Monthly Archives: March 2009

Gorgonzola, apple and leek tart

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I prepared this tart last week for the first time and I’m very satisfied with the result. I used Gorgonzola, one of my favorite cheeses, rennet apples and leeks. I made the tart shell with spelt flour and walnuts to give the tart a rustic touch and to give a balanced taste. The Gorgonzola I used is blue-veined, strong Gorgonzola, the so-called “two-curds cheese”. There’s also another more common variety in Italy which is white, creamy and slightly spicy and used in several dishes like Celery and Gorgonzola. Rennet apples are a tart Italian apple with a soft flesh that tastes better when cooked. They’re perfect for apple cakes and pies, if you don’t find them you can substitute them with Fuji.

You can serve the tart as an appetizer cut in small portions or as a main dish accompanied with green salad. I don’t know about you but a small portion is not enough for me when one of the main ingredients is Gorgonzola cheese. I actually invited my parents to share the tart with because I didn’t want to risk eating it all by myself. They loved it as much as I did. Even my little one devoured it and I can tell you I was pretty surprised that he liked such a strong cheese as Gorgonzola. Don’t be surprised if your kids will appreciate it too. Continue reading →

A trip to Bolzano: a glimpse inside the Tyrolean cuisine

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Walther Square

Italy, as I always say, is a land of many facets, some of them have a few aspects in common, some others are completely different from each other. One place that doesn’t have so much in common with the rest of Italy is Bolzano, in the Trentino Alto Adige region. I love to go to Bolzano and I often recommend others to go visit it too. If you’re not aware Bolzano became Italian right after the first world war before then it was part of South Tyrol. The city is bilingual (German-Italian) and even if a century almost has passed it still seems to be in an Austrian city. I love the architecture, some buildings are similar to those in Innsbruck. The typical cuisine is Tyrolean influenced by the Italian cuisine and the population that has lived in this territory in the past 2000 years.

You can easily access to Bolzano either by train or by car. It has numerous parking ramps. One is right close to the train station which is right next to the historical city center. The fulcrum of the city is in Walther square with its characteristic buildings, cafes, restaurants and the dome. It’s the square that every Christmas hosts the famous Christmas market filled with small wooden houses that sell Christmas decorations made in wood, glass or ceramic. The right place to find original Christmas presents from the Mittel-European tradition. You’ll also find Christmas cookies, the Lebkuchen (chocolate spiced cookies) and cakes like the well known Zelten made with dry figs, raisins, almonds, candied fruit flavored with cinnamon and cloves. Continue reading →

Pasta with fake tomato sauce

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The other day I was grocery shopping at my natural food store and while waiting in line at the cashier I heard the owner telling a customer about this so called fake tomato sauce recipe that you can use in your pasta or pizza instead of tomato sauce. It actually didn’t sound so great but today when I was in hurry to prepare lunch it just came back to mind and I’ve thought to give it a try. I was pretty impressed about the result, it tasted really good and it was ready in no time. I’m not so fond of cooked carrots myself but this sauce strangely enough doesn’t taste like carrots at all. Nobody in fact guessed what it was but they all loved it.
Next time I’m going to use it on my pizza topped with grilled vegetables, but until then I think I’m going to prepare it again for my pasta. Continue reading →

Carnival in Verona: Venerdì Gnocolar

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Papà del Gnoco 2009

Carnival finished last Tuesday the 24th and like every year I attended  the parade on Friday. As you might know the last Friday of carnival in Verona is called “Venerdì Gnocolar” (Gnocchi’s Friday) with a famous parade and when it’s a must to eat gnocchi. The lucky ones can enjoy them at home those at work can find them at a bar or  restaurant. Schools are closed so the little ones can participate in the event. Early in the afternoon a big parade starts from Corso Porta Nuova and crosses the center of the city ending up in Piazza San Zeno. Music bands, majorettes, decorated floats cheerfully entertain the public until late evening.

The king of our carnival parade is Papà del Gnoco (father of the gnocchi) and instead of a scepter he carries a huge fork topped by a big gnocchi. He’s a real institution and has a costume of antique origins. His clothes – there are at least  different sizes depending on the papà del gnocco’s build – are made by Casa d’arte Fiore in Milan, famous for  making costumes for the main opera houses and theaters. Continue reading →

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