How ricotta balls in tomato sauce can take your tastebuds to cloud nine

NOTE: This needs a good, stiff ricotta so that the mixture is firm enough to shape. Supermarket ricotta has more liquid and should be drained for an hour or two or overnight in a sieve lined with paper towels or muslin set over a bowl.

For serving in simple tomato sauce

For serving in broth

Method

Blitz all the ingredients for the balls together in a food processor or mix by hand. Leave for 30 minutes to firm up then shape into 16 small balls. Place on tray and set aside while you make your sauce or broth.

Simple sauce

Heat the oil in a deep, wide casserole dish with a lid over a low heat then add the garlic.

Allow to sizzle and begin to smell good, then add the herbs, cook for a minute and add the tomatoes, rinsing out the tin with some water and adding that too.

Add a pinch of salt.

Now start to add your balls, evenly spaced (they swell a lot on cooking) and cover with the lid.

Cook over a low heat for 15-20 minutes until the balls are plump and the sauce is nicely reduced. Taste for seasoning and serve

Poaching in broth

Add directly to the hot broth in a large, wide pan.

Simmer over a low heat for 15-20 minutes until cooked through.

Serve hot garnished with a few fronds of wild fennel.

Serves 3-4

I received another cookbook in the mail so word must be getting around that I love my tucker.

But this is no ordinary Italian cookbook. Oh no.

Wild Figs and Fennel A Year in Italy (Hardie Grant, $55, May 2) by Leticia Clark is one of the most beautiful Italian cookbooks I've ever seen. And I have a few.

But it was one of the simplest recipes that took my fancy - perhaps because it features clouds and tomatoes.

It was ricotta cloud balls in tomato sauce.

And we're not talking the runny, watery tubs of supermarket ricotta baby. We're talking the good stuff from a deli and I just happen to have a wonderful Italian deli down the road.

As for the tomato sauce, I have tomatoes in abundance in my garden warmed by the sun and kissed by the rain.

Wild Figs and Fennel is not just a collection of seasonal recipes; it's a passport to the Mediterranean, a charming journey into the ease and pleasure that defines Italian life.

Chef and food writer Letitia Clark brings together simple Italian flavours and lighter, modern interpretations with an aim to put the best of each seasons ingredients at centre stage.

The author welcomes her readers to a year in her kitchen on the island of Sardinia where eating well is a way of life.

Sardinian food is a distilled version of Italian food and each recipe celebrates this.

From refreshing summer salads to steaming bowls of wintery pasta, you'll find classics such as Sausage Lasagne with Ricotta, Pecorino and Fennel and Orange Blossom and Honey Amaretti alongside more creative combinations of Lemon Ricotta Souffle Pancakes, Pumpkin Gnocchi Fried in Sage Butter and Ricotta, Lemon and Herb-Stuffed Courgette (zucchini to you) Flowers.

The occasional addition of meat and fish enhances rather than dominates, making these dishes fit seamlessly into a modern way of eating.

Whether you're looking for a supper for one or cooking for a hungry crowd, Letitia's vibrant and accessible recipes will guide you through the year, drawing inspiration from Italy's beautiful seasonal produce along the way.

Letitia Clark is a food writer, illustrator and chef.

After completing the Leith's Diploma in Food and Wine she went on to work in some of London's top restaurants, including Spring, Morito and The Dock Kitchen.

She now lives in Sardinia, where she continues to write, cook, teach classes and workshops, as well as continuing her work as an illustrator.

She is the author of Bitter Honey and La Vita e Dolce.

Wild Figs and Fennel is her third book.