(photo: street scene in Bagnara Calabra, courtesy of myworldshots.com ) I’m going to make a statement that may upset serious cooks, but here goes: It’s almost impossible to cook foods from other places in the world outside of their place of origin.  I’m not stating an absolute truth because you can get pretty damn close to replicating a pizza from […]

I’ve always equated good cooking with being prepared, just like a fine carpenter has the necessary tools to build a bookcase or a deck on hand at all times, a home cook should always have a well stocked pantry to prepare meals.  The following is a list of items that I always keep in my Italian Pantry, in addition to […]

(photo: The Canonica Verde Umbrian Spice Blend including rosemary, sea salt, garlic, and red pepper flakes) Click here for my other olive oil reviews! As you’ve probably noticed, Olive Oil and Pasta are at the heart of Italian cuisine (both above and below the mezzogiorno, the geopolitical dividing line of Italy).  Specifically, my love for both products started in Nonna Scordo’s […]

One of the first things I learned to make from scratch was salad dressing.  Our family, of course, always made a simple red wine, olive oil, salt/pepper salad dressing, but the proportions and blending of the simple ingredients remained a mystery to me for a very long period of time.  In fact, it wasn’t until I moved away to attend […]

Like any controversial figure, the mighty anchovy is a highly misunderstood food type and is deserving of an introduction and, if you will, defense!  In the US, unfortunately, preserved anchovies have a bad reputation and are seen as a bad smelling (and overly salty) fish.  The reputation, however, is undeserved and the tiny dynamo of a fish should be consumed […]

(photo: completed pesto sauce in a bowl made from the famous ceramic factories in Bagnara Calabra) Chitarra is similar to spaghetti, but with squared edges. It was once cut on guitar strings, hence its unique name.  Here’s a great link to a “guitar pasta maker“ (photo: Chitarra with pesto and a glass of Pinot Noir from Chile <light years ahead […]

Pasta al Ceppo is literally translated as pasta on a stick and knitting needles were once used to shape the pasta.  The pasta has a nice texture and works well with hearty sauces.   The Scordo Pasta Challenge continues!

Here’s a quick and simple Scordo Pasta Challenge entry this morning as it’s hot and sticky in the Northeast!   Cannolicchi is a pasta from the Abruzzo region which is traditionally served with seafood sauces.  Cannolicchi has a distinctive shape including coiled ridges which separate after the cooking process!  I prepared the Rustichella Cannolicchi with broccoli and crumbled Creminelli sausage.  

Orecchiette is the little pasta (or “little ear”, literally translated) that could; that is to say, at first glance the pasta shape from Apulia seems unremarkable, but when paired with vegetables it springs to life!  In southern Italy, Orecchiette are made by way of wheat flour and the traditional method includes pressing down on dime sized pieces of dough to get […]

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 […]