Poached pears are an easy dessert to prepare. They can also be made ahead of time, freeing up more time for you to prepare that scrumptious dinner. I find it’s always a good idea to serve a fruit dessert if the entree you’re serving is on the heavy side. You can also forego the ricotta […]
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Pasta with Peas: Pasta e Piseddi
Pasta with peas is one of the simplest dishes to make in Italian cuisine. There is something earthy and comforting in eating a dish of pasta with peas. Forget about adding anything other than onion – like pancetta or herbs. I’m a purist when it come to my pasta and peas. Other ingredients tend to […]
Sicilian Grilled Breaded Swordfish: Swordfish all Palermitana
Most of the time when I grill swordfish, I simply coat it with olive oil and sprinkle it with some salt and pepper. Sometimes I like to kick it up a notch and make swordfish Palermo style (alla Palermitana). This is a very simple, tasty, and quick swordfish recipe. The swordfish is first coated with […]
Sicilian Pigs in a Blanket: Rollo con Wurstel
The rosticerria (rotisserie) is a popular snack-food eatery throughout Italy. In Sicily, the word “rosticceria” refers to a place but also a type of cuisine. Restaurants or bars offer a large array of finger foods such as pizzas, calzones, and other stuffed delicacies. It’s the Italian version of fast food. The Sicilian rosticceria (rosticceria Siciliana) […]
Cracked Green Olives with Garlic and Parsley
The word schiaccate (scacciati in the Sicilian dialect) means crushed or smashed. These flavorful green olives are cracked open before being marinated in a garlicky mixture with parsley, olive oil, and vinegar. If you like garlic – you’ll love these olives. You need to use green olives that are not pitted. I like to throw […]
Besciamella and Pistachio Pesto Lasagna
This is a lasagna recipe that I came up with. It’s not your typical lasagna with tomato sauce. It’s a creamy white lasagna made with a béchamel sauce (besciamella in Italian) and a pistachio pesto. The pesto adds subtle flavor to the otherwise bland white sauce. Mushrooms and pancetta add a little meatiness to the […]
Braised Baby Artichokes
Baby artichokes are usually available in the springtime. So, I was surprised to see them in the supermarket this time of year. Baby artichokes are tender and delicious when braised. The word affucati (affogati in Italian) in the Sicilian language means smothered or braised. This is a simple braised artichoke recipe that my grandmother made. […]
Baked Bay Scallops Gratinate
Our family celebrates Christmas with a traditional seafood dinner on Christmas Eve, as most Italians do. This year I decided to make baked scallops instead of the usual stuffed clams my kids love. Here’s the reason why. As I was cleaning out my kitchen drawers the other day, I found some natural baking scallop shells […]
Sicilian Christmas Fig Wreath: Buccellato
The buccellato, also known as cuccidato, is a large pastry wreath filled with a fragrant spiced fig, raisin, and nut filling. Really, it is just a huge cookie as opposed to its smaller version of fig cookies known respectively as buccellati or cuccidati. It’s a big tradition in Sicily to make these fig-filled sweets at […]
Cassata Buche de Noel
This is a different twist of the classic Sicilian cassata cake. Cassata is a ricotta filled sponge cake that is typically wrapped in marzipan and has an icing glaze. I usually skip the marzipan because it’s way too sweet for my liking. This festive buche de Noel (aka Swiss roll) cassata is frosted with a […]
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