So you guys, you have to make this roast chicken! Why??

1. It is super simple.
2. It screams FALL.
3. The delicious aromas wafting from your oven are stomach-growl inducing.
4. You can impress your family and friends.
5. You can have a glass of vino while waiting for the chicken to roast. 🙂

This recipe is so easy to make your own.

Continue reading Harvest Dinner: Easy Roasted Chicken with Grapes and Shallots at Our Italian Table.

Many of us grew up being forced by our well meaning parents to eat certain vegetables.  For me, this form of parental torture was evident whenever my Mom served her dark red, slippery beets. (sorry Mom!).  In the lowly beet’s defense, it packs one heck of a nutritional punch – potassium, magnesium, fiber, iron, vitamin A, B and C. And the health benefits continue – cleanses the liver, boosts your mental health, gives you energy.

Continue reading Eat Your Beets! Roasted Beets and Carrots with Gorgonzola and Beet Vinaigrette at Our Italian Table.

Italians have a silly expression for ‘yummy’ that always makes me giggle – GNAM, GNAM. The first time I heard it was from my (wonderful) Italian instructor – I thought, ‘what the hell does that mean?!?!’. Feels like it belongs in a Pac-Man video game (uh-oh – dating myself!) Go ahead – try to say it. I betcha you will giggle too.

Back to the recipe at hand! I have been testing out a few recipes for the upcoming Thanksgiving day feast and spotted some cipolline onions at the local market and remembered having had them once at a restaurant roasted with a balsamic glaze.

Continue reading GNAM, GNAM – Balsamic Roasted Onions at Our Italian Table.

I bought a beautiful butternut squash at our local farmer’s market last week and it has been rolling around on my counter begging to be transformed into something delicious. (I swear the cute little thing has been swiveling around to peek up at me on each pass.) I used to be intimidated by butternut squash but after peeling a few, I fear no longer. Once you peel them, they are a delight in recipes.

Continue reading Do not fear the butternut squash: Roasted Butternut Squash and Pancetta Soup at Our Italian Table.

Back in February, I blogged about trying to overcome my aversion to chickpeas. Growing up , we ate them in, on top or under everything possible. I never knew if it was my mother’s love for the little morsels or an attempt to stretch their hard earned dollars but whatever the reason, I have had more than enough ‘cecis’ to fill a lifetime.   However, recently I decided it was time to reconcile with my little healthful pals and give them another culinary chance.  

Continue reading My Chickpea Love Continues: Crunchy Roasted Chickpeas at Our Italian Table.

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.

‘You know, when you get your first asparagus, or your first acorn squash, or your first really good tomato of the season, those are the moments that define the cook’s year. I get more excited by that than anything else.’ (Mario Batali)

It is tomato time!! How exciting to walk out to my garden to find my vines bursting with ripe, luscious red tomatoes. Or to steal out to the garden, amongst the leaves and fruit, to sprinkle salt on the freshest of treats. 

Continue reading Roasted Fresh Tomato Sauce: Summer’s Sweet Gift at Our Italian Table.