Italian Easter Bread or Pane di Pasqua For as long as I can remember my mother made multiple Easter rings or baskets with eggs (known as Italian Easter Bread, Pane di Pasqua ,Cuzzuppe di Pasqua , Ciambelle Dolci, Pupi Con L’uova <or Easter Dolls >).  My mother varied her recipe at times making a savory version versus the sweet recipe I will be highlighting […]

Pizza Gain Aka Pizzagaina, Pizza Rustica, or Italian Easter Ham Pie Recipe PizzaGaina goes by many names including Easter Pizza, Pizza Chiena, PizzaGaina, Italian Ham Pie,  Pizza Gaina, Pizza Rustica, Italian Easter Ham Pie, Stuffed Easter Bread, Pastiera, etc. And just as there are many names for Pizza Gain there are various versions of the classic Easter dish.  For example, in provinces such […]

Buona Pasqua – The Tradition Of Easter In Italy Easter is a special time in Italy and it’s the second most important religious holiday behind Christmas for most Italians.  According to the Nicean Council (A.D. 325) Easter is celebrated on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the Spring Equinox (if the first full moon also rose on a Sunday, […]

What We’re Reading: Polenta Lasagna, Chiacchiere, Arancini Veneziani, Olives Ascolane, Art of Sushi Jiro Dream of Sushi – My cousin Mike pointed out this brilliant film about the passion and love behind one sushi artisan’s trade,occupation, and obsession.  The film centers on 85 year-old Jiro Ono, considered to be the world’s greatest sushi chefs.  The film is beautiful and a must see […]

One of the nice things about having Italian parents is that they spoil you with free food.  For example, I arrived home the other day to find about a pound of fresh peas that my father had delivered earlier in the day (now that he’s retired he spends his days searching for the best fruits and vegetables, among other critical […]

Christine from our Facebook fan page recently asked if we had a marinara sauce recipe and my quick answer was that we haven’t documented it on the site but we make it consistently during the summer months.  Christine’s question also made us think deeply about the difference between tomato sauace and marinara (and there are many), not touching on the further differentiation associated with […]

Homemade Ravioli  Stuffed pasta, like almost every food type found in Italy, is defined by region.  As my childhood neighbor from Genoa would always proclaim, homemade ravioli (meaning to wrap) are quintessentially Ligurian.  Moreover, tortellini and cappelletti are understood as Emilian while Italians recognize agnelotti as derived from Piemonte.  Stuffed pastas come in many shapes and sizes and their stuffings vary […]

 Baked Pasta (or Pasta al Forno) The great thing about baked pasta (or pasta al forno) is that you can use most any dry pasta shape you find at your local market, though short pasta like rigatoni or penne work best.  We used the shape Mezzi Fischiotti, essentially Ditaloni (or short rigatoni), but with ridges.    Don’t confuse baked pasta with […]

Stuffed Artichokes The Artichoke capital of the world is Italy and not simply because Cynara cardunculus var. scolymus (fancy Latin speak for artichoke) is consumed throughout the peninsula but because Italy produces about 487,000 metric tons of the vegetable every year (outpacing Spain, the second largest producer, by about 200,000 metric tons).   Here in the United States, artichokes (primarily grown in California) […]

Basic Homemade Pasta Recipe Homemade pasta recipes are fairly straightforward, though there is some variation on exact ingredients.  Our basic handmade pasta recipe  includes six ingredients.  Mario Batali’s recipe includes flour and eggs while Lidia Bastianich uses flour, eggs, extra virgin olive oil, and ice water.  Linda from the excellent site, Ciao Ciao Linda, uses equal parts semolina and white, unbleached, […]