Zucchini Parmesan & Prosciutto is a deliciously gooey and cheesy dish that makes great use of all your summer garden zucchini. No frying or precooking needed! It’s not fair to call zucchini a weed but in many ways it acts like one in the garden. It self-propagates from year to year from any seeds left…
Equipment & Gadgets
Homemade pasta using the Ultimate Pasta Machine Cookbook – Podcast Episode 20
If you’re interested in making perfect and easy homemade pasta then the Ultimate Pasta Machine Cookbook is a must for you. It’s a great book that not only has wonderful recipes but it clearly lays out everything you need to know about pasta makers from hand cranked to electric. And it also talks a lot about…
Traditional Italian pasta becomes art and origami
Traditional Italian pasta becomes an edible art form in the hands of Laurie de Filippi from Baltimore Home Cook as she creates her pasta art and origami. Pasta, like language, is a constantly evolving cultural part of life and in Italy it’s supremely important. Laurie is steeped in Italian tradition through her 100% Italian bloodline from…
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…
A Chat with Julia Griner, Pasta “Sfoglina” – Podcast Episode 6
In the Flavor of Italy Podcast – Episode 6 I chatted with Julia Griner, accomplished sfoglina and co-owner of Grano & Farina Cooking School in Rome. Julia learned to make pasta sfoglia – sheets of egg and flour dough, (hence the name sfoglina) – in Bologna, Italy and she shared her story with me from…
All About Gnocchi – Podcast Episode 4
You may already know and love these delicious little pillows of heaven or you may know nothing about them. Either way today’s Flavor of Italy podcast episode 4 tells you All About Gnocchi from its history and tradition to how to make this luscious dish – and more. Check out these useful links from the…
Radicchio Ravioli with Chestnut Cream, Sizzled Pork Jowl and Fried Sage
When fall rolls around it’s time to make dishes that bring together some of the season’s best ingredients. Radicchio Ravioli with Chestnut Cream, Sizzled Pork Jowl and Fried Sage is one of those dishes! This recipe was adapted from a La Cucina Italiana recipe. Since these delicious ravioli can be made in advance and frozen they…
Homemade Blackberry Jam
The first year we made homemade blackberry jam Maurizio picked the berries and I did the cooking and canning. Blackberries have so many seeds which we find unpleasant in jams and tarts so I decided to remove them. It’s a laborious, time consuming task and I cursed myself the whole way through making the jam…
Lemon Lavender Cake
Lemon Lavender Cake Serves 8-12 This cake is a great way to use fresh, seasonal lemons and lavender. You can never go wrong with a lemon cake and the delicate hint of lavender adds something unique and magical to this dessert. It also makes a beautiful presentation when topped with a few sprigs of fresh…
Corzetti Pasta
What are corzetti? I love making unusual pasta shapes and forms and one of my favorites are corzetti, a disk shaped pasta with an imprinted design; the below corzetti have a giglio fiorentino (fleur de lis) design. The Encyclopedia of Pasta, by Oretta Zanini de Vita and masterfully translated into English by Maureen B. Fant, dedicates a…
Neapolitan coffee maker
Giulia will be having her baby any day now so while we are all waiting I’ve started doing a little nesting myself. For a long time now I’ve wanted to go through Nonna’s hope chest; it’s nearing a decade since she passed away at age ninety. She was an amazing woman: frugal, organized, efficient, as…
Olive oil containers
In Italy we buy our oil in large containers of from one liter to five liters, and quite a few containers at a time, just following the olive harvest in December. We estimate that we consume about 30 L and sometimes up to 50 L a year. We use olive oil for everything: to drizzle on…