Just arrived back home from a great weekend at brother Joey and Mark’s sunny retreat in LA and was starving but with a mountain of work to do in the garden, had little time to head to the market….hmmm.  Toodled out to the garden to see if there were any end of season veggies and lo and behold, I spied two cute little eggplants still clinging to the plant. Bingo!  I just finished Marlena de Blasi’s little novel ‘A Thousand Days in Tuscany’  – a great little gem of a book…love, romance, food and life in Tuscany. 

Continue reading Roasted Eggplant Antipasto at Our Italian Table.

I just returned from a very special week in my beloved Montalcino, Tuscany.  I was blessed with being able to rent a little casa surrounded by the prized Brunello vines on the hillside just outside the walls of the village….my view was of the sweeping Sienese valley as the sun set just outside my window each evening.  Simply magical….but more on my travels in the week ahead! The food of Tuscany is simple, rustic and gloriously delicious…the simplicity of the flavors married with the freshness of ingredients makes every meal a delight for the senses. 

Continue reading Tuscan Crostini with Salsa Verde at Our Italian Table.

The ancient fig. It is reported that figs first appeared some 11,400 years ago thereby making it the earliest domesticated crop. One bite of the heavenly sweet taste of a fresh fig and one immediately understands why.

Given that I have been on a homemade ricotta kick lately (see recipe in earlier blog under ‘Recipes’ page), I have been scooping my fresh ricotta on any and everything I can think of. And nothing compares to the wonderful fresh creamy taste of homemade ricotta paired with figs, picked fresh from the tree. 

Continue reading Crostini with Fresh Figs, Ricotta and Balsamic Reduction at Our Italian Table.