Melanzane di Mauro: recipe
Aubergine, eggplant, melanzane: they sound good in any language and, in my opinion, taste even better. These have been my favourite vegetables since I was a child and my mother used to …
sauces
Nuts about pasta!: Sugo di Noci (recipe)
Simple, tasty, vegetarian, and good for you, this recipe for sugo di noci, walnut sauce, is a traditional one in the Tuscan province of Arezzo. It can also be made easily in under twenty minutes.
Pasta ‘ncasciata: Montalbano’s favourite
This post was inspired by my fellow blogger Vanessa who has a site I enjoy very much called Food in Books. It deals with the two things I love more than anything else: eating and reading. Vanessa scours the world’s literature looking for references to food and then she develops a recipe based on …
Torta di semolino: semolina cake (recipe)
This recipe is from Tuscany. No sooner is carnival out the way than we have an excuse for another sweet blow-out: San Valentino, or Valentine’s Day. And in a country famed for lovers and romance it’s seen as a big occasion—notwithstanding the fact that the original Saint Valentine was Italian. It’s also the very beginning …
Lasagne bianche ai noci: lasagne with white ragù and walnuts (recipe)
White ragù—Italian meat sauce without tomatoes—is one of my all time favourite dishes. I learnt it as a teenager from my Italian step-grandmother in her kitchen in Venice. She was noted for her ragù and people were forever asking her how she made it but, of course, she wouldn’t tell. But one summer morning while …
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Quick guide to Italian ingredients: Pasta secca
I remember it coming as quite a shock, a few years ago,  when discussing what to have for lunch with my English partner that my suggestion of pasta was met with an incredulous, ‘but we ate that yesterday. We can’t have it every day. It will get boring.’ For me, having been brought up on an …