This is a good summer dish from Puglia, a vegetable and rice bake, rich with oil and pecorino cheese, at least in my book. Tiella comes from the Latin tegella, which basically meant “oven tray”. Continue reading
Pizzelle, fried small (ish) pizzas, are iconic and beloved Neapolitan street food whose strong hold on Italian popular culture has been assured for ever by being the protagonists of a legendary sketch in the movie L’oro di Napoli (The gold of Naples, 195 ) where a young and voluptuous Sophia Loren plays a flirtatious pizzaiola, a pizza maker, whose pizzelle as well as her prosperous bosom are legendary in the neighbourhood. As she fries the pizzelle she shouts: “…Scialate…scialate…Mangiate oggi e pagate fra otto giorni…” (Enjoy…enjoy…eat now and pay in 8 days’ time…”).
They are also firmly rooted in local home cooking though. As a kid, I used to spend a couple of weeks every summer in Salerno, not far from Naples and I clearly remember pizzelle being prepared by relatives: what a feast, for a little Milanese kid, whose mother was a reluctant cook and who would never embark in any deep frying. My aunt’s pizzelle were simply dressed with a a little tomato sauce and a sprinkle of parmesan: stuck one on top of the other, they would be kept warm in the oven, ready to be devoured with gusto after an exhausting morning at the beach -they are amongst my strongest food memories. Continue reading
I do not even remember the last time I made a fish stock. It is not a process I enjoy – too much simmering, puréeing and sieving for my liking. When I want to make a fish soup and I need a stronger cooking medium, rather than plain water, I am more than happy to Continue reading
This is porrata or torta di porri, a leek pie – porri means leeks in Italian.
I learnt it from one of my favourite websites: Memorie di Angelina, written by Frank Fariello and chock a block with great authentic Italian recipes. In turn, Frank learnt it from Giuliano Bugialli and Bugialli claims it to be of Tuscan origin. Continue reading
Celery is one of the main ingredients in the classic summer aubergine caponata. Few days ago, I thought of making it the protagonist, foregoing the aubergines (not in season now, of course) and the result was excellent
Please read my post on caponata first. This is just a note to myself, not to forget this dish
First I made the sauce from my caponata recipe.
Meanwhile I stringed a large bunch of celery (whichI had placed in cold water for few hrs). I then cut it up in thickish slices.
When the sauce had simmered for about twenty minutes, I added the celery and let it cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally.
The caponata di sedano was rested for 24 hrs and eaten the following days. Delicious.
