Calzoncelli are traditional Christmas pastries from Southern Italy stuffed with a cream of chestnuts and dark chocolate and fried… Incredibly calorific and incredibly delicious! They tend to be made in batches and fortunately they keep for quite a few days. You will need (makes 50) For the pastry… 1kg of plain flour 300g of caster…
Tag: Italian Cooking
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…
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…
When in Rome…
…do as the Romans do. Rome is one of my favourite cities in the world. I love to visit it, and never get tired of walking around looking at the architecture, discovering pretty corners and eating ice-cream. I swear there are more ice cream shops per square kilometer in Rome than anywhere else on the…
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…
Pork rolls with provola and salame
Involtini di maiale con provola e salame from Campania There’s something about cheese which just makes it more decadent when it’s melted. Especially when it’s wrapped in something and it ooozes out as you cut into it…. You can make this recipe with other lean meats too, but I used pork medallions because I think…
Spicy bean and endive soup
Minestra di scarole e fagioli from Campania It’s cold. It’s wet. It’s miserable and dark. Yes, even in Southern Italy, it is December after all! All of this means only one thing… Soup! When you come home on one of those horrid winter nights after a long day at work there’s nothing better than a…
Roast potatoes with parmesan and rosemary
Patate al forno con parmigiano e rosmarino from Emilia-Romagna Roast potatoes. There really is nothing better… Soft, fluffy and light on the inside and perfectly golden and crunchy on the outside. This recipe from Emilia-Romagna, home of such delights as parmesan cheese, parma ham and mortadella (bologna sausage), adds a twist to this classic dish…
Veal and red wine hotpot
Spezzatino di vitello con vino rosso from Veneto I remember the first time I had this, just outside Venice in February. I was living in Milan at the time as a student, and some friends and I had decided to go to Venice carnival for the day – it was beautiful, full of swirling colours,…
Artichokes with lemon and black peppercorns
Carciofi al limone e pepe nero, Campania I love vegetables. I especially love to eat vegetables in season – they are cheaper, tastier and even better for you than their out-of-season counterparts. One of the great things about Italy is that people still remember when things are in season, and the greengrocers pretty much only…
Spicy Pumpkin Risotto
Risotto alla Zucca from Lombardy Tonight I went to my friend Isabel’s house for dinner and she made me a delicious plate of risotto with squash: This is true comfort food, straight from the cool (relatively) climes of Lombardy in the North of Italy, and with its deep, warm colour and slightly spicy sweetness it…
lovefromitaly 