As our fans know and understand we’re big believers in from scratch cooking but we’re also food pragmatist; that is to say, we understand that homemade food can, at times, be semi-homemade.  Case in point, is a wonderful semi fresh pasta from the Italian company Giovanni Rana.  Giovanni Rana, a 50-year old Italian pasta company with an excellent reputation in […]

Spiral pasta gets a bad rap in the United States as the pasta shape is often used in generic, and deli type, “pasta salad” dishes.  Generally, the pasta is overcooked, mushy, and devoid of flavor.

  (photo: prior to breaking the pasta into smaller pieces, notice the length!) I love impromptu meals; that is to say, one of the biggest thrills I experience in the kitchen is when one dish I have in mind turns into something completely different or helps inform a second dish.  For example, when starring at a few chicken legs in my refrigerator this evening […]