The recipe for green onion and tomato fettuccine came about on a whim at the last minute. We went for our morning walk much later than expected, just before lunchtime. On the way home we stopped by our garden to see what, if anything, was left of last summer’s produce. Oddly enough the long red…
Pasta
Ravioli Caprese
Ravioli Caprese have a pillowy, dumpling-like dough filled with mozzarella, caciotta cheese, eggs and fresh marjoram. They’re unlike any other ravioli you’ve ever tried and if ravioli can melt in your mouth, they do! Ravioli Caprese are so distinctly different from any other ravioli because of the way the dough is made, along with its…
Stinging Nettle Fettuccine
Stinging Nettle Fettuccine is a gorgeous way to add color to fettuccine! Sometimes foraging happens purely by chance. Yesterday was one of those occasions when my husband and I went for a country walk in our neighborhood and came upon a huge amount of stinging nettle growing in a wooded area. Stinging nettle is not…
Pappardelle and Wild Boar Sauce
Pappardelle and Wild Boar Sauce is my favorite dish on cold winter days! Life in the Roman countryside is full of interesting characters ranging from artists and musicians to business professionals, contadini (farmers) and of course hunters. Many people in our neighborhood own a rifle for seasonal hunting. The summer and fall before last we had…
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…
Homemade pasta: easy and fun to make!
No dish is more quintessentially Italian than homemade pasta. It can be long, short, filled or cut small to use in soup. There are also pastas that use a variety of whole grain flours, water instead of eggs, or hot water and butter instead of eggs. Despite innumerable variations, this classic homemade pasta recipe is perfect as the…
Penne all’Amatriciana
Amatriciana or matriciana, the sauce is still the same: rich, spicy, with crunchy bits of guanciale. The name varies based on who’s trying to lay claim to this pasta sauce’s origins. The sauce is supposedly named after the town of Amatrice in the Appenine hills to the North East of Rome just at the absolute…
Spaghetti with Clam Sauce (alle Vongole)
Italy has such delicious clams that spaghetti with clams is always one of my top choices when we eat out. It’s also something I make at home frequently. It’s easy to prepare and I have a few magic ingredients that make this dish extraordinary. Everyone you serve it to will ask what you do to make…
Ricotta and Pear Filled Fagottini
Pears are in season and delicious as we move into fall. I adore baked pears and pear tarts but my favorite by far are these delicious pear and ricotta filled fagottini. I first tasted these fagottini at one of our favorite restaurants, located in the northern Lazio hill town, Civitá Castellana. We’ve not been back to…
Cameroni farro pasta with pioppini mushrooms, peperoncino, olive oil and onion
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 winning recipe where I really can have both amazing flavor and lose weight at the same time. The…
Radiatori Pasta with Zucchini, Cherry Tomatoes, Ricotta & Fresh Mint
Radiatori Pasta with Ricotta, Zucchini, Tomatoes & Mint We’re moving into late spring and pasta dishes are already starting to take on a light and fresh twist. Not too terribly far south of Rome there are already some luscious tomatoes and tender zucchini available. And our mint plants are exploding with leaves, just begging…
Pumpkin & Pecan Ravioli in a Brown Butter Sauce
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…