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 2011 Art of Living, PrimaMedia,Inc/Maria Liberati

Today in my kitchen I opened up  the largest can of tomatoes (5 lbs 10 ounces)  I have ever opened. It was also the sweetest can of tomatoes I ever opened… not because they were  San Marzano tomatoes..but because they were one of the last ingredients found in my aunt’s kitchen the day she passed away, almost a year ago.

The can weighed just as heavy on my kitchen shelf as her loss weighed on my heart. It almost seemed that as long as the can was there ,she was here , at least in spirit. But today I was finally able to bring myself to open this 5 lb can of tomatoes and  making 10 small containers of sauce.

As the can opener whirled around this gigantic lid, I found myself staring inside almost thinking that something else would be inside. Her life ,her face, quickly glimmered in my mind. But all that appeared inside the can  were these beautiful fragrant, red ripe tomatoes. She would have approved these for a tomato sauce.The aroma was haunting. True to her last words, “Please don’t ever forget me”. This sauce will produce even more reasons to reminisce about her ..now I have this empty can that I absolutely can not trash.Who knows maybe I will put a tomato plant inside…

Spaghetti with Red Clam Sauce

1 lb baby clams

4 tblsps olive oil

2 cloves minced garlic

2 tblsps finely chopped parsley

1 14 oz can peeled tomatoes

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1 lb spaghetti

Steam clams for 2 minutes. Discard clams that remian closed.  Set liquid aside. Remove clams from shells, leavea few intact for plate  garnish.  Place oilive oil in saucepan with garlic. Saute till garlic begins to turn golden.  Add in chopped parsley, liquid from clams. Suate until liquid has evaporated. Add in clams, tomatoes. Simmer for 20-25 minutes. Cook pasta in boiling salted water till al dente. Drain. Place in sauce ,toss and serve.  Garnish with parsley, and whole clams.

For more recipes get your copy of the Gourmand World Cookbook Award Winning Book The Basic Art of Italian Cooking: Holidays & Special Occasions.

Events:
June 11-12, Great Grapes wine tasting, food festival, Cockeysville, MD. The Basic Art of Italian Cooking by Maria Liberati t mtakes center stage wit hcooking demos and book signings. Email: events@marialiberati.com for more info or sponsorship info

July 13- Harleysville, PA,  Girls Night Out in Tuscany-Cooking class/demo. Join The Basic Art of Italian Cooking by Maria Liberati tm for a cooking class/demo and sample  a 4 course Tuscan picnic meal from the Gouramnd Award Winning book The Basic Art of  Italian Cooking: Holidays & Special Occasions. registration is limited. For more info, contact Sue Thomson at 215-436-9524 or events@marialiberati.com To be held at Agehman Remodelers Kitchen Showroom, 355 Main St,  Harleysville, Pa

July 21-24, Festa Italiana, Milwaukee Wisconsin, the largest Italian festival in the USA . This year Maria Liberati will be the Celebrity Chef along with PBS Chef Nick Stelllino. Maria will be taking center stage wit hcooking demos and book signings thorughotu the event. For more info or sponsorship opportunities contact: Sue Thomson at events@marialiberati.com

July 29-31 Gourmet Food & wine Show, Bally’s Casino, Atlantic City, NJ.  The Basic Art of Italian Cooking by Maria Liberati tm takes center stage with cooking demos, book signings thorughout the event. For more info and sponsorship opportunities contact Sue Thomson at events@marialiberati.com

The Basic Art of Italian Cooking by Maria Liberati tm produces culinary events, for your company, organization, Corporate training events with a culinary theme, fundraisers, meet and greets wtih Celebrity Chef Maria Liberati and book signings of The Basic Art of Italian Cooking, wine pairing events/classes. Let us design your nextspecial event with a culinary theme, anywhere in the world. For a free proposal email: events@marialiberati.com

The most beautiful things are the simplest, call me frugal or thrifty or anything in between..but my favorite things are those that are the simplest.. or maybe I am just  infatuated with the philosophy  of  Leonardo DaVinci who once  said that ‘Simplicity is an art’…Fot Mother’s Day I kept it simple but beautiful with a Spaghetti Alle Erbette (spaghetti with fresh herbs)-a convenient way to combine all those fresh herbs from  my kitchen garden..serve with a light. chilled, dry white wine (chianti or Est!Est!Est! or Trebbiano) or for that festive touch a dry Prosecco. But Mother’s Day can be any day-not just today!

Spaghetti Alle Erbette (Spaghetti with Herbs)

1lb (500 gr) spaghetti

2 cloves garlic

3 tablespoons (45 gr) extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp (5 gr) fresh rosemary

1 tsp (5 gr) fresh thyme

1 tsp (5 gr) fresh parsley leaves chopped

1 small,dry, red hot pepper

Peel  garlic and  cut  into small pieces. Sprinkle on pinch of salt. mash garlic with a fork. Place olive oil in saute pan over low heat.  Place in mashed garlic. chopped rosemary and chopped thyme. When garlic  becomes golden, add in chopped red pepper ,saute for 1 minute, remove from heat and let stand.  Bol water for pasta and cook till al dente. Drain and place into saute pan, toss to coat. Top with finely chopped parsley.

See you at..

May 14th, 1006, S. 9th St, Phila., Pa. at Fante’s Kitchenware Store from 1-3 PM .Join me a for a book signing during the annual Italian Festival.

May15th, Health and Fitness Event at Normandy Farms in Blue Bell, Pa , 11-3 PM,for a book singing and sampling of recipes from the Award Winning Book The Basic Art of Italian Cooking: Holidays & Special Occasions-2nd edition.

“No man is lonely eating spaghetti; it requires so much attention”.  ~Christopher Morley

copyright 2010, art of living,PrimaMedia,Inc/Maria Liberati

Cold Spaghetti..to warm the heart for a  summer evening  meal or lunch al fresco..or take  it with you to the office or the beach …healthy and inexpensive..so simple to make..

Pasta Al Fresco

1 lb of spaghetti

1 lb of cherry or grape tomatoes

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 cloves minced garlic

small handful fresh basil leaves chopped

4 tablespoons Parmigiana-Reggiano cheese

pinch of salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Wash and cut tomatoes in half, place in bowl, add in minced garlic, olive oil, toss gently, season with salt and pepper. Cook pasta according to package directions,drain and cool. Place in bowl with tomatoes, toss gently. Add in torn basil leaves and toss. Serve . Sprinkle freshly grated Parmigiana Reggiano cheese on top

Serve with chilled white wine..

Sept 9-12-Hudson Valley Wine Festival- Rhinebeck, NY, Dutchess County Fairgrounds, Maria Liberati & the Basic Art of Italian Cooking will take center stage to demo recipes from The Basic Art of Italian Cooking. For more info or to sponsor the appearance contact: info@marialiberati.com

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

Visit me at OpenSky

http://twitter.com/Marialiberati

Maria

www.marialiberati.com

where food meets art, travel & life!

 copyright, 2009, Maria Liberati

Editor: Patrick Coyne

Each culture has traits regarding their dietary habits that are specific to the indigenous people and their regions. Italians are unique in that eating is a necessity to live, both literally and figuratively. It is a feast for the body and the soul. Dining is about comfort, love, and family. This is especially evident in the portrayal of Italians in cinema. Rarely does a movie with a predominantly Italian cast not have a scene in which food is the true star. Everything from Moonstruck to Everybody wants to be Italian stresses the importance of food to the Italian people and the true nourishment it provides.

Moonstruck stars Cher as a widow living with her perpetually bickering and intrusive parents, who decides it’s time to get married again, and accepts the proposal of a man she does not love. The plot thickens when she falls in love with her fiancees estranged brother, Ronnie. My father often cites this movie as one of his favorites because of how much the it reminds him of his Italian upbringing. The characters are finely nuanced Italian-Americans, rather than simplistic stereotypes. More importantly, food plays an integral role in the story. Ronnie, played by Nicholas Cage, works as a baker and the film reaches its climax in Cher’s kitchen. All the complicated romances, affairs, and grudges, reach their boiling point in the kitchen, which acts as the heart of the Italian household.

Beyond the more obvious, practical uses of the kitchen, films will use it and the subsequent dining room as a place for family. Grievances are aired, jokes are made at others expenses but the kitchen serves as a place of fulfillment. The family, while eating dinner will often times assume the role of the chorus in the plays of Ancient Rome. They represent the thoughts of the audience and act as a sounding board for the main character, discouraging(or adding to) their neuroses and concerns.

The physical act of cooking is often used as a metaphor that exemplifies that famous Italian passion. There’s a sensual nature to the way Italian food is prepared. A meticulous, yet heartfelt process that has been passed down through generations like a precious family heirloom.

The film Everyone wants to be Italian follows another lovelorn protagonist, as he navigates through complicated relationships and amusing mishaps, with his family serving as the peanut gallery. Despite the family’s occasionally misguided advice, it’s almost always given with good intentions. There’s a certain loyalty and trust that has been created through the act of the meal. The Italian dinner is a time of family where a true and unique bond is formed. The care and attention taken into preparing the meal, is equaled by the passion and respect shown towards each individual that forms the family.

The dining experience in an Italian household is something that not everyone is lucky enough to have seen first hand. The second best option is experiencing it on film. When it’s done correctly, it’s like having a chair at the head of the table.

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

Join me at The Basic Art of Italian Cooking by Maria Liberati tm cooking school and villa September 23-Oct 6th, 2009 for 6 nights 7 days of cooking classes, visits to vineyards and wine tastings, sightseeing and more, all while staying at the villa nestled in a small village in the hills of Umbria. All meals, ocoking classes ,sightseeing, transport to and from Rome-Fiumicino airport included. Limited to12 guests only. Email events@marialiberati.com for info and to register

Mangia Bene, Vivi Bene,

Maria

copyright, 2008, Maria Liberati 

I  am continuing to receive a lot of emails from you all about the wonderful products and events for World Pasta Day. Keep those emails coming!
As I always tell my readers, take any excuse you can to celebrate your meals..we certainly don’t have enough celebrations in our life.  World Pasta Day sure is a great excuse to make a pasta meal more than a special meal.  To celebrate World Pasta Day we usually have 3-4 pasta dishes..all using a different pasta and  different sauce.. add some great wine or even a non-alcoholic wine..

Unfortunately, we are not able to include all of your emails and suggestions into our World Pasta Day posts, but we have selected some here for you..

I found some really interesting ravioli at www.marxfoods.com   many shapes,sizes and colors  and even tri-colored ones..always fun to add to a meal..and

Our friends at Sur La Table stores have written  to let us know all the perfect  ’accessories’ they have for making your special pasta meals all year ’round from extra virgin artisan olive oils to pasta bowls ,plates ,olive oil drizzlers and and Pasta machines (see photo above of Atlas pasta maker available there) to make that ever so yummy..fresh pasta. If you have never eaten lasagne made with fresh pasta..treat yourself for World Pasta Day and make that one of your pasta dishes..you will not want lasagna made any other way once you taste this…

 My friends at  Carmine’s Restaurant in NYC, Atlantic City and Paradise Island wrote to tell me that their  new family cookbook is filled with ‘family friendly’ pasta recipes to celebrate with..

Gibbs Smith Publishers have written to tell me about their new cookbooks-Mangia! all about food events in Italy and Trattoria Grappolo..containing authentic Italian recipes..of course many pasta ones!!

Lagostina USA couldn’t wait to tell me about this wonderful pot to cook your pasta, couldn’t make pasta cooking any simpler, I’ve never tried this one but hope to try it out one day and wil let you know. If anyone gets to try it out  please write and let us know if you liked it, here’s some of the info they sent (see photo above ):

This mirror-polished, 18/10 stainless steel pot has an aluminum base that hastens boiling the water, and it comes with a close-fitting lid and perforated stainless steel insert for draining noodles. The unique double-loop handles stay cool on the stovetop and the Pastaiola is designed to make an effortless transition from the oven to the table. For more information on Lagostina, visit http://www.lagostinausa.com

Olivenation.com has sent me some guidelines to tell our readers about choosing pastas:

What is a good pasta?

You want a pasta that has the flavors of the original wheat but also holds on to the sauce. If sauce does not adhere to your pasta then you have that gloopy mess at the bottom of your plate. Its all in the baking and the type of pasta mold (to create the various shapes) being used. Nowadays they bake the pasta in 4-6 hours and then use Teflon or stainless steel molds – why? The pasta does not stick to the molds and you can produce more pasta per hour and therefore offer a cheaper product to the market. However, the really traditional way (the way the ancient Romans used to do it) – Bake the pasta slowly over 48 hours so that the original wheat flavor and moisture gets trapped inside the pasta. Then you use the “bronze mold” (sometimes called a die) t make the various pasta shapes. Bronze cuts into each shape just enough and create tiny abrasions just enough that when you mix the sauce into the pasta it holds on to the sauce. That’s a good pasta. Too bad that only very few small pasta makers do it nowadays.  

Egg Pasta

Its the king of pasta. It really only should have some egg, flour and water. That’s it. If you get hold of a truly great egg pasta then all it requires is a little bit of butter and parmigiano. Well, maybe a few slices of truffles. You don’t need anything else. It’s a whole other experience. Again, its too bad that its not really available in supermarkets. The Campofilone area of Italy is known for their egg pasta and their legendary egg-pasta makers. Yes, its expensive, but then life is too short not to enjoy this special treat..

“Mangia bene, Vivi Bene”

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

Maria

World Pasta Day is quickly approaching and I am continuing my series on Pasta and Pasta Recipes.

Copyright,  2007, 2008 Maria Liberati

‘excerpted from The Basic art of Italian Cooking, Pasta!!Pasta!!

Pasta is one of Italy’s healthiest dishes and a staple of the Meditteranean diet. It is best eaten ‘al dente’ to experience pasta at its best. The quality of the pasta is just as important as the way it is cooked and here are some tips to follow before experiencing the first recipe in the Pasta!! Pasta!! Series:

*Pasta is best served in a round or oval serving dish. Put only a small amount of sauce on it, then place some extra sauce in a serving dish.

*If you must boil water for pasta quickly- subdivide the water into two pots and when they are both boiling, place together in one. Boil first the water without salt- then salted water next.

If during the cooking of the pasta you find out that the pasta is too salty tasting. You can fix this in one of two ways-

* If pasta is not totally cooked- boil another pot of plain unsalted water. Drain pasta and place in unsalted water for remaining time.

*If pasta is cooked to al dente- drain the pasta but place under hot running water in colander.

*If you taste pasta during cooking and find out that you have not salted enough- then right before draining pasta add a handful of fine salt and take to a full rolling boil for a few seconds before draining.

*Shopping tips:

*When choosing dry pasta- always read the ingredients. Dry pasta should be made with 100% semolina flour or 100% durum wheat semolina flour. If ingredients do not include semolina flour- your pasta will be of a mushy consistency upon cooking and will never cook to an al dente consistency.

*Keep dry pasta in a dry place and be mindful of expiration date as well.

*Also, the  pasta box should include the cooking time. Every shape and brand of pasta is different and cooking times can vary so this is very helpful in preparing the perfect pasta dish. Use this time as your guide but always remember that cooking ranges vary so always taste pasta a minute or two before cooking time is up- you may need a minute or so more or less than recommended time.

For more great recipes, get your copy of the bestselling book The Basic Art of Italian Cooking at http:///www.marialiberati.com and you can also get the Holiday booklet The Feast of the Seven Fishes and More with Holiday recipes at http://stores.lulu.com/marialiberati

BUCATINI WITH BROCOLETTI

1 lb of perciatelli or bucatini pasta

1 lb of brocoletti

2 garlic cloves

1 tblsp pignoli nuts

½ lb plum tomatoes

1 handful parsley

Grated pecorino cheese

5 tblsps of extra virgin olive oil

Salt, pepper to taste

Wash broccoletti and boil in lightly salted water. Take out of water when done, saving the cooking water. In a sauté pan place in the olive oil with finely chopped garlic and onion, and sauté for a couple of minutes. Then add in tomatoes cut into small pieces, pignoli and broccoletti, add pinch of pepper and salt and let cook for 15 minutes.

Boil the water that you used to cook broccoletti and let cook till al dente and drain, Place in pan with sauce and toss to lightly coat. Sprinkle in handful of grated pecorino cheese, toss lightly and serve.

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

Ahh the Italian countryside..beautiful and so rustic, quiet. But work still goes on… I have been getting so many emails from colleagues, assistants and more telling me how they wish they were here with me in Italy. Recently an ezine from Austarlia decided to catch up with me to ask me what life is  like living in rural parts of Italy. Here is the interview:
http://www.ourpatch.com.au/australia/users/hunterdundee/blogs/509-delicious-life-in-italian-countryside
 But coming to Italy  at least for me is another place I work at.  Just because I am in Italy does not mean I am lounging on the beach on the Riviera or doing the fashionable ‘passegiata’ everyday on the Via Veneto.  

I am well connected by internet, internet phone, portable office and fax. I am also doing some work on our farms here- that may mean assisting with picking the fruits and vegetables,conserving them and preparing them into dishes as well as continuing to experiment with them  in developing  new recipes.

Of course I would rather work out of my office here and be able to look out my window and see a view of the mountains of Abruzzo, it is inspiring.

Living rurally also has its’ benefits though of making it easy to pick up local produce  and locally produced products. pecorino produced here in Abruzzo is one of my favorite cheese but the process of making cheese from the sheep milk produced here is really unfortunately a dying art. So it is difficult to find this cheese from this region anywhere else.

 But my recipe for today is one that contains pecorino cheese but the pecorino cheese that is easier to find in the rest of the world. It is a pecorino romano-which has a sharper taste. This dish like all traditional Italian dishes is simple but delicious, healthy for you and has some historic significance since it is connected to Pecorino Romano cheese which is an artisan process that dates back to the medieval times in Rome and Lazio.

Here is one of my favorite pasta dishes. It makes for the best and simplest combinations of cheese and pasta you can find.:
 Cacio & Pepe

*1 lb of spaghetti (made from durum wheat)

*1/2 cup pecorino romana cheese freshly grated

*dash of freshly ground black pepper

*Extra Virgin Oilve Oil

Cook the past in lightly salted water. The cheese you will be using is salty so in this case you only want to lightly salt the water and don’t want to give the pasta an overly salty taste. It will disrupt the balance of the taste combination of the pecorino and spaghetti. Cook spaghetti for time indicated.

Drain pasta, but reserve a few tablespoons of the cooking water. In a bowl add some of the reserved cooking water (a little at a time ) to the grated pecorino cheese. Stir till you get a smooth sauce  and cheese is melted.  Toss in the pasta. Top with a dash of freshly ground black pepper and a drizzle of olive oil and your dish is ready. Please serve hot!

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