The humble eggplant, to the Sicilian cook, is like clay to a sculptor.  It can be molded, shaped, and interpreted in limitless ways.  Baby eggplants are cooked many different ways in Sicily but stuffing them is the most popular method.  Much to my surprise, my local grocery store had some Indian eggplants available, which is a […]

Involtini are small stuffed roll-ups made with either thinly sliced meats or vegetables.  These involtini are made using thinly sliced roasted eggplant (milinciana in the Sicilian dialect), filled with a flavorful browned bread crumb (muddica atturata) mixture, and baked in tomato sauce.  This delicious traditional filling is made with toasted bread crumbs, shallots, Percorino cheese, […]

Occasionally I get cravings for panelle, a highly nutritious Sicilian snack food.  Panelle are basically fritters made of chickpea (garbanzo bean) flour.  They are not difficult to make but the process takes some time.  I came up with this recipe for making panelle in a crepe form to cut down on prep time.  These crepes taste […]

Capers are flower buds that are either pickled in a brine solution or preserved in sea salt.  If you’ve never had capers, they have a distinctive flavor that is highly prized in southern Italian cuisine.  Capers that hail from the island of Pantelleria, part of the region of Sicily, are said to be the finest […]

                      This rustic pie is made with pizza dough and filled with spinach, sausage, and ricotta cheese.  It’s similar to a calzone or stromboli. Sicilians also call it a scacciata which means squashed or flattened because of its shape.  I rated this recipe as difficult […]

My mom was a working mother so she didn’t have a lot of time to prepare dinners during the week.  These were always a hit whenever she made them, especially at Thanksgiving.  I say why eat turkey when the sides are so much tastier– skip the turkey please! These batter dipped cauliflower fritters with grated cheese are easy and […]

A Sfincione is a thick Sicilian pizza that is essentially a focaccia (in Italian) when not made with a tomato sauce topping. Just like focaccia, the dough is lightly crusty and soft on the inside. This sfincione is made with sundried tomatoes, black olives, cacio cheese, anchovies, and oregano. Sicilians love anchovies in their sfincione. […]

Whenever I make a dish that has ricotta cheese in it, I reminisce about the time I lived in Sicily.  One evening we had a big gathering of friends and there was a shepherd making fresh ricotta from sheep’s milk in a huge cauldron over a wood fire.  The ricotta was truly sublime and it […]

The neighbors along our street get together twice a month for drinks and appetizers.  It’s BYO (bring your own) drinks and an appetizer to share – nothing elaborate.  We refer to it as the neighborhood powwow.  My mother came up with this recipe for me when she heard about our little get togethers.  To be […]

Cazzili are Sicilian potato croquettes.  It is a popular street food in Palermo, where the dish originated.  The name of the dish – cazzilli – refers to a masculine body part they resemble.  I’ll leave it up your imagination to guess which that is.  I’ve got to keep it clean here!  One thing’s for certain, […]