My sister Michele and I have written recently about Italy’s region of Marche, the birthplace of our paternal grandfather Guiseppe. Le Marche is truly one of the still-not-too-touristy regions of Italy. While the seaside is jammed with European tourists in the summer, the rest of the year it’s a quiet and peaceful place stretching from the Adriatic Sea east, deep into rugged mountains.

During our visit last October to this region, we stayed in the tiny village of San Marcello.

Continue reading Paccheri with bottarga and lime at Our Italian Table.

Paccheri is a pasta shape that is all the rage in the USA at the moment. It’s been in several cooking magazines of late, mentioned on blogs and featured on hot restaurant menus, but I haven’t seen them sold in mainline food stores. So when we went on vacation to Puglia, on the first night at Torre dei Preti, they offered a dish with paccheri and seafood. The best way to describe paccheri is a half-size cannolini shell or a giant rigatoni.

Continue reading Paccheri ripieni di pesce spada, cavoli e funghi (Paccheri stuffed with swordfish, kale and mushroom) at Our Italian Table.