(Blog text copyright 2012 Art of Living, PrimaMedia,Inc/Maria Liberati)

Music is food for the heart &  soul just as pasta is food for  the stomach…

When I need a pick me up..food is great..but sometimes my ears become jealous of my stomach..so I need to give my ears something exquisite to satisfy..and beautiful music like this does the job

And so that your stomach does not become jealous of your ears..here is something yummy for an easy weekend lunch or dinner..you can even  use leftover spaghetti..if you have some for this one….

Spaghetti Stuffed Peppers

(photo from www.yumsugar.com)

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

1 lb of spaghetti

4 fresh red peppers

16 ounces canned tomatoes

2 garlic cloves-chopped

1 handful of fresh basil

¼ lb of fresh mozzarella- cut into small cubes

5 tblsps of freshly grated Parmigiana-Reggiano cheese

4 ounces of breadcrumbs

6 ounces of extra virgin olive oil

1 cup of broth- can be vegetable or meat

Salt and pepper to taste

In a large shallow pan place 3 tbsps of olive oil and chopped garlic. Add in tomatoes, ½ of fresh basil and pinch of salt.. Cook over low heat for 15 minutes, stirring every few minutes or until most of the juice has evaporated.

Begin to boil water and cook spaghetti till al dente. Drain spaghetti. Remove sauce from heat and add in spaghetti and freshly grated Parmigiana-Reggiano and toss.

Wash peppers cut them in half vertically and remove seeds. Drizzle about two tablespoons of the olive oil on shallow baking dish and place in peppers (cut side up). Fill with spaghetti mixture and top with some cubes of fresh mozzarella cheese. Ladle the broth over the tomatoes. Sprinkle peppers with breadcrumbs and remaining basil. Drizzle remaining olive oil over peppers (about 2 tblsps). Cover casserole with baking paper or aluminum foil and bake in oven preheated to 375 degrees for 15 minutes. Remove baking paper and cook for another 5 minutes. Place on broil for last minute to brown. Serve immediately

Editor : Chris Manganaro

copyright 2012 Art of Living, PrimaMedia,Inc

Have you ever tasted dandelion greens? Growing up, my grandfather got me hooked on the dandelion soup he used to make with his freshly harvested dandelion greens . Dandelions are extremely healthy for you. They are even more nutritious than broccoli or spinach and contain all sorts of vitamins and minerals. So, why not eat dandelions? Apparently we should.

In Deirdre M. Capone’s book, Uncle Al Capone, there is a chapter named after the unique dish that is dandelion soup. She would help her family prepare this soup by collecting and cleaning the dandelions. Fortunately for us, she decided to share this recipe along with some very interesting family memorabilia in her latest book.

Dandelion Soup

(photo credit: http:// www.kcrw.com)

2 pounds dandelion greens

½ cup olive oil

3 cloves minced garlic

1 medium onion minced

4 cups chicken stock

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp fresh ground pepper

½ cup freshly grated Romano cheese

Aside from the use of dandelion greens, it would seem to be a very basic soup recipe. And that is because it is. This recipe’s simplicity is one of the reasons that it is so inviting. For the author, the recipe holds memories, just as the other recipes in the book. What makes this recipe and all the recipes even more tantalizing is the fact that they are authentically Italian recipes that were made in the Capone family.

This is just one of the many recipes included in the book. Being able to cook recipes that Al Capone used to eat is fun and definitely worth a try. The inclusion of these recipes in the book not only help to make a point, but add just a little bit more value by creating another facet to this part of history,

There is more to the dandelion than the annoyingness of their weedy abundance or the ability to make children smile when blowing their seedy white fluff all around. Similar to Al Capone, there is more to them than people think. Next time you look outside and scowl at the overabundance of dandelions, just think of a delicious pot of dandelion soup simmering on your stove!

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

French and Italian combinations work marvelously in food-just think of beschamel sauce, onion soup, crepes. recipes created in the kitchens of Caterina DeMedici  with her private chefs,while living in France-

and in art- Amedeo Modigliani an Italian artist born in Livorno Italy who moved to Paris to pursue his art…

(by Amedeo Modigliani)

So a salad combining the French artisan Roquefort cheese, and extra virgin Italian made olive oil with Tuscan Picnic flavor

Walnut, Pomegranate ,Roquefort Salad

*4 handfuls mixed salad greens (arugula, romaine,baby spinach)

*1 lb Roquefort cheese, crumbled

*2 hard boiled eggs

*3 tblsps extra virgin oilve oil

*4 tblsps shelled walnuts

*2 tsps Sempre Sapori spice blend (Tuscan Picnic flavor)

*2 tblsps pomegranate seeds

Wash, dry salad greeens. Crumble cheese into dish and set aside.  Boil eggs for 8 minutes, peel and chop.  Fold cheese, eggs, walnuts,pomegranate seeds into salad in a large bowl.

In small bowl whisk together lemon juice, 3 tblsps extra virgin olive oil, Sempre  Sapori. Pour over salad, toss and serve.

*Get Sempre Spaori  Tuscan Spice Blend here

Get more recipes in The Basic Art of Italian Cooking: DaVinci style

*March 24th-see you at the Virginia Festival of the Book in Charlottesville, Virginia..For more info email: events@marialiberati.com

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

The very first cookbooks on record were once mainly lists of recipes that were either an author’s favorite recipes or a book of what we  would consider haute cuisine and were used to instruct chefs for banquets and elegant affairs. Once of the first cookbooks on record printed in Italian was written by  Bartolomeo  Platina called On Right Pleasure and Good Health (De honesta voluptate et valetudine).

These recipes could be used today:

Platina’s Red Chickpea Soup from On Right Pleasure and Good Health

(photo credits: www.myseveralworlds.com)

Wash a pound or more of chickpeas in warm water. When they are washed and put in a pot without water, where they will simmer, mix in, with your hands, half an ounce of groats, a little oil and salt, up to twenty crushed peppercorns, and a little ground cinnamon. Then put on the hearth and add nearly a gallon of water, with sage and rosemary added, and parsley roots chopped fine. Let it boil until it is reduced to eight cups. When it has been almost cooked, drop in a bit of oil.

Platina’s Sicilian Macaroni from On Right Pleasure and Good Health

Beat a well-sifted white flour with egg whites and rose water and plain water. When it is mixed, draw out into thin strips of dough in the manner of straw half a foot long. Hollow them out with a very thin iron rod—when you pull out the iron, you will leave them hollow. When dried in the sun, pasta of this sort will last two to three years, especially if it was under the waning moon of August. If it is cooked in rich broth and poured into serving dishes, it should be sprinkled with fresh butter and sweet spices.

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

Join me in May 2012 for a luxury Italian cruise

Join me at the Virginia Festival of the Book on March 24th in Charlottesville Virginia,email: events@marialiberati.com for more info

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…