Dining & Cooking

Of course dining and cooking are among our favorite things to do in Italy! Our home is equipped with an outdoor kitchen complete with wood fired grill and pizza oven which make amazing BBQ! I love cooking in Italy with all of the fresh ingredients with regional and local food. There is an ebb and flow to cooking and eating here, everything celebrated in its moment. I especially love harvesting from my own gardens and cooking a “farm to table” experience with produce coming from just an arms reach away. We also love to cook with local ingredients such as mussels from the sea in Gaeta and local olives from here in Itri. This close to Naples the Mozzerella is the finest and freshest in the world!

Eggplant Parmesan with my “farm to table” eggplants and local mozzarella
In case you needed a close up of Eggplant Parmesan!
Dinner is always a joy!
Spritz is the number one Italian cocktail and has risen to a National pastime
Pasta and mussles
Pasta and mussles
Wood fire pizza oven
Making pizza
Wood fired pizza
Then of course eating is the best part!
Ossobuco, Veal Shanks
Ossobuco, Veal Shanks with Saffron rice is a specialty of Milan
Pesto Genovese
Pesto Genovese with pesto from the garden
Serving up Pasta Carbonara
In case you needed a close up of Carbonara!
Grill bbq
We love grilling the famous steak Florentine and huge t-bone but we also love herb rubbed chicken and sausage!
Penne with Vodka Sauce
Pasta with Vodka Sauce
Polenta with sausage and pork rib Ragu
Polenta with sausage and pork rib Ragu
The making of Polenta
The making of Polenta
Porcini Fettucini
Porcini Fettucini
Shrimp Risotto (Risotto alla Gamberi)
Shrimp Risotto (Risotto alla Gamberi)
The making of Pasta
Making homemade pasta is always an adventure
Place the drops of filling into the pasta strips
Making ricotta and spinach ravioli
Knead and mix the dough
Knead and mix the dough for Ravioli Pasta
Knead the dough
Knead the dough for Ravioli Pasta
Pumpkin Ricotta Raviolis
to make Pumpkin Ricotta Raviolis, drop filling by the spoonful onto prepared pasta dough
Zucca Risotto
Zucca Risotto (Pumpkin)
Our guests always have a good time!
Or maybe it’s the happy faces during dinner…
But we do love to entertain friends!

A complete list of Italian recipes we cook:

Pesto Genovese (published September 21, 2018

Saltimbocca (Roman Style Veal Scallopini) (Published February 18, 2018)

Steamed Mussels and Fettuccine (Cozze e Fettuccine) Published May 4, 2019)

Shrimp Risotto (Risotto alla Gamberi) Published June 2, 2018)

Pasta Carbonara (Published May 12, 2018)

Arancini (Italian Fried Rice Balls) Published June 4, 2018)

Ossobuco alla Milanese (Milan Style Veal Shanks & Saffron Risotto) Published June 20, 2018)

Lasagna Bolognese (Published Aug 3, 2018)

Eggplant Parmesan (Published August 29, 2018)

Cacio e Pepe (Published August 28, 2018)

Pumpkin Ravioli with Sage butter (published October 2, 2018)

Polenta with Sausage and Port Rib Ragu (published November 9, 2018)

Pumpkin Risotto (Zucca) (published November 7, 2018)

Porcini Fettuccine (published October 12, 2018)

Homemade Pasta and Spinach Ricotta Ravioli (Published Dec 2, 2018)

Octopus Carpaccio (published December 23, 2018)

Chicken Cacciatore (published December 24, 2019)

Grandma Eleanor’s Beef & Spinach Ravioli (published February 9, 2019)

Bagna Cauda (Northern Italian Fondue) (Published March 20, 2019)

Wood Fired Pizza (Published July 5, 2019)

If you would like to read more articles about our Villa in Italy, try one of these:

If you would like to read about my adventures in Italy try one of these: