Bruschetta is a dish of such astonishing simplicity that you might say it’s not even worth blogging about. After all, the basic recipe for authentic bruschetta is nothing more or less than grilled bread, rubbed with garlic and drizzled with olive oil, seasoned with a sprinkling of salt. And besides, there are … Read More
Tomato Sauce 101
I’m all for convenience when it actually makes life simpler. But it’s always been a mystery to me why people buy those jars of wretched “spaghetti sauce” that line our supermarket shelves, when you can make real tomato sauce with only a tiny bit more time and effort. I … Read More
Uova in purgatorio (Eggs in Purgatory)
A perfect light lunch or dinner for those times when you don’t feel like making anything too complicated, these Neapolitan ‘eggs in purgatory‘ take perhaps 25 minutes and practically make themselves. Ingredients For 2 people 4 eggs 1 small (14 oz.) can of tomatoes (or passata di pomodoro) 1/2 onion, … Read More
Spaghetti con pomodoro crudo (Spaghetti with Fresh Tomatoes)
Summertime is fast approaching, the temperature is climbing, and my culinary imagination is starting to turn to dishes that quick but tasty and require minimal cooking. Here’s one of the ‘go to’ summer pasta dishes in our house: Spaghetti with Fresh Tomatoes. Ingredients Serves 4-6 500g (1 lb) spaghetti 500-750g … Read More
Fagiolini in umido (Green Beans in Tomato Sauce)
While Sundays dinners at Angelina’s house were once-a-week, belly-busting, meaty affairs, she practically lived on vegetables during the week. This was long before vegetarianism or veganism went mainstream and she would not have thought of herself as a ‘weekday vegetarian’ or anything of that sort. It was just the way … Read More
Spaghetti alla puttanesca (“Streetwalker” Spaghetti)
Spaghetti alla puttanesca is another weeknight stand-by in our house. So quick and—for lack of a better word—lusty. Ingredients Makes 4-6 servings 500g (1 lb) spaghetti 2-3 cloves of garlic (or more to taste), peeled and slightly crushed 1-2 dried hot red peppers (peperoncino) Olive oil 250g (8 oz) canned … Read More
Zitoni al forno con le polpettine (Baked Ziti with Tiny Meatballs)
If baked pappardelle with radicchio is a good example of a northern Italian baked pasta dish, baked ziti, as this dish is known in English, typifies the southern Italian approach, and more specifically the Neapolitan approach, so much so, in fact, that this dish is sometimes called pasta al forno … Read More
Buying canned tomatoes
Update: The top rated brand in this post, Cento, no longer sells DOP San Marzanos. But the information about identifying good quality tomatoes is as relevant as ever. And I’m happy to recommend the other brands mentioned in this post. Here’s a special note for readers in the US, where … Read More
