This is such an easy pasta to throw together and so rich and satisfying. Sometimes less is more and the basic ingredients can really sing when left to their own devices.
While this isn’t a recipe tied to one specific village or city, it reflects the rustic cooking traditions of central Italy, particularly around Rome.
Continue reading “Rigatoni with Tomato Sauce and Sausage”
Marcella Hazan is the chef that taught me how to cook authentic Italian. She was tough and demanded authentic ingredients and no short cuts, but the recipes are timeless and still work today as well as they did 30 years ago. If you want one cookbook on Italian cooking, you can’t go wrong with her classic, “Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking”.
Continue reading “Authentic Pesto Recipe Inspired by Marcella Hazan”A roux is the fundamental base for many Continental classic sauces and is essential in Cajun and Creole cooking. It is a wonderful way to thicken a sauce and is easy to make.
Continue reading “Types of Roux: From White to Dark”
This sauce is packed with flavor. The roasted peppers complement the Italian sausage well. I like to use a mix of peppers, but I find that green bell peppers are too bitter, so I omit them.
Continue reading “Italian Sausage and Roasted Pepper Sauce”
These jumbo pasta shells are the kind of comfort food that I really enjoy cooking. It is the kind of food your Nonna would make on Sunday, and it is both comforting and very tasty.
Continue reading “Nonna’s Jumbo Pasta Shells Recipe”
Regular readers will know my love for Italian food runs deep, especially for the true comfort dishes practiced and perfected in kitchens by generations of nonnas (Italian grandmothers).
Sunday is a special day when the family comes together for a big meal and while each family has their own traditions of which dishes are served. In the US, the tradition of the Sunday Sauce is essential.
Continue reading “Authentic Sunday Sauce: A Step by Step To Create A Family Tradition”
There are many versions of this classic sauce, Ragu Bolognese, which originated in Bologna.
Some use wine, some use milk, some use wine and milk and some only use a bit of tomato paste, but this is my tried and true version. It is epic, but it is definitely not fast food.
Continue reading “Classic Ragu Bolognese Sauce Recipe: Slow and Delicious”
This is classic Neapolitan cuisine. The traditional Pasta Genovese recipe is made with beef, but some Italian Americans make a sausage version. Almost impossible to find either version on a US restaurant menu. Simple food, that is incredible. It’s all about the onions. I was shocked by the amount of onions, but many recipes call for even more. Low and slow is what develops the sweet flavor.
Continue reading “Neapolitan Pasta Genovese-Italian Comfort Food:”
This was a speciality of Florence’s in Boston’s North End. Florence Romano Foti opened her restaurant in 1974. This was the dish I ordered evert time I went.
Continue reading “Pasta all’Amatriciana- North End Version”
Years ago I had this authentic rustic pasta dish in an old converted farmhouse restaurant near Turin. Loosely translated, Taglierini al Sugo d’Arrosto means “pasta in roast gravy”. It was a very local place and didn’t look like much, but it was packed with truck drivers and a beef roast was cooking in front of an open fire.
Continue reading “Recreating Rustic Taglierini al Sugo d’Arrosto-Pasta in Roast Gravy at home”