I’m someone who really loves my sweets, but I do love a salty, umami touch to desserts to elevate them to nirvana level. Case in point is this wonderful miso caramel sauce that’s divine drizzled warm on ice cream. Miso caramel sauce is super easy to make but you do have to exercise care in...
Make-Ahead
Perfect Poached Eggs
If you’re an egg lover then you will definitely agree that there’s nothing more wonderful than a delicious and beautifully formed poached egg. It seems to be the simplest thing imaginable to make but for the longest time it was something that eluded me. Yes, it’s true, that anyone can make a misshapen scraggly looking...
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. The best...
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...
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...
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...
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...
Plum Tart
It’s early spring but I’m already jumping ahead to the great summer fruit that’s soon to come. Plums are some of the first to appear – purple, red and yellow – and although they are delightful to eat on their own I especially love them in a plum tart. And we're lucky to have our...
All About Gnocchi
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. A Little Bit about the History of...
Potato Gnocchi with Mussels and Clams
Gnocchi are considered a primo, or first course dish, served in place of pasta. The classic sauce for potato gnocchi is a simple tomato sauce like the one pictured above, but there are many variations to this and my personal favorite is Potato Gnocchi with Mussels and Clams. Potato gnocchi are a kind of dumpling...
Lemon Poundcake Drizzled with Lemon Glaze
Lemon Poundcake Drizzled with Lemon Glaze Our lemon tree is bursting with lemons and this is no exaggeration. I haven't counted them but there are hundreds of beautiful lemons. We leave them on the tree all winter long and pick them as we need them each day: for salad dressings and the like. Let's face it...
Homemade bread with home-ground flours
This has now become my go-to homemade bread. It's a recipe I've been working on for over a year now, adding and subtracting ingredients, and working with different flours and grains. I’ve started grinding my own flours and it really does make a difference. My favorite is farro, a 7,000 year old grain which is...