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…
Make-Ahead
Perfect Poached Eggs
I think that poached eggs are one of my absolute favorite things on the entire planet but to be honest they are something that eludes my mastery – and I think that’s the case with a lot of people! I can’t tell you how many perfect poached egg instructional videos, and recipes, I have read…
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 – 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…
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…
Pasta with Wild Boar Sauce
Pasta with Wild Boar Sauce is my favorite dish on cold winter days! If you don’t have pappardelle on hand then use another pasta like rigatoni or fettuccine. There are many dishes that I love but make infrequently because they just take too much time to prepare. I found that a pressure cooker or instapot allows…
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….
Pasta and Bean Soup – Pasta e Fagioli
Pasta and Bean Soup – Pasta e Fagioli I don’t know why I never posted my mother-in-law’s delicious recipe for pasta and bean soup – pasta e fagioli – but there you have it: it slipped through the cracks somehow. It was just when I made it the other day that I realized I had…