La Buona Tavola

Spaghetti with Bottarga, a quick and tasty dish for any time of the year and especially during Lent. Bottarga is often called the poor man’s caviar, bottarga is the Italian word for a dense cured fish roe made from tuna, …

Olive oil lovers are glad to put the old year behind them. Between drought and disease, the 2014 olive harvest was catastrophic for Italy—the worst in twenty years, according to the International Olive Oil Council. Everywhere I traveled throughout the …

Come to Genoa and taste traditional cuisine from Liguria at “Tre Merli” restaurant. Try some typical dishes made of local fishes: discover “Cappon Magro”, a fishermen’s old recipe, and taste some chowder with “gallette” bread, and Italian Vermentino wine. Some …

Once a year, on January 17, Rosario Scarpato, Neapolitan-born gastronome, writer, and television producer makes a global appeal for the preservation of genuine Italian cooking. The adventure, dubbed International Day of Italian Cuisine (IDIC) began in 2008 with a plea …

As a boy, olives were one of my favorite things. I especially loved black olives. I’d eat them at holidays, but I’d also have them for snacks. I loved black olives in the can mostly, but also loved those little …

Why haven’t I made this before??? Every time I’ve been to Italy, I’ve enjoyed a crostata filled with jam as part of a classic Italian breakfast. Crostata is served right alongside delicious meats, cheeses and a cafe latte in the …

The culinary traditions of Abruzzo’s pastoral land reach back through the ages. Perhaps Abruzzo’s most famous contribution to Italy’s pantheon of pasta is maccheroni alla chitarra, but another of Italy’s culinary traditions is a favorite here too, ravioli. This is …

Valentine’s Day is right around the corner and if you are like me, your preference is a quiet candlelit dinner at home, preferably near a toasty little fire with a nice bottle of bubbly prosecco to kick things off.  Treat …

Pappardelle with Lamb Ragu` with Whipped Ricotta…. a special dish not only for all holidays but also for very special days!   Ingredients: 3 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil, 1 Carrot finely chopped, 1 Celery stalk finely chopped, 1 Large …

How to tell if it’s really Extra Virgin?   To start off, let’s make one thing perfectly clear–light or extra light olive oil is just that–clear and light in color. It doesn’t refer to calories. It refers to lack of …