Cacciatora stew is one of those simple dishes which comfort you, above all if served with mashed potatoes on a cold winter day. It is an incredibly rich and simple dish, the result is an amazing sauce in which you can plunge bread and collect it in the famous “scarpetta”. It is a gesture not be…
Gurguglione is a typical stew of summer vegetables eaten by the miners of Elba Island. It was mentioned when I visited the Ginevro gallery, that is a magnetite mine near Capoliveri, now closed because of the competition by developing countries. This stew was a typical dish of the miners of Elba Island, which has always…
These eggplant balls are perfect for finger food at your next summer party, or as an entrée for any summer meal. Eggplants are at their peak right now, being the sweetest and most delicious they can be during the year. This is the simplified and lighter version of a recipe I had in Calabria, earlier…
This is an extremely fresh way to be introduced to octopus. This salad is ideal to be served in a hot summer day, above all if you are back from the beach. Italy has an incredibly wide range of fish and seafood, and as many recipes to cook them. Throughout the country, Octopus is a favourite…
When summer approaches, two things cannot be missed on an Italian table: spaghetti with fresh clams and a bottle of chilled dry wine Usually, I love making fresh home-made pasta. However, sometimes stopping for a while, opening a bag of excellent durum wheat spaghetti, and making this simple and delicious pasta means it is summer –…
Potato gnocchi recipe is relatively recent in the Italian tradition, compared to the other ones. Gnocchi is spread in all regions of Italy, and with all possible ingredients, depending on where it comes from: flour, corn, semolina, bread, chestnut flour, ricotta, or vegetables – from squash to spinach to classic potato. The potato was discovered by chance…
Tuna and rabbit, together? Why this odd name? A legend says that in 19th century the rules about fasting were particularly strict, and the friars in a convent of Avigliana, near Turin, decided to circumvent them by baptising their chickens and rabbits and calling them ‘tuna’ in order to eat them without sinning. In spite…
This recipe of stuffed eggplant was generously given me by Carmela, a very sweet woman from Puglia. In Calabria they boil the eggplant whole and then scoop out the flesh. Of course there are many variations: stuffed with stockfish, with or without tomato, with meat…And of course each family claims its own version is the…
Strawberry panna cotta (bavarese) is a delicious dessert, ideal to celebrate Spring! Strawberry season reaches its peak in May, offering the sweetest and most delicious flavour. This panna cotta intensifies their freshness creating a symphony of tastes in which the light sourness of lemon balances perfectly the sweetness of whipped cream. I noticed, reading American…
Gnudi is a typical Tuscan dish, simple and tasty, where the filling is served in the form of gnocchi but without the pasta wrap. The name comes from ‘gnudo’ meaning naked one, in the Tuscan vernacular. The dish comes from the southern Tuscan region of Maremma, one of Italy’s areas for sheep. In Italy in Spring we…