The Art of Italian Living
Scarpaccia is a traditional Tuscan zucchini flatbread from the town of Camaiore, in the coastal region of Versilia. A celebration of summer, it showcases the season’s star ingredients—zucchini and their delicate blossoms. More than a flatbread, scarpaccia is a low-profile, crispy-on-outside, soft-on-the-inside pancake chock full of wafer-thin zucchini rounds, strips of bright yellow zucchini blossoms, and…
As much as I like admiring summer flowers in the garden, I love to eat them even more! Not all flowers are edible, but squash flowers—better known as zucchini blossoms—are the highly anticipated golden gifts of summer in Italy and on my Italian table. These delicately flavored flowers are as delectable as they are beautiful,…
Summer is finally here and time for all the sweet, juicy stone fruits that we long for all year. Not to mention the berries! I can never get enough of apricots, peaches, nectarines, plums, raspberries, strawberries, blueberries and often find it hard to decide which one to eat or bake with next (too much choice…
My Nonna’s Italian Apple Cake recipe was inspired by my Italian grandmother. Though I was only 5 years old when Nonna Luigia left this world, memories of her are vivid and the influence she had on me everlasting. A sweet, loving woman with a warm smile and twinkle in her eyes, Nonna wore a permanent apron…
One of the greatest joys of my career has been organizing my Taste Trentino Culinary Tour in the Dolomites to the place of my Italian family roots in Trentino-Alto Adige. Words can’t convey the excitement of sharing this hidden gem in the majestic Dolomite mountains where my ancestors settled in the 1400s—it’s surreal! When I…
I’m a firm believer in enjoying the best of both worlds. Why choose one thing over another when you can have it all? As a multicultural, bilingual, dual citizen of both Italy and the U.S., I’ve lived by this mantra my entire adult life. Blending diverse cultures makes life more interesting…and definitely more delicious. Take…
Cookies for breakfast? Yes, please, or rather, si’ grazie! And that’s exactly what I eat in Italy, where a light breakfast of Italian croissant (called cornetto or brioche) or a few cookies dipped into frothy cappuccino or caffe’ latte is customary. No eggs and bacon for breakfast here, which are reserved for spaghetti alla carbonara…
Sometimes, inspiration strikes just when you need it and that’s exactly how this recipe was born. It was a cold, grey winter day and I craved potato gnocchi for comfort. Only I didn’t have any russet potatoes on hand. What I did have, however, was a nice big Jewel sweet potato. Pear shaped with dark orange…
Nothing says summer like sun kissed tomatoes—ripe, juicy, and bursting with flavor. And, nothing says summer pasta like Busiate with Trapanese Pesto (Busiate al Pesto Trapanese) starring those peak-season, sun saturated tomatoes. Yes, tomatoes in pesto. It’s the “other” pesto—a sultry, seductive southern Italian version of the Genovese classic. This ethereal pasta dish comes from…
Funny how what goes around comes around…even in cake making! This Apricot Almond Cake has its origins decades ago when I was living in the countryside of Tuscany and the fruit trees on our property had an unexpected bumper crop one year and I found myself with bushels of apricots to make use of. Some…
Carpe diem! That’s the Latin phrase meaning “seize the day” and it was exactly what I did when I spotted the first apricots of the year at my farmers’ market. While I always prepare jam with summer apricots, this fruit was so small and perfect that I decided to make my Apricots in Vanilla Syrup…
Once in a blue moon, I come across a recipe that surprises me. This Magic Lemon Pudding is one of those. When my food writing mentor and friend, Tori Ritchie, posted a genius recipe for Lemon Meringue Pudding on her blog, I was intrigued. She found it in her mother’s recipe box and it was an…
Easter is a time of new beginnings. Of transformation and rebirth. So, why not give a traditional dish new life with a modern update? That’s precisely what I was thinking when I did a riff on the classic Italian Easter pie, Torta Pasqualina, to create my Savory Easter Tart. Don’t get me wrong—I love Torta Pasqualina with…
For lovers around the world, Valentine’s Day is a giddy time to celebrate shared love with hearts and flowers, candy and candle-lit dinners. But what about those of us who are love-less? The ones who lost love, were betrayed in love, or for whom love never even bothered to show up. You know, the kind…
Brrrr, it’s cold outside. The perfect time to make a big pot of Ribollita, the iconic Florentine soup that appears on every restaurant menu in Tuscany and beyond each winter. In fact, it’s so popular that the entire Tuscan region has adopted it as its own. Ribollita is the queen of la cucina povera Toscana—Tuscan peasant cooking—and…
How do I love thee? Let me count the ravioli. Seriously, there’s no better way to say “I love you” than with a plate of handmade pasta lovingly crafted and offered as a token of your affection. After all, you put a little bit of yourself into every bite by kneading, rolling and shaping the…
It’s often said that patience is a virtue and good things come to those who wait. This is especially true when it comes to Hachiya persimmons, an obscure and misunderstood winter fruit known as kaki to the Japanese and cachi to Italians. These persimmons are often confused with the flatter Fuyu variety that is eaten firm…
Most Italians would agree with me when I say that it wouldn’t be Christmas without Panettone. This golden dome-shaped sweet bread studded with raisins, candied orange peel and citron, that traditionally makes its appearance for Christmas and New Year, is a must to celebrate the holidays in Italy. You see them everywhere from artisan bakery windows to specialty stores and supermarkets, wrapped in…
When I lived in Tuscany, autumn’s arrival each year was heralded by a sudden flurry of activity in the countryside. The spell of summer’s lazy lull was broken by a revived energy as locals awakened from their sleepy trance eager to return to normal routine. One of the first signs of this risveglio was the annual wine harvest called la vendemmia. As if beckoned by the waving of a flag at the starting…
Today, October 17, is National Pasta Day! To celebrate, I’m honored to partner with premier Italian cookware maker Lagostina for my first ever giveaway. I’m giving a Lagostina Martellata Hammered Copper Pastaiola, like the one you see in this post, to one of lucky readers/followers (a $249.99 retail value!!). Lagostina gave me one of these beautiful pots to make my recipe for pasta day…
A funny thing happened last week while I was thinking about writing this recipe post: my friend Dorothy invited me to an impromptu dinner at her house. I jumped in my car and headed down the hill before remembering her mention that the fig tree in her garden was particularly bountiful this year. So I turned around and went home to grab…
When I was a little girl, I used to play a secret game at the dinner table. I would identify my favorite food on the plate and save a bit of it off to one side to enjoy last. I wanted the special taste to linger in my mouth—and in my mind—after the meal ended. When dinner was almost over,…
Everyone knows the world famous Pasta all’Amatriciana. You’ve most likely eaten it at your favorite Italian restaurant or (if you were lucky) during a trip to Rome, the city that adopted it as its own. But you probably didn’t know that this pasta dish—one of Italy’s greatest—originated in the ancient, hillside town of Amatrice located in central Italy 140 kilometers from Rome….
When life gives you peppers, you make Peperonata. Then you make Peperonata Crostini to accompany a pre-dinner glass of wine to tease the taste buds and get the party started. That’s exactly what I did this summer in Italy. We invited last minute guests to dinner and I needed bite size appetizers to serve with the aperitivi. When my friend…
No sooner did I set foot in Italy last summer than the entertaining began. We just arrived in Tuscany and there was already a huge bash happening that night at the villa to celebrate Gianni’s niece’s 18th birthday. A gran gala complete with all the trimmings of an A-list affair had been in the planning…
It was almost midnight when the loud ping of my cell phone announced a message had arrived on WhatsApp. Must be from Italy, I thought, since all my friends here in California were probably asleep. I clicked open the phone, unprepared for the emotional surprise it held. “Gallena vi aspetta!” read the exclamation beneath a photo,…