Category Archives: Authentic Italian

Red chili pepper salt

April 10, 2013 By in Authentic Italian, Cupboard essentials Tags: , , , 2 Comments

Homemade red chili pepper salt gives flavor to the rustic dishes so typical of southern Italy. Like the dried red chili pepper flakes to be found in open-air markets, this cupboard essential is meant to be tossed over pasta with garlic and olive oil, sprinkled over melted mozzarella with oregano and mixed through salads of freshly cooked beans with marinated onions.

I happened upon the technique while looking for a means of saving too many fresh peppers. As often is the case with kitchen accidents, the result is out of the ordinary. While the juices of the peppers soak into the salt crystals, the sliced pepper rings dry slowly at low heat in the oven. The outcome is a grainy, bright red and spicy salt.

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Merluzzo al forno con soffritto e pangrattato

February 3, 2013 By in Authentic Italian Tags: , , , 1 Comment

Fish and Lemon

Fresh fish is most readily available on the weekend, which coincides with the most welcome moment to relax while cooking. A lazy Sunday is just the right time to chop and mix herbs, onions and garlic, in anticipation of oven-baked white fish served in the late afternoon. In the following recipe I utilize the Norwegian cod fish called skrei, in season January through April.  Skrei may be replaced with sea bass or any other commonly available fresh white fish. Merluzzo can be found at the fish markets of Italy.

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Raw fennel and blood orange salad

January 27, 2013 By in Authentic Italian, Cooking with an Italian attiude Tags: , , , , , Leave a comment

 

I cannot remember the first time I ate a salad made with raw sliced fennel mixed with beautifully dramatic blood oranges.  Surely it was while having lunch at our neighbor’s house just outside of Pozzuoli,  close to the baroque city of Naples.

At first glance this combination this may seem to be a strange mixture of flavors.  Yet crunchy and savory fennel tossed, with sweetly-juicy orange wedges, is the perfect example of light, bright and fresh. In other words, the making of this salad makes the moodiness of winter weather in the midst of spring promises somehow disappear.  Continue reading →

Red onion broth

January 17, 2013 By in Authentic Italian, Cupboard essentials Tags: , , 4 Comments


One of the most interesting aspects of the Italian kitchen is its inventiveness. This recipe is based upon that very principle because it is made with the scraps of vegetables used for making a wintry tomato sauce or as a base for a root vegetable soup. Rather than get rid of the skins of the onions and the ends of the carrots, I cooked them with the tiniest bit of sea salt. The vegetable broth that came from this experiment is full of flavor and purely Italian in its creative simplicity. Enjoy this wonderfully deep-orange broth with pasta or rice. The necessity for broth cubes suddenly disappears when vegetable scraps are put to use!

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Olio Nuovo

January 7, 2013 By in Authentic Italian, Cupboard essentials Leave a comment

Oil

The ripened olives of Italy are gathered from their branches in the late fall. The olive harvest is pressed into oil in mid to late November, depending upon the place of origin. The first press of olive oil is celebrated throughout the country. New oil, or ‘olio nuovo’ is remarkable, dark green and rich in flavor and texture. There are no recipes required for its use, just the adequate matching of ingredients.

As the winter skies are grey and our surroundings are half asleep, pour some fresh, grassy olive oil on a plate and dream of summer.

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Biscotti al limone e mandorla

December 6, 2012 By in Authentic Italian Tags: , , 4 Comments

almond-cantuccini

The biscotto is a cookie most often associated with the crisp almond cantuccini of Tuscany. Traditionally soaked in the sweet white Vin Santo wine  of the region and served as the simplest of desserts in ancient cities like Florence and Siena — these sweet almond morsels are almost invariably served next to a cup of espresso in most Italian-inspired caffe’s throughout the world.

As a cook of all things savory, I feared the world of baked goods and pastries for a long time — thinking my efforts would inevitably end in disaster since the essence of baking required following the rules —  and I am simply not a “follow-the-rules” type of person.  I tend to innovate and experiment along the cooking path more than I follow instructions. I was pleasantly surprised by the possibilities that baking biscotti and cantuccini offered in the world of sweets. . . . Written below are the details to my discoveries.

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Melanzane dal forno ripiene al pomodoro

October 22, 2012 By in Authentic Italian Leave a comment

Shades of purple

Eggplants are just barely in season. Although a summer vegetable, I want to write my first recipe in this journal utilizing the beautiful purple eggplant as a main ingredient. The rounded eggplant is special because its pale white flesh has very few seeds. When cooked its lavender skin becomes violet and its taste is mild and sweet. This particular kind of eggplant is often grown in Sicily. I’ve seen them in Arizona as well. Next to vine-ripened tomatoes, this is my favorite vegetable.

Eggplants (melanzane in Italian) remind me of Naples and of countless dinners shared at home and with friends. My journals are filled with notes on how to cook with eggplant. The following recipe was a favorite this summer.

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