After a fairly wet spring and a blazing hot summer, Italian wine-makers have high expectations for their wines. Grape harvest is finished and wineries are enveloped in fermentation vapours. My friends who make wine have a big smile on their tired face. The crop was healthy and the wine is expected to be bold and…… Continue reading pork saltimbocca with guanciale and grapes
Having returned from a wonderful holiday, full of energy, ideas and an intense wish to neglect the existence of January, I want to start this year with a really new and extraordinary recipe. Something you never thought of. Something that will become even more trendy than cupcakes or mochi ice cream. OK, I’ll stop here…… Continue reading spinach and fennel polpettine (meatballs) in a crunchy polenta crust
This recipe is the gastronomic demonstration of the Aristotelian pronouncement that “there is no great genius without a mixture of madness”. Tuna on veal is pure genius. As crazy as it must sound to some of you, a fish based sauce on beef is a marriage made in heaven, it totally works. In fact, it’s been…… Continue reading vitello tonnato: beef in tuna sauce
Every time I make meatloaf I have to think of my friend AnnMarie. A sophisticated American-Italian from New York, she told me that her mum would serve meatloaf only to family. Apparently she did not consider it presentable to guests due to its lack of elegance. The remark caused a certain level of worry as…… Continue reading broccoli meatloaf
I spent my youth in a huge house overlooking my hometown Perugia. My parents where civil servants and in their free time took care of the large garden, the olive trees and the pets. To be precise, my father took care of breeding the pets and my mother fought against the proliferation of pets. We…… Continue reading chicken cacciatore a.k.a hunter style “in bianco”
This is another recipe of the clever Italian mammas of the past. It’s called falsomagro or farsumagru a term referring to stuffed lean meat. The stuffing was not meant to create fancy food. It was a way to stretch portions to feed the family using inexpensive ingredients such as inferior cut meats, bread, a little…… Continue reading “falsomagro” stuffed roast beef
This is a guest blog post from my dear friend Gloria, an eclectic, ironic and multi-talented Tuscan. She is a linguist pursuing an academic career, runs a popular travel blog, a couple of holiday rentals, collaborates to all sort of other projects I’ve lost track of, and she is – of course – an excellent cook.…… Continue reading Tuscan beef peposo stew
