Salsicce e friarielli from Naples This is a classic “piatto povero”. A simple dish that was cooked by poor people around the capital of Campania when food was scarce. The dish has remained true to its roots in its simplicity and can be found in restaurants and in pizzerias across the region. It’s simple and…
Tag: Campania
Roast wild boar in rich red wine gravy
I’m just going to come right out and say it: as a rule the Southern Italians (from this area at least) don’t know how to cook game. The meat ends up strongly gamey, tough and dry. The only exception to this is ragù di cinghiale which is a rich pasta sauce made with tomatoes, herbs…
Ricotta and Pear
Ricotta e pera dalla Costiera Amalfitana Combining creamy ricotta, sweet pears and light fluffy nutty biscuit what could be better than a traditional ricotta and pear cake? A tradition of the Amalfi Coast this sweet delight was made famous by one of Italy’s top pastry chefs Sal de Riso – we visit his café regularly…
Pizza! I made pizza!
With my own hands! So exciting. It was the first of May on Wednesday and therefore a bank holiday and I had the most fantastic day… I took May the mutt to the football pitch to watch Roby play (he scored!), then we went to the beach, had an aperitif and our first dip of…
Pizza party!
When you want to party in Italy what better way to go than a pizza party? My friend Carlo is lucky enough to have a proper wood fired pizza oven in his back garden, meaning that he can make the most incredible pizzas of all different flavours… There were tons of other pizza’s too, although…
Tagliatelle with langoustines and fresh tomato sauce
Tagliatelle ai scampi e pomodoro fresco Think Italian food, and you think messy spaghetti in tomato sauce (not as messy as in Naples perhaps, but still). Think classy and you think seafood. So this, my friends, is the perfect combination of classic Italian pasta and elegance. Not to mention tasty. Fish: also known as “the…
Amalfi by Vespa
The only way to see the Amalfi Coast, and I mean REALLY see it, is by vespa. Why? Well the wind in your hair, the sun on your face and the delightful smells of the wonderful Mediterranean vegetation all have something to do with it, but most of all it is just such a terribly…
Pastries with ricotta
La sfogliatella from Campania If you ever go to Naples then there are a few must-tries. Obviously that includes pizza, espresso, spaghetti with clams and rum baba. There is one delicacy for which there is no translation into English however, and it is one of my absolute favourite sweets, and one of the best breakfasts…
Pasta allo Scarpariello
Pasta allo Scarpariello from Campania This is probably the simplest yet most quintessentially Italian dish one can think of. The word Scaprariello may for many of you call up images of delicious bites of chicken, flash fried with garlic and white wine, rosemary and various other ingredients, but this dish, while yummy, is actually not Italian. It’s…
Aubergine Parmesan
Parmigiana di Melanzane from Campania… no, Apulia… no, Sicily! Nobody is quite sure where this dish comes from and its origins are hotly disputed between the above regions. Some people mistakenly assume that it comes from Parma in Emilio-Romagna because of the name, but that is not the case. In fact, I lean towards the…
Cuttlefish stuffed with broccoli
Seppie ripiene con broccoli e gamberetti from Campania I’ll be honest, this isn’t so much a traditional recipe as a twist on something I tried in a restaurant and liked. It is a winter version of something of a summer classic, as cuttlefish, although available all year round in Southern Italy, is mainly eaten, lightly…
Mandarinetto liqueur
Mandarinetto from Campania Most people have heard of limoncello, that sweet, tangy oh-so-mediterranean liqueur from the Amalfi Coast which just screams of summer, sun and after dinner drinks on a balcony surrounded by the scent of the sea. Yes, limoncello is deservedly famous. And easy to make… but that’s for another post. How many of…