Today I want to share with you the recipe for one of the most classic Italian Easter sweets: pastiera napoletana. As the name suggests, it is a typical cake from the city of Naples and it is a very ancient dish, as it appears to have originated before the Christian era, when it was eaten…
RISOTTO ALLA MARINARA
Today I am going to share with you the guest post I wrote for Tina at Pinay Cooking Corner! Please, if you haven’t done it yet… stop by my friend Tina’s site to read my guest post and all of Tina’s fantastic recipes and say hi to her!!! 🙂 When my dear friend Tina asked…
CAPONATA
After sharing with you the recipe for cabbuci, today I am back with the second part of my Italian Regional dish series. We are back in Sicily and I am going to show you how to make one of the most popular dishes of the island: caponata. It could be described as a cooked salad…
CABBUCI
If you are a regular reader, you will know that I have spent almost every summer holiday in Sicily up until I moved to Australia. I used to stay at a place called San Vito lo Capo, the same place where the Couscous Fest takes place. It is a beautiful little village with one of…
FRUIT TARTELETTES
The other day, I made Genovesi Ericine and had some pastry left! I looked in the fridge and also found some crème patissière… and decided to whip up a quick dessert, one that I used to love as a child. Whenever we had people over for lunch, they would never come empty handed and they…
BUCATINI ALL’AMATRICIANA
This week’s region is Lazio and as part of my Regional Italian dishes, I want to share with you the recipe for Pasta all’Amatriciana, one of the most famous dishes from the region. The use of onion in this dish is optional. In fact, it is not used in the original recipe of the town of…
ZUCCHINI FLOWER AND SAFFRON RISOTTO IN A PARMIGIANO REGGIANO BASKET
When Divya from Flavour Fiesta asked me to write a recipe for her beautiful magazine I was really excited! I have always liked her website and I simply love her magazine: content, style, photos… everything! You MUST check it out, trust me!!! When she said the theme would be spring I was intrigued and I…
SFINCIUNI DI SAN GIUSEPPE
March 19th is St. Joseph’s Day. It is also Father’s Day in many Catholic countries (Italy included) as St. Jospeh was Jesus’ father and it is considered a symbol of fatherhood. It is also a very important day in Sicily and it is widely celebrated as St. Jospeh is one of the island’s patron saints. …
SA PANADA
Today I want to share with you the recipe of a very ancient dish: Sa Panada. And when I say “ancient” I mean it, as it appears that it was already known more than 2000 years ago! The name panada literally means “ball” and it is a traditional pie from the region of Sardegna (Sardinia),…
BUSIATI WITH HERBS, PISTACHIO PESTO AND CRUNCHY ZUCCHINI
I noticed that I haven’t shared many pasta recipes lately… and for an Italian food blogger that’s bad! Oh so bad! So, today I am going to make it up to you with a special post that is very good for you! My dear friend Cì from Il Mondo di Cì informed me of a…
TORTA MIMOSA – MIMOSA CAKE
Tomorrow, March 8th, we celebrate International Woman’s Day, a day to honour women around the world for their accomplishments and to remember those who still need empowerment! What celebration would it be without a cake?? In Italy, men usually gift the women in their lives mimosa flowers for this special occasion. Mimosa has become the…
ONION FOCACCIA
After sharing with you the Basic Focaccia recipe and the recipe for Focaccia with Olives, today I am going to post the recipe for my absolute favourite: Onion Focaccia! I love the taste of soft Focaccia topped with sweet onions… mmmm… I am getting hungry just by writing about it! The recipe is the one…
CANTUCCI
For today’s Regional Italian recipe, I want to take you back to Tuscany. After sharing two savoury dishes (Pollo alla Cacciatora and Tuscan Cabbage Soup) from this beautiful region, today I want to show you how to make Cantucci, also known as Biscotti di Prato (cookies from the town of Prato). The term biscotto (biscotti is the…
PASTA CON I FEGATINI – PASTA WITH CHICKEN LIVER
As I already said in my Chicken Liver Parcels – Fegatini al cartoccio post, I never enjoyed eating liver while growing up, with the exception of chicken liver. There are 2 dishes made with chicken liver that I have always LOVED: one is the Parcels and the second one is the dish I am going…
TORTELLI DI CARNEVALE
This is a very special time of the year for all Italian children: it is “Carnevale”, the time to wear costumes and parade in the streets playing tricks on other kids and throwing coriandoli (round shaped paper confettis) and stelle filanti (similar to paper streamers) everywhere. It is like Halloween but it lasts longer (about…
EASY MERINGUE PIE – MERINGATA VELOCE
Yesterday was my birthday! YAY! Well… usually my husband buys me a chocolate cake from my favourite patisserie in town, but this year he was working in the other side of town and there was no way he could get there in time. So, I made myself a very quick but delicious birthday cake as…
HOME-MADE BACI PERUGINA
Valentine’s Day is here. I know it has become a day “used” by many companies to sell stuff you may not buy otherwise, but I still like the idea of a day in which to exchange sweet gifts with the person you love (in Italy, friends are not included on this day… it is strictly…
OCTOPUS SALAD
Today I want to share with you a very easy dish. In fact, it is almost a “non-recipe” as all you have to do is cut the ingredients and mix them together. Well, you may have to boil the octopus and potatoes too if you cannot find them ready. But that’s about it. I used…
GORGONZOLA SOUFFLÉ
Ok, I guess by now you all know how much I love gorgonzola… so I won’t bore you with that… suffice it to say that I often have some in my fridge. The other day, I just wanted to cook something new with it. There are certain dishes that I have always been scared to…
TUSCAN CABBAGE SOUP
Today I am going to share with you the recipe for one of my favourite soups. I know it’s summer here, but to tell you the truth, it has been a rather unusual summer… quite cool and rainy. And I am thankful for that as it makes it easier to have a healthy and tasty…
NUTELLA PIZZA
Sara from Ms. Adventures in Italy and Michelle from Bleeding Espresso have declared February 5th “World Nutella Day 2012″ – “a day to celebrate, to get creative with, and most importantly, to EAT Nutella”. Yay! What a FANTASTIC day! I know… nowadays Nutella is famous all over the world. And that is awesome as so many people…
SUPER BOWL OR FOOTY NIGHT SUGGESTIONS
I must admit I am no football lover. In fact, the only football I like is soccer… I am Italian after all. After reading quite a bit about the upcoming Super Bowl though, I started thinking that the most fun part about the event would be watching it with friends and family while sharing some…
SCALOPPINE AL LIMONE – LEMON SCALOPPINE
My mom used to make this dish quite often and I have always liked it. It is quick to make and it tastes delicious. It is also somewhat refreshing thanks to the lemon sauce. It is a classic of Italian cuisine and it is quite popular outside of Italy… so if you are interested in…
GNOCCHI ALLA BAVA
This week’s Regional Italian recipe is quite a decadent one. It comes from the Alpine region of Valle d’Aosta (Aosta Valley) that borders with France and Switzerland. It is a renowned tourist destination for winter sports and summer hikes. It is beautiful, as only the Alps can be. And the food? It is hearty and…
CHOCOLATE PANNA COTTA AND THE GIVEAWAY WINNERS
Does it ever happen to you to feel like having a little sweet treat but you don’t really want to go out to the stores to buy the ingredients?? To me, it happens oh so often. So, what do you do when you have a sweet craving to quench?
MALLOREDDUS ALLA CAMPIDANESE
This week’s Regional Italian recipe comes from the region of Sardinia or, as we say, Sardegna, one of the 2 biggest islands of Italy (the other being Sicily). It is a fantastic place with some of the best food and seaside in the world (I am not kidding you). It is well known in Italy as…
BACI DI ALASSIO
My Regional Italian recipe series is back after the holiday break. This week’s recipe takes us to Liguria once again. This time, I am going to take you to the little town of Alassio, near Savona in the western area of the region. This little town is very popular for its beautiful sea and is visited by…