Favorite Pizza Toppings Lately we’ve been making pizzas at home every weekend and we’ve been using our trusty homemade pizza dough recipe along with our standard pizza sauce (though we’ve been known to cheat and purchase prepared pizza dough from Trader Joe’s on occasion; hey, at about a dollar a pop you can’t go wrong).  Next to good dough and the appropriate pizza […]

Monkfish and Scallop Seafood Risotto Don’t you hate it when you head to the market and pick up some great ingredients only to arrive home and realize you forgot an essential item?  In our case, we discovered some wonderful monkfish (or headfish) and large diver scallops at our local market and were all set to cook up a wonderful pot […]

Recipe For Light and Airy Italian Almond Cookies Referred to as  Sospiri di Monaca (or Nun’s Sighs) When our mother-in-law prepared a fabulous cookie for Easter (I’m not just saying that because she’s our mother-in-law, I know what you guys are thinking) we knew we had to document the recipe or, at the least, share a photo.  However, when we […]

An Easy Guide To Making Guanciale (Cured Pork Jowl) at Home   The following is a guest post (on homemade guanciale)  from our friend and Scordo.com super fan Dr. K. (make sure to read all of his wonderful guest posts and recipes) . All photos courtesy of Dr. K. Charcuterie originated as means of preserving meats for extended periods. Cured meats (e.g., […]

I’ve only recently realized the tremendous gratification in eating a well prepared salad for lunch (including a recent Wild Arugula, Chicken Breast, Red Onion, and Tomato salad).  Yes, I know the realization isn’t mind blowing but I’m upset at myself for not having more stand alone salads for lunch (hence the excitement and public declaration).  I’ve been missing out on […]

I have a love hate relationship with broccoli that is very similar to my opinion about zucchini.  Namely, both vegetables are fairly plain tasting and need to be manipulated thoroughly to be enjoyed optimally.  Our standard way of consuming broccoli is to do a quick parboil and then toss with plain breadcrumbs, salt, pepper, red pepper flake, garlic, and lots […]

Baked Artichoke Hearts Many people love artichokes but are turned off by the intense preparation associated with the fresh variety.  If you fall into this camp, then don’t despair you can have your artichokes (and eat them too!) though in a frozen or canned variety.  Pre-processed artichokes are a great convenience food and the wonderful canned or frozen artichoke hearts […]

Ricotta has always been part of my culinary life.  My mother makes ricotta on a weekly basis and I grew up eating it smeared on fresh bread, with pasta, extra virgin olive oil, and grated Parmigiano Reggiano, and, of course, stuffed in fresh pasta such as ravioli and tortellini.  Given Ricotta’s versatile nature it’s no surprise many Italian cooks make […]

Italian Easter Bread or Pane di Pasqua For as long as I can remember my mother made multiple Easter rings or baskets with eggs (known as Italian Easter Bread, Pane di Pasqua ,Cuzzuppe di Pasqua , Ciambelle Dolci, Pupi Con L’uova <or Easter Dolls >).  My mother varied her recipe at times making a savory version versus the sweet recipe I will be highlighting […]

Pizza Gain Aka Pizzagaina, Pizza Rustica, or Italian Easter Ham Pie Recipe PizzaGaina goes by many names including Easter Pizza, Pizza Chiena, PizzaGaina, Italian Ham Pie,  Pizza Gaina, Pizza Rustica, Italian Easter Ham Pie, Stuffed Easter Bread, Pastiera, etc. And just as there are many names for Pizza Gain there are various versions of the classic Easter dish.  For example, in provinces such […]