I first tried preserved lemons last spring in San Francisco and loved them immediately. What attracted me to preserved lemons was finally having a new recipe to help me use the dozens upon dozens of lemons our trees produce every year. I love limoncello, who doesn't, but we make it every year. I'm always racking my brain to come up...
Vegetarian
Wild Rice Risotto with Roasted Brussels Sprouts & Gorgonzola
It's quite a while that I've wanted to come up with a recipe to marry two of my favorite ingredients: Brussels sprouts and gorgonzola. This wild rice risotto fits the bill to a "t"! It's post holiday and time to shed those extra pounds so I wanted a yummy recipe but one that wouldn't interfere...
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...
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 grams...
Curried Eggplant Soup
Every summer my garden reaches the point where it's so prolific that I can hardly keep up with it. I'm at that point of explosion right now. One of my favorite vegetables is eggplant; it has fabulous texture and flavor. It's beautiful: from its deep purples to striated violet varieties; and round to thin and...
Marinated anchovies with spaccasassi, Le Marche
We spend time in Portonovo along the Conero Riviera every year, usually for brief weekend trips of a few days. Some of our closest friends live there and an additional benefit is the spectacular beauty of the area: the lush mountains of the Monte Conero spill dramatically into the Adriatic Sea. The beach is covered...
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! INGREDIENTSFor the pasta:600 grams (1 ⅓ pounds) durum, hard grain wheat flour6 eggsFor the filling:300 grams (11.5 ounces) ricotta100 grams (3 ½ ounces) grated...
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....
Ginger Carrot Cake
Carrot cake is a universally loved cake by all. Carrot cake, zucchini bread or other desserts made from vegetables are not typically Italian, but once they taste these sweets they become instant converts.I'm in a ginger phase right now: I'm drinking ginger tisanas, making ginger scones, cookies and cakes. And I've always loved Thai and...
Red Snapper Ceviche
Yesterday we spent the day fishing in Belize. Cagey, a local fisherman, took us out for the day on his small boat and we hit all his top fishing spots. I'd really hoped to catch a tuna and we nearly did. We had a barracuda on the line that broke away and even managed to bend...
Merangola Orange Bruschetta
Yesterday Isabella della Ragione's book, L'Occhio Ammira e Rimane Incantato, was presented in Terni. Isabella Dalla Ragione has spent her career as an agronomist protecting rare fruit tree varietals, many that she and her father located and began to propagate with care. Together they dedicated their time to scouring the Italian countryside searching out these rare...
Roast Sunflower Seeds
Last year I decided to take a day trip in search of fields of sunflowers to capture some great photographs. Our timing was off and in the end we missed the season. We swore to each other that we wouldn't miss the season this year so in June I started scoping out sunflowers. About ten...
