Historic 16th Century Villa Giona in the gastronomic heart of northern Italy
Thumbnail image for Giuliano Shows You How to Make Homemade Pasta

Giuliano Shows You How to Make Homemade Pasta

January 3, 2011

Pasta making authority Giuliano Hazan shows you how easy it is to make homemade pasta dough

Read the full article →
Thumbnail image for Marcella and Victor Hazan on NPR

Marcella and Victor Hazan on NPR

January 2, 2011

Recently Linda Wertheimer interviewed Victor and Marcella Hazan at their home on Longboat Key for NPR’s Morning Edition series the Long View.

Read the full article →
Thumbnail image for Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

December 31, 2010

“Con tantissimi auguri di felicita nella vita e . . . in cucina.” (With many good wishes of happiness in life … and in the kitchen.)

Read the full article →
Thumbnail image for How to Make Homemade Pasta

How to Make Homemade Pasta

December 28, 2010

Making pasta dough by hand is simple. Do not be discouraged by the length of my instructions. I have tried to describe as clearly as possible the method. With a little practice it will easily become second nature and you will have finished dough in less than 15 minutes.

Read the full article →
Thumbnail image for Panettone with Dessert Wine Giveaway

Panettone with Dessert Wine Giveaway

December 21, 2010

In Italy Panettone, Italian Celebration Cakes, are a specialty of the season and eaten at both Christmas and New Years. Perhaps our family’s favorite panettone is the one infused with Maculan’s sweet Torcolato dessert wine. This year, they are making available one of these precious, not usually available to the public, panettoni, for you. In addition, they are including their book, Mille e un Panettone (A Thousand and One Panettone).

Read the full article →
Thumbnail image for Easy Holiday Cookies

Easy Holiday Cookies

December 20, 2010

The recipe is so easy that, other than putting the cookies in the oven and taking them out, the kids can do most of it themselves. This is something the kids can make to give as a “gift”, and they are so tasty that even the most discriminating grandparent will be pleased.

Read the full article →
Panettone picture

Panettone: The story of Italian Christmas Cake

December 16, 2010

As in all recipes Italian, everyone believes that either they or their mother makes it the best. In the case of Panettone the competition almost came to blows in the 1930’s. Trying to out produce each other, two Milanese bakeries Motta & Alemagna, learned how to make the cakes industrially. Because of the competition, the price of panettone, once only eaten by the wealthy dropped and became inexpensive enough for everyone to enjoy it at Christmas. As Italians immigrated to other parts of the world, they brought panettone with them and it now can be found everywhere.

Read the full article →
Thumbnail image for Panettone Giveaway

Panettone Giveaway

December 16, 2010

If you don’t win the giveaway, you can still get the Loison products onlne at Life Style.  However, Loison wants to give you an opportunity of tasting panettone for yourself and are sponsoring a giveaway of their products.

Read the full article →
Thumbnail image for A Chocolate Cake with Diplomacy

A Chocolate Cake with Diplomacy

December 13, 2010

Happily for Giuliano, one of our favorite holiday desserts does not need to be baked… Called diplomatico, it is a rich and creamy chocolate mouse cake that is foolproof, hence the name. It is frosted with whipped cream, providing a perfect canvas for decorating, which is, of course, the children’s job.

Read the full article →
Thumbnail image for Holiday Rack of Lamb Recipe

Holiday Rack of Lamb Recipe

December 6, 2010

This elegant rack of lamb is delectable yet easy to prepare. It is an ideal recipe for when you want to impress your guests without being chained to the kitchen for hours.

Read the full article →
Thumbnail image for The Intersection of Culinary Cultures

The Intersection of Culinary Cultures

December 3, 2010

And so, although our backgrounds were religiously and in many other ways diverse, there were moments at table where they coincided.

Read the full article →
Thumbnail image for Sautéed Mixed Greens

Sautéed Mixed Greens

November 29, 2010

Usually prepared and served out of a small shack that may have a few plastic tables, piadina is a flat bread that is chewy but tender. Until not very long ago it used to be the everyday bread of Romagna. It is baked to order on a griddle (traditionally made of terracotta) and served with a variety of salumi, cured meats, and cheeses. One of our favorite toppings is sautéed mixed greens using a combination of mild and slightly bitter greens. It is both savory and soothing. Even without piadina, it is a side dish Giuliano often enjoys making. Made with Savoy cabbage, Swiss chard, and broccoli rabe, it appeared most recently on our Thanksgiving table.

Read the full article →
Thumbnail image for Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving

November 25, 2010

We thank you, our readers, for joining us on this wonderful blogging journey, and we wish you and your family a delicious and meaningful Thanksgiving.  We look forward to your comments!

Read the full article →
Thumbnail image for Yellow Squash with Grape Tomatoes: A great Thanksgiving side dish

Yellow Squash with Grape Tomatoes: A great Thanksgiving side dish

November 22, 2010

Not only do the ingredients look good together, the flavors complement each other perfectly. The simplicity of using only onions and marjoram, and patient sautéing to bring out the sweetness of the squash and grape tomatoes, makes this recipe distinctively Italian.

Read the full article →
Thumbnail image for Leek and Chickpea Pasta Soup

Leek and Chickpea Pasta Soup

November 15, 2010

The leeks give a soft, sweet taste to this hearty soup and the chickpeas add an earthy balance. The prosciutto lends a savory flavor and Gabriella, our oldest, picked out the pieces to eat them by themselves. It is a perfect comfort soup, it takes less than an hour to make from start to finish, and most of the dish can be made ahead of time.

Read the full article →
Thumbnail image for Deconstructing the language of Food:  Colman Andrew’s biography of Ferran Adria

Deconstructing the language of Food: Colman Andrew’s biography of Ferran Adria

November 11, 2010

Cooking well is like the telling use of language: Expression must be vigorous, clear, concise. There can be no unnecessary ingredient or unnecessary step. A dish may be complex, but every component, every procedure, must count. …Do not arbitrarily shuffle the vocabulary of one cuisine with that of another to make your cooking (original). There is no more use for use for such a hybrid than there was for Esperanto.

Read the full article →
Thumbnail image for The secret to making cardoons tender and sweet, a quick and easy fall recipe

The secret to making cardoons tender and sweet, a quick and easy fall recipe

November 8, 2010

Of course, most children won’t like anything remotely bitter, but I’ve discovered how to eliminate that bitterness, and our kids, who love artichokes, also love cardoons.

Read the full article →
Thumbnail image for What makes us Human?

What makes us Human?

November 5, 2010

Language and cooking – home cooking that is – are vehicles for consciousness, the thing that makes us human

Read the full article →
Thumbnail image for Radicchio Pasta: A Quick Fall Food

Radicchio Pasta: A Quick Fall Food

November 1, 2010

One of our favorite methods is to make a pasta sauce with radicchio. When it is cooked, radicchio provides a rich deep flavor to a pasta sauce, and loses some of its bitter flavor.

Read the full article →
Rialto Market in Venice Italy

The Rialto Market in Venice Italy

October 28, 2010

The world has many magnificent markets, of which I have seen a good number, but it has none like Rialto. Its stalls are lined up behind an embankment along a curve of the Grand Canal, displaying their contents in the open air.

Read the full article →
Thumbnail image for Spaghetti with Melon on Daytime

Spaghetti with Melon on Daytime

October 26, 2010

Giuliano makes spaghetti with melon on Daytime

Read the full article →
Thumbnail image for Making Penne all’Arrabbiata on Daytime

Making Penne all’Arrabbiata on Daytime

October 26, 2010
Read the full article →
Thumbnail image for Fall Butternut Squash Risotto and the TODAY SHOW

Fall Butternut Squash Risotto and the TODAY SHOW

October 25, 2010

“How about making a risotto when I come in fall?” I suggested to my Today show producer.  “How about making two?” she replied.  Why not?  After all, if I’m lucky, I’ll have 4 whole minutes to do them in. Once, I was supposed to do two quick pastas and the time for the segment got [...]

Read the full article →
Thumbnail image for Veal Scalloppine with Truffles

Veal Scalloppine with Truffles

October 18, 2010

The following day, Giuliano decided to top veal scaloppini with shavings of the black truffle. Lael was a bit apprehensive, not sure that the meat would carry the truffle flavor. She quickly changed her mind with the first bite. The delicate flavor of the scaloppini highlighted the earthy qualities of the black truffle. The thin overlapping truffle shavings on top of the succulent still warm meat exuded an aroma that brought all to the table immediately.

Read the full article →
Thumbnail image for Kiwi Gelato

Kiwi Gelato

October 12, 2010

We enjoyed our kiwi dessert with friends during one of the last of the swim parties of the season. The adults were thrilled to “actually taste the fruit” and the older kids were delighted at its revitalizing flavor. A few people went back for extra bowels, next time; we will know to make more.

Read the full article →
Thumbnail image for Pasta e Fagioli: Comfort Soup

Pasta e Fagioli: Comfort Soup

October 7, 2010

In the Veneto, where the texture of the thick and creamy soup is achieved by mixing in some mashed potato, it is traditionally made with borlotti beans (also known as cranberry beans) and bits of egg pasta.

Read the full article →
Thumbnail image for Fried Bay Scallop Recipe

Fried Bay Scallop Recipe

October 4, 2010

The children fed the donkey, played archery, and biked around the neighborhood without need for supervision. I don’t think I saw a Nintendo or electronic gadget from either the kids or parents for the whole weekend. It was a perfect, relaxing, getaway.

Read the full article →
Thumbnail image for Gallura Restaurant in Olbia Sardinia

Gallura Restaurant in Olbia Sardinia

October 3, 2010

How to describe the flavor of Rita’s food? Intense, yet subtle; penetrating, yet gentle; surprising, yet comforting; fragrant, aromatic, surging from deeper sources of savor than anyone else seems to have tapped.

Read the full article →

Easy White Rice Recipe

October 3, 2010

This is how my grandmother used to cook rice, and it’s a foolproof easy recipe. I use the same rice I use for risotto, which comes out slightly sticky but I love its starchy flavor. It’s also good with basmati rice or good plain white rice.

Read the full article →
Thumbnail image for Fusilli with Broccoflower

Fusilli with Broccoflower

October 1, 2010

When asked about her favorite food, our six-year-old daughter, Michela, invariably names broccoli. The broccoli she’s so fond of is the Romanesco variety. Although it’s fairly new to suburban supermarkets in the United States, Romanesco broccoli has been known in Italy since the 16th century. Grown in the region of Lazio, of which Rome is [...]

Read the full article →