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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👩‍🍳 Today is #internationalchefsday and I’m proud to celebrate 20 years as a professional international chef. My passion for cooking started as a child at my mother’s side in our family kitchen and picked up major steam when I moved to Italy and mastered my education in Italian cuisine over decades of cooking, eating, and learning from many generous mentors. But it wasn’t until I returned to the US decades later that my professional cooking career began. Now, I’m blessed to do what I love and work as both a private chef (cooking for clients) and cooking instructor (teaching people to do it themselves), as well as represent Italian cuisine in the world as an enthusiastic ambassador of good taste 💚🤍❤️. Buon appetito!

#italianchef #italiancooking #italiancuisine #privatechef #cookinginstructor #youllfindmeinthekitchen #dowhatyoulove #chef #deborahcooks #deborahsitaliankitchen #foodandwine #food52 #nytimescooking #bonappetit #marthastewart #lacucinaitalianausa

Eating well doesn’t have to be complicated…or

Eating well doesn’t have to be complicated…or boring! Here’s a good example with a simple dish I prepared in Milan a couple years ago. My mache and bresaola salad is as pretty as it is delicious and easy to put together. With quality ingredients, a little thought, and lots of love…voila’, lunch is served Italian style 💚🤍❤️.

Bresaola is air dried, salted beef sliced thin like prosciutto that I formed into rose-like shapes and tucked into a bed of lettuce. Bresaola is a staple in the Lombardy region of Italy and its sweet, salty, peppery flavor is the perfect foil for the delicate, nutty mache lettuce ~ also known as lambs lettuce and valeriana ~ a beloved salad staple in northern Italy. Some shavings of Grana Padano or Parmigiano Reggiano would be lovely over top as well then a drizzle of freshly squeezed lemon juice and fruity extra virgin olive oil. Simple is as simple does but always in beauty ✨✨. After all, we eat first with our eyes 👀😋.

#beautifulfood #theartofitalianliving #labellavita #italianchef #salad #bresaola #mache #valeriana #simplybeautiful #eatwithyoureyesfirst #italianstyle #milanese #milano

Wishing you a delicious #nationalpastaday with a p

Wishing you a delicious #nationalpastaday with a plate of my tagliolini with crab 🦀 and looking forward to making this delectable dish again soon when crab season opens next month.

In the meantime, celebrate the day with a good dish of pasta - there so many to choose from. I don’t need the excuse and I’m sure you don’t either, but it’s nice to pay homage to such a worthy food icon. I bow to pasta today and look forward to #worldpastaday coming up on October 25. Get ready with fork in hand🍝!

#italianchef #italiancooking #italianfood #cookitalian #cookingclass #italiancookingclasses #italiancuisine #italyincalifornia #food #pasta #pastalover #homemadepasta #pastalove #crabpasta #tagliolini #granchio #recipe #foodandwine #food52 #nytimescooking #bonappetit #marthastewart #lacucinaitalianausa

Last night, I made @doriegreenspan ‘s World Peac

Last night, I made @doriegreenspan ‘s World Peace Cookies 2.0 from her new cookbook “Baking with Dorie”. While her original World Peace Cookies are iconic and one of the most beloved cookies of all times, this new version definitely kicks the category of chocolate cookies up a few notches. Not only do these buttery sable' cookies boast the same rich cocoa base, melted chocolate chunks, and pinch of salt like the original, but also includes an earthy touch of rye flour, crunchy cocoa nibs, micro pinch of cayenne pepper for unexpected surprise, and tart freeze-dried raspberries for hints of color and flavor. And, the sprinkling of flaky sea salt before baking takes the chocolate to new levels. In short, they are perfect for anyone who loves the magic of chocolate and spice together like I do.

At a recent @kingarthurbaking IG Live with Dorie, I heard the story behind the new cookie and how they are dedicated to women, with each new ingredient representing the qualities we possess: groundedness, strength, unpredictability, verve. This makes me love these cookies even more ❤️.

I followed Dorie’s instructions to a T except for substituting tiny dried currants for the raspberries. The buttery dough came together quickly (and is quite delicious to eat raw ; ) before rolling in parchment paper into an exact 1 1/2-inch log and slicing into 1/2 inch rounds like Dorie instructs. I baked the cookies at the slightly lower oven temp for exactly 12 minutes (Dorie is precise) and they came out looking so inviting that it was hard to wait till they cooled and set up before tasting.

Once barely lukewarm, I couldn’t resist any longer and took a bite…then two….then three. Words can hardly describe how deliriously delicious these cookies are. So much so that I had to hide them from myself or I’d finish the whole tray ; ). But, you’ll have to make them for yourselves and find your own descriptors. I can just say that they are amazing and now on my list of favorite chocolate cookies (great after dinner with a glass of red wine). You can see the process in my Stories and find the recipe in Dorie’s new book and on the King Arthur Baking website. Happy baking!

💚 Vellutata di Verdure (velvet cream of vegetab

💚 Vellutata di Verdure (velvet cream of vegetable soup) is one of my quick-and-easy week night favorites that needs no recipe 💚

Simply wash, peel (if needed), and chop a mixed variety of vegetables and place in a saucepan 🧅🥕🥦🍅🥔. Add enough cold water to just cover the vegetables, season generously with salt/pepper, and cook until very soft. Then purée until smooth with an immersion blender and serve with a swirl of evoo and crumbled croutons. This silky smooth vegetable soup is full of flavor and nutrition since it contains a rainbow of vegetables and vitamins 🌈. I like to start with onions and celery for the flavor base and then add any and all vegetables on hand (great way to clean out the veggie bin). I often add a potato for body but the choice of ingredients is up to you and Mother Nature 🙌. Every soup is different depending on the season!

Give it a try and let me know how you like it by sharing snd tagging me. I know this soup will become a favorite in your house too 💚🌈.

#noreciperecipe #recipe #italianchef #italiancooking #italianfood #cookitalian #cookingclass #italiancookingclasses #italiancuisine #food #soup #vegetables #vegetablesoup #italianstyle #vegan #vegetarian #healthyeating #vellutata #foodandwine #food52 #nytimescooking #bonappetit #marthastewart #lacucinaitalianausa

The inspiration for this seasonal crostata featuri

The inspiration for this seasonal crostata featuring Italian prunes came from a conversation I had with one of my dance partners. Eric’s eyes lit up with longing as he told me about the simple old-world tart his father used to make with fresh prunes around this time of year. Just pastry, prunes, sugar, and butter he said…and so I did (multiple times).

Simply line a tart pan with a sheet of your favorite pastry dough ~ brisee, frolla, or puff pastry ~ then arrange wedges of fresh prunes decoratively over the top and sprinkle very generously with sugar and dots of butter. The prunes will do all the work and, with the help of the sugar, become a luscious caramelized fruit filling that doesn’t need more. It’s oven magic when the prunes’ flesh turns from green to gorgeous burgundy, making for a beautiful and delicious minimalist dessert.

I made this crostata in Milan a few years ago with hazelnut frolla (shortcrust) dough and served it with soft whipped cream (mascarpone would be even better). Scroll to see the before shot and my lovely kitchen helper and quasi-daughter Virginia.

Thank you for the inspiration Eric! I’ll happily carry on your father’s annual Italian prune tart ritual. Recipe sharing is caring 💜

#italianchef #italiancooking #italianfood #cookitalian #cookingclass #italiancookingclasses #italiancuisine #food #prune #milano #dessert #baking #tart #crostata #recipe #simpledessert #foodandwine #food52 #nytimescooking #bonappetit #marthastewart #lacucinaitalianausa

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