When making fresh egg pasta, the most common ratio is 1 egg for every 100 g flour. However, the sfoglia (that is the name of the pasta dough in Italian) can be as rich/lean as the cook wants. I was recently reminded of this whilst browsing a little book about traditional Piedmontese cooking , Ricette di Osterie di Langa, published by Slowfood few years ago. Continue reading
Winter, mountain, robust eating from the Italian Dolomites. The color of the beetroot filling is stunning too, which does help in these rather lugubrious days . Continue reading
A rather difficult name for an easy peasy pasta: ‘ndunderi are ricotta and pecorino cheese gnocchi from Minori, on the Amalfi coast. These cheesy morsels are firmer than potato gnocchi but positevly tender and are a cinch to make. They go back centuries: in fact they are said to be deriving from the little pasta balls of farro flour (spelt) and soured milk that the ancient Romans used to make. Continue reading
Well, that title IS misleading in its conciseness. It should read “apple, pumpkin, amaretti, chocolate, figs and sultana cake with brandy and rum” – no less!. Continue reading
Publishing this recipe shows how conservative I am at heart, when it comes to food – a trait I share with many fellow Italians. Fave dei morti means “broad beans of the dead” and it is the name of these tiny almond and pinenut biscuits, shaped to resemble broad beans, that traditionally have been made for centuries around All Saints day and All Souls Day, the first and second of November, as offerings to the dead ones. They are generally sold at bakeries and patisseries, but, at least in a big city like Milano, where I used to live, they are now on the wane, unfortunately. Continue reading
