Pumpkin ravioli are one of the tastiest pasta dishes! They herald the arrival of fall and the holiday season. This year we didn’t plant pumpkins so I wasn’t expecting to prepare the abundance of pumpkin dishes we usually do: soups, risottos, pasta dishes, pies and breads. And yet it ended up to be quite a prolific…
First Course
How to Make Homemade Pasta
On our way home this morning we stopped to visit some neighbors and before we left they gave us a precious gift; five freshly laid eggs. So I decided to use two of them to make fettuccine for our lunch. How to make homemade pasta: The recipe for pasta is simple: 100 grams of flour…
Pappardelle with funghi porcini
Pappardelle with funghi porcini: they lend themselves well to a long, and wider, pasta shape like this. Fettuccine work well too, but also a shorter pasta like rigatoni, penne and my current favorite. Funghi porcini are best fresh but they also freeze well for future use. Pappardelle with funghi porcini (four people): Ingredients: Pasta, 400…
Arugula Ravioli
At yesterday’s cooking class we made arugula ravioli and frankly it’s a brilliant use of this bitter green that is used most frequently in salads. Give them a try, they’re marvelous! INGREDIENTS For the pasta: 600 grams (1 1/3 pounds) durum, hard grain wheat flour 6 eggs For the filling: 300 grams (11.5 ounces) ricotta…
Risotto with Fennel
Fennel is one of my favorite vegetables. It’s great raw, sliced in salads or braised and then baked with a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese. Fennel hints at a licorice flavor; odd that I love it because licorice is just about the only flavor I abhor. When you cook with fennel don’t throw away the fronds….
Linguine with Shrimp, Tomato and Zucchini
One of my favorite dishes that allows me to use the abundance of zucchini from my garden is Linguine with Shrimp, Tomato and Zucchini. It’s simple to make; follow your personal taste and instincts when making it. The potato ricer is a must for preparing this dish. You miss out on lots of flavor…
Penne with Cherry Tomato Sauce & Fried Eggplant
Penne with Cherry Tomato Sauce & Fried Eggplant…this happens to be one of my all time favorite pasta dishes and when the garden is producing plenty of fresh tomatoes and eggplants it’s the time to go for it! The dish reminds me of the classic Sicilian dish, Pasta alla Norma. The main difference is that…
Chick peas with roasted red pepper, green onion and a hint of balsamic
One of the best ways to eat well and lose those extra pounds painlessly is by focusing on beans and whole grains. I happen to love both, so it’s not hard for me. So today I chose to have chick peas for lunch. There are really so many ways to prepare them; here’s one…
Spaghetti with Gorgonzola Sage Sauce
One of my favorite pasta dishes which, guess what, happens to be just about the easiest dish–and quickest—to make, is pasta with Gorgonzola sauce.
Wild Spinach (Lambsquarter) Pappardelle
The fields behind our house are a veritable forager’s dream. Last weekend we spent all day Saturday enjoying the prolonged Indian summer we’ve been having in Rome this October. As we walked along we managed to pick a variety of greens for a misticanza salad. We also picked bunches and bunches of wild spinach which…