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…
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…
PASTA CON FAGIOLI BORLOTTI – PASTA IN A BORLOTTI BEAN SOUP
Today I want to share with you the recipe of my favourite soup ever: pasta with beans, or pasta e fagioli as we say in Italian. Whenever I make it, I go back in time. When I was a child, my mom would make it often during the cold winters in Milano and it is…
PASTA WITH SAUSAGE, ARTICHOKES AND SAFFRON
We all love sausage in our family. When I say sausage I am referring to the Italian style sausage made of pure pork. I am lucky enough to find some good quality Italian style sausage in Sydney, nonetheless I often make it at home from scratch, as nothing beats home-made things (I used my home-made…
PASTA CON I BROCCOLI ARRIMINATI – PASTA CHI VRUOCCULI ARRIMINATI
As I have announced in my Vitello Tonnato post, I have decided to dedicate one post a week to Italian cooking, focussing each time on a different region. There are so many fantastic traditional recipes in Italy that it can be a daunting job to choose from them, but I am having lots of fun…
Baked Anelletti (Anelletti Ca Carne Capuliata)
Layers of tiny pasta rings, slow-cooked meat sauce, peas, and melted cheese make Baked Anelletti everything you want in a Sicilian pasta bake.
TAGLIATELLE ALLA BOLOGNESE
This is one of my grandmother Bice’s recipes: she used to make the best ever Bolognese sauce. This is not the Bolognese you are used to. It is a version that requires less tomatoes than what we would normally put in ragu’. Ragu’ can be either made with mince (which is what is commonly known…
SEDANINI WITH SWORDFISH AND EGGPLANT
This is another typical Sicilian dish. Sicily is very famous for its fresh fish. This pasta can be made with different fresh herbs. I personally like it with continental parsley and mint, but basil goes well with it too. It is usually served with busiati and you can have a go at making some by…
ARTICHOKE AND RICOTTA MEZZELUNE ON A PARMIGIANO REGGIANO FONDUE
This stuffed pasta dish is the second of my series of posts dedicated to my Foodbuzz 24×24 Christmas in July event. Italians always have some sort of stuffed pasta at Christmas, especially at their Christmas Eve dinner (at this meal we traditionally do not eat meat). This does not mean the meal is light though! …
ORECCHIETTE CON VERDURA RIPASSATA – ORECCHIETTE WITH SPICY VEGGIES
Steph from Stephfood was our Daring Cooks‘ July hostess. Steph challenged us to make homemade noodles without the help of a motorized pasta machine. She provided us with recipes for Spätzle and Fresh Egg Pasta as well as a few delicious sauces to pair our noodles with! Needless to say I couldn’t have been more…
SPAGHETTI WITH TUNA AND CAPSICUM
This is a very simple pasta dish. I like it because it is really tasty, colourful and easy to prepare. I usually make it when I do not have a lot of time, but feel like eating something flavoursome and healthy. Try and make it as a mid week dinner, I am sure you will…
PASTA WITH CREAMY BROCCOLI AND PINE NUT SAUCE
I have always liked broccoli (which in Italian are referred to as “broccoletti” to differentiate them from the big roman or purple broccoli), even as a child. Then again, I also used to like brussel sprouts, so I guess I was not a fussy child when it came to eating my veggies. Anyhow, this very…
PAPPARDELLE WITH PORCINI MUSHROOMS
This is a classic dish. It is very easy to make and will impress even the fussiest eater! Porcini mushrooms are the key here. Their flavour and aroma has no comparison. I consider them to be the “king of all mushrooms”. In my opinion, no other mushroom gets even close to them in flavour. They…
PENNE WITH ZUCCHINI AND SPECK
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…
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 my husband and I could finally leave her with…
Farfalle with Salmon (Farfalle al Salmone)
Creamy pasta nights always feel better, and Farfalle with Salmon brings together soft pasta, salmon, and a smooth sauce that works well for an easy dinner.
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…
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…
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…
RICOTTA GNOCCHI WITH THREE SAUCES – TRIS DI GNOCCHI DI RICOTTA
What can I say? Ricotta gnocchi is one of my favourite dishes… and for my birthday, I thought I deserved a triple treat! The classic way to serve ricotta gnocchi is with butter and sage, but I love them with lots of different sauces. Have I mentioned that gorgonzola is my favourite cheese? So, I…
PENNE WITH SAUSAGE SAUCE – PENNE CON SUGO DI SALSICCIA
This is one of my family’s favourite pasta sauces! The first time I have eaten this dish was many years ago, at some family friends’ house in Sicily. Their names are Giovanni and Giovanna. It is a very earthy pasta dish and my girls love it. Do not worry about the Brandy/Cognac shot… the alcohol…
VERMICELLI WITH ANCHOVIES AND ROASTED BREADCRUMBS – VERMICELLI ALL’ACCIUGHINA E “MUDDICA ATTURRATA”
This is one of my husband’s favourite pasta sauces. It is very simple indeed. It is what we call a dish for the “poor person”, as in the past not everyone could afford fresh fish or meat or cheese. In fact, it is made with anchovies and instead of eating it with grated cheese, we…
