Spaghetti or pasta with tomato sauce, also known as marinara, is a staple of southern Italian cookery or almost anywhere that southern Italians live today. However, spaghetti with marinara hasn’t always been a pillar of southern Italian cuisine. It’s actually a relative newcomer. Let’s briefly touch on pasta. Once upon a time every school child…
Tag: Cooking
Parmesan Crusted Cheddar Stuffed Chicken Breasts with Una Pentola (One-Pot) Pasta Aglio e Olio
This is a simple, quick and very flavorful poultry recipe; Suitable for a quiet dinner at home or with friends during a dinner party. The Dubliner cheese provides a sweet, salty and pungent edge, not to mention a pleasant surprise when the recipient cuts into the center to find all of the gooey cheesy loveliness!…
Napolitana e Siciliano Easter Egg Lasagna: Italian Fare For New Beginnings
This is a quick and easy version of my Mama Carmela’s famous Easter Lasagna. The addition of hard-boiled eggs and sliced meatballs were influenced by her northern Italian background and make this dish extra delicious and one of a kind! I’ve adapted her recipe and made it “today” friendly for ease of preparation by using…
Italy’s Easter Eggs & Easter Friday
In Italy, there are no Easter egg hunts, no marshmallow Peeps and definitely no jelly beans. Instead, there are chocolate eggs — massive, elaborately decorated, beautifully wrapped chocolate Easter eggs that fill shop windows across the country. The sweet treats are considered Italians’ food gift of choice at this time of year; each one comes…
Braided Easter Ham Pepperoni & Cheese Bread with Tutorial
My Mama always made this tasty bread for every religious holiday and if we begged, sometimes in between. Mom used to buy pounds of aged meats and cheeses and painstakingly cube every bit. Then she would mix fresh beaten eggs and finely grated Parmesan and fill and roll, what seemed like dozens, of loaves….
Italia’s Easter Ricotta Rice Pie
This Ricotta Rice pie recipe of my Mama Carmela’s and Grandma Lena’s is dedicated to the Camarata family and to the memories of Easter Sundays spent at our cottage by the lake. This is one of our family’s traditional Easter desserts and like many Italian dolces, it is simple and lightly sweet with just…
Italian Bacon & Egg Pasta with Tomatoes & Kale
Una Pentola (One-Pot) Bacon & Egg Pasta with Tomatoes & Kale Another perfect, simple, quick, easy and flavorful example of “Northern Italian Peasant” food at it’s finest! This recipe was inspired by my Mama Carmela’s love of fresh field greens. At the first sight of mustard greens, she would gather her tools and the hunt…
Ciabatta, Filone, Focaccia, Muffuletta, Vastedda, Ah Pane! & a Quick Ciabatta Recipe
Ciabatta, Filone, Focaccia, Muffuletta, Vastedda, Ah pane…“A bread by any other name would smell as sweet. I can sense Sir William Shakespeare rolling over in his grave as I write this… Today, I want to briefly delve into a little history of another Italian staple; Bread or as we Italians affectionately call it “pane.” Although…
Irish Soda Bread “American Style”
This is a sweeter, chewier, lighter and richer version of Traditional Irish Soda Bread. And, in my opinion and experience, seems to be more in harmony with the American taste. The conventional Irish Soda bread simply combines flour, baking soda, salt, and buttermilk; it’s not sweet and has a very dense, somewhat doughy crumb. Most…
Irish Red Jacket Colcannon
Colcannon is a customary Irish potato dish that is not only rich in flavor, but folklore and history as well. It’s also a perfect recipe to make with the kids while sharing its interesting history! Contrary to popular belief that this is a St. Patrick’s Day dish, by tradition, it’s actually made on All Saints Day…
Once Upon a Spice 