Fried Squash Blossoms

These are the flowers that grow off  the zucchini. Ever since I can remember this was a favorite Summer dish growing up. I clearly remember going to the vegetable store and seeing all  the flowers displayed in brown boxes or bags ready for the picking. If we weren’t going into town, my mother just as easily sent me over to my grandmother’s to pick them fresh from the farm.

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Tortelli with Raveggiolo and Mixed Greens

This s a traditional dish of my area. Raveggiolo is a cheese produced locally in a farm ten miles from my home in Tuscany. My father, brother and me would always stop at the farm on our way home from our motorcycle rides and bring cheese back to my mom. It is a fresh cheese, very similar to ricotta, but slightly denser and the perfect consistency for stuffing pasta. Continue Reading…

Branzino Al Cartoccio

Branzino is one of the first fishes I ever caught when fishing with my dad. My dad and I would spend the whole day fishing, scuba diving and catching fish and then we would clean our catch right on the boat with our feet dangling in the water. When we got to shore we would collect wood, scraps and whatever we could find, start a fire and roast them right there on the spot. Continue Reading…

Olive Tapenade

Unsalted Tuscan bread is unsalted because in Tuscany we love food that has a lot of flavor and the tapenade is the perfect example of a condiment that has a true kick to it. This is something my mom always made for Summer parties. She used to cure barrels of  her own olives and I was in charge of pitting, peeling and chopping piles of them for the tapenade. Continue Reading…

Roasted Peaches with Amaretti Filling

In Summer we always had fresh peaches in our garden. The surplus of peaches combined with my father’s strict Kosher diet meant any creamy desserts were replaced with my mom roasting peach halves over the grill. My brother and I would go pick big ripe ones from the tree and after they were roasted and caramelized from their natural sugars my mom would mix amaretti cookie, cocoa powder and water together and use the mixture to form a pit in the middle of the peach halves. Continue Reading…

Grande Spuntino

This is the ultimate Sunday appetizer. And why wouldn’t it be? It is made up of a spread of some of the best finger foods you would expect to find on any proper Italian table and could be seen enjoyed by families out and about or at home on any given Sunday in Italy. A cutting board or platter filled with local cheeses and cold cuts of your choice along with plenty of olives and unsalted Tuscan bread, one taste of this dish and I am right there back in Tuscany sitting down to dinner with the family. Continue Reading…

Wood Fired Breakfast Pizza

Unlike most of the recipes that have been passed down through my family for generations, this one came to me one day like a spark of genius here in Los Angeles. Whenever we cook out and have a party with friends we light up the pizza oven. Getting it up to temperature, however, takes quite a few hours and usually involves hearing complaints from my girls because they are hungry and don’t want to wait until later for pizza when the guests arrive. The result is this breakfast pizza. Continue Reading…

Italian Strawberry “Millefoglie” Shortcake

This cake is a hybrid between my kids favorite cake and my favorite dessert as a child. For kids growing up here in the states, Strawberry Shortcake is a cultural classic. Mounds of whipped cream and fresh strawberries served between layers of angel food cake. Sound familiar? It’s delicious, but heavy. For me, my all time go to cake is something called “mille foglie” which means “a thousand leaves.” It is a crepe like pastry filled with delicate layers of Chantilly cream, chocolate chunks and lightly dusted with powdered sugar. Continue Reading…

Roasted Beet Salad

I love beets. Can’t say the same for when I was younger though. When I was kid, I had no interest in beets and the same goes for my kids on most days, but over the years, after developing recipes around this unique vegetable and my taste buds, I have come to respect the beet as an adult flavor and acquired taste that is definitely worth the wait. Cooked or uncooked, this root vegetable has a long shelf life, are versatile and rich in folic acid, calcium and iron. Continue Reading…

Fried Olives

I really like finger foods; so much flavor packed and delivered in just one bite or two! Filled with spicy pork sausage, good parmesan cheese, breaded and deep fried, these Fried Olives certainly pack a punch and are the perfect way to tickle your guests taste buds and get them ready for the main course.

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