Don’t miss this wonderful interview and chat with Vicky Bennison from Pasta Grannies. Her videos of octogenarian (and older) Italian women making homemade pasta are captivating and heartwarming. Plus they dig deep into the hundreds upon hundreds of different pasta shapes throughout Italy. Vicky’s Pasta Grannies brand started off six years ago and she realized…
Italian
How Italy Protects Its Food and Wine – Flavor of Italy Podcast – Episode 12
Italian Food and Wine Classifications What are all the Italian food and wine acronyms and classifications, what do they all mean and why do they matter anyhow? They are all part of how Italy protects its food and wine. In today’s podcast episode Michele Di Pietro from @mangiawithmichele and I chatted about Italian food labeling…
Easy Lemon Spaghetti – or use your favorite pasta shape!
If you haven’t figured out what to make for lunch today then go for a great plate of easy lemon spaghetti! I hadn’t made this spaghetti with a creamy lemon sauce for a while and since we have a wonderful lemon tree that yields lemons year round it was perfect. Best to use untreated lemons…
Spaghetti with a Spicy Tomato Anchovy Sauce
, Spaghetti with a Spicy Tomato Anchovy Sauce is one of my favorite pasta dishes and incredibly easy to make! If you think you don’t like anchovies you might actually change your mind once you try them in this dish. They’re not the hero ingredient here but instead they add rich flavor and wonderful umami…
Spring Ravioli: Stinging Nettle and Ricotta Filling with Spring Peas, Fava Beans & Asparagus
I’m still strongly in foraging mode, and stinging nettle is abundant. Along with seasonal spring vegetables I’ve thrown all these ingredients together to make a wonderful spring ravioli recipe. We’re in that magic moment of springtime when there’s an abundance of newly harvested fava beans and spring peas, and wild asparagus. It’s wonderful to be able…
The Lunigiana, its history and its food – Flavor of Italy Podcast – Episode 8
In today’s Flavor of Italy Podcast – Episode 8, James Martin – travel writer, photographer and all around expert in off the beaten track spots in Italy – shared fascinating details about the Lunigiana in upper Tuscany. The Lunigiana, where James & his wife Martha Bakergian have a home and spend five months every year,…
Peperoncini and ‘Nduja, the darlings of Calabrian Cuisine – Flavor of Italy Podcast – Episode 7
Peperoncini – hot chili peppers – and ‘Nduja, the darlings of Calabrian Cuisine, are used to add delightful heat to dishes in Calabria and throughout Italy. Italians add heat to their food with peperoncini, or hot chili pepper. The peperoncino is a mainstay in Calabrese cuisine and is celebrated each September in the lovely coastal…
Penne or Rigatoni all’Amatriciana
Amatriciana sauce in the making… 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…
Parboiled Baby Turnips Sautéed in Olive Oil and Garlic
Springtime is the perfect moment to find beautiful baby turnips. You won’t always find them in the market but when you do grab them and whip up this delicious Parboiled Baby Turnips Sautéed in Olive Oil and Garlic dish. You may think turnips don’t appeal to you and that their flavor is too strong: think again!…
Homemade Cavatelli
Homemade Cavatelli are one of the wonderful homemade pastas so typical of the poorer areas of southern Italy, like Puglia. In the past eggs were scarce, so farmers and home cooks made do with eggless pasta dough. Cavatelli are made with a semolina flour and water rather than with all purpose, or “00″ flour that’s used for…
Cavatelli with a Spicy Tomato Mussel Sauce
Cavatelli with a Spicy Tomato Mussel Sauce is a wonderful southern Italian dish typical of the coastal area of the Puglia region. We order everything online now that we are in lockdown which is infinitely safer than going to a grocery store ourselves. The one caveat with our favorite store is that orders must be for…
Stinging Nettle Pasta
Stinging nettle pasta adds great color and some added nutrition to your pasta dishes. How many of you have started foraging now that we are in lockdown? Since there are no longer frequent visits to the grocery store – in fact none in our case since we are ordering everything for home delivery – there’s…