Hard to believe it is Spring and still a chill in the air. One way to combat those chilly Spring nights is with a hot bowl of soup for dinner. besides being tasty, the best part is that they really are quick and easy to make, delicious and healthy. Serve with slices of crusty bread and you have a meal. here’s a recipe from my upcoming book The Basic Art of Italian Cooking: DaVinci Style.

Minestra Bolognese
1 lb (500 gr) speckled beans
½ lb (250 gr) fresh pasta-(short noodles)
1 medium potato
¼ cup (50 gr) plum tomatoes
1 garlic clove
½ onion
handful fresh parsley
1 carrot
1 stalk celery
fresh rosemary
freshly grated parmigiana reggiano cheese

Soak beans overnight, Cut celery, carrot, onion, in chunks, place them in cheesecloth. Put in with beans and boil for 30 minutes, remove cheesecloth with carrot, celery, onion. Place in potato with beans and cook for another 45 minutes. Drain and place in food processor.
In a sauce pan, make the sauce. Place in olive oil, heat,then place in chopped garlic,pinch of salt. When garlic is just about golden, add in tomatoes, chopped rosemary and chopped parsley. Saute for 15 minutes. Add in pureed beans. Bring to boil, add in fresh pasta and cook for 3 minutes or until pasta is done. Serve with a drizzle of olive oil, freshly grated parmigiana reggiano cheese

For more great recipes, get your copy of The Basic Art of Italian Cooking: Holidays & Special Occasions

Happy” top o’ the mornin to ya”…for Saint Patrick’s Day. Today the Irish claim him as their own, but did you know that even the Italians claim him as one of their own. He was born in Britain when it was ruled and owned by the Romans, so the Italians  consider him a Roman-not Irish.

One thing all Americans can usually agree on is to celebrate the day..And no one celebrates the day bigger and better than Americans.

In Italy, today, March 17^th, is Festa Nazionale (national Feast Day) for the Unification of Italy (to celebrate the 150 yrs that Italy has been a unified nation)..no matter what you want to celebrate..Celebrate!

In honor of both occasions, here’s an Italian style dish that includes cabbage and potatoes with Filet of Sole.  Serve with a dry white wine, a sparkling Prosecco or even beer.

Filet of Sole with Cabbage and Potatoes

copyright 2011, art of living,PrimaMedia,Inc/Maria Liberati from The Basic Art of Italian Cooking: Holidays & Special Occasions-2nd edition

Serves 4.

• 1 pound cabbage
• 1 tablespoon coarse salt
• 2 large potatoes
• 1 tablespoon butter
• Pinch of salt and pepper
• 1 pound filet of sole
• 1 teaspoon dried leeks
• 1 teaspoon dried fennel

Clean cabbage and chop into large pieces. Boil in 2 quarts of water. Add in coarse salt and boil for 7 minutes. Drain.

Peel and cut potatoes into pieces. Boil for 10 minutes. Puree in food processor and place in puree bowl.

Melt butter in a saucepan. Place in cooked cabbage and stir for 3 minutes on low to medium heat. Add in mashed potatoes and salt and pepper to taste. Cook for 2 more minutes.

Wash fish with fresh water. Cook in a steamer. Place water to boil in the bottom of steamer with dried herbs. Place sole in basket on top, cover, and steam for 10 minutes. Remove from heat.

Serve fish on individual plates with potato mixture on side. Decorate plates with the tops of the leeks and dried herbs.

 For more great recipes, get your copy of  the book selected as Best Italian Cuisine Book in the USA-

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

copyright 2010 art of living, PrimaMedia, Inc.

I love having a kitchen full of people to cook for, but every now and again I love to relax..and cook for one..Me! I can create something just for me! Today was one of those days, and a frittata is one of my favorite things to make for one…fun, easy and not too many utensils needed..only a bowl for the eggs, one cutting board for veggies, one pan.

The 8″ saute pan from Beka Cookware (one of our 2010 Annual Holiday Guide Picks) has become one of my favorites in the kiitchen. I keep it in close proximity to the range. It’s a stylish piece to add to the kitchen but also is the first 100% ‘green’ cookware. No chemicals are used in the manufacturing of  the pan-so no one is harmed when producing the pan or cooking with it. And since it is coated with a patented ceramic coating and non-stick- my frittata comes out of  the pan..picture perfect. And it can also safely be put into the oven to finish that frittata.

Here is my ‘cooking for one’ (or maybe two) frittata:

Frittata Dell’Orto (Garden Style Frittata)

*2 fresh eggs

1 zucchini sliced

1/2 small eggplant cubed

1 small potato cubed

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1 garlic clove

1 shallot chopped finely

pinch of rosemary

1 tsp of fresh parsley chopped

pinch of salt and pepper

Peel potato and boil in boiling water for 5 minutes, remove ,cool, cut into cubes.  Place 1 tablespoon of  extra virgin olive oil in Beka 8″ saute pan, place in finely chopped shallot and whole garlic clove. Saute for 2 minutes. Place in cubed eggplant, sliced zucchini,,cubed potatoes. Saute for 5 minutes over medium heat, remove garlic clove.  Break eggs into bowl and whisk with wire whisk. Pour over vegetables, sprinkle in rosemary, parsley, pinch of salt and pepper. Saute till edges are firm and middle is firm. Toss onto another plate or place in oven preheated to 350 degrees for 10 minutes or until lightly browned on top. Remove from pan. This is a generous portion for on, and could be enough for an unexpected guest!

For more recipes, get your coy of the book selected as the Best Italian Cuisine Book in the USA

The Basic Art of Italian Cooking: Holiday & Special Occasions-2nd edition now with an added chapter on the Feast of the Seven Fishes

It pays to listen to gossip and conversation in the town piazza at night..some more than others..from overheard conversations last night was a variety of talk about family riffs going on..to the latest couple breaking up in town because of a cheating husband and those disagreeing on whether the wife should forgive and take him back..and then the most useful piece of gossip was overheard at midnight a woman speaking in detail about the fresh parsley in her garden this year and how she used it to flavor roasted potatoes instead of Rosemary (which is the usual here) and how delicious they were..of course she mentioned how her husband did not like Rosemary much so she decided to substitute, This was my favorite piece of gossip and the only one I care to remember in detail…I knew I would eventually hear something of true interest!

Today’s lunch will be a variety of roasted vegetables including roasted potatoes with parsley and locally produced fresh mozzarella..the bread from our local baker or ‘forno’..it is bread made from potatoes..a specialty of this region where potatoes are cultivated..I guess we could think of this area as the Idaho of Italy. Potatoes from the Fucino valley are known throughout and even the headquarters of Micron for Italy (also in Idaho) is located here

Roasted Parsley Potatoes

1 lb of peeled potatoes

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 handful chopped parsley leaves

Boil potatoes for 5 minutes. Peel. Drizzle 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil on bottom of pan. Cut potatoes into quarters, place in pan. Drizzle remaining olive oil on top. Sprinkle on chopped fresh parsley. Bake for 30 minutes at 400 degrees ,then place under broil for 2 minutes or until golden brown.

Serve with a chilled white wine-Trebbiano D’Abruzzo

For more recipes get your copy of The Basic Art of Italian Cooking: Holidays & Special Occasions-2nd edition

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Sept 9-12 Rhinebeck, NY, see you at Hudson Valley Wine Festival at the Dutchess County Fairgrounds. I will be bringing the Basic Art of Italian Cooking on stage with recipes and stories from the book series and book signing event will be held all weekend. For more info or to sponsor the on stage cooking demos email: Info@marialiberati.com

Oct 29-30-Philadelphia Gourmet Food & Wine Show , Valley Forge, Pa. The Basic Art of Italian Cooking will take center stage throughout the event and book signing swill be held throughout the show. For more info or to sponsor on stage demos contact: info@marialiberati.com

copyright, 2008, Maria Liberati

 My grandmother (nonna) Maria loved the Italian opera..she loved to sing all the Italian classics and  to this day, when I hear an  opera cd -you can be sure that one of the songs will always bring back memories of her singing at the table after a long dinner…

My grandparents immigrated to the USA and settled in  South Philadelphia. My grandmother even sang with a young Mario Lanza in a local church produced opera there.

But being that nonna loved opera… when I look back on memories of things she did it seems that everything had acts and scenes just like an opera..dinners and making preserves and making her famous biscotti and just about everything.. From the drama of the preparation to the presentation..always almost the same thrill as witnessing an opera-from the overture to the final act..

But I think that one of her grandest ‘operas’ was Thanksgiving dinner. It had many acts..from the grand opening act of a table full of appetizers to the first course which was almost always her scrumptious lasagna made from freshly made pasta dough and freshly made tomato sauce..then the turkey arrived as the second course and everything else arrived seperately as its’ own course..the roasted potatoes with fresh rosemary, the spinach sauteed in garlic and olive oil, then the salad (salad is typically served last in Italian households and in Italy).Then the fresh cheeses and dried meats.  Plates of fresh fruits and nuts..then fresh fruit macedonia (A type of fruit cocktail-made with fresh fruits or fruits she had jarred from the summer)..then the desserts taking stage one after the other..Every course being so special and made with such care that you had to focus on one course at a time..just like at the opera..one act at a time… And nonna was always the ‘diva’ of the opera from it’s preparation to the presentation and the final act…

And I can’t forget about the audience..an audience of 35 or more-family and friends gathered around as many tables as one can fit in a kitchen..old and young and in between all ‘oohed’ and ‘aahed’ at the arrival of another course..just like the beginning of the acts of an opera… And upon the arrival of an act or course the audience became quiet… anxious to savor what was before them..  The tastes were as pleasing to the palate as the sounds of  a great tenor like Pavarotti and Caruso or Mario Lanza or soprano Maria Callas..you don’t want to miss a minute of a memorable performance…

The Opera… and the Final Act

And after dinner and all the plates had been cleared away, the memorable final act was nonna serenading us with one of her opera classics..and nonno may chime in with one of the love songs he serenaded her with when they first met…Oh what a beautiful opera and unfortunately one that I can never see again.

So I am thankful this Thanksgiving not just for being able to have the food on the table but for having had all those special memories that I can look back on. The Thanksgiving Opera… 

If you also have some special Thanksgiving memories..please share…. Memories are special gifts to be shared….

For more memories and recipes get your copy of  bestselling book The Basic Art of Italian Cooking by Maria Liberati at http://www.marialiberati.com or http://stores.lulu.com/marialiberati

Technorati Profile

“Mangia Bene, Vivi Bene”
Maria

I am excited  and looking forward to being a special guest at the Le Cordon Bleu School in Boston, Massachusetts on Friday for a special event that was organized by The Italian Culinary Foundation. It is a wonderful foundation that was organized to promote the authentic flavors and history of real Italian Cuisine.

In the US we have become very used to calling  what is really Italian-American cuisine - authentic Italian,but it really is not authentic Italian. For instance a  simple dish of spaghetti and meatballs is not authentic Italian.   In Italy .. Spaghetti (in a small portion ) is eaten seperate as the first course of a meal and the meatballs (polpette) are eaten seperately as the second course.  And the pasta is not served in a gigantic bowl but in a small dish for one portion size.

These are all part of what the Italian Culinary Foundation hopes to make people aware of in order to promote what is really Italian cooking and so that everyone undestands why the Italian diet is so healthy.  Real, authentic cuisine is high quality ingredients in small quantities and not covered up with  lots of  heavy processed flavors but letting each flavor shine through and using light amounts of sauces to dress your dish and not cover it up.

Anyway, I will have more on this upon my return on Saturday. But as an added bonus I will also be attending a cooking  demo by one of Italy’s top chefs from Assissi, Italy-Enea Barbanera.

In honor of this event I am going to include some of his recipes on my upcoming posts. Here is one to start with,enjoy..:

Potato Gnocchi with Fava Beans and Black Truffle

“Gnocchetti di patate con fave e tartufo nero”

by Chef Enea Barbanera

Method

1. Boil the potatoes in their skins in lightly salted water or cook them in a steam oven. Peel and mash the potatoes on a marble surface while they’re still warm.

2. Add the flour, egg, a pinch of salt, pepper and nutmeg to the mashed potatoes and gently combine. Form the batter into gnocchi according to the traditional method.

3. Saute  one minced scallion in a saucepan; add ¼ of the beans and finish cooking with a little vegetable broth. When the beans are tender, pureè in a blender with olive oil.

4. In a saucpan, heat some olive oil and sweat the remaining scallion with the branch of rosemary. Add the remaining whole beans and the tomato concasse; cook for a few minutes over low heat, adding vegetable stock if necessary.

5. Cook the gnocchi in abundant salted water, removing them as soon as they come to the surface and transferring them directly into the prepared sauce. Finish the plate with a grating of black truffle and garnish with a small piece of rosemary. (Alternative: serve in parmesan crisp or potato bowls.

For more great recipe stay tuned to this blog i nthe next few days and also get your copy of the best selling book The Basic Art of Italian Cooking at http://www.marialiberati.com or    http://stores.lulu.com/marialiberati

“Mangia Bene, Vivi Bene”

Maria