Fall is my favorite season, and one of the best reasons to love the Fall is all the wonderful food you get to eat! The sprightly but rather thin dishes of summer give way to more substantial fare: game, soups and stews of all kinds, pumpkin and other squashes, beans, … Read More
How to make fresh egg pasta
When making fresh home-made egg pasta, variously known in Italian as pasta fresca or pasta fatta in casa or pasta all’uovo, I usually make life easy for myself by using my trusty KitchenAid mixer to form and knead the pasta dough and then the pasta attachments to roll out and … Read More
Pasta alla Norma (Sicilian-Style Pasta with Eggplant)
This, one of my favorite summertime pastas, comes from Sicily. Along with pasta con le sarde, it is perhaps the most famous of Sicilian pasta dishes. And it is a fairly simple dish to make, the only slight complication coming from the initial preparation of the eggplant. To make pasta … Read More
Linguine al limone (Linguini with Lemon Cream Sauce)
Linguine al limone, or linguini with lemon cream sauce, is one of those quintessential summer dishes from southern Italy, specifically the Sorrentine peninsula of the Campania region, where they grow exquisite lemons. It’s sunshine on your plate. This dish may surprise you. The lemon flavor is not at all acidic … Read More
Penne alla vodka (Penna with Vodka Sauce)
A quick post on this well-known but relatively new variant on penne all’arrabbiata: make your arrabbiata with less peperoncino than usual, just enough to give the dish a slight ‘bite’, and then add a shot glass or two of vodka to your sauce. Allow to continue simmer a few minutes … Read More
Penne all’arrabbiata (“Angry” Penne)
Here’s another signature dish of Roman cooking, penne all’arrabbiata or ‘angry’ penne, perfect for an impromtu meal or snack when you crave something spicy. It is a very simple dish—basically an aglio, olio e peperoncino with tomato and extra peperoncino added for more heat. Ingredients Serves 4-6 persons 500g (1 … Read More
Spaghetti fatti in casa con pomodori al forno (Homemade Spaghetti with Oven-Roasted Tomatoes)
This dish of homemade egg pasta spaghetti with roasted tomato sauce is one of my favorite dishes from one of my favorite cookbook authors, Giuliano Bugialli. The sauce is simple to make and, if you use dry spaghetti (or store-bought fresh) the dish becomes extremely simple to execute. But if … Read More
Chiocciole con salsiccia, piselli e ricotta (Pasta Shells with Sausage, Peas and Ricotta)
This was a dish I made up on the spot today, finding a stray single link of Italian sausage, some leftover ricotta and some frozen peas at the bottom of the freezer. The result was very good indeed—I thought I had stumbled on a new classic, until I check it … Read More
Tagliatelle alle zucchini (Tagliatelle with Zucchini)
Vegetables and pasta were meant for each other. And no vegetable says summer like zucchini. Ergo, there’s no more iconic summer pasta than tagliatelle with zucchini! Start by sauteing some sliced baby zucchine in olive oil with a chopped up shallot over moderate heat, seasoning with salt and pepper as it … Read More
Aglio, olio e peperoncino (Pasta with Garlic, Oil and Hot Pepper)
Here’s another super simple pasta that I call the “mother of all pasta dishes” since its garlic and oil base forms the foundation for countless other pasta sauces. It’s also the quintessential impromptu snack the Italians call una spaghettata. I’m sure all the Italians and Italo-Americans out there have grown up … Read More
Fettuccine alla papalina (Fettuccine for the Pope)
Fettuccine alla papalina, or “Fettuccine for the Pope”, is an upscale reinterpretation of the earthy spaghetti alla carbonara. The story goes that the dish was prepared for a certain Cardinal Pacelli, soon to become Pope Pius XII, who had asked the owner of a restaurant in the Borgo (the area … Read More
Angelina’s pasta e lenticchie (Pasta and Lentils)
Of all the wonderful dishes my grandmother Angelina would make when I was growing up, this was my very favorite. And that’s saying a lot, since she made incredible lasagna di carnevale. Angelina’s pasta e lenticche (pasta and lentils) was very simple to make but involved three more or less simultaneous … Read More