copyright 2010, Maria Liberati

And so goes the summer..almost..one month left to summer..don’t let it pass you by without taking advantage of something ‘summery’..eat an ice cream or a gelato outside…al fresco…at the beach..taking a stroll..on the boardwalk…sightseeing..just relaxing..anyway to really enjoy that gelato/ice cream

I am getting ready to do our evening ‘passeggiata’ in the piazza with some friends and enjoy my first gelato for summer 2010..can’t believe I have almost let summer pass me by without taking time to do that.

Does anyone have a favorite gelato or ice cream place anywhere in the world they can share.. In Rome, one of my favorite coffee bars for artisan gelato is Giolitti. In the seaside resort of Pescara my favorite gelato place is out of the center and not very ‘touristy’ but it is delicious and will have you dreaming about it for many days after. It is simply called Bar Bologna-if you want to go there, just send me an email and I will tell you exact address.

Does anyone know of any homemade ice cream places anywhere? We all would love to know …

I always think of myself as a ‘gastronaut’- ( gastronomy + astronaut=gastronaut) someone that travels and explores through food..and I think there are many of you out there! 

Sundays in the center of Rome are my favorite way to spend a lazy summer afternoon,  exploring as a gastronaut..while many flock to nearby beaches I prefer to ‘sweat it out’ walking through the cobblestoned streets and admiring  the view and  some of the simple foods special to this city..gelato, pizza,cornetti, tramezzini..

You can find these in other places in Italy..but you will find the best of them here,in Rome.  And on Sundays if  lunch isn’t eaten at home in grand fashion,it is a casual lunch while making my way through this living art museum they call Rome. A tramezzini is my usual choice for lunch..I call it the elegant sandwich (If you have a favorite food from your trips to Rome, let us know!)

Tramezzini are beautifully decorated sandwiches usually placed in front in the glass cases at the coffee bars at lunchtime,sometimes even for breakfast and during happy hour eaten with aperitifs. When I’m not in Rome but longing for my days there, I make a tramezzini on a lazy Sunday afternoon-wherever I am and reminisce…

Tramezzini are great to bring to the beach or a picnic or even to the office. Who thought Italians use sliced bread? crusts are removed to make this an elegant sandwich

Tramezzini

serves 1

3 slices of thinly sliced white or whole wheat bread (crusts removed)

1- 3ounce can of tuna packed in water

*1 chopped celery stalk

*1 small tomato sliced

*1 tsp chopped red onion

*1/4 cup shredded romaine lettuce

*4 large green or black olives hulled and chopped

*2 tsps extra virgin olive oil

Drain and flake tuna, place in bowl. Add in chopped red onion, chopped celery,olives. Drizzle one tsp olive oil on top and mix.

Cut bread slices in quarters- triangle shapes. Brush both slices with olive oil, place in oven under broil for a minute to toast. Remove from oven. Make small sandwiches by placing tuna mixture on top of one slice then place a triangle on top, then place a slice of tomato, drizzle with olive oil, cover with another triangle. Now stick a toothpick through to hold it together. Place a grape tomato or olive on top of toothpick. Make 4 of these. You can use the same fillings for your sandwiches that you use for almost any sandwiches-cheeses, meats, roasted veggies

Garnish with parsley leaves,serve. No passport needed!

Any foods that take you back to a special place? Share your summer food memories here..or foods that bring you back to a special place…we would love to hear about them!

More on tramezzini

For more recipes get your copy of the award winning book The Basic Art of Italian Cooking: Holiidays & Special Occasions-2nd edition –selected as the Best Italian Cuisine Book in the USA

Sept 9-12-Hudson Valley Wine Festival- Maria Liberati and The Basic Art of Italian Cooking take center stage for cooking demos and book signings. Held at the Dutchess County Fairgrounds in Rhinebeck, NY. For more  info to attend or to sponsor the cooking demos, email us at : info@marialiberati.com

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Who is it that told me that food and fashion have nothing in common? It must have been someone that has never experienced the center of Rome on a sunny, Sunday afternoon!   It is fashionably chic there  to get dressed up..ever so stylish… in the afternoon for a ‘passeggiata’ (afternoon walk) and present a ‘bella figura’ . One just strolls to the most fashionable coffee bars and sips..ever so fashionably slow..their espresso or iced espresso or Granita.

Granita

1 1/2 cups espresso coffee

1 cup springwater

3 tablespoons of sugar

1 vanilla stick

crushed ice

Place water, sugar and the vanilla stick in a pan and bring to a boil/ When boiling, remove from heat. Let cool, remove vanilla stick. Place in an ice cube tray ,place in freezer, let mixture turn to ice. When frozen place in ice crusher or chop carefully with knife. Place 3 tblsps of crushed ice in each glass, pour hot coffee over ice.Serve immediately. Top with freshly whipped cream.

For more recipes get your copy of The Basic Art of Italian Cooking: Holidays & Special Occasions-2nd edition- the book selected as Best Italian Cuisine Book in the USA

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See you September 10-12 at Hudson Valley Wine Festival in Rhinebeck, NY. Book signing and on stage cooking demos from The Basic Art of Italian Cooking: Holidays & Special Occasions- 2nd edition

Maria

If you really want to treat Mom this weekend, the simple,elegant and back to basics ..the perfect gift..a box of chocolates with at least 65% cocoa content are the way to go..you will be satisfying her sweet tooth in a healthy way…

My favorite dish for brunch is known as Mozzarella in Carozza which literally means Mozzarella in a Carriage. Just one bite of this tasty delight brings me back to a lazy Sunday spent in the center of Rome at one of my favorite coffee bars..most of the coffee bars in Rome serve these sandwiches..an Italian style grilled cheese sandwich..

Mozzarella in Carozza ( Grilled Mozzarella Sandwich)

8 slices of day old bread

2 cups milk

8  slices of fresh mozzarella

2 large eggs, beaten

1- 3/4 cups all purpose flour

Cut crusts off slices of bread, then dip them quickly in the milk to soften them. Then create the sandwiches by putting two slices of mozzarella between 2 slices of bread. Press down on top slice of bread to make the sandwiches stick together.

Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large pan. Mix the eggs with 2 tablespoons of the milk, then dip coat with the flour. Fry the sandwiches, turning so they brown on both sides .Serve hot and bubbly.

Happy Mother’s Day..

Maria

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For more recipes get your copy of the award winning book: The Basic Art of Italian Cooking: Holidays & Special Occasions winner of the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards.

Thanks so much for those that came to my book signing/sampling at Borders in Warrington, Pa..I enjoyed meeting you all!

May 25th, 11 AM, I will be signing pre-release copies of my new release book the second edition of The Basic Art of Italian Cooking.

copyright 2010, Maria Liberati

“Life is a combination of magic and pasta” a saying of the late film director Federico Fellini..and it is so true…

Fellini was from Rimini in the north of Italy but a trip to the Eternal City when he was a young boy changed his life forever…he was enamored with  Rome..its’ people. its’ food, its’ flavors,its’ sights, the magic..and so the films of Federico Felllini were born.

I have walked  past and stopped at many of his old haunts in Rome  and wonder what it would have been like to have dinner with him and his delightful wife, actress Giuliana Massina…a Sunday  dinner ..you know first a’ passeggiata’ on Via Margutta..known for their antiques stores and one of his favorite neighborhoods.

And then heading over to Sora Lella’s restaurant  for a typical Roman pasta dish -Pasta a la Matriciana  (a specialty of the restaurant)– accompanied by a glass of Montepulciano….entertained by the intense flavors of the pasta and the interesting stories of Fellini and his  wife Giuliana and the cinematic  memories of Sora Lella herself…..that would be truly magic and pasta. And the evening’s dinner would finish with a stroll .. under a serene  Roman evening sky….to  coffee bar Giolitti  for a sweet taste of gelato….and an espresso  at Caffe Greco..as famous for its’ coffee as its’creative ‘literati’ customers.

I hope we could fit a quick tour of Cinecitta (the original studios in Rome where he filmed most of his movies) in before dinner..

An imaginary dinner… but here is the real Pasta a la Matriciana

La Matriciana

(from The Basic Art of Italian Cooking: Holidays & Special Occasions winner of the Best Italian Cuisine Book in the USA)

for 4 people

*1 lb of pasta (spaghetti, bucatini,rigatoni)

• ½ onion
• 1 clove of garlic
• ¼ pound bacon (optional), cut into thin strips
• 3 tblsps of extra virgin olive oil
• ½ cup of dry white wine with ½ tblsp of white wine vinegar
• 5-6 leaves of fresh basil
• ¼ of a dry, hot ,red pepper
• a pinch of black pepper
• 2 lbs of ripe red plum tomatoes
• ¼ cup of pecorino romano cheese freshly grated

Place olive oil in saute pan and warm, place in bacon and chopped onion, hot red pepper, garlic .Saute until onion begins to become golden. Pour in wine and let liquid evaporate. Then add in the tomatoes that have been fileted (seeds removed) and fresh basil leaves.

Saute on medium heat for approx 20 minutes, stirring frequently.

Cook the pasta till al dente. Drain and place in sauce, toss and place in half of the grated cheese, toss. Serve each portion with a pinch of black pepper and more grated cheese.

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Copyright 2009, Maria Liberati

Sundays in Rome always turn into special days..and this weekend was no exception. A  trip there  for an event on Saturday  for my latest book The Basic Art of Italian Cooking-Holidays & Special Occasions turned into more than just that ..Sunday was  filled with finding  favorite foods in Rome and seeing old friends-Moses &  Michelangelo..

 It  became a  trip to revisit those old friends..a stop to see Michelangelo’s Moses, the Trevi Fountain and canlt forget Santa Maria sopra Minerva… I have seen them many times and can sit in front of them for hours upon end and take in their beauty..almost embarassingly so..my eyes become wide open in amazement.. thinking of Michelangelo toiling in front of his Moses…

But enough about the art..let’s get into the food.. From cornetto & cappuccino near Santa Maria Maggiore to Pizza in Trastevere..coffee at St.Eustachio and EUR and gelato near Montecitorio…what a weekend program..  attempting to fit in all the local food stops one could fit in..It seemed like so many foods but  so little time to get them all in..

Pizza in Rome is at its best when it is thin ,made with fresh mozzarella, extra virgin olive oil and most places display a sign to tell you the ingredients uses as do the places that make their own gelato. The sign is usually somewhere on the glass case that displays the pizza and/or gelato..

In 100 degree weather the  gelato creations, looking as something that may have been created by one of the masters, melt so quickly one has but a split second to  admire the aesthetic beauty. Enjoying a dish of gelato outside in Rome under the summer sun is an experience in contrast..the heatof the August sun beating down,the cool,creamy liquid refreshing your senses..the intense flavors hypnotizing…almost diverting your attention away from the uncomfortable temperatures at least for a few minutes.

A linguine with cold pasta sauce coming later today  for lunch..

Mangia Bene, Vivi Bene,

Maria

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 copyright, 2009, Maria Liberati

It is amusing to sit and watch how people that are extremely cold warm up. Some will stare in disbelief at their reddened hands, almost frozen and unable to move. Others seem to think that laughing  to shake off the cold’s icy touch is the best solution. Then there are those that will just sit without uddering a word, who seem to sit mute  almost as if  in shock.

After visiting the ’square coliseum’, we knew we needed  some solution  to the cold wind.  The Solution ………was a visit to Palombini  (coffee bar) next door, the visions of sweet pillows of pastry and colorfully decorated cakes for Carnevale and Easter  was all that was needed to get us inside. That was the easiest decision, now came the world’s most difficult decision..what should we order or not order…

It was the perfect resting place for cold weary shoppers.. in the Eternal city how can anything but indulgence be your mission..food ,fashion, beauty, art, architeture..

To my next visit to Palombini and enjoy some tramezzini at home if you can’t meet me there.

Join me at The Basic Art of Italian Cooking by Maria Liberati tm Cooking School in Italy on Sept 23-Oct 6th at the villa. Stay for 6 nights/ 7 days with us and enjoy hands on authentic cooking classes, vineyard tours, visits to artisan food producers, wine tastings and more. (Almost all inclusive)_Everything exept airfare..Included is all meals cooking classes, lodging, excursions, wine tastings and transport from airport and back. Limited to 12 participants and if yo uregister by May 1st you receive $200 off the price. An Experience you will never forget. Makes a great Mother’s Day gift!

Visit our recipes and articles page, updated frequently with all the recipes you have been asking for and more to come.

Mangia Bene, Vivi Bene

Maria

Today will be another day in the US, but for most children in Italy it marks the last day of the Christmas Holidays. The day the good witch known as ‘La Befana’(taken from the word Epiphania or Epiphany) leaves caramelle (candies) and toys in their stockings if they were good,if they were bad they can be sure to receive a stocking full of ‘carbone’ or coal.

Although, in the US the Christmas trees have been put away and decorations are just a memory, in Italy they still linger ,Christmas music is sitll playing ,stores still offer  Christmas wrapping and plenty of Holiday treats still abound in mnay homes.. at least for one more day ..today, January 6th, the Epiphany.

But for me here it is a day trying to decide which celebration to go to..for instance in Venice there is always the La Befana Regatta..The men dress up in La befana costumes-complete with red lipstick and wigs- and compete in their small boats. after the race, they hand out little candies to the crowds of people and hot wine and sweets are served ,there is usually a concert by a local choir..

Then in Rome, Piazza Navona concludes it’s final day of the Christmas market.  Both ‘La Befana’ and Santa Claus are walking around and available for photo taking. Stockings filled with candies and  toys can be purchased as well as nativity scenes, la befana dolls, flying  la befana’s  (on a broomstick),candies, roasted nuts and more..

In the small towns nearby the piazzas all have their own little celebrations…

I have already attended many a La Befana Regatta in Venice and Christmas market in Piazza Navona in Rome.. I think this year I will opt for something quieter since both of those events have grown into ‘touristy’ attractions. 

I am opting to do a dinner .. since we have many  recipes we have been working on at The Basic Art of Italian Cooking Kitchen here in Abruzzo.Here are some recipes you can try also and no matter what age you are you can still have your own La Befana Celebration at home with some of these recipes for dinner, a Prosecco to accompany dinner or even a sparkiling red wine that is festive -Bracchetto D’Acqui.

Here is more info on La Befana Celebrations

http://marialiberati.com/blog2/

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/17784/la_befana_italys_good_witch_rules_italian.html

Some Special Recipes we have been working on at The Basic Art of Italian Cooking kitchen:

Mille Feuilles & Sapori

*3 cups Grana Padano cheese

*1 ounce dried porcini mushrooms

*2 cups fresh or frozen peas

*2 potatoes (cut into small cubes)

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

*1 scallion minced

*1/2 cup vegetable or chicken stock

*1 clove garlic

*extra virgin olive oil

Place dried mushrooms in a small bowl and pour 1 cup of water on top. Let sit for 30 minutes.In center of non-stick, hot pan, melt a tablespoon of grated grana padano cheese over low heat. As cheese melts it becomes a wafer. Before it browns, transfer to flat plate and allow to cool. Repeaat and make 16 wafers. Place 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil in saute pan, warm and place in chopped scallion and cubed potatoes. Saute till till golden. Add in broth and fresh or frozen peas. When mixture begins to boil, remove from heat. Place in food processor. Transfer t omixing bowl and fold in Sapori spice blend.

Place 1 tblsp of extra virgin olive oil in saute pan and warm, place in whole garlic clove and drained mushrooms. Add a pinch of salt. Saute for 5 minutes abd remnove from heat.

Prepare dish by alternating layers of cheese wafers with mushrooms and puree. Top with puree. Decorate plate with sprig of fresh rosemary.

Walnut, Pomegranate ,Gruyere salad

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

*1 lb gruyere cheese

*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. Slice cheese int overy thin,transparent slices. 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, Sapori. Pour over salad, toss and serve.

Buona La befana!
Stay tuned for our video blogs and recipes from my upcoming visits to parts of Umbria Italy..Borgo Fontanile and La Veranda farm  resorts there as well as some sights from some medieval cities there!

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

Mangia Bene, Vivi Bene

Maria

Buon Natale as I am writing here from my office high in the mountains of Abruzzo. Yesterday was a whirlwind of Christmas celebrations-from Rome to Umbria and Abruzzo.

The culinary tour I am hosting here will get to be part of many special events not to mention the Holiday cooking classes of traditional Christms dishes and a wine pairing at a vineyard in Umbria..

Although I am on a whirlwind of going back and forth between Umbria and Abruzzo- I was able to fit in a ‘vigilia’ ( christmas Eve) dinner was filled with many fish dishes. Though many of you are still emailing my assistant for this article about the traditional seven fishes Christmas dnner-here it is http://www.gomestic.com/Cooking/Traditional-Italian-Feast-of-the-Seven-Fishes.58592

But I have been doing some research of my own on this ‘tradition’ that many seem to be fascinated with especially in the US- and have come to the conclusion that eating a variety of fish dishes on Christmas Eve is the tradition. The part about the seven fishes may well be something that our grandparents and-or great grandparents who came to the US when they were young teens- began as a tradition in the US.   The households questioned in many parts of Italy are not at all familiar with the seven fishes dinner. So it could also have been a very old tradition from the late 1880’s or early 1900’s…

And all of the fish dishes served are light dishes using fresh fish, no heavy tomato sauces, dishes ranging from Clam Casino to seafood salad to fresh pasta with seafood in a light tomato sauce to fritto misto (fresh fish dipped in flour and then  flash fried lightly)… Delicious and authentically Italian using only the freshest and best ingredients.

Wishing you all the best and brightest of Holidays..Stay tuned for recipes and photos from the culinary tour to Umbria, and side events in Rome and Abruzzo.

Mangia Bene, Vivi Bene

Maria

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

copyright, 2008, Maria Liberati

Editor-Michaela Pompeo 

It only figures that the Italians would invent a Holiday to honor their most revered of foods..PASTA..So one of my favorite Holidays has become World Pasta Day. This year it is on October 25th. In honor of this  being one of my favorite holidays and a day set aside to worship one of my favorite foods I will be highlighting some facts from some of the Pasta conferences (yes that is right conferences on pasta!!) that I have attended in Italy and of course some recipes too!

If you have ever been to Venice or want to experience Venice in your own kitchen, here is a local pasta recipe that originated in Venice, it is interesting and certainly different than the regular pasta with a tomato and parmigiano cheese topping. Try this and  get a taste of Venice in your own kitchen.  Oh.. and by the way if you can’t find  Bigoli pasta- although some gourmet stores may carry them, try a perciatelli or thicker spaghetti instead.

As everybody knows, there are many different types of pasta, enough to allow a great variety to Italian daily meals.

Bigoli, (in Venetian dialect they are called bigoi), is one of them: they look like spaghetti, long and thin, but they are empty inside. Their diameter is 2-3 millimetres and they are about 20-25 millimetres long. There is a special machine that makes a long ‘hole’ inside them. They are typical of the whole Veneto region and they are especially eaten with a fish-based sauce (in salsa as the name of the recipe says) during the period of Lent. For Catholics, to keep Lent meant in the past to fast every Friday. Nowadays, it means not to eat any kind of meat on Fridays. That’s why fish is used instead. And no wonder that, since Veneto looks on to the sea (let alone Venice!), fish is something always present in its cuisine.

Apart from the traditional in salsa they can be served with many kinds of sauces. The ones prepared in Vicenza, for example, in duck sauce (bigoi co l’arna= bigoli con sugo d’anatra), are very famous. The dough is made with flour, butter, eggs and milk. These last two ingredients have been added quite recently to make the dough softer; of course in the past, when milk and eggs were expensive, they made it with only flour and some butter.

A variety of bigoli is the ‘black one’ (bigoi neri). To give them their black colour there are two ways: either you use whole wheat flour in the preparation of the dough (in this case the colour is really brownish, rather than black) or you add nero di sepia (= sepia): black indeed!!!!

So, if you want to prepare delicious bigoi in salsa, this is what you have to do (first you’ll have to buy a packet of them! Impossible to make them at home because you would need a special tool to make the hole inside them!):

Ingredients:

1 onion

1 clover of garlic

4 or 5 salted anchovies

2 or 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

pepper to taste.

Chop the onion and garlic very finely. Put the oil in a frying pan and when it starts boiling throw the chopped onion and garlic and immediately lower the heat. On a very gentle heat let them cook for about half an hour, so that they can soften without burning. In the meantime, bone the anchovies and rinse them thoroughly under running water so that they will lose most of their ‘too salty’ taste. Add them to the onion and garlic in the frying pan and, with the help of a fork, press them till they almost ‘melt’ into the sauce. Cook for about 5 minutes: the sauce should look brownish in colour and its taste should be a balanced mixture of salty (from the anchovies) and sweet (from the onion).

Cook bigoli in abundant salty boiling water and strain them. Add the sauce, some pepper and serve very hot.

“Mangia Bene, Vivi Bene”

Maria

For more great recipes get your copy of the best selling book The Basic Art of Italian Cooking at http://www.marialiberati.com or now available as an ebook at http://http://stores.lulu.com/store.php?fAcctID=3101829