copyright 2012 Art of Living, PrimaMedia,Inc/Maria Liberati

A delicious word I learned for  ordering dessert…for when a taste of one just won’t do…’tris’..

A table of 15..dinner in the seaside resort of Pescara..for an evening of local flavors..from the bottles of olive oil produced in the nearby town of Loreto-Aprutino,the bread from a local forno in Pescara, the lentils for the  soup and broccoli rabe grown in towns nearby, the Pecorino cheese (a specialty in Abruzzo and my favorite version of this old world cheese) made in a town in  the National Park of Abruzzo..(Parco Nazionale D’Abruzzo).

But now the crowning glory of the entire meal was about to arrive and the choices presented were a locally made torrone,  a locally made specialty known as Parozzo (chocolate almond cake), and a ricotta pudding made from locally produced ricotta  cheese. … After 5 minutes of major debating..(food is not an easy subject to make any decisions on when in Italy) ‘tris’ everyone exclaimed…’tris’??

‘

(Parozzo)

Tris’..explained to me..literally means 3 sample sizes of 3 desserts…and tris was the easiest solution to ending the  (what was now becoming) 30 minute decision making process..no need for anyone to make a decision or eliminate one luscious choice over the other…so “tris” it was…

(freshly made ricotta)

Ricotta Pudding

(photo credit: pianetadonna.it)

(from The Basic Art of Italian Cooking: Holidays & Special Occasions-2nd edition)

• 1 lemon peel
• ½ cup brandy
• 2 tablespoons candied dried fruit
• 1 tablespoon butter
• ½ cup fresh fruit in season

Serves 6.

• 2 cups ricotta cheese
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 5 eggs
• Pinch of cinnamon
• ¹⁄³ cup powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Pass the ricotta cheese through a sieve to get a creamy texture. In a bowl, place the ricotta, 1 tablespoon flour, 2 whole eggs and 3 egg yolks (save egg whites for later use), pinch of cinnamon, powdered sugar, lemon peel, candied dried fruit, and brandy. Blend all together.

In a separate bowl, whip the egg whites until peaks form. Fold gently into the ricotta mixture. Butter a glass baking pan, dust with remaining flour, and place in mixture. Bake for 30 minutes or until firm.

When finished, remove from oven and let cool. When cool, take out of pan and place in serving dish. Serve with sliced fresh fruit on top.

For more great recipes get your copy of The Basic Art of Italian Cooking: Holidays & Special Occasions here or in ebook version exclusively at Kindle

*May 3, 2012-Join me in Italy for a Luxury Cruise throughout the Mediterranean. GO here for more info

*March 24th see you in Charlottesville Virginia for the Festival of the Book-book signings and Cooking demos..Stay tuned for more info or email: events@marialiberati.com for exact schedule of events. The Basic Art of Italian Cooking: DaVinci Style will be a featured book

copyright 2012 Art of Living, PrimaMedia,Inc/Maria Liberati

Recipe for Giving

Always add in a little of yourself in everything you give:

*pinch of  what’s on your mind

*a beat of your heart

*a vibration from your soul

(photo credit: www.atelierdeschefs.net)

Zaletti (Cornmeal Cookies)

excerpted from The Basic Art of Italian Cooking: DaVinci Style

1 cup+ 1 tablespoon(250 gr) cornflour

1 cup + 1 tablespoon (250 gr) flour

4 eggs

1 cup (200 gr) butter

½ cup (100 gr) raisins (soaked in warm water for 10 minutes,then drained)

zest of 1 lemon

1 tsp vanilla

2 tsps baking powder

pinch of salt

powdered sugar for dusting on top

Beat eggs with sugar till creamy, add in eggs one at a time, beating after each addition, then add in vanilla. In a separate bowl whisk together flour, cornmeal,salt, baking powder. Mix ,a little at a time, dry ingredients into egg mixture until blended well. Add in raisins.

Form dough into large square and cover in plastic,refrigerate until easy to handle (about 2 hours).

Remove from refrigerator, cur dough into two and form each piece into a long cylinder. By rolling on a floured surface. Wrap in plastic and freeze till ready to bake,

Cut cookies into ¼ inch slices (.75 cm),

Cover cookie sheet with parchment paper. Place cookies on sheet and leave space between each., Bake in preheated oven of 325F (170C). for 10-12 minutes till lightly golden on top. Remove from oven and let cookies cool before serving.

For more recipes get your copy of The Basic Art of Italian Cooking: DaVinci Style here or in ebook exclusively at Kindle. Specially selected to be a featured book at this year’s Virginia Festival of the Book, on March 24th.For more info email:events@marialiberati.com

copyright 2012  Art of Living, PrimaMedia,Inc/Maria Liberati

(photo credits: www.dolci.it)

A cena (dinner) with friends is an all night event..from 8 PM to 1 AM..first the selection of the restaurant..then organizing the meetup of everyone..then  30 minutes  to organize the seating arrangement for 15..not an easy task…selection of courses..antipasti or not? first course or second course or both? With meat..without  meat…

For someone that is used to eating at 6 PM, a 9PM dinner is not an easy thing. Frustrating to say the least is the time spent between arriving at the restaurant and finally eating  the first morsel of food to arrive…this is the real ‘eating all’ Italiana ‘(eating Italian style). A meal becomes more like a long opera than a simple night out…But once it is all over you realize it was really worth it! Dinner becomes a true food experience, not just a meal….

The golden hue of the locally grown  potatoes and  the intense red radicchio make for a colorful canvas for any artist in the kitchen. The colors of winter decorate any plate.

Crostini with Radicchhio, Mozzarella and Caramelized Figs

( Photo credit:  http://saperlo.stbm.it)

To make caramelized figs:

8 ozs dried figs

6 tsps honey

2 branches of fresh rosemary

1 sage leaf

1 fresh red hot pepper cut into thin strips

Crostini:
2 whole fresh buffalo mozzarella ( Or fresh mozzarella)

1 small red radicchio

1/2 loaf crusty bread (baguette or similar)

Chop figs into  large pieces. Place in saute pan, drizzle honey on top.  Heat over low heat, melting honey. Cover with fresh rosemary, pepper strips, sage leaf. Cover and cook over low heat for 20 minutes. Remove from heat and place in a glass bowl to cool.

Wash and clean head of radicchio. Set aside 8 whole leaves of radicchio and cut remaining leave in half. Place 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a saute pan and place in radicchio leaves. Saute over medium heat for 2 minutes. Remove pan from heat, set aside.

Cut mozzarella into thick slices. Cut baguette in half lengthwise, then cut each half in half. Place on baking sheet and place in oven under broil till golden on one side, remove from oven, turn over and repeat on other side.. Remove from oven. On each slice of bread place 2 fresh radicchio leaves, slice of mozzarella, sauteed radicchio, and finally top with caramellized figs. Drizzle with olive oil, dash of sea salt and serve immediately.

Serve with a dry Rose wine..

For more recipes get your copy of The Basic Art of Italian Cooking: DaVinci Style here or in ebook exclusively available on Kindle.

See you on March 24-25th in Charlottesville Virginia at the Festival of the Book.

copyright 2012 Art of Living, PrimaMedia,Inc/Maria Liberati

Three things tell a man, his eyes, his friends and his favorite quotes..here is one of mine  “Muffins were created so that Americans don’t have to feel guilty about eating cake for breakfast”

but here in Italy, enjoying a little sweet something for breakfast is  a requirement.

George Clooney isn’t the only American gaining notoriety in Italy..the muffin seems to be the newest American star. While it is no secret that Italians are passionate about their food, the muffin craze seems to have truly caught on.

The word muffin comes from either the French word mouffet-meaning a soft bread or the German word ‘muffe’ which means little cake but in Italy they call them muffins and think of them as an especially American breakfast food.

( Photo credit:www.tortealcioccolato.com)

While today, here, life  seems to  be filled with  uncertainties, waking up to the smell  of a cappuccino and freshly baking  cornetti was always  a certainty..something you knew  could always count on….But not so anymore.

My mornings have been starting with not my usual cappuccino and cornetti (an Italian version of a croissant) but cappuccino and a muffin. While I insist on making my own, there is no shortage of the sweet little import here, in coffee bars and supermarkets and bakeries,,the muffin,has gained its’ own piece of notoriety here

(photo credit: http://ricette.pourfemme.it)

Most  muffins here are petite and truly a sweet little piece of heaven and not ‘supersized’  American style. Try this Italian version of a muffin, it’s healthy too, approximately 150 calories each

Breakfast Fruit Muffins

1/2 cup fresh fruit in season (cranberries, or blueberries, or strawberries)

1- 8 ounce container of plain low fat or fat free yogurt

1 1/4 cups flour

3 eggs

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup olive oil

Place 1/4 cup of fresh fruit  fresh fruit and yogurt in blender for one minute. In a bowl, beat eggs with sugar till well blended and foamy. Add in olive oil, pinch of salt, blend well. Add in blended yogurt/fruit mixture. Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda into this mixture a little bit a time, blending well after each addition. At end ,add in remaining whole fruit, Stir in. Place into muffin cups or muffin pan and bake for 30 minutes in oven preheated to 375 degrees

For more recipes get your copy of The Basic Art of Italian Cooking: DaVinci Style here or in ebook version exclusively at Kindle.com

copyright 2012 Art of Living, PrimaMedia, Inc./Maria Liberati

(photo credit: www.giardinaggio.it)

Dreaming of summer or more like wishing for summer and the warm NOT cold sun of August..found what I  thought could be fresh Strawberries…perfect to make strawberries with Lemon ( Fragole con Limone)…but they came from a far away country and must have traveled days to get to my table…

The motto of this story is to always eat fresh and eat local.. I had to discard half of the package because of some being rotted…

As I washed each strawberry  and sniffed each one for that fragrant summertime perfume.. it just was not there…I hulled them and cut each one carefully in half, my mind wandering away to last summer’s  fresh scents of lemon and strawberries wafting through the air..almost as if I had sprayed an air freshener..but no need to. The scent created such a vivid picture that it is  still lingering in my mind..but guess I will have to wait till June for that experience!

I will buy NO strawberry before it’s time….

Here is a winter pasta dish..from the award winning book The Basic Art of Italian Cooking: Holidays & Special Occasions-2nd edition, available here or in ebook exclusively at Kindle

Spaghetti Infuocati  ( Spaghetti On Fire)

(photo credits : www.manualedicucina.com)

RECIPE:

1 lb of spaghetti

8 ounces of ricotta (preferably fresh )

1 ½ tblsps of butter melted

¼ tsp of finely crushed pepper flakes

Salt to taste

Cook pasta till al dente. But while pasta is cooking- place in a bowl the ricotta. Mix with a fork till it is creamy. Then sprinkle on the red pepper flakes and the melted butter.

When pasta is cooked al dente, drain. Place the pasta in the bowl with the ricotta mix and toss. Serve immediately.

Looking for somewhere special to go..join me in Italy in May 2012 for a luxury cruise,go here to find out about this luxury, all inclusive Mediterranean cruise

copyright Art of Living, PrimaMedia, Inc/Maria Liberati

I have adopted the word Gusto as my mantra……

Gusto is an English word, an adverb to describe  ‘doing with enjoyment and excitement….. it is no wonder .. since gusto is an Italian word that means taste (gustare-the verb to taste) and Italians believe in eating and tasting food with enjoyment and excitement.. It is a word that specially embodies the true meaning of taste..Gusto..with passion, with all your heart and soul!

Live your life with Gusto!  Cook, eat, love with Gusto!

Torta Alla Senese (Siena Style Cake)

from The Basic Art of Italian Cooking: DaVinci Style

½ cup (100 gr) milk

1 ½ cups (300 gr) rice

1 cup (200 gr) sugar

3 eggs

1/3 cup(70 gr) raisins

8 hazelnuts

¼ cup (50 gr) pine nuts

1/3 cup (70 gr) butter

1 tsp baking powder

zest of ½ lemon grated

Boil milk. Add in uncooked rice and sugar. Cook till liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat and cool. Add in eggs. raisins, hazelnuts, pine nuts, softened butter, baking powder, grated lemon zest. Blend all together. Butter and flour an 8” cake pan, pour in batter. Bake in oven preheated to 400 F (200C) and bake for 30 minutes. Serve chilled.

Get your copy of The Basic Art of Italian Cooking:DaVinci Style here or get an ebook version exclusively at Kindle.com…the book was recently selected to be featured at the Virginia Festival of the Book in Charlottesville, VA. Come out to the event on March 24-25 and get a signed copy…

A house is at its’ most beautiful when filled with guests ..today’s Sunday dinner, with a house full of people reminded me of the classic Italian  movie Il Gattopardo (The Leopard)..some of the film’s most beautiful scenes take place at the table of this royal Sicilian Family filled  with guests and their consorts..meals of many courses were well choreographed with banter as guests supped  and interacted together….

But moreover today’s lunch reminded me of one of Don Fabrizio’s( the Prince played by the award winning actor Burt Lancaster)  lines in the film

“If we want things to stay as they are ,things will have to change”

Today’s  Sunday dinner ..

*eaten at a table of 25 dinner guests but filled with new faces, new family and friends

*new twists on traditional recipes…the Sunday ravioli, made with a melt in your mouth pasta  but filled with a creamy pumpkin and amaretti filling not the usual ricotta filling..but the same delicious ravioli (pumpkin ravioli is traditional for the North of Italy not for the South).

*the dinner  was eaten not in my grandparent’s house in the South Philadelphia neighborhood…but in a house located 10 minutes from where my grandfather was born… (Tagliacozzo  Italy)

*same warm banter and feelings  being passed around the table with many of the same courses but different faces…

*an after dinner coffee at a local coffee bar and a passseggiata was enjoyed in the town my grandfather was born in Tagliacozzo…Sunday dinner usually ended  with coffee and my grandfather  sharing stories, photos and songs about that very  town..

My how things stay the same..my how things change..

Here is a recipe for one of today’s second courses

Flan di Pomodoro, Zucchini, e Formaggio (Zucchini, Tomato, Cheese Flan)

from The Basic Art of Italian Cooking:DaVinci Style

1 cup (200 gr) extra virgin olive oil

1 lb (500 gr) tomatoes pureed- fresh or canned

1 lb (½ kilo) zucchini-sliced

2 leeks

1 onion

4 eggs

6 tablespoons (90 gr) cream

1 whole carrot peeled and cleaned

8 ounces Emmenthal cheese-grated

pinch of oregano

pinch of salt and pepper

Place ¼ cup (60 gr) olive oil in sauce pan and saute finely chopped onion till golden. Add in sliced zucchini and saute for 3-5 minutes over low heat. Remove from heat, Place zucchini, onion mixture in food processor with 2 eggs, 3 tablespoons (45 gr) cream, grated Emmenthal cheese, pinch of salt and pepper. Blend to a puree. Set aside.

Place ¼ cup (60 gr) olive oil in saute pan, heat, place in tomatoes, pinch of oregano, salt and pepper, whole carrot (to sweeten sauce). Let cook for 15 minutes over low heat.

Slice leeks into round slices. Place ¼ cup olive oil in saute pan, heat and saute sliced leeks. Saute till golden. Remove from heat. Place leeks in food processor with 2 eggs,remaining cream, pinch of salt and pepper. Blend to a puree.

Oil a loaf pan. Pour in a layer of leek puree. Then on top of that a layer of zucchini puree. Then add in layer of tomato pulp that has been cooked. You can make a zig zag design with the tomato pulp on top. Place loaf pan in another pan that had been half filled with hot water. Bake in oven preheated to 350 F (175C) for 40 to 50 minutes till firm. Remove from oven, serve.

For more recipes get your copy of The Basic Art of Italian Cooking: DaVInci Style here or the digital version exclusively at Kindle

It’s kind of eery… but lately I have been feeling as though I am’ channeling ‘my grandparents and great aunts from Italy through food..let me explain…

My grandfather used to make a scrumptious  egg &  potato frittata..I have  never tasted any that compare..and yesterday I had one here…tasted the same, smelled the same and was so tasty that it created that same euphoric effect.. I could not help but think about him..

Saturday, I found a forno (bakery) that makes a type of biscuit they call a  ciambella..that my grandmother used to make. They are a specialty made in a town called Sora, not far from where my grandmother was born and where her parents had a bakery..I loved staying at her house on weekends. Sunday mornings you could always be sure to wake up to the smell of these ‘ciambella’ baking in the oven (no need for an alarm clock)..no matter  how early it was ..the perfume beckoned you to  go down to the kitchen for a breakfast of ciambella and coffee…. I could not help but think of her…

Bread from Venafro ( A town in the region of Molise, Italy)..my great grandparents (who I never met) were famous in their town for their baked goods and this bread was one of them.. A family friend   traveled to a nearby location that gets a daily delivery of this specialty bread and brought it as a gift for a dinner last week…. As I bit into my first

slice of that bread I found myself daydreaming about what my great grandparents must have been like….

I almost have to wonder if they realized (unconsciously)  that these food memories  they made would be always with me, even though they would not… so that their presence is always around in food and in thought!

For more recipes and food memories get your copy of The Basic Art of Italian Cooking: Holidays & Special Occasions-2nd edition here or in kindle digital version exclusively at Kindle

copyright 2011 Art of Living, PrimaMedia,Inc

(photo credit : www.olomedeia.it)

Post offices are becoming unbearable here,,today there were 100 people ahead of me in line at , my only salvation was that( since it is the Holiday season and everyone plays Tombola or bingo at get togethers) I could imagine myself playing the game as the  numbers appeared on a big screen in the  middle of  the post office..so my half day wait became a game of Tombola..I was number 262 and they were only up to 120….when we finally got to 257 I could yell out “cinquina” only 5 left to go…..and then finally 262,”Tombola” I yelled out ( to myself only)…

Finally out of the post office and it was 12:45..only 15 minutes  (stores close at 1 PM) to get to the fresh pasta store in town…not enough time to make the  fresh pasta..but their fresh pasta is the next best thing to home made..( it is called La Fraiola)… for a bean soup I planned for pranzo (lunch)..a  bean soup with freshly made egg noodles..couldn’t help but but have a hankering for soup since the temps are in the low 30’s and we are surrounded by snow capped mountains.. Here is today’s lunch..

Pasta e Fagioli Borlotti (Borlotti Bean Soup)

excerpted from The Basic Art of Italian Cooking: DaVinci Style available in print here or in digital version exclusively on Kindle

8 ozs. freshly made egg noodles

1 cup borlotti beans (dry and soaked overnight, cooked in water for 1hr)

2 carrots

2 tomatoes

1 leek

1 stalk celery chopped

2 whole cloves garlic

3 tblsps extra virgin olive oil

Place oil in a large pot and place in garlic and chopped leeks Then saute for 3 minutes.

Place in 5 cups (2 ½ liters) hot vegetable broth, carrots, tomatoes, bring to a boil and  simmer place in beans, cook till tender, at least 20 minutes. Boil again and then place in fresh pasta and cook for 5-8 minutes ,and cook for 20 more minutes. Add salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste. Serve and top with a drizzle of olive oil. and freshly grated parmigiano reggiano cheese

Torta Paradiso (Heavenly Cake)

1 cup (200 gr) butter

¾ cup (120 gr)confectioner’s sugar

¼ cup(60 gr) flour

1/3 cup (70 gr) potato starch

1 egg + 1 egg yolk

grated zest of one lemon

extra confectioner’s sugar for topping

Place softened butter in a bowl and whip till a creamy consistency, add in confectioner’s sugar a little at a time. Beat 1 egg + 1 yolk in another bowl till creamy. Add in butter mixture. When well blended add in grated lemon zest, then sift into mixture the flour and potato starch. Mix till well blended.

Butter a 9” cake pan.  Pour in batter. Bake in oven preheated to 350 F (180C) for approx. 1 hour or until cake is firm in center. remove from oven, let cool and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

**Get more recipes from The Basic Art of Italian Cooking: DaVinci Style here or available in digital form exclusively on Kindle

**See you on March 24-25 in Charlottesville, Virginia at the Virginia Festival of the Book.  The Basic Art of Italian Cooking: DaVinci Style is one of the books selected to be featured in this year’s festival

*May 3, 2012 join me on a luxury cruise to Italy and the Mediterranean

Today, after weeks and weeks of baking and cooking for the Holidays, a sort of  inventory of all the leftovers is taken… The day after Christmas, Santo Stefano (Saint Stephen’s Day) has become known as the national day of leftovers. Italian cooks tend to over prepare….it is just simply not possible to eat as much as is prepared..so there is the inevitable leftovers filling every kitchen.

I have a leftover basket of pears from my organic farm and 2 trays of amaretti cookies, baking chocolate and half a bottle of Zebibo – a sweet wine from Sicily. The supermarket is not open..a quick inventory of my fridge and there is just the right amount of ingredients for a Chocolate Pear Torte..

Zebbibo wine has become a fave of mine here, it is made in Sicily. But if you can’t find this sweet wine then substitute a Vin Santo or Pantelleria wine

Chocolate Pear Torte

7 ripe Pears

4 eggs

1 1/2 cups Zebbibo WIne

8 ounces Baking chocolate

3/4 cup butter

1 cup Flour

1/2 cuo Sugar

1/2 cup crushed Amaretti cookies

Peel, core pears, cut each pear into 4 pieces. Place in sauce pan with wine. Heat till wine has evaporated for approximately 20 minutes.  In a double boiler, melt chocolate with 1/2 cup butter, when melted set aside and let cool.   In another bowl, mix egg yolks with  1/4 cup sugar and 1/4 cup softened butter  till creamy.  Blend in chocolate mixture. Add in crushed amaretti,  flour, baking powder Blend till creamy compost.

In a separate bowl, whip egg whites with sugar till peaks form. Gently fold this into chocolate mixture.

Butter and flour a cake pan. Pour in 1/2 batter. Arrange pear slices around cake pan on top of batter. Pour in remaining batter on top of pear slices. Bake in oven preheated to

Place flour into mixture a little at a time. Place in crushed amaretti cookies. When well blended, blend melted chocolate mix into egg yolk mix ,a little at a time till well blended.

Whip egg whites till peaks form. Gently fold  whipped egg whites into chocolate mixture. Place a layer of cake batter ,about 1 inch thick in cake pan. Arrange sliced pears on top of cake batter, pour in remaining batter. Bake for 40 minutes in oven preheated to 375 degrees. Let cool before removing from pan and top with powdered sugar.

Stay tuned for more recipes ,we are in Holiday mode here  till January 6th (La Befana) for more Holiday recipes and stories get your copy of The Basic Art of Italian Cooking: Holidays & Special Occasions-2nd edition. And you can get the digital version exclusively at Kindle.com

May 3, 2012, Join me on  luxury cruise to Italy and the Mediterranean