This pasta brings back lots of wonderful childhood memories. I still remember the first time I ate this pasta even though I was only 7 years old. It was a very cold winter evening and I was on a ski holiday, a “settimana bianca” (literally a “white week”) as we call it in Italy. We…
COUSCOUS SALAD
Couscous is one of those ingredients that I have always loved. To tell you the truth I have discovered the pre-cooked version only in recent years. My mom is from Trapani, a city in western Sicily that is renowned for the most delicious fish couscous on the planet. I have grown up eating (and enjoying)…
SPINACH RISOTTO – RISOTTO AGLI SPINACI
I love all risotti. This one used to be one of my favourite as a child. I liked its colour so much! Yet, I hated spinach… this was the only spinach dish I would eat. So it is a great way to make fussy kids eat their veggies. It works well with my 3 year…
RIANATA
A while ago I published the recipe for sfincione, which can be considered to be the pizza of Palermo. Today I am going to give you the recipe for the pizza from Trapani: rianata. There are a few versions of this pizza, some are made only with oregano (the name rianata comes from origanata which…
LAMB STEAKS WITH SUN DRIED TOMATOES, FETA AND BAKED POTATO
Being that Easter will be here in 2 days, I thought of making a lamb dish for Easter. In Italy we traditionally eat lamb for Easter. I have to admit that while growing up I did not like lamb. I thought it tasted too strong… I changed my mind when I met my husband and…
STROZZAPRETI WITH SPECK AND PISTACHIO PESTO
The last time I went to Italy was in 2008. We went during summer, so we also went to Sicily to spend some time at the seaside in a small village called San Vito Lo Capo (Wiki). Our eldest daughter was 1 year old then and Clint and I could finally leave her with my…
“AGGLASSATO” CHICKEN – POLLO “AGGLASSATO”
This is a family recipe for cooking chicken that my dad brought with him from Palermo. The Sicilian term “agglassato” (in Italian “glassato”) means glazed and it refers to the glazed look that the onion sauce gives to the chicken. The onions give the chicken a sweet taste that is balanced by the slightly tangy…
PIADINA AND CRESCIONE – MARCO’S RECIPE
A few days ago I made and shared with you the recipe of my first piadina: Homemade piadina with prosciutto, stracchino and rocket. When I shared it on my Facebook page, my friend Marco Drudi, who is from the area in Italy where piadine come from, kindly shared with me his family recipe! The ingredients…
FARFALLE WITH SALMON – FARFALLE AL SALMONE
This is a very easy and quick pasta recipe. I really like it because it is one of those dishes that is fast to prepare and looks and tastes very good. I remember eating this at my friend Elena’s house during our high school years and whenever her mom made it, it would be a…
HOMEMADE PIADINA WITH PROSCIUTTO, STRACCHINO AND ROCKET
Piadina (Wiki) is a very traditional bread/sandwich from Romagna (Wiki), a historical area that corresponds to the south-eastern portion of the Emilia-Romagna region. Piadine make very tasty sandwiches and they are often filled with cheese (squacquerone or stracchino are among the favorites), cold meats and/or vegetables. The filling that I prefer is the most classic…
COTOLETTE ALLA MILANESE
Cotolette is a typical dish from Milan. The original recipe is slightly different than mine as I do not usually fry mine in butter, but I use vegetable oil. This is the version that my mom and my grandma have always made and it is the one that I make regularly at home. The traditional…
POTATO FRITTATA – FRITTATA CON LE PATATE
I guess this could be regarded as the Italian “sister” of the Spanish tortilla. We make all kinds of frittata in Italy, but this has always been one of my favourites. It is very easy to make and uses simple and inexpensive ingredients. Parmigiano Reggiano gives it that extra flavour that makes it special. My…
CRUMBED PORK INVOLTINI PALERMO STYLE – INVOLTINI DI MAIALE ALLA PALERMITANA
This is a dish that I learnt from my dad. He is from Palermo and all the dishes of Palermo that I know to cook, I have learnt from him. He has in turn learnt them from his mother and grandmother, so they are all family recipes, handed down from generation to generation. One of…
SPAGHETTI WITH MULLET ROE – SPAGHETTI CON BOTTARGA DI MUGINE
I have to admit that I have just recently discovered this dish, at least in the way you are going to read below. As you know, my family is from Sicily and the area around Trapani is well renowned for its tuna products, among which the famous tuna roe (bottarga di tonno). It is an…
SPECK AND FONTINA ROLL
When we were still living in Italy, one day Clint came back from work saying: “I have eaten a fantastic thing at work today. It was a puff pastry roll stuffed with cheese and speck. You should try and make it at home!”. When I heard “speck and cheese”, I was sold, he didn’t really…
STRASCINATI “TRICOLORE”
This is the second dish from the menu that I have come up with to celebrate the 150 years of the Unification of Italy. It is the main dish of the theme menu and, like the entree already published -“Tricolore salad”- it also has the colors of the Italian flag: white, red and green. This…
CASARECCE WITH TUNA AND LEMON TOPPED WITH GARLIC BREADCRUMBS
This is a very simple, yet flavoursome pasta dish. I ate it for the first time many years ago at a family friend’s house (Laura) and I have been making it ever since. What I love the most about this pasta is the contrast between strong flavours (lemon and garlic) and between textures: the softness…
BAKED PORK SCALOPPINE WITH GORGONZOLA
This is another one of my favourite dishes since childhood. Have I already said that I love gorgonzola (and any other blue cheese for that matter)? Well… I could eat it on anything, even as a dessert (yes, I do have a couple of aces up my sleeve on this)! This dish though is very…
BUSIATI WITH PESTO TRAPANESE AND FRIED EGGPLANT – BUSIATI CULL’AGGHIA
This is probably the most traditional pasta you can eat in the area of Trapani, in western Sicily. Both the pasta and the sauce are, together with fish couscous, the most well known dishes of the area. The sauce is very easy to make and it is the Trapanese version of pesto. It is similar…
MY SPAGHETTI CARBONARA – SPAGHETTI ALLA CARBONARA ALLA MIA MANIERA
That’s right… “my” spaghetti carbonara. Carbonara is a very popular dish and it is well known all over the world. The name derives from “charcoal” (carbone in Italian) either as a tribute to the secret society Carboneria (whose members were known as Carbonari – Wiki) that fought for the unity of Italy in the 19th century,…
OSSO BUCO MILANESE – OSSOBUCO ALLA MILANESE
This osso buco (or oss bus a la milanesa) is another typical dish from Milan, the city where I was born, and it is traditionally served with Risotto alla milanese on the side. The ingredients are very simple, but the flavours are really intense, thanks to the gremolada, a mix of parsley, garlic and lemon…
SAFFRON RISOTTO – RISOTTO ALLA MILANESE
As I said in my post A special birthday with… an award, Risotto alla milanese is the first dish I have ever cooked all by myself. I remember watching my mother continuously stirring the rice in the pot as a small child and waiting impatiently for it to be ready. It surely was my favourite…
