Here’s my candidate for the quickest and easiest pasta of all time, orecchiette con pomodorini e rucola, or Orecchiette Pasta with Cherry Tomatoes and Arugula. As many of you will know, orecchiette, literally meaning “little ears”, is perhaps the most iconic fresh pasta of Italy’s Puglia region. Many if not … Read More
Spaghetti all’assassina (“Killer” Spaghetti)
If you follow Italian food trends, you’ve probably heard of spaghetti all’assassina aka “Killer” Spaghetti. From its humble beginnings as a local favorite in Puglia’s capital city of Bari, the dish has morphed into an international hit among foodies in the past couple of years. I’m a bit late to … Read More
Troccoli con cime di rapa e cozze
I’m just back from a two week trip to Italy, where we visited Rome, my old stomping grounds, and Puglia, the southern region where my paternal grandfather Lorenzo was born. It was a memorable trip, my first time back in Rome in years and, believe it or not, my first … Read More
Carbonara di carciofi (Artichoke Carbonara)
By now just about everybody on the planet knows and loves carbonara, the most famous of Roman pasta dishes. Perhaps less well known, however, are its variations. As delicious as the original dish is, I do like to mix things up a bit every once in a while. And in … Read More
Polenta concia
It’s that time of year again—the dead of winter, a time when one longs for warming, comforting dishes. In other words, it’s polenta time! And even if this winter has been surprisingly mild around here, I couldn’t let the season go by without at least one polenta recipe. Especially one … Read More
Pasta e cavolfiore alla siciliana (Sicilian Style Pasta and Cauliflower)
Cauliflower is all the rage these days, showing up in all kinds of trendy dishes from cauliflower rice to —Heaven help us!—cauliflower pizza. But Italians have been eating cauliflower for ages before it was “cool”, as a soup or in a salad, sautéed, steamed and sauced, battered and fried, pickled, … Read More
Passatelli in brodo
The region of Emilia-Romagna in north-central Italy is home to some of the most exquisite fresh egg pastas in the country: tortellini, tagliatelle, lasagne, cappelletti, gramigna, garganelli… as well also many more you probably haven’t heard of. The region boasts 23 different shapes of pasta in all! No wonder that, … Read More
Zuppa alla canavesana (Piedmontese Bread and Cabbage Soup)
When the weather starts to turn really cold, as it’s beginning to do around these parts, we naturally turn to warming dishes like the one we’re offering up this week: Zuppa alla canavesana, a hearty cabbage and bread soup from the Canavese area near Torino in the region of Piemonte … Read More
