Mar

7

Minestrone: food for the soul

March 7, 2010 | 2 Comments

Minestrone is the Italian word for vegetable soup. Vegetables are cut in small pieces, and to make it tastier a soffritto is added. Soffritto is the base for a lot of Italian dishes. It consists of a small amount of vegetables, thinly chopped and saute in few spoons of olive oil or butter. The vegetables vary from recipe to recipe but the two classics are of onions, carrots and celery for dishes like the ragù alla bolognese, and butter and onions for risotto dishes.

I usually prefer to consume my vegetable soup pureed, and in this case it’s called passato di verdura (pureed vegetable soup). When I saw this recipe on Sale & Pepe Magazine (February 2010), I didn’t think twice and I made it right away. This dish is a complete meal and has all the nutrients you need. The quantity of vegetables and legumes is well balanced and neither of them has an overpowers the complete dish. Read more

Feb

21

Verona: Venerdì Gnocolar - [Carnival 2010]

February 21, 2010 | 11 Comments

In this picture our Papà del Gnoco riding a mule. He’s the symbol of our Veronese’s carnival.

No recipe this week but some pictures taken on Friday the 12th of February during the Venerdì Gnocolar parade. I followed the whole parade and had so much fun. While I was busy throwing confetti and clapping at the parade participants, my husband Michael was running up and down the street trying to take some pictures. Read more

Feb

9

Potato buckwheat gnocchi with speck

February 9, 2010 | 1 Comment

It’s carnevale and while every pastry store is serving frittelle and crostoli, we in Verona also have the tradition of eating potato gnocchi. A tradition that culminates on Venerdì Gnocolar* that this year will fall on February 12nd and the parade with its allegorical floats and Papà del Gnocco, the main character of our carnival. As usual we all gather at my parents house to enjoy numerous courses of gnocchi served with different sauces. The end of the meal is always gladdened with carnival sweets such as frittelle, crostoli, favette and creme fritte**. We then spend the rest of the afternoon watching the parade passing by.

This dish is not what we usually serve on Venerdì gnocolar, but when I ran across this recipe on l’Accademia della cucina Italiana, I couldn’t resist and I tried it the next day. I was not disappointed by the results. The gnocchi have a hearty and rustic flavor enhanced and complemented by the Speck. The thyme gives a fresh touch to the preparation. Read more

Jan

29

Mini croissants with Nutella®

January 29, 2010 | 1 Comment


I don’t think Nutella needs any introduction, but what you might not know is that this famous worldwide chocolate spread passed through a series of transformations before becoming the nutella you know now. Originally it had a loaf shape and had to be sliced to be placed on bread. It then transformed to a spread and was named “pasta gianduja”. Pasta meaning paste, in this case, and gianduja was referring to the famous carnival mask from the Piedmont region. Its origins date back to 1940, just at the beginning of War World II. At that time chocolate was hard to find, so Mr. Pietro Ferrero added hazelnuts which were, and still are, abundant in Piedmont and created an affordable snack for everyone. In 1964 Nutella® became the creamy chocolate hazelnut flavor we all know. I’m amazed that after so many products disappeared over the years that nutella has remained and has become part of our Italian culture.

I have a special affection to nutella because it reminds me of my childhood. I used to eat it spread on a soft slice of white bread just like in the picture on the label, but my favorite way was, and still is, to eat it directly from the jar. Read more

Jan

10

Pasta a risotto with red beets

January 10, 2010 | 1 Comment

Happy New Year to all of you! I just got back from a long vacation in Minnesota where I had such a wonderful time with friends and family. I’m still adjusting to the time difference, which means staying awake most of the night, but this didn’t stop me from making this pasta that I was craving for a long time.

I like pasta and love to experiment new recipes and methods. A method that I’m particularly fond of is to cook pasta as if making risotto. It’s in fact called “pasta a risotto”. It’s easier than preparing risotto itself, but you still have to follow the preparation closely if you don’t want to end up with an overcooked pasta dish. The best pasta types are the small format like pennette, maccheroni, farfalle and cavatappi. They hold better and they’re prettier to see in the final preparation. Read more




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