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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This moist and nutty cake is a religious experienc

This moist and nutty cake is a religious experience in every bite...in more ways than one!

Tarta de Santiago ~ Spanish Almond Cake

2 cups/250g finely ground blanched almonds or almond flour (see my previous post for recipe)
250g superfine or granulated sugar
6 large eggs, at room temperature
Pinch of salt
Zest of 1 lemon or ½ orange or both
1/4 teaspoon almond extract (optional)
1 tablespoon liqueur (optional)
Confectioners’ sugar for dusting

Butter an 8-inch round cake pan then line the bottom with a parchment round.

Preheat oven to 350F/180C.

Separate the eggs, placing the whites in the clean, dry bowl of a stand mixer with whisk attachment. Add a pinch of salt and beat at medium speed to stiff (but not dry) peaks. They should stand straight up in a point on the whisk when lifted. Transfer the mounted egg whites to a clean, dry bowl and set aside.

Place the egg yolks in the same mixing bowl used to mount the whites. Beat at medium speed for a minute or two then gradually sprinkle in the sugar, a little at a time, while beating. Add the grated zest, almond extract, and/or liqueur and beat again until pale and creamy. Stir in the ground almonds until well blended.

Use the whisk by hand to mix a quarter of the mounted egg whites into the mixture to lighten it then use a spatula to carefully fold in another quarter of the whites without deflating them. Repeat with the remaining two quarters of whites until the batter is light and airy.

Pour the batter into the cake pan and bake for 40 minutes without opening the oven door. Remove from oven and cool completely then run a knife around the sides of the pan and invert onto a cake stand or plate. Peel off the parchment paper and discard.

Before serving, sift the top of the cake with powdered sugar. If using a stencil of Santiago (St. James) cross to decorate the cake, place it in the middle of the cake and dust with powdered sugar then remove the stencil to reveal the cross symbol. Cut into slices and serve plain or with fruit preserves and whipped cream.

#baking #cake #almondcake #tartadesantiago #Santiagocake #spanishcuisine #cookingvideo #reels #recipe

Mmmm, wouldn’t you love to taste this luscious b

Mmmm, wouldn’t you love to taste this luscious baked peach with amaretti filling? Well, you can by getting my signature recipe on the blog TheArtOfItalianLiving.com and making them for yourself (this one’s mine 😋). You can thank me later cause I know you’re gonna love it 😉. Buon appetito and follow me for more of my Italian recipes and cooking tips. Ciao for now 😘.

☀️ My summer fruit galette (crostata) has got

☀️ My summer fruit galette (crostata) has got to be the sexiest seasonal item on my menus. Only the ripest, juiciest summer fruit goes into a flaky free form crust and the results are, um… #beyoncé says it best “you sexy mother**” 😂

Get my recipe for the pastry dough on my previous post for Almond and Apricot Galette 💛

#italianchef #deborahcooks #cookingwithdeborah #baking #summervibes #summercooking #sexyfood #crostata #galette #pastry #cookingtips #recipe #cookingvideo #reels #summerrenaissance

CRISPY FRIED ZUCCHINI BLOSSOMS If you’re lucky e

CRISPY FRIED ZUCCHINI BLOSSOMS
If you’re lucky enough to find zucchini blossoms, there are many ways to enjoy them: in risotto, pasta, frittata, stuffed. But my favorite way to enjoy these edible summer flowers is to simply batter fry them and let their natural goodness shine. Good batter is key, and I’ve got the secret to the lightest, crunchiest one around.

First a word about zucchini blossoms, or ‘fiori di zucca’ in Italian. Choose only male flowers with thin stems and not female flowers attached zucchini. Trim stem to 2-3 inches (handles comes in handy for frying/eating). Mornings are best when flowers are open and stamens are visible, but if closed, gently open delicate petals with fingers then reach in and pinch off stamens and any ants hiding inside. Dust with a soft brush or dry paper towel (don’t wash under water!). Zucchini blossoms last for days in the refrigerator, layered between sheets of paper towel in air-tight containers.

For the batter...mine is simple: equal parts (more or less) water and flour with a pinch of salt. My secret to super smooth batter is to start with cold water (I use sparkling) and sift flour INTO THE WATER…not vice versa. My technique of tapping a strainer filled with flour on whisk as I stir adds a veil of flour with each tap as it’s smoothly incorporated into the water. Look Ma, no lumps! This allows you to add more flour if a thicker batter is needed but without wasting flour if not.

For the crunchiest coating, I mix 2/3 rice flour and 1/3 all-purpose flour. The consistency should be like pancake batter—thick enough to coat the blossom without being overly heavy.

Heat 1-inch of frying oil (sunflower, canola, peanut, olive oil) to 365F/185C in a pan large enough to fry the blossoms in batches without crowding. Work quickly to coat blossoms in batter and slip into the hot oil. The oil temp will drop when blossoms are added, so regulate heat and keep oil at 350F/175C. Fry until golden (1-2 minutes per side), turning once. Lift fried blossoms out of pan and transfer to a metal cooling rack/mesh strainer and fry the rest (my secret to crisp coating!). Sprinkle fried blossoms with salt while hot and enjoy immediately.

I make my own ground almond flour for cakes and co

I make my own ground almond flour for cakes and cookies because…why buy store-bought when making homemade from raw almonds is fresher, more flavorful, and less expensive? Plus, it’s easy, fun, and the flavor is unbeatable. Freshly homemade ground almond flour is best!

Here is my step-by-step method:
1. Measure out the amount of raw almonds for the recipe adding 5-10% more to compensate for peels
2. Blanch the almonds in boiling water for 1 minute until skins are wrinkly then drain in a strainer
3. Let almonds cool until manageable (but not dry) then pinch the large end of each almond between thumb and forefingers until it slips it out of its skin. Place the peeled almonds on a baking sheet and compost the skins. Do the same with all the almonds using both hands for quicker work.
4. Place peeled almonds in a 350F/180C oven for 5 to 7 minutes until dry, shaking the baking sheet once or twice.
5. Remove from oven and cool completely. Transfer almonds to the bowl of a food processor and sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of the sugar from the recipe you are preparing (remember that you did this and use less sugar in the final recipe).
6. Process the almonds until finely ground by PULSING the machine on and off. Do not run the machine or the almonds will overheat and become oily. Patience is the key here. Also, make sure to scrape the bottom of the bowl to release packed down almonds. Pulse until desired consistency is achieved. NOTE: homemade ground almond flour will be slightly coarser than ultra fine commercially made.
7. Measure the ground almond flour needed for your recipe and freeze or refrigerate excess for another use.

👉Stay tuned for an amazing Spanish Almond Cake recipe coming soon using this ground almond flour. You can thank me later 😆

Follow for more cooking tips and let me know what you’d like to learn.

Love from my kitchen to yours ❤️😘

#italianchef #italiancooking #baking #cookingtips #bakingtips #almondflour #recipe #reels #cookingvideo #cookingtutorial #tutorial #madewithlove

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