Cooking Italian: May 2025

Friday, May 23, 2025

Stuffed Artichokes Nonna Pia Recipe

NONNA PIA

STUFFED ARTICHOKES

RECIPE

NONNA PIA Makes STUFFED ARTICHOKES

With Bonus MEATBALLS

NONNA BELLINO'S COOKBOOK

RECIPES FROM an ITALIAN NONNA

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Tuesday, May 20, 2025

Crostini Toscana

CROSTINI TOSCANA

Ingreidents :

500g (1 lb) chicken livers
1-2 cloves of garlic, peeled and slight crushed
A few fresh sage leaves
Olive oil, plus a knob of butter
7 juniper berries, slightly crushed
Broth, preferably homemade
4 anchovy fillets, rinsed and roughly chopped
1 Tb capers, rinsed and roughly chopped

Preparation :

Sauté the garlic and sage leaves gently in the oil and butter until the garlic is just beginning to brown. Add the chicken livers and sauté for 10 minutes or so. Then add a pinch of salt and pepper, along with the juniper berries, slightly crushed with the back of a knife or in a mortar and pestle. Turn and add a ladleful of broth. Let things simmer for 15-20 minutes.

Off heat, drain the chicken livers in a colander, saving the liquid and removing the garlic and sage leaves. In a food processor, chop the livers until you have a roughish paste—don’t overdo it—and then scrape the liver paste back into the skillet, along with the reserved liquid. Thin out the paste with another ladleful of the broth, and simmer gently until almost all the liquid has evaporated. Just before it’s done, mix the chopped anchovies and capers and simmer for a minute or two more, until the anchovy has melted completely into the paste. Taste for seasoning and remove from the heat. Let the liver paste cool for a few minutes.

Serve the liver paste on slices of bread, toasted or not as you prefer. You can serve Chicken Liver Crostini warm or at room temperature. The liver paste can be made ahead and, if you like, gently reheated with a bit of broth or butter; in fact, many say it’s tastier that way.

Sunday, May 18, 2025

Pasta Puttanesca in Ischia - Recipe

ISCHIA

EDUARDO MAKES PASTA

TAGLIATELLE PUTTANESCA

ISCHIA, ITALY

EDUARDO'S PASTA PUTTANESCA

RECIPE

EDUARDO'S PASTA PUTTANESCA

POSITANO The AMALFI COAST

TRAVEL GUIDE - COOKBOOK

With 100 REGIONAL RECIPES

SPAGHETTI PUTTANESCA

RAGU NAPOLETANA

LINGUINE VONGOLE

And More ...

TRAVEL INFO & TIPS

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Cavatelli Tomato Sauce Recipe

POMODORO e MELANZANE

CARMELA Makes CAVATELLI

CARMELA'S CAVATELLI with TOMATO SAUCE

POSITANO The AMALFI COAST

TRAVEL GUIDE - COOKBOOK

100 REGIONAL RECIPES

ISCHIA - NAPLES - The AMALFI COAST

CAPRI & POSITANO

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CARMELA & Her PASTA

CARMELA GROWS FRESH VEGETABLES

In Her GARDEN iN ISCHIA

She SELL VEGETABLES From Her HOUSE

Wednesday, May 14, 2025

Sicilian Pasta with Meatballs Recipe

ANGELINA - SERVING Up The MEAL

ANGELINA'S PASTA With MEATBALLS

La FAMIGLIA

"MANGIA BENE" !!!

La PASTA

Con POLPETTINI

NONNA BELLINO'S COOKBOOK

RECIPES From MY SICILIAN NONNA

"MANGIA BENE" !!!

AMAZON.com

SICILIAN PASTA with MEATBALLS SICILIANA

For the Dough:

10 ounces Semolina Flour (durum wheat) A pinch of Salt 2 large Eggs

Mix all above together to form a dough. Knead for a few minutes.

Cover the dough and let rest for at least 45 minutes before using.

Roll pasta dough into thin sheets. Roll the sheets up, and cut to 1/8tj inch thickness.

For the Meatballs:

12 ounces Ground Beef 2 tablespoons fresh Parsley, finely chopped 3 ounces grated Caciocavallo Cheese (or Pecorino, if unavailable) 1/4 cup breadcrumbs Salt, to taste Freshly ground Black Pepper, to taste 1 large egg

Mix all above ingredients together. Form into small Meatballs (Polpettini)

For the Broth:

2 tablespoons fresh Parsley, chopped A handful of Celery leaves 1 medium Carrot, peeled and roughly chopped 1 tablespoon Tomato Paste ½ medium onion, peeled and halved 1 medium Potato Salt, to taste

1 pound Beef, Veal, or Chicken Bones

Place all above ingredients in a large pot and simmer for 90 minutes

to make the broth. Strain broth, and discard the bones.

To Serve the PASTA with MEATBALLS.

Place Meatballs in broth, and cook at a low simmer for 5 minutes.

Cook the Pasta in boiling Salted water for about 2 minutes.

Drain the pasta in a Colander.

Add the cooked pasta to pot with the Broth & Meatballs. Cook at a low

simmer for 4 minutes.

Serve the Pasta and Meatballs. Remove some pasta and Meatballs and place on a plate, with very little broth, but you do want a bit of broth in each portion.

Serve your guests, with grated Pecorino Cheese on the side to sprinkle over the pasta.

Enjoy !

Sicilian Stuffed Meat Cheese Vegetable Pies Recipe

MARIA & Her SCACCE

SICILIAN MEAT & CHEESE PIES

MARIA'S SICILIAN SAUSAGE SCACCE

SICILIAN MEAT, CHEESE, & VEGETABLE PIES

SCACCE alla SICILIANA

alla MARIA

NONNA BELLINO'S COOKBOOK

RECIPES From MY SICILIAN NONNA

SOUPS, PASTA, SWEETS & MORE

AMAZON.com

Monday, May 12, 2025

Mamma Agata Famous Lemon Cake Recipe

FAMOUS LEMON CAKE

"MAMMA AGATA"

MAMMA AGATA'S Famous "LEMON CAKE" Recipe

INGREDIENTS:
1 & 1/3 Cups Sugar
2 Sticks Butter (1/2 Pound) Plus An Additional 1.5 Tablespoon To Grease The Pan
4 Large Eggs
Grated Zest of 2 Large Lemons, or 4 If Small
Pinch of Sea Salt
1 & 1/3 Cups All-Purpose Flour
4 Teaspoons Baking Powder
1/2 Cup Whole Milk
1/4 Cup Finely Chopped Hazelnuts

LEMONADE Mixture for Top of CAKE

1 & 1/3 cups Water

Juice from 3 LEMONS

8 tablespoons Sugar

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat oven to 160 degrees Celsius or 320 degrees fahrenheit.
Whip the butter in a mixing bowl on high speed for at least two minutes.
Add the sugar and continue to whip until a soft cream forms.
Add the following to the mixing bowl, one at a time, and blend after each; eggs (one at a time), salt, grated lemon zest.
Alternate adding and blending the flour, baking powder, hazelnuts and milk into the mixing bowl.
Continue to mix the ingredients on medium speed until the texture of the batter has a light and airy consistency (similar to mousse).
(Note: Do not beat the batter for too long after adding the baking powder.)
Coat the surface of the fluted pan with butter before dusting it with flour, then shake off any excess flour before adding the cake batter to the pan.
Pour the batter into your greased and floured pan.
Bake the cake in the pre-heated oven for 45 minutes. While the cake is baking prepare your lemonade mixture by first squeezing the lemons into a pitcher or other container from which you can easily pour the mixture later.
Add the sugar to the lemon juice, and mix until the sugar is fully dissolved in the lemon juice.
Add the water and mix well.
Once the cake has finished baking, let it sit for two hours outside the oven to bring it to room temperature.
Slowly pour a little bit of the lemonade mixture all over the cake in the pan every 10 minutes (three times total) for 39 minutes to allow the cake to absorb the lemonade mixture very slowly.
After the first 30 minutes, tip the cake onto a serving platter and add the remaining lemonade to the top of the cake, distributing it evenly all over the cake.