Recipes - LA BELLA VITA

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Recipes

Busiate with Trapanese Pesto
Busiate al Pesto Trapanese

apricot almond cake with crown of slivered almonds

Apricot Almond Cake
Torta di Mandorle e Albicocche

Apricots in Vanilla Syrup

Apricots in Vanilla Syrup
Albicocche Sciroppate

magic lemon pudding on blue plate

PROOF IN THE PUDDING
MAGIC LEMON PUDDING {GLUTEN AND DAIRY FREE RECIPE}

savory-easter-tart

SAVORY EASTER TART
TORTA SALATA PASQUALE

bittersweet love salad

BITTERSWEET LOVE {SALAD}
Blood Orange, Arugula & Red Onion Salad

ribollita with spoon

Ribollita
Tuscan Bread & Vegetable Soup

Beet Pasta Ravioli with Ricotta and Radicchio Filling

Valentine’s Day Dinner:
Beet Pasta Ravioli with Ricotta and Radicchio Filling

Persimmon and Pecan Bread - Hachiya persimmon pulp is the star ingredient in this irresistibly fragrant fruit and nut bread.

Patience and persimmons
Persimmon and Pecan Bread

Sweet Italian Christmas:
Panettone Filled with Whipped Cream, Chocolate and Hazelnuts

Grape Focaccia - Schiacciata con l'uva: A sweet wine harvest flatbread from Tuscany made with layers of bread dough filled and topped with wine harvest grapes and sugar. When baked, the grapes and sugar meld together to create a jammy center with crunchy seeds. Simply deliziosa!

Tuscany in California: Schiacciata con l’uva
Tuscan Grape Focaccia

An Ode to Pasta - Handmade egg and spinach pasta ribbons simply dressed with butter sauce and adorned with fragrant truffle shavings is the ultimate delicacy and ode to pasta.

An Ode to Pasta:
Straw and Hay Pasta with Truffles

Sweet September:
Pork Tenderloin with Figs and Balsamic Sauce

Baked Sunset Peaches with Amaretti Filling - Yellow peach halves are filled with fragrant ground almonds, sugar and fruit pulp then baked until luscious and gloriously golden with ruby red rims.

Savoring Summer
Baked Sunset Peaches with Amaretti Filling

Spaghetti all'Amatriciana - This world reknowned dish hails from the town of Amatrice and was adopted by Rome as one of its signature dishes. It's made with cured pork jowl bacon, tomatoes, garlic and - of course - spaghetti or bucatini. Simply deliziosa!

Love & Pasta
Spaghetti all’Amatriciana

Peperonata Crostini – Colorful, sweet and tangy Peperonata makes a vibrant and tasty topping for toasted bread as an irresistible appetizer.

The Sweet Taste of Summer
Peperonata Crostini

Baked Rice Stuffed Tomatoes - Pomodori al Riso is a beloved Roman summer dish featuring intensely flavored tomatoes filled with garlic and herb scented rice then baked until wrinkly on a sea of golden potatoes. Simply deliziosi!

You say tomato, I say “Pomodori al Riso”
Baked Rice Stuffed Tomatoes

Chef Deborah Dal Fovo at her kitchen door in Tuscany

A Warm Welcome Home – My Return to Tuscany
Tuscan Farro and Bean Soup

DON’T MISS A RECIPE!

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About last night…I had the immense honor of repr

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 💚

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💚 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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