Nothing says special occasion like ravioli!  You see, as a young lad, standard dry pasta shapes like penne, linguine, and rigatoni, made their way to my mother’s dinner table about 1x-2x per week.  However, whenever the regal ravioli made an appearance for lunch we knew it was a special day.   Ravioli were reserved for holidays or a special occasion such as a birthday […]

I view homemade roasted peppers as the ultimate condiment; that is to say, you can include roasted peppers in your antipasto, sandwich, as a side with grilled meats, or even include them in your favorite grilled cheese sandwich or omelet.  Sound tasty; then stop buying the jarred stuff and make them at home!  Here’s the full ingredients list, including the items […]

Recently, a heated food debate has surfaced between the dyed in the wool “food expert” Michael Ruhlman (he’s written some fine books on food, appeared on TV, and speaks at conferences) and the food philosophies espoused by celluloid FoodTV starts such as Rachel Ray and Jamie Oliver.  In a Huffington Post article, Ruhlman argues that people should make the time […]

For many Italians, soup equals pasta; that is to say, a primo serving of soup in many Italian households includes some sort of pasta mixed in with Lentil, Peas, Chickpeas, etc. (or for example our Chickpea and Brocolli Soup with Ditalini recipe).  Adding a small amount of pasta to a soup increases the hardiness of any given soup dish and […]

  If you haven’t noticed I’ve been consuming a ton of pasta lately given the Scordo Pasta Challenge.  I’ve had everything from bucatani with olive oil and parsley to tripoloni with tomato sauce.   However, I’ve also been consuming another starch with equivalent joy, namely the almighty arancini or rice ball (click here for my recipe)!  And while my love […]

Sometimes food photos are better than the actual food item.  I can wholeheartedly say, however, that when it comes to rice balls or Arancini the photos below look as good as they actually taste. You can find my recipe for Arancini here.  Enjoy a few photos of a recent rice ball extravaganza held in New Jersey and leave a comment […]

(photo: close up of our parsley, artichoke, sun dried tomato, and romaine lettuce salad) Next to incorporating the right leftovers into a great sandwich, putting together a “leftover salad” is one of my favorite food shortcuts; that is to say, having a great meal full of flavor without a big undertaking.  After all, what’s the point of cooking great food […]

(photo: diced up and waiting for the pan!) UPDATE: 4/2/10 Annelle Williams is the winner!  Contest is now closed! I’ve written on virtues of salumi, but to my surprise I haven’t waxed philosophically on sausage – that other ideal representation of the almighty pig. Italian Sausage, as it’s referenced in the States, is often grilled, used in stuffings, soups and […]

Paccheri is one of those shapes I wasn’t aware of until I stumbled across it in the Rustichella catalog.  Paccheri is a super variant of rigatoni (without the ridges) and best prepared with chunky sauces (such as a ragu with rabbit, for example).  However, I cooked up a batch of Paccheri and simply added very good extra virgin olive oil, freshly grated Parmigiano […]

(photo: Latella family olive orchard outside of Pellegrina, Italy) (3/22: Update – Contest is closed and the winner is Joe. D., congratulations!  And thanks to everyone for leaving a comment)  Click here for my other olive oil reviews! Images have always played a large role in my life.  I still have vivid images in my mind of childhood events like playing […]