If we can cook it, you can cook it!

Category: Italian American Cooking

Parmesan and Pancetta Toasts

Parmesan and Pancetta Toasts

I love pasta in all its forms and I serve it at least once a week. Since I seem to be incapable of making two servings of sauce, inevitably we end up with a freezer full of single portions.  I do not always label these.…

Weeknight Spaghetti and Meatballs: Beef and Pork Meatballs in Tomato Fennel Sauce

Weeknight Spaghetti and Meatballs: Beef and Pork Meatballs in Tomato Fennel Sauce

Andrew’s sister Lauren and I have an ongoing contest to find people who comment on a recipe they’ve so radically altered it bears no resemblance to the original. Despite having tinkered with the ingredients, the quantities, the cooking time until the recipe is unrecognizable, you’d…

Cassata Siciliana or Italian Strawberry Shortcake from Julie Richardson

Cassata Siciliana or Italian Strawberry Shortcake from Julie Richardson

Julie Richardson wrote a cookbook devoted to old-fashioned cakes, the ones you may remember your grandmother cooking or at the very least, bringing home from the local bakery.   “Vintage Cakes” (Ten Speed Press 2012) is filled with gems that are not only nostalgic but are…

Ina Garten’s Rigatoni with Sausage and Fennel

Ina Garten’s Rigatoni with Sausage and Fennel

Serve it straight from the pot on Night One… Or keep it refrigerated overnight and pop it in the oven for 20 minutes on Day 2. On more than one winter night at our house, pasta dishes have great appeal.  Hearty and comforting, they’re hard…

Chicken Arrabiata

         I confess to being a tomato junkie.  I adore the fruit, and yes, botanically it is a fruit.   Nothing made me happier than the arrival of great little tiny tomatoes variously called ‘cherry’, ‘grape’ and most recently, ‘heirloom mixtures’.   They arrived in this country…

Baked Pasta with Pesto, Cheese and Meat Sauce

Baked Pasta with Pesto, Cheese and Meat Sauce

Here’s true comfort food that you can play with to your heart’s content.  It’s virtually impossible not to make something warming and filling out of this recipe because the recipe is as flexible as can be.  It’s also a great way to empty the fridge,…

"Old Stoves", Saveur Magazine and Donatella Arpaia’s Mama’s Meatballs and Ragu

"Old Stoves", Saveur Magazine and Donatella Arpaia’s Mama’s Meatballs and Ragu

                    I’ve always been a huge fan of Saveur Magazine and not just because, over the years, they’ve published more of my food pieces than anyone else.  To me, the magazine broke the mold.  The relentless publication of Celebrity chef’s…

Shrimp Scampi, an amazingly fast Italian American Classic and the story of the Feast of the 7 Fishes.

Shrimp Scampi, an amazingly fast Italian American Classic and the story of the Feast of the 7 Fishes.

Scampi  I first wrote this post a year ago. But I thought I would repeat it again this year because it’s a wonderful explanation of an Italian tradition that many Italian Americans will uphold again this Christmas Season. And the recipe follows my mantra for…


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