Potato gnocchi become good old-fashioned Calabrian comfort food when you use potatoes from La Sila mountains or eat them with a hearty tomato and Calabrian sausage sauce. We’ll get to that sausage recipe soon enough, but for now here is the recipe for the homemade potato gnocchi. Ingredients: (serves two) >> 3/4 cup all-purpose flour,...Read More
You know you are loved when you visit a home in Calabria and are served a generous helping of homemade lasagna. For many Calabrians, lasagna is a special meal and in the busy world we live in today-yes, even here in Calabria-it is hard to find time to prepare this dish the way you should....Read More
Carnevale has come and gone and the Lenten season is in full swing. In case you missed it, I told my Facebook fans about my plan, not to give something up for Lent, but to spend a little time each day doing something for someone else. So … if YOU need something, just shoot me...Read More
Before I moved to Italy cooking was somewhat of a chore for me … I was cooking for one, it wasn’t fun and I was trapped in an endless cycle of repeated recipes and take out (more on this later). Now that I am here in the bel paese, I figure I can spice things...Read More
See those leaves up there? Well, technically they are in our backyard year-round. What is not there year-round are those plump, light green balls of figlish deliciousness you see buried among them. You know, figs are the summertime fruit here in bella Calabria … in fact, they are so popular, people have been known to...Read More
There is just something about summertime that makes you want to dig into fresh, fruit-flavored desserts that are taste light as air … or well, if you are like me-there is just something about ANY time that makes you want to do that. While it is true that even the finest chefs in Italy can’t...Read More
And no. I don’t mean sticky, gluey, undercooked, overcooked or otherwise inedible pasta. I mean bad pasta. As in “lady of the night” bad. Whore bad. Hooker bad. Or as we they say in Italy … Puttana bad. Yep. That’s right. One of Italy’s most famous pasta sauces gets its name from the run-around wife...Read More
Even before I moved to Italy I was a sucker for a good homemade pasta sauce with crisp, fresh vegetables. Now that I’m here? Well … it is darn near an obsession. So you can imagine I jumped at the opportunity to have shrimp and asparagus pasta when I visited Carn e Vino Ristorante last...Read More
One of the best things about Rome, as in many Italian cities, is the undeniably delicious food you get to eat when you’re there. Know what’s even more fun? Bringing that dish home with you. Of all of the typically Romano dishes, Cacio e Pepe, is one of the best-and likely the easiest-to make at...Read More
In honor of the upcoming Cinco de Mayo holiday, the First of the Month Recipe series and the fact that this month’s guest blogger just. may. be. the cutest I’ve ever had (sorry ex-guest bloggers!) I present to you … Cole Moore-my 8-year-old nephew. I’ve written extensively about Cole in the three years since I’ve...Read More
