a community. The chaotic and fast paced life seems to calm down for a few minutes whilst in a bar enjoying a breakfast.
What does the Italian breakfast consist of?
During weekdays, at the bar, most people order a cappuccino or an espresso and a pastry. However, if you get the time to have a proper breakfast, then you can also order fette biscottate, cornetti e crostate di marmellata. As I’ve been dreaming of having this breakfast again for a long time, I decided to create the full breakfast.
For me, the most important part of my breakfast is having freshly brewed coffee. I decided to go for a caffè latte. I made an espresso with my Moka and then heated and frothed some milk.
I managed to get fette biscottate; twice cooked slices of bread. The idea for the fette biscottate is eliminating the too much waste of fresh bread. Most Italians have them with a spread of jam on top. For my breakfast, I decided to get one of my favourite jams; blackcurrant. You could use your favourite jam flavour.
Next come the biscotti (Italian biscuits). These biscuits are called biscotti da inzuppo as most people dip them in their coffee or warm milk. I can honestly say they are some of the nicest biscuits I've ever tasted and they are perfect to dunk in hot drinks. They absorb the milk and become really soft but don’t fall apart.
There are only a few simple ingredients in them such as flour, eggs, milk and sugar.
For today's breakfast, I decided to get two of my favourites; pastefrolle and macine but there are loads more to choose from. It's definitely a blessing I can't get hold of these biscuits in my local supermarket otherwise I would never stop eating these biscuits.
Another classic piece for an Italian breakfast is the crostatatine. These are simple sweet tarts with a jam or chocolate spread filling and stripes of dough on top. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get hold of my favourite one; crostata all’albicocca, however, I managed to get the second best, the ones filled with chocolate. These tarts are simple to make at home too. In fact, I decided to make my favourite one, the crostata all'albicocca a few days later.
Last but not least is fresh fruit. These bring colour to the table and are also an important part of our diet. Italians, like many other countries, try to have some fruit every morning with their breakfast. I went for different coloured fruit such as strawberries, blackberries, pomegranates, mango, kiwi and grapes. Drizzle some honey on top and job done.
Planning and recreating this amazing breakfast has been so much fun and it definitely didn't disappoint. It brought a sense of calmness and that's something I always look forward to having on weekends.
Make sure to try this breakfast and stop to chill for a few minutes and enjoy the goodness. Comment down below if this is your kind of breakfast and which other breakfasts I should try. Enjoy! x
