Gnocchi are considered a primo, or first course dish, served in place of pasta. The classic sauce for potato gnocchi is a simple tomato sauce like the one pictured above, but there are many variations to this and my personal favorite is Potato Gnocchi with Mussels and Clams. Potato gnocchi are a kind of dumpling...
First Course
Beetroot Fettuccine with Butter and Sage
I love making Beetroot Fettuccine with Butter and Sage for a number of reasons. First off, I love making homemade pasta, both hand-rolled and with a pasta machine. It's relaxing and there's nothing quite like the consistency of freshly made pasta. One of my favorite things is beautifully colored pasta as it looks so great...
Pasta and Bean Soup - Pasta e Fagioli
Pasta and Bean Soup - Pasta e Fagioli I don't know why I never posted my mother-in-law's delicious recipe for pasta and bean soup – pasta e fagioli – but there you have it: it slipped through the cracks somehow.It was just when I made it the other day that I realized I had never...
Farro Pasta with Fresh Tomato Sauce
Farro pasta with fresh tomato sauce is a luscious whole grain pasta dish! Sometimes the best pasta dish is the simplest: just a basic tomato sauce with olive oil, tomato, and garlic. Actually it’s the pasta dish we have most frequently. I confess that generally I prefer a standard egg pasta over anything else, but...
Farro, Gorgonzola, Arugula & Tomatoes
Farro, Gorgonzola, Arugula & Tomatoes just happens to be one of the easiest, most delicious and nutritious recipes you can throw together in a flash.Farro is absolutely one of my favorite grains; it has a chewy consistency and almost nutty flavor, and it’s absolutely delicious almost any way you prepare it!I especially love it with...
Radicchio Ravioli with Chestnut Cream, Sizzled Pork Jowl and Fried Sage
When fall rolls around it's time to make dishes that bring together some of the season's best ingredients. Radicchio Ravioli with Chestnut Cream, Sizzled Pork Jowl and Fried Sage is one of those dishes! This recipe was adapted from a La Cucina Italiana recipe. Since these delicious ravioli can be made in advance and frozen they...
Cameroni farro pasta with pioppini mushrooms, peperoncino and tomatoes
Cameroni Farro Pasta with Pioppini Mushrooms, Peperoncino and Tomatoes has amazing flavor and a great textured farro pasta. I can't seem to give up eating well in the interest of shedding a few pounds so I'm always on the search for ways I can have both. Every once in awhile I come up with a...
Penne with sizzled garlic & hot pepper, anchovies and parsley
Olive oil, garlic, a touch of hot pepper, a few anchovy fillets and fresh parsley are all you need to make this scrumptious pasta dish, in just three minutes! Well, a few more if you include the ten minutes it takes for your pasta to cook.Penne with sizzled garlic & hot pepper, anchovies and parsley...
Penne with Eggplant Sauce (alla Norma)
If you saw my recent Instagram post then you know we had a mega-festa for the ferragosto August holiday. I made enough Penne with Eggplant Sauce (alla Norma) for over 30 people and by the time we got to the pasta course we had eaten so much else that I ended up with leftover pasta!...
Corzetti Pasta
What are corzetti? I love making unusual pasta shapes and forms and one of my favorites are corzetti, a disk shaped pasta with an imprinted design; the below corzetti have a giglio fiorentino (fleur de lis) design. The Encyclopedia of Pasta, by Oretta Zanini de Vita and masterfully translated into English by Maureen B. Fant, dedicates a...
Orecchiette with Spicy Baby Calamari
Orecchiette with Spicy Baby Calamari When our now 31-year-old daughter was an infant we started spending our summers in Sperlonga at the seaside home of a delightful Italian family of contadini (farmers). Although already well into retirement age this couple still dedicated their days to their vegetable garden, lemon orchard, chickens and many plants on...
Ricotta and Pear Filled Pasta Sacks
Pears are delicious when in season; I adore baked pears and pear tarts but my favorite by far are these delicious ricotta and pear filled pasta sacks. I first tasted these ricotta and pear filled pasta sacks at one of our favorite restaurants, located in the northern Lazio hill town, Civitá Castellana. We've not been...
