I love octopus. You name it, I love it (grilled, boiled, braised, etc.). Any octopus fans out there? Yes, you say. Have a favorite preparation? If so, please share. Braised polipetti (baby octopus) is one of my hands down, all-time favorite dishes. As the octopi stew, they release much of their water content, which melds with the … Continue Reading
I recently saw a cartoon in which a couple at an Italian restaurant asked their server, “We don’t eat pasta, what should we order?” to which the server responded, “a taxi.” 🙂 Busiate is a corkscrew shaped pasta typical to the Province of Trapani in western Sicily. The word busiate is of Arabic origin. The pasta was traditionally formed … Continue Reading
I happily consumed a fair amount of caponata while recently exploring Sicily. You’ll find it on just about every menu. Essentially, caponata is sweet and sour eggplant (agrodolce). Agro=sour and dolce=sweet. At its core, caponata is a combination of eggplant, onions, celery, tomatoes, vinegar, capers, and olives, sweetened with a bit of sugar. Some versions … Continue Reading
There’s something special about making pasta by hand. It truly is a labor of love. What better way to spend a rainy, chilly Saturday than sipping wine and making homemade pasta? At least that’s how I planned to happily spend my day. I won’t lie, it’s a process. It takes time to make the pasta … Continue Reading
I love pasta. I love eating pasta. I love making pasta. I love rolling out pasta by hand; I find it therapeutic. In fact, a couple years back, I did a one-week pasta class with a former chef from Flour + Water while at the Dublin Cookery School in Ireland. It was such a fun week … Continue Reading
