Category: Primi

Skate and Romanesco soup

When I saw this beautiful broccolo Romanesco at the market, I knew I would use it to make this traditional soup from Rome. The result was delicious, and perfect for the cold weather we are having in New York. Ingredients 1lb of skate fish 1 broccolo romanesco 1 carrot 1 small onion Half celery stalk …

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Ravioli with spinach and ricotta

Every now and then I like to make pasta fatta in casa (home made pasta). Yesterday I prepared some ravioli di magro, the classic ravioli filled with spinach and ricotta. A rainy Sunday morning is the ideal time to make some ravioli. And… yes while working at these ravioli I was having a cappuccino with …

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Butternut Squash Risotto

This recipe is perfect for this season. As a base I used shallots and roasted butternut squash, and added sage, nutmeg and black pepper as accents. I used extra virgin olive oil instead of butter, to make it a low-cholesterol recipe I also used home made vegetable broth, which I made in advance and kept …

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Red Beet Soup

I made this soup to keep us cozy during Sandy. It is a dense blended soup, and I kept some of the whole pieces of beets and potatoes in it.

Pasta with Fried Eggplant and Grape Tomatoes.

This is a variation of the Pasta alla Norma, a Sicilian recipe for pasta with eggplant, tomato sauce, and ricotta salata. Instead of making a tomato sauce I used grape tomatoes. For a lighter version of this recipe

Spaghetti al Ragu di Triglia (Red Mullet)

Today’s recipe really brings the flavor of the Mediterranean sea to the table. It is quite a while that I wanted to make a sauce for spaghetti with Red Mullets or Rougets (Triglie in Italian) and I am very satisfied with the result! Definitely a recipe to repeat!
Any time I eat Triglie I think of my favorite Italian police inspector Salvo Montalbano, from the novels of Andrea Camilleri. He lives and works in Sicily,

Orecchiette con Cime di Rapa

This is a typical recipe from Puglia and is among my favorite pasta recipes. A part from the boring part of cleaning the Cime di Rapa (Broccoli Rabe) it is very easy to prepare. The secrets are to boil the orecchiette in the same water where you boiled the Cime di Rapa, and to add …

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Gnocchi di Patate

Giovedi gnocchi! (Thursday gnocchi) This is what we say in Rome. So here is the recipe for making potatoes gnocchi. To make the gnocchi soft and light I do not use any eggs and I only add a minimal amount of flour. It is very important to use the right type of potatoes, they should …

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Ravioli con Stracchino e Granella di Pistacchi

Ravioli with stracchino and pistachios. I came up with the idea for this recipe a few days ago. I was making the classic ravioli di magro (ravioli with spinach and ricotta) when I run out of filling and still had a bit of extra dough left. So I decided to make a few extra ravioli …

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Risotto “svuota-frigo”

Risotto svuota-frigo, or if you like “all-I-have-left-in-the-fridge risotto”. This is not a “proper” recipe for risotto, but my way to use up those little bits left in the fridge from previous recipes. It is a way to prepare a satisfying dish for dinner with whatever I have, when I had not planned something in advance. …

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