Sicilian Girl

Tweet One hot summer, (hot for California, not so much for Arizona) I was searching through my pantry and refrigerator for the makings of a quick summer meal. The result was this “needs no cooking” sauce. The ingredients go into a blender, pulse until smooth and once poured over hot pasta, the two become one, [...]

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 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 San Giuseppe, (Saint Joseph) was the husband of Mary, the Mother of God and is the patron saint of the family. On March 19, in celebration of the Feast of San Giuseppe, elaborate altars will be filled with food all over Sicily and New Orleans. This tradition commemorates the relief Saint Joseph provided during [...]

Tweet This pasta dish is a classic for New Orleanians of Sicilian descent. It is the ritual meal (a cena di San Giuseppe) that is traditionally served on March 19th for Saint Joseph’s Day (San Giuseppe). This version is adapted slightly from John Besh’s recipe in his cookbook, My New Orleans.     Ingredients: 1/4 [...]

Tweet Passoli e pinoli (currants and pine nuts) are commonly used in many Sicilian dishes. Currants are black Corinth grapes that have been dried like raisins, only they are much smaller (not to be confused with fresh, red currants, related to the gooseberry). In baking, currants and raisins are generally  interchangeable. However, the smaller size [...]