Tweet When you don’t have time to make the traditional Mardi Gras King Cake and need an easy alternative, these festive little cakes are the solution. However, this is not ...
Spotlight Recipes
Ricotta Gnocchi
Tweet Gnocchi (pronounced neeyo-kee) are small dumplings. They should be light and ...
Pasta alla Norma
Tweet The combination of pasta and eggplant is exclusively associated with southern ...
Mangia Bene!
Olio in Cucina
There are three profiles of extra virgin olive oil: delicate, medium and robust. As a rule, an oil with a delicate profile is made from ripe mature olives and has fruity notes that pairs nicely with cheese and desserts. Medium-style olives have a favorable bitterness and pungency and is what I use most often. I […]
Bittersweet Chocolate Blood Orange Biscotti
I have been working my way through several different kinds of flavored olive oils, with great success (she said modestly). The Meyer Lemon Biscotti, Vanilla Bean Scones and the Chocolate Truffles have all been well received. My new creation, chocked full of toasted almonds and chunks of chocolate, is now a family favorite. Ingredients: 2 […]
Blood Orange Chocolate Truffles
You may offer a terrific torta (cake) or several kinds of biscotti (cookies) to your guests after dinner, but there are some who consider chocolate to be the ultimate indulgence after a meal. These large, luscious, melt-in-your-mouth, silky-smooth truffles will be the exquisite ending to your dinner party. The secret ingredient is blood orange extra […]
Vanilla Bean Extra Virgin Olive Oil Scones
Scones are a breakfast favorite and the perfect coffee and tea-time treat. Requiring only a few ingredients, scones are simple to make and armed with a few baking tips, you’ll be able to serve perfect scones every time. I use vanilla bean EVOO instead of butter, which makes for a light and tender scone with […]
Meyer Lemon Olive Oil Biscotti
If you are a newcomer to using extra-virgin olive oil when baking, you’re in for a treat and a healthy one at that. Baking with olive oil dramatically reduces the saturated fat and cholesterol of your baked goods. Once you begin to use this healthy fat, there’s no going back and after you’ve tried the […]
Baking with Extra Virgin Olive Oil
As essential as olive oil is in my cooking, it has been under utilized in my baking until fairly recently. Each year, (as far back as I can remember) just prior to Thanksgiving, I order our traditional panettone to be enjoyed on Christmas morning. This delicious yeast bread is made with olive oil instead of […]
Choosing and Storing Extra Virgin Olive Oil
In my perfect world, everyone would have a beloved Uncle Lorenzo who lives in the beautiful Sicilian countryside with groves of ancient gnarled olive trees. Family and friends would gather annually for the “crush” (the making of olive oil) and there would be an abundance of food, drink and laughter. Of course, we would all […]
Spaghetti Aglio e Olio
Spaghetti with garlic and olive oil is the most basic way to sauce pasta. In a country where it is quite common (the norm actually) for the same pasta dish to vary from north to south, region to region, town to town, family to family, this “poor man’s meal” seems to be the common culinary […]
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
If I could have but three items in continuous and everlasting supply, my perpetual pantry would contain bread, olive oil and salt … in that order! Fresh olio d’oliva (olive oil) is as essential to me as water. I use it every day so it’s only logical that it is an indispensable ingredient in my […]
Roasted Cauliflower Penne & Pinoli
I love, love, love cauliflower! This dish is so Sicilian with the pine nuts (pinoli) and currants (passoli) but you can certainly substitute chopped walnuts and raisins if that’s what you have in your pantry. The currants add a touch of sweetness which balances out the spicy pepper flakes. After a busy day, sometimes I don’t […]
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