Beet and Ricotta Gnocchi with Wilted Arugula & Toasted Walnuts Anything made with beets provides a beautiful splash of color, great flavor and of course tons of nutritional value. One of my favorite lunchtime dishes is gnocchi. I love to make potato gnocchi with all kinds of sauces, or ricotta gnocchi with spinach, broccoli rabe,…
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Green onion and tomato fettuccine
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…
Potato Leek Soup
Potato Leek Soup is tasty, nutritious and a fabulous comfort food in the winter months. Soups in the wintertime are unbeatable; on a day like today that’s gray and dreary, with a constant drizzle of rain, nothing warms the soul more than a cup of hot soup. It’s our go to dinner all winter long,…
Ginger Cake with a Maple Glaze
What makes this Ginger Cake with a Maple Glaze so fabulous is the fresh and candied ginger in the cake! The maple glaze is a great addition to the flavors, lathered and drizzled on top of the cake. I often use ginger in stir fry dishes, or blended with olive oil and soy sauce as a…
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…
White beans, tomato and rosemary soup
White beans, tomato and rosemary soup What makes almost all Italian dishes so delicious are two simple things: first, fresh seasonal and good-quality ingredients. Second, the use of very few ingredients so that each ingredient has a chance to participate in the luscious flavor of the dish. White beans, tomato and rosemary soup is a…
Oven Roasted Fresh Figs, Gorgonzola and Walnuts
It’s a chilly beginning of January and I just devoured bruschetta with scrumptious oven roasted figs, Gorgonzola and walnuts. It might strike you as odd that I have figs in January but my passion for figs drove me to devise a wonderful way to have figs year-round. In mid-summer, and then again in September, when…
Gianduia Peanut Butter Cookies
“Most of life’s problems can be solved with a good cookie.” Ina Garten We all know that peanut butter and chocolate are a marriage made in heaven. If the chocolate is chocolate then the marriage is nirvana. Gianduia chocolates are Italy’s best: a Piedmontese mixture of creamy chocolate and ground hazelnuts. For those of you…
Glazed Cinnamon Rolls
Glazed Cinnamon Rolls When I was still a young girl, somewhere between seven and nine years old, my passion was already cooking. If our parents went out for the evening I’d pull out a cookbook (that my mother never used, by the way) and pick out a recipe to make. It was my only opportunity…
Panettone
Christmas is around the corner and once again it’s time to make panettone, the Italian classic sweet bread loaf that you find on every Italian table during the holidays. Panettone requires a full day including three risings, so if you decide to make your own panettone be sure to allot the necessary time to bake…
Corn bread and muffins
Corn bread and muffins are one of my favorite accompaniments to a meal, at breakfast, or anytime. I love them slathered with butter and drizzled with honey, or just on their own. Corn bread and muffins took on a new dimension several years ago when I began using a mill attachment for my KitchenAid. I…
Apple Pie
Apple Pie Apple pie is at the very top of my comfort food list. Add a scoop of ice cream or, better yet, a drizzling of fresh cream and it moves a step higher into culinary nirvana. Apple pie is delicious year-round and is dead easy to make. Two pieces of equipment that make apple…