The year was 1921, the place Ellis Island. My maternal grandmother, single, arrives into port from Napoli on the ship Patria to be with her sister Concetta, living in Brooklyn. My grandfather, who had come to America in 1911 from Marche, had recently lost his young wife to the 1918 flu epidemic and needed a mother for his then 5-year-old son Nelson. They somehow found each other in the sea of Italian immigrants that had arrived in the new world.

Continue reading Tracing our Roots: Neapolitan Sugo di Pomodoro at Our Italian Table.

I have been trying to get more creative with my food photos. I am fortunate to have great light in my kitchen which presents me with tons of opportunities but I find that my photos are frequently taken from the same vantage point – above.  I like shooting from this angle for a lot of my dishes and find myself scrambling up little ladders or perched on chairs to get that perfect shot.

Continue reading My Lesson in Food Photography: A Roasted Tomato and Eggplant Soup Photo Shoot at Our Italian Table.

La dolce, dolce vita.  Monday morning and time to get to work in my very cool little apartmento here in Montalcino.  After a quick cappuccino at my favorite spot in the piazza, Caffe’ Fiaschetteria, I popped into the market so I could test out my little kitchen for dinner this evening. After a day of conference calls and work, I took a quick spin through the village (of course, I had to stop for a glass of Brunello with a friend) and headed back to my home base to try my hand at cooking. 

Continue reading Feeling Like Tuscan Royalty: Pasta with Prosciutto, Tomato, and Basil at Our Italian Table.

Bucatini All’Amatriciana is a classic Roman dish that starts fights in restaurants and is the source of family and friend’s gossip and whispers over who is the best and worst at making this dish.

Bucatini (sometimes called perciatelli) is a very interesting long pasta that is wider than spaghetti and has a hole running through it. It’s made of durum wheat and water. The hole down the center prevents the bucatini from bending too much after it is cooked.

Continue reading Bucatini All’Amatriciana (Bucatini in Tomato Sauce with Pancetta and Hot Pepper) at Our Italian Table.

All those tomatoes – what a wonderful time of year!! I have been roasting basket after basket and storing away in the freezer for those colder days ahead.  I made this simple but delicious tart for a recent dinner party and it was a huge hit.  The dough comes together in a snap and is flavored with yummy basil and garlic. This is also a great do-ahead dish. You can reheat or serve at room temperature….enjoy and happy summer!!

Continue reading Easy Summer Tomato and Mozzarella Tart at Our Italian Table.

It has been a few weeks since I have posted but I have a good excuse! I was volunteering in Uganda with a short stopover to Istanbul. Istanbul was simply a feast for the senses….a cultural crossroads with food to match. This city where Europe meets Asia left me thirsting for more.  It was a whirlwind 24 hours through some of the world’s most amazing monuments – Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque and some of the most fascinating bazaars – the Grand Bazaar, the Spice Market. 

Continue reading Michele Goes to Istanbul: Summery Shepherd’s Salad with Pomegranate Syrup at Our Italian Table.

In California, summer is trying to get a foothold and the tomatoes are in the ground and looking towards a July harvest. And thinking about a bountiful harvest, here’s a recipe that can use all those cherry tomatoes we’ve planted.

This is a ridiculously simple recipe and as with most Italian cooking, it’s all about the fresh ingredients. Find the best olive oil, the best cherry tomatoes, the best basil, the best oregano and the best Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.

Continue reading Spaghetti Sciuè Sciuè (Spaghetti Hurry Hurry) at Our Italian Table.

Nothing soothes the soul more than a steaming bowl of zuppa!  After a long week of travel coupled with the coldest of winter days, it was time for a cozy eve tucked in by the fire.   And after a week of  long business meetings and late evenings, I wanted nothing more than to spend long, lazy hours in the kitchen sharing great conversation and a great bottle of vino.  First course for my picnic by the fire – a heart-warming bowl of roasted tomato soup with pancetta.

Continue reading Roasted Tomato Soup with Pancetta at Our Italian Table.

I was searching for a different type of appetizer for a dinner party on Friday eve and stumbled upon an unusual ‘pizza’ made in the Apulia region of Italy. The name hails from the town of Taranto, located somewhere near the middle of the arch of the Italian boot. The crust is made from potatoes – sort of like a big gnocchi pizza! How fun was this to make!  I found recipes that used flour in the crust and others that stuck only to the potatoes so I made up little batches of both to see which I liked better ….they were both yummy.

Continue reading Torta Tarantina di Patate: Cheese-and-Tomato-Topped Potato Pie at Our Italian Table.

There it is….my very last tomato from my garden for the season…grown from seeds I bought in Italy in the spring.  Look at its simple beauty…ahhh, how the sweet flavor of those homegrown tomatoes will be missed during the long, dark days ahead! (Thank heavens I have a freezer stocked with fresh tomato sauce made from this season’s bounty. Not enough to get me through the winter but at least make a dent!) This calls for a little festa in celebration of our little friend, the pomodoro….an arrivederci until the warm days of spring return again and I can once again feel the fresh garden soil between my fingers. 

Continue reading Toast to the Pomodoro: Fresh Tomato and Tuna Pasta at Our Italian Table.