Pasta and chickpeas is one of those combinations that was just meant to be. You can find scores of renditions up and down the Italian boot, though mostly in the southern regions. Today we’re taking a look at Naples’ take on the dish which goes by the name lampi e … Read More
Petto di vitella alla fornara
In most ways, the culinary culture in this country has vastly improved since I was a kid. I’m old enough to remember the days when if you wanted to cook with Italian parsley rather than the curly kind, you’d have to grow your own. Or if you wanted imported pasta … Read More
Pasta con le sarde
One of Sicily’s signature dishes, pasta con le sarde, or Pasta with Sardines, is also one of my personal favorites. I was lucky enough to enjoy it on its home turf a few years back, during a trip for a family wedding. Unfortunately, replicating this classic back here at home … Read More
Roccocò napoletani (Neapolitan Christmas Cookies)
Made with mixed spices, nuts and candied fruits, the Neapolitan cookies known as roccocò napoletani are vaguely reminiscent of our fruit cake, but, in my humble opinion, much more appealing in both in taste and texture. Roccocò are rather crunchy on the outside but, when properly made, soft and chewy … Read More
Pasta con nduja
It’s funny how some recipes or ingredients that have been around forever suddenly become trendy and therefore “new”. So it’s been lately with nduja, that deliciously spicy spreadable pork sausage from Calabria. Dating from the 1200s, a few years back it suddenly started popping up everywhere on the internet and … Read More
Scarola imbottita al forno (Oven-Baked Stuffed Escarole)
The people of the Campania region and its capital Naples are great lovers of leafy green vegetables. Even before they became famous for pizza and pasta, Neapolitans were so enamored of their greens that other Italians would call them mangiafoglie, or “leaf eaters”. That love of leafy greens has come … Read More
Soffritto napoletano
We don’t often think about it, but meats also have seasons. Just as lamb is a talisman of the spring, autumn and early winter is pork season. In the days before freezers, it was the time of year when pigs were traditionally slaughtered. The colder weather acted as a natural … Read More
Wedding Soup
As regular readers know, every October, which is Italian-American Heritage Month here in the US, we feature an Italian-American dish. This year’s entry is the famously misnamed Wedding Soup. A mistranslation of minestra maritata, a classic Neapolitan soup whose name means “married soup”, the marriage in question doesn’t involve a … Read More