Food

Eating in Italy is one of life’s greatest pleasures. And eating seasonally in Italy is off the charts delicious. Bright red, ripe tomatoes. Sweet, ripe strawberries picked at their peak. Melanzane pa0cked with a smoky punch. MAMMA MIA, ma quanto è buono! …

As everyone knows, zucchini (aka courgettes) are a staple of modern Italian cookery. Italians have come up with a nearly endless variety of recipes for their beloved cucurbita pepo: They can be sautéed in garlic and olive oil, stewed in tomato sauce, stuffed, fried …

If you like pasta – and who doesn’t? – and if you like cake -and again, who doesn’t? – then you’re sure to like timballo di pasta, pasta baked in a mold then served as a kind of pasta cake. Italian …

From the city of Taranto in the region of Puglia comes this simple but tasty take on mussels, cozze alla tarantina, or Mussels Taranto Style. Taranto has been famous for its exquisite mussels since ancient times when their deliciousness was praised by …

In Italy, a well-prepared sformato is revered almost as much as a good plate of pasta, especially in the summer.  A sformato is a typical Italian savory flan, somewhere in between a French soufflé and a frittata. It has the same creamy …

Fall is the perfect time to invite friends and family over to get their hands messy and have your own personal pizza party. Pizza is the perfect food to make with a group. It’s easy. It’s fun and it’s a great …

In Italy, humble sagra (plural sagre) is a festival that celebrates a specific type of food, drink, or product from a town. Sagre have become such popular events that almost every village in Umbria, and probably in the whole of …

Growing up in a Sicilian-American family, holidays were always an event to savor. As a child, days leading up to a special event were spent with my nonna and her sisters in the kitchen preparing each dish. These dishes were never …

Umbria explodes with a kaleidoscope of wildflowers from April until well into June. If you walk through any of Umbria’s pretty hill towns like Assisi, Spello, or Perugia, you will notice buildings adorned with huge bushes of blossoming rosemary and lilac. Walk outside the town …

When temperatures reach astronomical highs as they have done lately, I often turn to salads for sustenance. To me, they’re the ideal hot weather food. Not only do you generally serve them chilled or at room temperature, but they’re quickly thrown together …