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
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
Lasagnette alla cacciatora col pollo (Pasta Cacciatore)
It may come as a surprise to non-Italians, but if you ask the average Italian what they think of pasta and chicken, you’re likely to get a negative reaction. A very negative one in fact. That’s certainly the view among my Italian acquaintances. To them, a dish like Chicken Alfredo … Read More
Baked Ziti
It’s that time of year again. October is Italian-American heritage month, when each year as long time readers will know, we feature an Italian-American dish in lieu of our usual continental Italian fare. This year we have a real crowd-pleaser: Baked Ziti. True comfort food, a warming dish perfect for … Read More
Peperoni ripieni di pasta
As we approach the end of summer and autumn produce begins to appear in our markets, it’s easy to forget that, for a few more days at least, it’s still summer. Indeed, even as pumpkins and pears and such make their appearances, summer produce like peppers and tomatoes are still … Read More
Maccheroni positanesi
This week we have another great recipe for you from Jeanne Carola Francesconi: maccheroni positanesi, or Pasta Positano Style. In the tradition of no cook tomato sauces like the much better known pasta al pomodoro crudo, in this recipe the pasta is dressed “a sette sapori“—with seven flavors: tomato, garlic, … Read More
