Pasta with Veggies, Sausage, and Creamfeatured
I have a special place in my heart for Bologna. It is where I spent my junior year of college, and it is where my young impressionable eyes were opened to many life lessons, namely:
- A girl can never have too many shoes — especially well-made, sexy Italian ones
- The best way to learn a foreign language really is to get a foreign boyfriend.
- Drinking a bottle of cheap wine before getting on a train is never a good idea
- Gelato is good for you. Swear.
- Cooking is easy if you start with good ingredients.
In Bologna I watched my Italian flat-mate, Mariangela, magically transform fresh veggies and produce into mouthwatering meals, often with the help of nothing but salt and olive oil. Granted, it was grassy-hued liquid gold EVOO pressed from her family’s hand-picked olives in Calabria…but still, the simplicity was a revelation.
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Mozzarella Mario {Perugia}featured
Sometimes your lucky stars align and you find yourself in a secret garden tucked away in a medieval Italian town where a man named Mario stands, stretching fresh mozzarella before your very eyes.
Our friends Frank and Mike invited us to a gig they were playing at the lovely Rosso Vino Giardino in Perugia. As luck would have it, there was a special mozzarella making/tasting event as well that evening.
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Pasta Puttanescafeatured
Pasta Puttanesca roughly translates as “pasta in the style of a whore” – no doubt an enterprising whore who’s a little salty, a little spicy, and has plenty of bite to her. You may be wondering how this dish got its colorful name. Legend has it “ladies of the night” would lure customers into houses of ill repute with the enticing aroma of this sauce simmering away. Alternately, they would make this for themselves because it was a quick and easy meal that wouldn’t take much time away from their biznaz.
Quick, easy, cheap, delicious…qualities any busy working girl/harlot could appreciate. Pasta Puttanesca makes a great spur-of-the-moment meal because it can be thrown together using ingredients in your pantry.
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Penne alla Norcina + Truffles Galore {Perugia}featured
One of the best dishes we had in Perugia was Penne alla Norcina – penne pasta smothered in a rich cream sauce with crumbled sausage and plentiful shavings of black truffle. It may not be the prettiest dish, but mamma mia is it delicious.
Penne alla Norcina is named after the Umbrian town of Norcia, famous for their butchers, and consequently, primo sausage and salami. The surrounding area of Norcia is also one of the largest producers of black truffles. Put two and two together and eccola! One fantastically rich and indulgent dish is born.
Ristorante Ferrari, a popular spot along the historical center of Perugia’s main strip, Corso Vannucci, serves an incredible Penne alla Norcina. The flavor combination is sublime, with the savory bits of sausage tasting of wild country terrain playing off the earthiness of the truffle. One taste and it makes sense that these two ingredients are born from the same region. It is as if the flavors themselves reflect a sense of place. Meanwhile, the thick cream draws out and elongates perfume of the prized truffle, and just coats the entire dish in pure luxury.
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