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LA BELLA VITA

The Art of Italian Living

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Culinary Tours

Italy Culinary Tours 2021

Italy Culinary ToursJoin me on unforgettable trips to Italy in 2021 where we will cook, taste, sip, learn, travel, marvel and enjoy life in true Italian style!

For more information visit my website HERE.

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About last night…I had the immense honor of repr About last night…I had the immense honor of representing Italian cuisine 🇮🇹 for the opening reception of prestigious Italian kitchen appliance brand @bertazzoni_official at their gorgeous new showroom in San Francisco. My menu featured enogastronomic delicacies from the company’s home region of Emilia Romagna like @parmigianoreggiano , @acetobalsamicomodena , mortadella, @prosciuttodiparma_it and paired regional wines. I was too busy to snap many photos, but did manage a few (scroll to view).

A big ‘grazie mille’ goes out to Alana and Tammy at @mixedgreenseventdesign , proprietors and staff at @purcellmurray , and my amazing staff especially arancini queen @beatrice.bmerry ; ). No rest for the weary today though…I’m back in the kitchen preparing more goodies for another event tomorrow. #cheflife

#Italianchef #privatechef #eventcatering #italian #italiancuisine #cucinaitaliana #foodislove #cookingbydesign #italiandesign #italyincalifornia #sanfrancisco #kitchendesign #kitchenappliances #ilovemyjob
Did someone say polenta? A recent query of your fa Did someone say polenta? A recent query of your favorites comfort foods proved that polenta is definitely at the top of the list. Just hearing the name evokes visions of my childhood with daddy conjuring up his Trentino roots by stirring a big caldron of bubbling cornmeal mush (the Italian ‘polenta sounds better : ) with a long wooden  paddle…the revered (and feared) polenta stick. This big stick with flat end was used to continually fold and turn the mixture of yellow corn meal and water over heat until it slowly cooked and thickened into creamy, ethereal polenta. 

After 40 plus minutes of hard work by my father to make perfect polenta like his mamma taught him (she was a strong woman), he would turn the pot of polenta upside down (with appropriate caution and aplomb)and tip the soft-yet-set polenta cake onto a pristine linen covered board on the dinner table. Voila’! Dinner is served to wide eyed, hungry girls anticipating this heavenly, yellow mush cut into slices and topped with sausage, fontina, braised pork shank, or other traditional Alpine accompaniments that my mother prepared to a “T” as her mother-in-law did. 

I served my polenta soft and spooned out of the pot then topped with rustic pork ragu’. Mmmmm, homemade comfort on a fork 💛. For all you polentoni (polenta lovers) out there, buon appetito!

#italianchef #italiancooking #italiancuisine #alpinecooking #trentino #trentinoaltoadige #dolomites #polenta #comfortfood #polentoni #rusticfood #homecooking #madewithlove #foodislove #cookthemountain #foodmemories #italiansdoeatbetter
. 💚 RISI E BISI ~ VENETIAN RICE AND PEAS 💚 .

💚 RISI E BISI ~ VENETIAN RICE AND PEAS 💚

This seasonal Venetian dish was historically served to the Doge every year on April 25th, the feast of St. Mark and patron saint of the city. The name, ‘Risi e bisi’, in local dialect means rice and peas and is traditionally made with the same amount of sweet springtime peas as grains of rice with enough broth to create its signature consistency midway between risotto and a thick soup. I added some sausage to make it extra tasty 😋 but it’s also made without or with a bit of pancetta. 

Risi e Bisi is one of my favorite comfort foods…perhaps for its brothy reassurance or the fond childhood memories I have of my Nonna’s cooking and me eating it 💚💚. 
What’s your favorite comfort food?

#italianchef #italiancooking #italiancuisine #cookitalian #venice #venetiancuisine #rice #risiebisi #peas #springtime #spring #springcooking #Springtimecooking #comfortfood #nonnaskitchen #nonnasitaliankitchen #risotto #soup #zuppa
‘Fregula Sarda ai Frutti di Mare’ {Sardinian F ‘Fregula Sarda ai Frutti di Mare’ {Sardinian Fregola Pasta with Fruits of the Sea} was an excellent idea for Holy Saturday dinner last weekend 😋. These tiny semola pasta pearls are cooked using the risotto method of adding hot seafood broth a little at a time until plump, tender, and bursting with flavor. I added clams, calamari rings, shrimp for a 'godurioso’ {very pleasurable} one-pan meal.

#italianchef #italiancooking #sardegna #sardinia #fregola #seafood #fish #pasta #pastapower #pastalove #semolapasta #cookitalian #cucinasarda
🕊Buona Pasqua~Happy Easter🕊There’s no bett 🕊Buona Pasqua~Happy Easter🕊There’s no better way to wish you 
Happy Easter than by sharing my Neapolitan Pastiera. This heavenly dessert tart is a sweet, buttery short crust pastry with a creamy filling of cooked wheat berries (I used pearled barley), ricotta, eggs, sugar, candied orange + citron peel, and orange blossom water. 7 pastry strips crisscross the surface by tradition creating diamond shapes before being baked to a deep golden brown and dusted with powdered sugar. Each bite is an ethereal experience 🥰. 
Have a blessed and delicious day 🙏!
🕊Only one week until Pasqua 🐣and I’ve got 🕊Only one week until Pasqua 🐣and I’ve got a special dish for your Easter feast! My Torta Salata Pasquale ~ Savory Easter Tart is a modern riff on the traditional Torta Pasqualina from Genova. Instead of the sky-high oil crust with greens, ricotta and whole eggs, I created an open tart filled with neat layers of savory spinach, ricotta, fontina cheese, bits of ham, and creamy egg custard in flaky butter crust shell adorned with decorative beccucci (beak) border. 
🐣
This tart was inspired both by one I spied in a gourmet shop window in Milan and the Torte di Pepe of Camaiore that I enjoy every year during my home-away-from-home visits. 
🐣
Delicious as an appetizer for Easter lunch or main course for Pasquetta picnic (Monday after Easter)…or any Spring celebration for that matter. This tart can be eaten warm with fork and knife as an ethereal delicacy or at room temperature as a pickup slice to eat sans silverware. 

I hope you make and enjoy my tart for your Easter/Spring celebration. You can find the recipe on my blog by tapping the link in my bio or visiting: http://www.theartofitalianliving.com/savory-easter-tart-recipe/

Buona Pasqua from my Italian kitchen to yours 💚🕊
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