Tweet Aioli is a sauce made by mixing extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, crushed garlic and egg yolks until it is smooth and creamy, resembling mayonnaise. Mayonnaise is lemon ...
Spotlight Recipes
Cannoli Cream
Tweet Ah, the cannoli, a masterpiece of Sicilian pasticceria! This dolce (dessert) ...
Mangia Bene!
Ricotta Gnocchi
Gnocchi (pronounced neeyo-kee) are small dumplings. They should be light and have a soft texture not dense and rubbery (often the case in many restaurants). In Italy, gnocchi are eaten as a primo piatto (first course). Growing up in a Sicilian household, I never ate this Northern Italian specialty until I visited Venice. I was sitting [...]
Simple Tomato Sauce
My grandmother made two kinds of tomato sauce. Sunday’s sauce, which was used for spaghetti and meatballs (we ate this every Sunday for years) and a simple sauce for macaroni and peas. Sunday’s sauce was always made in the same enormous pot that simmered on the stove for hours. It needed little attention, except for [...]
Homemade Ricotta
I love making fresh ricotta! In Italian, ricotta means “recooked” and is not actually cheese. Ricotta is a by-product of making mozzarella. When mozzarella is made the left over whey is cooked again, transforming into ricotta … genius (Italians waste little). Technically, since we are only cooking this once, I suppose this isn’t even ricotta. But [...]
Italian Meringue
There are three types of meringue, the differences lie in when and how the sugar is added. The one you are probably most familiar with is the French meringue. It is simply egg whites beaten until soft peaks form, gradually adding sugar, beating until the sugar is dissolved and peaks are stiff and glossy. The [...]
Chicken Marsala al Forno
One of my favorite meals is veal Marsala and if I’m dining out and it’s on the menu, it’s difficult for me to resist. This baked (al forno) recipe is a version of the classic chicken Marsala. The original is made with chicken breasts, dusted with flour, briefly sauteed and served with a Marsala sauce [...]
Carbonara for One
Pasta alla Carbonara is a simple dish of pasta, bacon, cheese, cream and raw eggs. The original Roman version is quite rich and adding the eggs to achieve a creamy sauce with out them curdling is rather tricky. I came up with an easy, full proof method for adding the egg, so no worries of [...]
The Miracle of Spring
Like magic, my yard awakens! Seemingly, overnight, tiny buds emerge where only dead limbs existed just a few short weeks ago. I am continually amazed at the vegetation in the Southern Arizona desert. During the winter months, many plants look as if they have not an ounce of life left in them, but experience has [...]
Crostata di Ricotta (Easter Pie)
“Natale con i tuoi, Pasqua con chi voui” Christmas with your family, Easter with whomever you please. This old Italian saying sings the truth. Colorful, flavorful and full of fun, Easter is my favorite holiday. Unlike Christmas, where there can be an overwhelming list of things to do (shopping, cooking, entertaining, overnight guests, etc.) Easter [...]
Creole Spices
The flavor of Creole cooking in a jar, this mixture of spices makes it easy and convenient to prepare your favorite New Orleans dishes (Pasta Milanese). Depending on where you live in the country, you could purchase a ready-made spice blend (like Emeril’s Essence) or you can make your own. The spices below should be [...]
Feast of San Giuseppe (March 19th)
Saint Joseph, (San Giuseppe) was chosen by the eternal Father as the trustworthy guardian and protector of his greatest treasures, namely his divine Son and Mary, Joseph’s wife. The beloved saint looks after children, unwed mothers, the needy and is the patron saint of Sicily. To celebrate his feast day on March 19, Sicilian [...]
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