Sicilian Girl

Tweet 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 [...]

Tweet 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 [...]

Tweet 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. [...]

Tweet 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. [...]

Tweet 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 [...]

Tweet 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 [...]

Tweet “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.) [...]

Tweet In Italy, the baking of bread is called l’arte bianco (the white art). Bread provides nourishment and sustenance through the life-giving, almost magical properties of yeast. Bread is to be respected. If you’ve read many of my posts in this blog, you know that I do not waste food, not even bread … not [...]

Tweet So, you have an eggplant, half a box of spaghetti, a pound of ground beef and need to make something that will feed six hearty appetites. This eggplant and spaghetti pie will do the trick and is just the thing to get the conversation started. Your family and dinner guests will smile at this [...]

Tweet   Crispy on the outside with a soft crumb inside, these not quite savory, not quite sweet, biscuits are the perfect bite. Particularly tasty with soups and a nice alternative to bread. Leftovers reheated in the oven, (to retain crispness) can be sliced and filled with your favorite jam or scrambled eggs for a [...]