copyright 2009, Maria Liberati

A  passion for pizza..what’s all this talk about great pizza! David Letterman decided to take Madonna to the restaurant next door to his studio for some NY pizza while a guest on the show.Rob Lowe selected pizza as his favorite food on the Jimmy Kimmel show..but his favorite was a pizza place in Boston..mine is a place in the  Trastevere neighborhood in Rome.. when you enter Trastevere just follow your nose  for the aroma of pizza baking and you will see a line waiting outside..

But homemade pizza is the best..here’s a recipe and a healthy one to make you go ‘pazzo per pizza’ (crazy for pizza)

This pizza serves 4 and has aprox 500 calories a portion.

Pizza  alle Verdure (Pizza with vegetables)

Dough

2 cups flour

1 tsp salt

1 package of dry yeast powder

pinch of sugar

3 tblsps olive oil

Put yeast in a glass, add in  1/3 cup  warm water, a pinch of sugar ,pinch of salt. Stir in a bowl place all ingredients and add in yeast mixture, and olive oil. Work the dough. Blend well till a smooth ball. Place ball in bowl and cover with a clean dish towel. Leave in a warm place and let rise for approx 2 hours.

Topping

1 fresh eggplant

2 tomatoes

1 pepper

3 cipolotti onions, chopped finely

2 tablespoons grated parmigiana-reggiano cheese

Slice and grill all vegetables separately.

Line pizza pan with baking paper. Cover with pizza dough. Top with grilled veggies and drizzle with olive oil and a sprinkle of parmigiana-reggiano cheese. Bake in oven preheated to 400 degrees for about 30 minutes, serve hot or cold.

Get your copy of The Basic Art of Italian Cooking: Holidays & Special Occasions for the hOlidays with over 140+ recipes ,wine pairing tips ,short stories of Holidays spent in Italy.

Book signings/Appearances-email: events@marialiberati.com for reservaitons or info

Oct 2-Collingswood Book Festival, Collingswood, NJ

Oct 5-Horsham Twp Library

Oct 16-18-Philadelphia Food & Wine Festival

Oct 21-Lower Southampton Twp Library

Nov5-7-Christmas in Italy weekend, Lancaster, Pa

 Mangia Bene,Vivi Bene

http://twitter.com/Marialiberati

http://mariaandco.blogspot.com

copyright 2009, Maria Liberati

A morning of mentuccia (mint) and rosmarino(rosemary) ..a day in the country. One last day at the coutnry house before fall really sets in..the days and the nights have become so  chilly. What shall it be for lunch today? A sack of local potatoes we picked up at the open market yesterday..some extra virgin, cold pressed olive oil and the best ingredient …organic rosemary from our garden here.

And for dessert an apple torte made with apples from Trentino.

We set out early and after opening up the house made a quick dash to the garden with a big scissors to cut the rosemary..how much do you want??more , more” I said since I tend tol go  a bit overboard when cooking with fresh rosemary. It has such a hypnotic scent and enhances the flavor of potatoes so well that I can’t imagine cooking roasted potatoed without rosemary.

Ready to leave the garden but can’t resist the fresh mint..ahh perfect for a simple egg fritatta tonight and to flavor some spring water and to scent the house..pick a bouquet for me” I said as I began returning to the house to prepare the lunch.

But first I had to locate a vase just the perfect size to hold a bouquet of mint to place on our mantle by the front door..no luck in finding a vase but jar used for preserving marmelade will suffice..and when my beautiful mint bouquet arrived the fresh, crisp mint scent seemed to quickly fill the room..and soon our little house in the country was brimming with scintillating scents..potatoes roasting in the oven with fresh rosemary stalks and extra virgin cold pressed olive oil from a local olive oil press..an apple torte baking in the second oven..a large bouquet of fresh mint ..

What a fragrant way to begin the day and wake up all the senses….stay tuned for a recap of tonight’s fritta with fresh mint leaves..recipe will be included..

copyright 2009, Maria Liberati

Summer should be filled with delicious, uncomplicated foods…….

Although food always evokes some kind of memory, the warm beautiful summer sun that shone briefly today, took me away (if only for a brief moment ) to  my thoughts of  hiking in the mountains of Abruzzo, the warm summer sun beating down on you, the fresh summer air..the only thing missing is the view from the top….you know I can stand there when I get to the top and look down. Serene and quiet and peaceful where I am at the top but yet I can look down on the busy traffic and the town below me.. and still enjoy the peaceful quiet at the top where I am..

Once at the most serene spot, we take a break for lunch and eat our fresh pannini sandwiches made with fresh mozzarella ,fresh tomatoes and a drizzle of olive oil…

Wherever you are spending your summer..make sure you get to enjoy it ..if even for a weekend..a week or whatever you can spare..get to the top of  a mountain the beach..even your backyard and don’t forget to take along something special to eat..a piece of fresh summer fruit..a freshly made pannini..delicious..not complicated..

After all, it is easy to make delicious and uncomplicatd things with the fresh produce Mother Nature gives us in the summer.

One of my favorite things to make in the summer is simple Pizza Margherita using fresh tomatoes and fresh basil and it’s  great hot, warm or even cold for a picnic lunch..or bring it to the office and pretend you are on a picnic.

Pizza Margherita

Ingredients:

2 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil

1/2 lb. tomatoes, crushed

1/2 tsp. salt

Enough dough to make a pizza pie about 12″ around and roughly 1/8 – ¼ inches thick (most bread machines have a pizza dough setting).

6 oz. fresh mozzarella cheese, shredded

6 fresh basil leaves cut into julienne strips

extra virgin olive oil

1. Let olive oil, tomatoes, and salt marinate in bowl while making the dough.

2. Flatten dough out with hands and lightly rub with some olive oil. Remember to flatten the dough evenly and thinly to ensure it will rise appropriately

3. Turn the edges of the dough up slightly and top with tomatoes and mozzarella, then sprinkle some olive oil on top.

4. Preheat oven to 450F and bake on pizza stone (clay stone) for about 15 minutes or until crust is golden brown and cheese is bubbly.

5. Top pizza with basil leaves after removing it from the oven.

6. Allow pizza to cool, then cut into slices and enjoy.

Join me on July 9th at WHole foods Market, Jenkintown, Pa for the Outdoor Kitchen.  Recipes from The Basic Art of Italian Cooking for the  beach or a picnic. Samples and recipes provided. Call store at 215-481-0800 or email events@marialiberati.com

July 11th- Book signing of The Basic Art of Italian Cooking at the Chestnut  Hill Book Festival in Chestnut Hill, Pa.

July 16th, Whole Foods Market, Annapolis ,Maryland, Picnic in Tuscany cooking Demo. Email events@marialiberati.com for more info

July 18th- Whole FoodsMarket, Fairfax, Virginia, Picnic in Tuscany and wine pairing. Call store or email events@marialiberati.com

Mangia bene, Vivi Bene

http://twitter.com/Marialiberati

copyright 2009, Maria Liberati

One of my favorite things about  summer is being able to   eat  fresh  blueberrries from New Jersey… particularly South Jersey. But the season that you can get fresh Jersey blueberries is a short one and the best ones begin appearing at local farm markets just about now… soon to dwindle down till end of August.

Since I am on the East Coast in months of June and July -shopping for fresh blueberries almost every day is one of my obsessive habits.. so much so that I had my assistant add some dedicated time in my daily schedule that I can have an hour to go get my blueberry supply.

While it’s not always easy to find the blueberries from New Jersey. some are from many other States and have traveled days to get here..but besides reading the label you can spot the Jersey blueberries by the size of the berries..they are bigger than blueberries from other States.

Full of antioxidants, they are not only delicious but provide a wealth of antioxidants and health benefits. Unfortunately my only regeret is that I am in Italy for their last month-August and miss that last month of blueberries.

Once so distraught I took a pound of bluebrries with me on the flight over… it was first week in August..I knew when  Ireturend in late Septembr they would be gone and not to see again for almost another year….thought I could get my fill before leaving.. not such a great idea..ended up with a blue mouth and blue stains on my shirt upon arrival..this did not make such a ‘bella figura’ on arrival at Leonardo DaVInci Airport in Rome…

Unfortunately, in Italy blueberries  are not always easy to find and are very small..not supersized like the Jersey blueberry..hmm… beginning to wonder why the Jersey ones are so supersized!!

I recommend eating them fresh and just plain..but if you’d  like to try them in a recipe too, here’s one of my favorite:

A mixture of strawberries, raspberries, blueberries..but you can use all blueberries if you are a blueberry fanatic like me!

Berry Crepes

30 minutes total

15 minutes prep time

Serves 8-10 crepes

Ingredients

16 ounces strawberries or berries, a mixture of wild (black berries, blue berries, raspberries and strawberries)

1tablespoon brown sugar, packed

Juice from 1/2 lemon

1 cup flour, unbleached

2 eggs

1 tablespoon oil, not olive

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1 1/2 cups skim milk

Cooking spray

Directions

Rinse and slice strawberries into a bowl. Pour lemon juice on top and toss.

Add brown sugar and toss until well coated; set aside.

In a medium bowl whisk all ingredients together until there are no more lumps.

Over medium heat, heat crepe pan or non-stick frying pan.

When heated, remove from heat and spray with cooking spray

Pour a 1/4 cup of the batter in the pan. Quickly lift pan and tilt and turn until

batter evenly covers the bottom.

Cook over medium heat for 30 – 45 seconds until the edges are dry enough to

get a spatula under to flip.

Cook for another 30 seconds on the other side.

When lightly browned, remove from pan onto a plate.

Spray pan with cooking spray and repeat for the rest of the batter.

Stack crepes with wax paper between so they can be easily separated.

Down the middle 1/3 of the crepe spread one or 2 heaping spoons of berry mixture.

Fold one side of the crepe over the mixture and then the other side over first side.

Top with a spoon of berry mixture.

Can also be frozen wrap first in wax paper then put into plastic bag and then foil.

They stay moist if this is done when still slightly warm.

For more delicious recipes get your copy of the bestselling book The Basic Art of Italian Cooking at http://www.marialiberati.com

 Hope to see you at  some of my appearances coming up:

 July 9th, 6:15 PM  Whole Foods, Jenkintown, Pa-  The Basic Art of Italian Cooking School presents The Outdoor Kitchen- foods for the picnic , the beach or dining al fresco. Call the store at 215-481-0800 or email events@marialiberati.com

 July 16th-Whole Foods Annapolis, Maryland
http://www.prlog.org/10256011-celebrity-chef-maria-liberati-cooks-for-the-crowd-at-new-whole-foods-market-culinary-center.html

 July 18th-Whole Foods Fairfax/ Fair Lakes, Virginia
http://cuisinewire.org/10256021/maria-liberati-cooking-demonstration-and-wine-pairing-at-whole-foods-market-fairfaxfair-lakes.html

July 31-August2-Atlantic  City food and wine festival
http://www.prlog.org/10264998-celebrity-chef-maria-liberati-emeril-lagasse-guy-fieri-at-atlantic-city-food-and-wine-festival.html

 Get your copy of the bestselling book The Basic Art of Italian cooking at http://www.marialiberati.com

For more recipes and articles

SaaS is a new buzz term. In case you have been left behind SaaS means Software as a Service. The whole concept is really revolutionary especially for those of us that do business all over the world.

Just think of it  you can rent, not own a program for hosted Lotus connections and more..the concept of movies on demand..only pay for software when you need it as you need it.

No need to outlay all that money for software the way the big companies do, now you can have the same quality software without all the expense you only pay for what you need.  What a concept! 

Access to hosted lotus notes

This now makes it possible for smaller companies to expand.. And as I always say the world is getting smaller especially with this concept of Saas.

And now you can even rent access to lotus notes 7.02