Ahhhhh, Pasta Pomodoro….So simple yet so delicious! I will always remember when I was new to Italy and trying so hard to cook the complicated dishes and sauces and struggling to do things the Italian way.
Actually, it’s not hard or expensive to make sushi at home and there is a million different ways to make it. You can make it in a roll using Nori (Seaweed) or you can just form the rice in your hand using plastic wrap and squeezing your hand into a fist. In the second way you don’t need Nori. It can be as simple as laying a piece of smoked salmon on top of the sushi rice and enjoying along with some soy sauce and wasabi!
One day in mid May we had a bush fire very near our house, here in the hills of Itri, Italy. We were coming home from Rome and as we neared our town of Itri we got a call from a friend that lives nearby, he said “Are you guys ok? There is a lot of smoke coming from your hill.”
Focaccia is the delicious flat bread that comes to us from Liguria region, the same place that we get Pesto! This bread is best served warm from the oven and can be served as an antipasta course or with your meal. Everytime I have made it here in Italy my Italian guests are delighted and dive in exuberantly!
Zucchini and Pumpkin flowers are a favorite “flavor” here in Italy. I see pizza’s with zucchini blossoms and anchovy, there are fritters with zucchini flowers, I even see pasta and frattata adorned with the bright yellow flowers.
At the end of 2019, in November, we woke up at the Airbnb we stayed at in Luxor, Egypt and walked up to the rooftop dining area. We were promised a true Egyptian breakfast and the personal chef certainly delivered! As we stumbled into the glorious morning sunshine we were welcomed by our Egyptian chef with a big smile.
In the main square of Itri, in the piazza where you will find the 11th century church, you will also find a restaurant with the unusual name of Fra Diavolo. Fra Diavolo was the nick name that was given to Michele Pezze, a local Itri boy born in 1771.
This is Classic Italian Ragu, the “Saturday Sauce”, the slow cooked traditional meal for lunch with family on the weekend. It’s served with Tagliatelle, not spaghetti and it doesn’t have garlic, basil or oregano.
Spring 2020 will go down in the history books as a year not to be forgotten. One benefit from the global pandemic was that many of us could head to our gardens for solace. During the Pandemic, I found myself living in an Italian Villa in Southern Italy.
This is a recipe that came as a direct result of the 2020 Quarantine. We found ourselves at home without hope of eating the “Cornetto” and Cappuccino that we had become so accustomed to on Saturday morning. So on our Anniversary morning I was thinking what I could make for Jeff that was special.
