Congratulations to Denise Gudger! She sent in her family recipe for Carmela’s Eggplant Pie. I made the recipe and it is a keeper! It is like an eggplant parmigiana with sauted peppers and onions between the layers. A real celebration of Summer. Eggplants, Peppers and San Marzano dell’Agro Sarnese – Nocerino DOP . I made…
Christmas Eve Salad from Naples- Insalata di Rinforzo
Happy Holidays! This Christmas Eve Salad is a new favorite in our house. Bringing a little Southern Italy into Tuscany. I can’t get enough cauliflower which is in season now, we have had it in so many ways. Baked, boiled, battered and roasted. The Markets are filled with such a variety. Have you seen the…
Panzanella – Why Tuscan bread is Saltless
One of the things everyone comments on in Tuscany is how tasteless the bread is. There is a reason, there is no salt in the dough. In the past, salt was a commodity. Florence bought their salt from Pisa. Pisa put a salt tax so high, that normal people couldn’t use salt for things like…
New Year- Old Recipes
I adore new beginnings. They don’t always have to be the beginning of a new year, but any new adventure. When I first left the USA in 1984,I had no idea I would end up living in Italy. It was real culture shock actually living here rather than being a tourist. Learning to function in…
Buglione- A Summer Stew
In my husband’s family, Buglione was always on the table in Summer. His father worked at the city’s main fruit and vegetable market in Novoli. There was was always seasonal fresh fruits and vegetables on the table. His mother was a great cook with simple seasonal produce. Summer hasn’t really decided if it is here…
Easter | Torta Pasqualina
Ligurian Easter Savory Tart Buona Pasqua, Happy Easter, Passover and April Fool’s Day! This year it seems like we are always having something to celebrate. Spring came in on March 21 and in Florence we celebrate Tuscan New Year’s on March 25th. This year Easter is early. April fool’s day. I am wondering how…
Seasonal Vegetables: Twice-cooked Cauliflower
At the weekly markets, you can tell the real farmers as they only have what is in season.The stands with bananas and pineapple simply buy their products and resell at the wholesale market, which makes it hard to really know what is in season. Even Italy has access now to out of season produce from…
Eating in Summer| Shopping not Cooking
This summer we are having a drought and record breaking heat wave. The hills around my house we have a lot of hay for the animals, which turns the them golden. A touch of green from the woods, chestnut and oak trees and then grape vines and olive trees. This year the grapes and olives…