Aug

13

Cassata alla Siciliana to go

August 13, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Last night I had friends over for dinner and I prepared a typical meal from Calabria, the region where I often go on vacation. The menu was as follows: fried eggplants balls, pasta with ‘nduja, Pecorino cheese and onion marmalade, but up until the last minute I didn’t know what to prepare for dessert. I was thinking about some sort of dessert with ricotta I would have like to make Cassata alla siciliana but I didn’t want to work too much and also use the oven in this hot weather.  Then I had an idea to prepare only the Cassata filling and serve it in glass cups. I thought that it could be a great alternative, much faster than the classic recipe and less complicated even if the ingredients are the same except for the Pan di Spagna, sponge cake, the glaze and the almond paste. I’m usually against modifying original recipes but in this case I was just using the filling. If you want to see the real Cassata alla Siciliana check out this video. Read more

Aug

6

Eggless Ricotta and Zucchini Cake

August 6, 2008 | Leave a Comment


In these days I’m in a ricotta kind of mood, so today I prepared this savory cake for dinner. I used sheep milk ricotta, which I prefer to the cow milk ricotta, and fresh zucchini just picked from the garden. A little gift from our neighbor. I tried to make it without eggs and it came out just perfect.

I hope you can find a good fresh ricotta cheese. In Italy is pretty easy to find it, but I don’t know abroad. In the States I’ve never been lucky enough to find a good fresh ricotta, so if you find a good quality one please let us all know here where you got it. Also, if you can avoid it, don’t buy the partially skim milk ricotta for this recipe. Read more

Jul

29

Kamut Salad with Vegetables

July 29, 2008 | 1 Comment


In the last few days I thought summer was going to end sooner but finally it warmed up again so instead of thinking about polenta and spezzatino I chose to prepare this tasty summer salad with vegetables and kamut berries. I’ve been eating Kamut products for quite a while now but it was only this year that I tried kamut berries. Whole grains are actually healthier but I always thought about the long time it takes to prepare them plus the soaking time and I so always decided to try it later. In the end I finally made it and it actually didn’t take that long. The texture of this dish is fabulous especially together with the vegetables I used for this salad.

Maybe some of you don’t know but Kamut (Ka’moot) is not the name of a grain but it’s a registered trademark of Kamut International Ltd. used to market a grain which contains certain guaranteed attributes.  Read more

Jul

20

Frigittelli: fried sweet green peppers

July 20, 2008 | Leave a Comment


Friggitelli or friarelli (friarelli is a word also used for cime di rapa) are small sweet light green Italian peppers.  They have an irregular shape not to be confused with conical shape peppers and they are not hybrids either.  They are a very common variety originally from Campania. The name derives from the verb “friggere”, to fry. The classical way to prepare them in fact is to deep fry them and serve as an antipasto or a side dish. They are very well known in the South of Italy but not so much so in the North, thus it was really a nice surprise when I found them at my farmer today. Read more

Jul

14

Fruit & Vegetables: healthy, local and organic

July 14, 2008 | Leave a Comment


I know it has been a long time since I have posted on my blog but between work and the really hot weather I’ve been “out of order” for awhile, but I’m here again full of energy and ready to go.

Last month I read an interesting article published in the NYTimes: Salad Days for the Internet by Michelle Slatalla and I discovered that, like in Italy, more and more people in the States are trying to eat healthier, locally and organic. In the States it’s much more difficult to go direct to the farmer and get vegetables due to the long distances you have there. However, if you check the article you’ll see that it is possible to have your organic fruit and vegetables delivered at home. It also mentions a very useful website, Local Harvest for those who want to go directly to a single farmer instead. You only need to insert your zip code, check and see if there are some farms  near you. I’m so glad I found these links and when I go to the States to visit I’ll definitely keep them in mind. Read more




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