A perfect “Pasta Night” recipe. Unlike Meatless Monday or Taco Tuesday, Pasta Night is our own creation.  It’s the night when nothing is more comforting than a bowl of pasta with a really terrific sauce.  Inspired by Premio Sausages 1 lb. packages that mix both…

Don’t miss out on this year’s farm-fresh tomatoes. Make this now. I cannot get enough of this year’s tomato crop.  I would eat them every day if they all tasted like our Long Island tomatoes this year.  And when I made this recipe from Food…

Bon Appetit’s June/July 2021 is a keeper. Not just because its cover heralds “21 Speedy Summer Recipes”.  I’ve already cooked my way through four of them. Earlier this week, it was the jumping off point for our Corn Snap Pea Sausage Rigatoni.  Today it’s this…

Pasta once a week is a staple at our house.   We love the endless possibilities pasta presents.  With over 50 distinct types—even more when you add in the different sizes– that number goes even higher.  Today’s recipe is a riff on one in this…

I don’t think I ever cooked a stuffed shell until I saw this recipe. This wonderful vegetarian dish is made up of a host of ingredients.  Boursin Cheese and Cannellini beans give the filling of these shells their creaminess. The subtle heat comes from Calabrian…

Today, March 9th, the gods of whoever invents National Fill-In-the-Blank Days has declared in favor of the Meatball.  Who could think of a better day for Chewing The Fat to present our most popular meatballs ever?  In the past ten years, meatballs have been a…

We could ‘fancy-up’ the name of this dish by calling it Pasta al Forno. It still wouldn’t alter the fact that this might well be called Cheeseburger Pasta. Ooey gooey, cheesy, meaty.  This is Andrew and my idea of comfort food times three. Baked Ziti…

Rome’s favorite and most famous pasta dish gets a major makeover. When I lived in Rome, I can’t count how often I would order this dish. At least once a week, I would sit down to a bowl of this pasta.  Just four ingredients made…

Sausage and Peppers, New York’s most famous Street Food, comes indoors. All Fall, New York City blocks are turned into bazaars selling everything from handicrafts to hot dogs. The most famous of these is in celebration of the Feast of San Gennaro, the Patron Saint…

This Lamb Ragu is a colorful and flavorful introduction to Fall. Chef Micheal Mina’s recipe for Lamb Ragu is a keeper. It starts with a bouquet garni of fennel and cumin seeds, Aleppo pepper, and whole black peppercorns.  This gives the dish a hint of…

Call it a Flatbread but this is a Fig, Gorgonzola, and Arugula Pizza. And who doesn’t love pizza? Covered with a thin layer of fig jam, it was then sprinkled abundantly with Gorgonzola, the crumbly Italian Blue Cheese. Gorgonzola packs quite a punch of flavor,…

I am a sucker for “What to Cook This Week” from the New York Times. Here’s one reason why. Very often this email from the NYTimes is the work of Sam Sifton. Sifton is billed as the founding editor of NYT Cooking. And Sam is…

Rao’s, the Iconic Italian Restaurant in East Harlem, is Working To Keep New York’s Partnership Schools Open and Thriving. Fifteen years ago, Frank Pellegrino Sr. of Rao’s Restaurant helped save a nearby small elementary school in Harlem – Mt. Carmel-Holy Rosary – from the brink…

A comforting bowl of soup you can get on the table in under 30 minutes Isn’t it time for you to take a break?  If you’re like millions of us, you never cooked so many meals in your life.  And it’s breakfast, lunch, and dinner.…