Buffalo mozzarella has a porcelain white color and is known as the pearl of the table. It’s a flavorful fresh stringy textured cheese with a very thin rind. When you cut into it its delicious white milky liquid seeps out. Buffalo mozzarella is typically made into round shapes often weighing 1 kg each. Sometimes...
Recipes
Pork Sausage and Lentils (Cotechino e Lenticchie)
Pork Sausage and Lentils (Cotechino e Lenticchie) Serves 4-6 Pork Sausage and Lentils is a traditional New Year's dish in Italy. Lentils are purported to bring wealth and good fortune. In Lombardy dialect zecchini - coins from the 1500's - were also called lenticchie, which gave rise to lentil's association with prosperity and good health....
Traditional Italian Christmas Cookies and Holiday Desserts - Podcast Episode 40
Holiday baking is one of the cornerstones of the holiday season and many of us have recipes for traditional Italian Christmas cookies and desserts that stem from family and local traditions. Almost every single town and region throughout Italy has fabulous holiday recipes and many of these have been adapted by Italian Americans and Italian...
Cacio e Pepe with Pear Slivers
There's nothing tastier than cheese with pears and Cacio e Pepe with Pear Slivers exemplifies this magical pairing to the fullest. There’s a saying from the 1200’s about the delightful pairing of cheese with pears: "Dio non ha mai fatto un matrimonio così riuscito, ossia il connubio tra pera e formaggio." - God has never...
Italian Balsamic Vinegar - the real deal - Podcast Episode 36
One of the favorite and most used condiments in Italy and abroad is Italian balsamic vinegar. It’s used to dress salads, as an ingredient in many dishes and to drizzle on top of foods like strawberries and Parmesan cheese. In this episode Michele Di Pietro and I chat all about balsamic vinegar. Listen to this...
Whole Grain Farro Nut Bread
Farro is an ancient grain that dates back 7000 years and is a mainstay of the Italian diet. It's especially prevalent in the land-locked Umbria region, just north of Rome. Farro has a crunchy, chewy and delicious texture and is wonderful in soups and as a substitute for rice in risottos and other rice-based dishes....
Thanksgiving Celebration in the Covid Era - Podcast Episode 35
Guess what? Your Thanksgiving celebration will be just as wonderful this year but you'll need to make some menu changes, and adapt how you gather. It's a time to invent new Thanksgiving celebration traditions. Michele Di Pietro and I have you covered! Listen to this podcast episode and find out everything you need to know...
Quick & Easy Chicken Pot Pie
I think perhaps the most quintessential comfort food is a hearty, creamy, quick and easy Chicken Pot Pie. Chicken Pot Pie remains in my memory from childhood as something warm and delicious and comforting, so much so that decades later I still think about it with longing. Chicken Pot Pie isn't something I have fond memories...
Our Italian Olive Harvest - Episode 34
When you conjure up the Mediterranean diet in your mind the first thing that probably comes to you is olive oil, and quite likely Italian olive oil. The month of November is the big month for the Italian olive harvest, when the many varietals of olives are picked and brought to one of the hundreds...
Steamed Cauliflower Florets with a Balsamic, Caper & Anchovy Dressing
For those of you who live in Italy, or have visited Italy, you will surely have noticed how delicious the vegetables are on restaurant antipasto tables. The vegetables are served at room temperature...the ideal temperature for flavor to come out to its fullest. Sometimes it’s hard to tell exactly what flavoring restaurateurs have used because...
A Look at Italian Saffron & its Harvest - Podcast Episode 30
Italian saffron cultivation is prolific in a number of areas in Italy like the Abruzzi and Sardegna, and now it's expanded into Sicily, San Gimignano and Città della Pieve, Umbria. We visit Città della Pieve each year to experience the magic of the harvest process. Città della Pieve is famous as the birthplace of Perugino,...
Torta Caprese - Chocolate Almond Cake from Capri
The history of the Torta Caprese I love a rich moist dark chocolate cake and there’s none better than this classic Torta Caprese - Chocolate Almond Cake - from the exquisite island of Capri. There are lots of stories about where the original recipe comes from but the history that makes the most sense to...