Cialledda Fredda (Tomato & Bread Salad)

Cialledda Fredda (Tomato & Bread Salad) Like this recipe? Join me on an Italian food & wine tour to discover more regional specialties! On my first visit to Basilicata, the staff at my hotel prepared this delicious tomato and bread salad for me one morning after they discovered I was interested in their regional cuisine. […]

Fregola Risottata with Clams & Chickpeas

Fregola Risottata with Clams & Chickpeas Like this recipe? Join me on an Italian food & wine tour to discover more regional specialties! Slightly larger than North African couscous, fregola is a reminder of the Arabic influence in Sardinia. It’s delicious in salads and soups and especially tasty as fregola risottata, stirred with the cooking […]

Passatelli Pasta with Brown Butter

Passatelli Pasta with Brown Butter Join my small-group food & wine tour to northern Italy to discover more regional specialties. Passatelli pasta is a specialty of Romagna as well as the northern part of neighbouring Marche and Umbria. I was introduced to it at one of my favourite Romagnolo restaurants, Osteria La Corte in San […]

Risotto Milanese (Saffron Risotto)

Risotto Milanese (Saffron Risotto) Join my small-group food & wine tour to northern Italy to discover more regional specialties! Risotto Milanese originated in Milan, where it’s the traditional accompaniment to ossobuco. Lombardy is the home of risotto, and my friend Alessandro Pavoni is the king of risotto making. He was born in Brescia in Lombardy […]

Primo Sale Cheese (Ricotta-Style)

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

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 (Basil Pesto)

Pesto alla Genovese Join one of my food & wine tours to Italy to discover more Italian regional specialties! 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 […]

Hand Rolled Pasta (Lombrichi & Cicciones)

Hand Rolled Pasta: Lombrichi & Cicciones Join my food & wine tour to Southern Italy to discover more Italian regional specialties! 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’ […]

Tomato Sauce

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

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 […]

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