Italian food is good for the soul! Despite great regional diversity, northern Italy and southern Italy are united by passion for fresh produce, pasta and the shared table. I love the simplicity and seasonality of la cucina Italiana. Here are some of my favourite Italian recipes.
Primo Sale Cheese (Ricotta-Style) Like this recipe? You’ll love my online Italian cooking class inspired by Giovanni Pilu! Primo sale is a fresh Italian cheese, sometimes aged for a few weeks, sometimes resembling ricotta or cottage cheese. Traditionally it’s made from sheep milk though some versions today use cow milk or a mixture of cow, […]
Truffle Risotto Like truffles? Join me for a hands-on truffle hunting food & wine weekend! While truffles are indulgent, a little goes a long way and they have such a short season that it’s worth indulging while they’re around. You can buy a small one online from around $75 (with delivery) from Fish River Truffles […]
Pesto alla Genovese Like this recipe? You’ll love my online Italian cooking class featuring the food of Liguria! Although pesto means ‘to pound’, the classic Ligurian pesto alla Genovese, from the port city of Genoa, is traditionally made by crushing – rather than pounding – the ingredients in a marble mortar using a wooden pestle. […]
Hand Rolled Pasta: Lombrichi & Cicciones Like this recipe? You’ll love my online Sardinian cooking class inspired by Giovanni Pilu! This simple hand rolled pasta dough can be used to make several different rustic pasta shapes with a lovely chewy texture. Lombrichi are a traditional hand rolled pasta from Sardinia. The name means ‘earthworms’ and […]
Tomato Sauce Master Kitchen Basics & Explore New Cuisines & Ingredients with My Online Cooking Classes A good tomato sauce is a basic in every Mediterranean cuisine. Use it to poach Lebanese stuffed zucchini, to dress a simple pasta or gnocchi (see video below), layer into eggplant Parmigiana or lasagne or add a pinch of […]
How To Cook Pasta Like A Nonna Master Classic Pasta Recipes Pasta comes in two basic forms: dried and fresh. Both are good, but suitable for different sauces. Fresh pasta usually contains egg and is typical of more affluent northern Italy where it’s sauced with rich meat ragùs and creamy or buttery sauces. The poorer […]
Piadina, Stracciatella, Figs & Balsamic Vinegar Learn to Make Piadina at Casa Artusi in Romagna on my Small Group Italian Food & Wine Tour In Emilia-Romagna the flatbread Piadina Romagnola (plural: Piadine Romagnole) is often served with the local cream cheese squacquerone. In Australia I like to use the creamy stracciatella from Vannella Cheese, it […]
Top 5 Prosecco Cocktails Prosecco (also known as glera) is a grape traditionally grown in Veneto and Friuli-Venezia Giulia in north-eastern Italy, where it’s made into a light, creamy sparkling white wine also called Prosecco. Join me on a food & wine tour of northern Italy – home of Prosecco cocktails! The best is produced […]
Ceci in Zimino con Piselli Join my food & wine tour of Northern Italy to discover more Italian regional specialties Ceci in zimino is a classic Italian dish. In Liguria, chickpeas, cuttlefish, and salt cod are all often cooked ‘in zimino’, meaning braised with spinach or silver beet and sometimes tomato. Zimino comes from the […]
Chicken with Spinach & Peas Join my food & wine tour of Northern Italy to discover more Italian regional specialties Chicken with spinach & peas is inspired by a classic Ligurian dish, seppie in zimino. In Liguria cuttlefish (seppie), salt cod and chickpeas are often cooked ‘in zimino’, meaning braised with spinach or silver beet […]
