Before you put away your grills for the summer, you have to try these very simple but delicious verdure alla griglia (Grilled Vegetables). The combination of a few very simple ingredients helps bring out the flavors of the vegetables, leaving even the pickiest of eaters wanting more.
Verdura alla griglia (grilled vegetables)
For this particular meal we chose to use melanzane (eggplant) and zucchine (zuccini). You can use a number of different vegetables that will all come out terrific on the grill.
DIRECTIONS
>Begin by slicing the vegetables in thin strips. I don’t have a mandolin here but that would have made it much easier!
Slice thin, but not paper thin – roughly a 1/4 inch. It has to withstand the heat of the grill
>Next, place vegetables on the hot grill. The seasoning comes later. This was foreign to both Greg and me because we had grown accustomed to brushing olive oil and seasoning on before we grilled the vegetables. In this case, don’t apply anything – just put them on the grill naked.
Place on the grill without any prior treatment or coating
If you are lucky like me, you’ll have a good-looking crew working the grill!
For some reason, Greg always grills better with a beer
But this is his real secret weapon!
Greg was careful to brown each side to get that wonderful charred flavor without burning the vegetables.
Brown each side and be sure to cook all the way through – grill marks add a nice appearance
>The final step is adding the seasoning, a combination of olive oil, salt, minced garlic and a dash peperoncino (dried, spicy red peppers). >Combine minced garlic and olive oil in a bowl. Brush on the garlic-oil and add salt to taste.
>At the end, add a dash of peperoncino for a kick of flavor. Remember to be careful when you add the heat. You can always add more but you can’t take it away. I make a separate dish for Julia without the hot peppers.
Olive oil, garlic, salt and hot peppers
Olive oil mixture
Brush on to evenly disburse the oil
If the vegetables sit they will continue to develop flavors. They don’t have to be served hot. This is a great side because you can prepare it ahead of time before your guests even arrive.
I hope you will give these a try the next time you and your family decide to pull out the grill. Word to the wise, if you’re using a charcoal grill (like we do) – be sure to give yourself plenty of time to heat the coals, grill and then cook the vegetables. You’ll probably need a two hour total head-start before you plan on cooking your meat.
From Greg’s Grill
Greg here – just quickly chiming in. Since I am a carnivore and would never eat just vegetables (I’d compare that to watching watching “Sleepless in Seattle” without immediately following it up by watching a football game – just to even the scales), I suggest pairing your tasty vegetables with any delicious grilled meat… without heavy sauces. Chicken would work quite nicely, but without the BBQ sauce (in which case, you’re better off pairing it with a pickled slaw). In that same vein, I’d suggest you try grilling ribs (pork or beef – we prefer pork) but with a slightly different twist. Try grilling it the Italian way – you may be pleasantly surprised.
The process is simple – high heat, grill for a few minutes, searing on each side. Remove from grill and serve. But here’s the kicker. No marinade. No sauces. No seasoning (not even salt). Like the vegetables above, place the ribs on the grill as naked as Miley Cyrus when she twerks. When they are fully cooked, remove from the grill and then liberally add salt. The salt will bind and enhance the natural flavors of the meat, leaving your tongue free to enjoy the flavor as it was intended. I learned long ago that Italians prefer fewer flavors and hardly ever mask food with heavy sauces. We have lovingly grown accustomed to these types of ribs over the summer, but admittedly – I did just smuggle some Texas BBQ dry rub back from the US… just to do a taste test. I’ll be sure to let you know which way reigns supreme.
Get good, meaty ribs from your butcher (we prefer pork – beef has nice flavor, but less meat)
Grill and simply add salt (the rosemary was sprinkled for presentation and aromatics)
Our good friends Michel and Shirley have a wonderful home in a small village in the Côtes du Rhône region of France. They invited us to join them for a few days recently, an invitation we were happy to accept. Google maps told me that the journey from our home to theirs was approximately six hours and so we decided a stopover at the beach for a night would break up the drive nicely (read about it HERE). After a relaxing night in Beaulieu-Sur-Mer, we headed north to Sablet, France so that we could savor an enjoyable visit with good friends.
Sablet, France
We arrived in Sablet as scheduled, late in the afternoon. However, I had misplaced all the phone numbers to reach Michel and so I wasn’t quite sure exactly where to go upon arriving in the village. Michel gave me specific instructions not to attempt a drive directly to his home. “The roads are far too narrow – many cars scrape on either side. Don’t attempt it – park at the local bakery and head by foot”. I only had his home address plugged into the GPS and admittedly, I had the words of Barney Stinson ringing in my head “I shouldn’t attempt the drive… challenge ACCEPTED!” After creeping up, up, up, slowly, slowly, slowly – I made it to their home. Luckily I made it with all car paint intact – but it was close. I had been far too cocky and got lucky – I literally had centimeters on either side of my car at times. We found their home and discovered they were just out at the local market, preparing for our arrival.
Michel is a business man, blogger (his blog), wine connoisseur and a fabulous chef. He owns a restaurant that I’ve mentioned in past blog posts, Bistro des Copains in Northern California. Jen and I knew that we were going to be in for a treat if he was coming back from the the market with fresh groceries to make dinner. When they returned home, we walked in, unpacked and quickly settled in for an epic meal. Luckily, Michel and Shirley are grandparents of four wonderful kids – and so they were naturals with Julia, who instantly fell in love with them both. After a wonderful dinner, stuffed and tired from a long day – we turned in, excited about the following day. Even though we didn’t know the plans, we were still eager knowing that we would have an action-packed day lead by two wonderful guides.
Pan fried fish cooked by Michel
Filleted and seasoned with butter, oil and capers
Shirley made the most amazing strawberry and rhubarb torte
Cheese and baguettes for breakfast. Not something you normally think of eating at 8:00am. However, this rich indulgence seems perfectly normal when you’re in France…and when the cheese and bread are that good, you are happy to get your fill. After breakfast, but before I finished my last sip of coffee, Michel jumped up and declared that, “we will be leaving in ten minutes!” For me, this was wonderful – an early start to the day. For Jen, nothing could be more horrific. She rushed to get herself ready, get the baby ready, get the diaper bag packed, etc. and still make it to the car before we pulled away. Somehow she managed and we set out to the first of three villages we would see throughout the day.
The term, L’un des Plus Beaux Villages de France (official site) means, One of the Most Beautiful Villages of France. This is a formal classification, reserved for only the most special of villages that dot the landscape of this fantastic country. Of the 32,000 villages that make up the country, only 157 are classified as such. 15 of these villages are in Provence, where Michel and Shirley have their home. We were fortunate enough to see 3 of these impressive places all in one day.
One of the Most Beautiful Villages of France
The first stop on our tour was Venasque, a hill-top village at the foot of Mont Ventoux. Venasque overlooks vineyards of many types, including vast fields of cherry trees (a unique sight in a landscape otherwise dominated by grape vineyards). The cherry’s were just starting to come into bloom and so we stopped to take a couple pictures. This medieval town has only the remains of three Saracen towers from those times. A large church from the 11th century stands in the center of town, composing part of the unique beauty we discovered while there.
Approaching Venasque
Venasque sits high atop a hill
We passed fields of cherry trees
Michel in action, capturing images for his own blog
Julia and Jen in front of the remains of the medieval castle
The view of the valley below
Julia enjoying the scenery
A fountain in the center of town
We passed many bicycle tour groups in each of the villages
Michel strolling along with Julia
A street scene in Venasque
The villages main church framed behind a wonderful tree
A fountain in town, La Planette
Church in the center of town, dating back to the 13th century
Julia playing in the fountain
After leaving Venasque, next we drove to Gordes, a village with houses literally clinging to the sides of the Vaucluse ridges, overlooking the Cavaillon plain. The houses and narrow cobble streets are arranged in winding tiers all the way up to the [existing] Renaissance castle and church. Gordes is a village well known to artists, including Chagall (and others I don’t know and can’t remember). Before entering the village from the top and winding our way down and back… we needed to refill and refuel. Lunch time! Michel and Shirley selected a place they had dined before – a charming outdoor restaurant tucked behind a local gift shop. After a delicious lunch, we started winding our way through the streets of Gordes. Jen and I bought Julia a cute hand-made sun dress. We found some of the most picturesque scenes we’ve ever encountered. And right on cue for our magical family photo – Julia didn’t want to cooperate for a posed photo. At least I got some nice landscape photos.
I’ve never seen anything quite like this before – simply stunning in person
Gordes – another angle
It almost appears to be sliding off the side of the cliff
Approaching the city wall – marked by the medieval castle
The main square, what we call a piazza… what do they say in French?
Further into the main entry point
Walking through the village
We had a great time walking around
The girls had fun
A scenic view, indeed!
View of the valley below
Loved this…
and this…
and of course, this!
The buildings in Gordes were truly special
Even the angels come here to day dream
A better view of the castle
Le Jardin – store in the front, restaurant in the back
Enjoying a wonderful lunch
Julia stopping to smell the flower with Shirley
Jen took a picture of me taking a picture of the village
Cheeeeese!
We eventually left Gordes and drove to Roussillon, a village far different than the first two. Along the drive in between towns, we passed a beautiful vineyard that I thought to be so typically French. But the real bonus was when we discovered a huge field of poppies, growing wild – we had to pull over and take some pictures.
Anyone up for a bottle of wine?
Large field of poppies
The poppies were growing wild
Roussillon screams its independence from other nearby villages by proudly brandishing peaks of vibrant red and ridges of bright orange. We were instantly reminded of Sedona, Arizona. The village sits atop the biggest ochre deposit in all of Europe and the result is a civilization built on bright orange clay-like earth. The village itself has since been shaped by the surrounding land and the homes, churches and buildings all marry this natural beauty perfectly. After a long time exploring, we stopped and had an a apéritif at an outdoor cafe.
Roussillon from slightly above
The earth beneath the village was wonderful to behold
The orange earth follows the bends in the road
The houses were painted to match the landscape and unique soil
Strolling through town was wonderful
Beautifully landscaped front yards
Julia started dancing to music she heard coming from a nearby store
Street scene
Julia snuggled up to me in a nice field overlooking the valley
Great bell tower
We found “cat-lady’s” home – we counted 8 cats just in this area
Stairway to heaven?
Now that’s the way to ride down a long set of stairs
Beautifully painted door
We had one more stop left – an abbey built in the middle of the 12th century. Abbaye Notre-Dame de Sénanque is a working abby, where the local monks tend to large fields of lavender that they sell to subsidize the abby (along with tourist sales of tours and merchandise).
Abbey as we approached from above
Another angle
The monks “front yard”
Fields of lavender, not yet in bloom
12th century Abbey
Julia had fun
Julia thought this was the dog from, 101 Dalmatians
By the time we reached our “home” village of Sablet at the end of a long day, we were wiped out. But we were only half-way done! We had dinner plans with friends of Michel and Shirley’s – a couple that owns the local bar in town. We had just enough time to freshen up and then head down the street to meet them in front of their bar. We all shared a nice bottle of rosé over introductions and then headed out for dinner. I’ll feature this dinner, along with a few others in a separate “food” post.
Jen and I decided that we had so much fun on our first day, we needed to extend our two day trip into a three day trip and our wonderful hosts obliged us. Stay tuned for tales of glorious wine tastings, wonderful meals and impressive historical sights.
Facebook is great for a lot of things. First of all, it’s a wonderful time killer. It is a spectacular medium for sharing funny videos about cats. The site is also great for shameless self-promotion of your unimportant blog (ahem). Facebook keeps me and Jen apprised of popular youtube videos and trending pop-culture stories we would have otherwise missed living in another country. But perhaps best of all – it helps reconnect people after many, many years.
This is how you “like” a post on Italian Facebook
This was recently the case when my wife re-connected with a high school friend of ours, now living in Tuscana (Tuscany). Beth traveled to Rome in 1999 to study abroad. There, she found her love and has been living in Italy ever since (to clarify, I mean a man – not just a love of the country). While they enjoyed living in Rome together, they eventually moved back to his hometown in Tuscany, a short distance from Pisa. It was here that Beth and Andrea started a family together with the birth of their son, Indi. We were thrilled we got to spend some time with them in their amazing home and had the opportunity to reconnect with Beth while getting to know Indi and Andrea (whom we both loved).
Beth and Indi
Beth’s “front yard”
Still in the front
More views from the front – ridiculous, I know!!
Jen and Beth had been exchanging Facebook messages about getting together (we’re roughly 3 hours apart) almost since we moved to Italy this past January. And then, the timing seemed to click perfectly. The 25th of April is Liberation Day in Italy. Festa della Liberazione is a holiday that marks the end of Mussolini’s Social Republic and the end of the Nazi occupation in Italy in 1945. Today, this holiday is celebrated with the closure of nearly all business, which affords the people a good reason to get together and do what Italians do best – eat wonderful food, drink amazing wine and trade passionate stories.
Congregating after lunch
As we soon discovered, Beth lives in an incredible 500 year old farmhouse and her neighbors were having a party for the holiday. There was to be a big lunch outdoors, with music, kids and plenty of wine. She invited us for lunch and extended the invitation through the long weekend. I don’t know anyone that would turn down such an amazing invitation – and we were no exception.
The farmhouse Beth and Andrea share (the building in back)
Their home
Another angle
Building used to store hay – now used for parties
The plan was to arrive just ahead of lunch – the real start of the party. It was to be a typical Italian lunch, with all the courses and dishes we love – but, quite literally Under The Tuscan Sun and with some regional favorites we were eager to try. I would not allow our typical tardiness out the front door get in the way of this epic meal. So, I fibbed and told Jen we needed to be on the road earlier than we really did. Then, I budgeted an extra 30 minutes for typical trip delays (over an hour buffer in total). If you know me, you’ll know this was the type of meal I would not want to miss!
Everything was going according to plan until we neared Milan some 40 minutes down the road. Traffic got a bit thicker. By the time we got on the Autostrada toward Tuscany, we were stuck in stand-still traffic, moving 0 km/hour. That converts to 0 mp/hour. I watched the GPS arrival time creep later and later. 11:30am turned into 12:00pm and before you knew it, 1:00pm. I tried a short cut that just added to the time. By noon (and an estimated arrival of 3:00pm) we sullenly threw in the towel. We pulled over and ate panini at the AutoGrill. I swear as the day is long – I’m getting depressed all over again just typing this. The sandwiches were good – but nothing like what we were missing. Thankfully, we kept our spirits high and pulled into Beth’s house by 3:30 (a seven hour trip).
The remnants of the meal we missed
Since everyone had eaten, we jumped right into the party. Beth has some spectacular friends and we had a wonderful time. It came as no surprise that everyone was so warm and inviting. They talked to us as if we had been friends for 15 years and took to Julia as if they had watched her grow up. We drank wine, fresh mojitos and swayed to the beats of the DJ spinning outside. We spread our toes in the Tuscan grass and ate some fresh food off the grill.
Relaxing together
Julia loved playing with Indi
DJ spinning great music
My kind of speaker set-up
Part of the party
Say “formaggio!”
This nice kid fired up the grill for us
At one point, a big blue tractor showed up and it almost sounded like some of the male partygoers were arguing with the man driving the tractor. I recognized a few words and hand gestures usually only reserved for a type of heated debate. After a few minutes, the arguing died down and the guys walked with the tractor driver to the bar area to get a drink together, laughing like they were best friends. It didn’t seem to make any sense until Beth explained.
What’s this guy doing here?
The land we were on (including the farmhouse, all the structures and ten more homes nearby) belonged to the Marchese (Marquis). The Marchese is a man of noble decent who carries his title and rules his lands as if he were still in power. In reality, he has no more power than you or me. That is – if you or me had a noble bloodline, hundreds of acres in Tuscany, a mansion, dozens of employees and a several properties on our land. In 1948, the newly adopted constitution of Italy refused to recognize all noble titles (the Republic of Italy replaced the Kingdom of Italy in 1946). So, the Marchese (whom I was fascinated to learn loves the aristocratic pastime of hunting with dogs) “rules” his lands and everyone is just sort of happy to let him go on thinking it. He had “ordered” this man to drive up the hill in his tractor to tell us to lower the music. At home in the States, I can imagine a property manager (at the behest of the landlord) banging on someone’s front door to tell them to lower the music would be greeted with a bit of disdain. He would certainly not be invited in for a drink and food. But this is Italy. After a couple glasses of wine together, we lowered the music and the man drove back down the hill having successfully completed his task. But not before letting Julia drive his tractor – quite literally, he let her steer unaided for about 10 meters (until she almost put him into a field).
Only a small portion of the Marchese’s house can be seen here – it was huge
He let Julia drive
She was ready to GO!
After some time, we decided to go in and feed the kids and make a proper meal. Beth’s time in Italy was definitely evident, as she “whipped up” on the best pasta dishes we’ve had since arriving here. We paired with another wine and settled in for a relaxing weekend in Tuscany.
Dinner is about to be served – LOVED the charm in her home
Wonderful Tuscan dinner
Baby Indi munching on his mom’s wonderful cooking
More to come about this amazing weekend in Tuscany in a subsequent post…
I’ve got a lot I should be blogging about. Now that the spring flowers have arrived, I’ve decided Lake Como is one of the most beautiful places on earth. I’d like to feature the lake – specifically, downtown Como for you. I also need to do a piece on Alzate Brianza (the town in Como in which we reside). I would love to share with you images of our condo that we’re borrowing from Jen’s parents. If that’s not enough… we have had some wonderful experiences recently in Bergamo, Tuscany, Piemonte, Bellagio, Venice and more. And of course, we’ve had some incredible meals I’d like to showcase.
A scene in Tuscany – what I should be writing about
In order to share these stories I will need to take hundreds of new photos and sift through the thousands I have already taken. Then, I’ll need to re-create the stories and sprinkle in a bit of research about the towns.
Now, don’t get me wrong – I love doing this. And I love even more that we have both devoted and casual readers of our blog. A highlight of my day is getting a comment from a new reader somewhere in the world. But, I am feeling a bit overwhelmed by the sheer work of it all. I recognize that feeling stressed over such an unimportant task is comical. Or perhaps it just makes me look like an asino (you can translate that one on your own). But what can I say… I just want to do the best job I can.
So what do you do when you’re overwhelmed? Procrastinate, of course! And what can make you happy when you’re overwhelmed? Comfort food, of course! So this blog is a procrastination piece about comfort food!!
I wouldn’t necessary call bagels and lox your typical “comfort-food”, but it is a breakfast dish both Jen and I love. We’ve shared many wonderful brunches with this as the main course and loved every crunchy/creamy/slimy and flavorful bite. Plus, it reminds of us of home.
I was surprised to see how popular smoked salmon (“lox”) is in Italy. It is widely sold in the supermarket, with a vast number of brands jockeying for premium shelf space. Since breakfast in Italy is very light (usually just a few biscotti), once in a while we will get salmon to mix things up. However, a bagel in Italy is as non-existent as a Jew in Mississippi. So instead, we use toast points and occasionally add capers.
One day, we accidentally stumbled on all the typical ingredients (minus the bagels) and decided to go for it! So, here is our version of a “bagels and lox brunch, Italian style”.
All the ingredients, minus our “everything” bagels
The final product was quite delicious!
Now that I’m done procrastinating… I just feel more guilty than ever! Guess I should really get to work… but maybe I’ll just check out some new posts on 9gag first…
If you have never tried Risotto, I think it is a must. It’s delicious and a great way for us to change up lunch from our typical pasta dishes. Since this has been our first week of spring weather I wanted to make a spring risotto with beautiful seasonal asparagus.
Risotto with fresh asparagus
My mom used to make this for us a lot as a kid growing up in the spring and summer, so I was excited to make this for Greg and Julia. I was pretty happy with how this dish turned out. I served with a fresh salad of fennel and our meal was complete. Even Julia ate a huge plate. This dish is a great way to get kids to eat their vegetables. I hope to post some other risotto recipes soon (like pasta, there are many different ways to introduce new flavors). I hope your enjoy this as much as we did.
INGREDIENTS (serves 4)
>Olive oil
>One (1) small onion (diced)
>Four (4) cups of chicken stock
>Nine (9) palms of arborio rice (two palms of rice per person, with one extra for good measure). This is roughly two (2) cups of rice
>Two (2) cups of asparagus, pre-cooked (best to blanch to preserve color and texture). Cut into 1″ pieces
>Between half (½) and a full cup of white wine (depending on taste/quality of wine)
>Roughly one half (½) a cup of grated parmesan cheese and then additional cheese for the table and garnish
>Third (1/3) stick of butter
>Salt to taste
Fresh ingredients
>Heat chicken stock in a pot.
>On a separate burner, heat olive oil in a large flat pan with high sides. >Add onion until it is softened and translucent. While the onion is cooking, add a dash of salt. This could take a little over 5 minutes. Don’t allow the onions to brown.
Cook onions
>Add the rice and mix together. Stir until the rice is toasted (but not brown) about three – four (3-4) minutes.
Add the rice and continue to stir
>Add wine and continue to cook the rice.
>After a minute, add a ladle or two of the stock, stirring the rice continuously until the liquid is absorbed.
>Continue stirring and ladling the broth for approximately fifteen (15) minutes. Be sure to taste as you go and add salt accordingly. The rice should be al dente and creamy.
Ladle in the stock
>Before you add your last ladle or two of stock, add the asparagus and stir into the rice.
>Remove from heat and stir in butter and Parmesan cheese. Cover and allow pan to sit for five (5) minutes.
Add the asparagus…
…and cover
>Serve right away and top with fresh grated Parmesan cheese.
Enjoy!
PLEASE NOTE – Cooking risotto requires constant attention. Make sure the table is set and everything else you are serving is ready before you begin the rice. I have made that mistake before!
I recently realized that our “Home Cooking” section of the blog was growing the slowest throughout the entire site. I’m only partly ashamed to admit that the one consistent about our trip is that we’ve been indulging in some of the most amazing food we’ve ever had. However, my OCD recently kicked in when I noticed all our food posts landed in the “Restaurant” or “Jen’s Kitchen” sections. So, in an effort to right this wrong… here is one very memorable home-cooked meal we hosted a little while ago.
Eugenio brought a wonderful Champagne
Jen has a warm and wonderful family, with whom we love spending time. Recently, her cousin Eugenio drove from Torino to spend time with us and get reacquainted with Julia. He brought his lovely girlfriend, Barbara as well.
But enough jabbering… this post is all about the food and drink!
Let’s pop this cork and get the party started!
The night Eugenio and Barbara arrived, we set out a light dinner – just some typical Italian antipasti to nibble on, as well as some regional snacks we all like to enjoy.
Eugenio brought the Champagne
I think we’re going to need a bigger table
Oh wait, there was a free corner – let’s fill it with food
The next day, we had Jen’s cousin Massimo and his beautiful family over for a proper meal.
Vitello (veil) roast from our local butcher…
…after a nice sear
Antipasti for our guests
Claudia and Eugenio horsing around
Wait – who hit who?! Love both their expressions
Jen made a delicious prima (first course) – pasta pomodoro
Yummy!
The secondo, our vitello (veil roast)
Alessandra (Massimo’s wife) made a beautiful torta
We picked up some chiacchiere
Eugenio got some additional pastries
Julia’s cousin Bea, enjoying her ice-cream
Julia stole a taste
Everyone was so stuffed we needed a break with some scotch
It’s not a party unless you serve a second dessert
It was a wonderful weekend filled with too many delicious treats. Hopefully you were able to enjoy as well.
Here is something my Mom, Greg and I all have in common…we love Pizza. And pizza in Italy is the best! Pizza originated in Italy and they have continued to perfect the art ever since. When my Mom was in town we decided to make our own versions of our favorite pizza’s at home. We had so much fun and Julia even got in on the action.
Rolling out her dough
When I told my uncle our plan to try to duplicate our favorite pizza’s at home he gave us a brief history lesson on the pizza. As it turns out, pizza started as a flatbread consumed by many people in Europe. In 16th century this was a common meal sold on the streets to the poor throughout Naples. It was an inexpensive dish that offered many different types of toppings. Credit for the first Margherita pizza is given to pizza maker Raffaele Esposito of Naples. The story is that in June of 1889 to honor the Queen consort of Italy, Margherita of Savoy, he created a “Pizza Margherita” for the Queen (I had to get that from Wiki – History of Pizza) . This pizza consisted of tomatoes, mozzarella cheese and basil to represent the colors of the Italian flag. Thank you Raffaele! Today people around the world enjoy this simple but delicious pizza.
Our own Pizza Margherita
After our history lesson we were ready to prepare dinner. On the menu were our three favorite dishes. Diane’s favorite, Pizza Margarita; Greg’s, a Napoli Pizza; and my go to, Quattro Formaggi (four cheese).
Pizza Napoli
Quattro formaggio
We wanted dinner to be “easy” so we opted for store bought pizza dough. We will try making the dough another day. We also don’t have any fancy pizza stones or brick ovens here but we managed to create a crispy crust and pretty darn good pizza. Here is what we did:
All of the pizza’s started off with the same crust. Coat the baking pan with a little bit of olive oil so that the dough doesn’t stick. Instead of rolling out the dough we used our hands to stretch it and work it into a circle for the baking sheet. Once on the baking sheet we used a fork to poke a few holes in the dough (to prevent bubbles). Next we drizzled some olive oil and added some sea salt. Below is how to make the different types of pizza.
Drizzle olive oil on the dough
Pizza Margarita
For the sauce use a can of crushed San Marzano tomatoes. Simple is always best! Next you need to add slices of mozzarella cheese and fresh basil. Or, you can also choose to add the basil to the pizza after it comes out of the oven. It’s totally up to you! Either way you end up with a beautiful red, white and green pizza.
Crushed tomatoes as the sauce
Next, add your toppings
Pizza Napoli
Again, for the sauce simply use a can of crushed San Marzano tomatoes. Next, add slices of mozzarella, provolone and grated parmigiano reggiano cheese. What makes this a Napoli Pizza is adding acciughe(anchovies) as the final step. Feel comfortable to arrange them in any pattern you like.
The acciughe (anchovies) – Greg’s favorite
Pizza Quattro Formaggi
There is no need for sauce when making this pizza. Since the pizza is a four cheese, it does not need any sauce as a base. Instead, use some olive oil and crushed garlic on the dough. Our four cheese pizza consisted of mozzarella, provolone, grated parmigiano reggiano and gorgonzola cheese. Feel free to substitute any or all of the cheeses for your favorite (and if you’re feeling really crazy, make it a five or even six cheese pizza!).
Give spacing for your gorgonzola – it will melt over a large surface
All three pizza’s will cook in under 10 minutes at 425 degrees Fahrenheit. The trick is to watch the pizza and look for the crust to brown and the cheese to start to bubble. Once the crust is crispy enough to transfer, remove the pizza from the baking sheet and finish cooking it directly on the oven rack. This will give it a crispy crust without the brick oven. When you remove the pizza’s allow the cheese to cool for a few minutes before you cut and serve.
Julia and her Nonna
Jen and her Mom
Julia “rolling” on her own!
I hope you enjoy making pizza at your home. You can try these or invent one of your own with your favorite toppings.
Well, we have heard a lot from Greg so I thought it was time for me (Jen) to give this blogging a go. I have had a lot of people ask me how to make sauce. Growing up in an Italian family this was a staple in our house. I didn’t even know until college that most people buy pasta sauce from a jar! Sorry, but… yuck.
I am by no means an expert cook but I have had many very talented woman in my life that have taught me a lot. Until recently everything I know has been taught to me by my nonna (grandma), my mother and my mother-in-law, who are all incredibly talented in the kitchen.
Even though my Mom isn’t Italian she learned from the best Italian cook (my nonna) how to prepare all of my Dad’s favorite Italian meals. In the beginning of their marriage she made all the foods she grew up eating – good Ohio cuisine. This consisted of meat and potato cooking such as meat loaf and casseroles. Don’t get me wrong, all these foods are delicious… just not to my Dad. It wasn’t until maybe a year or so of eating this food that my Dad admitted he missed his mother’s cooking and my Mom’s path to creating mouth watering Italian dishes began. One of the best things she learned from my Nonna was how to prepare Sugo (sauce). My Nonna’s recipe requires a lot of chopping and it is time consuming to make. Since I have been living in Como I have had the opportunity to learn from another very talented woman, my Zia (Aunt) Claudia. She recently taught me a quick and easy way to make delicious sugo with ingredients you probably already have in your pantry and refrigerator. I hope you enjoy the sauce as much as everyone here enjoys eating it.
Marinara Sauce
This should be enough sauce for one pound of pasta (4 to 5 servings). I would suggest doubling the recipe and putting half in the freezer. It will save beautifully for about six months.
Simple ingredients you can find anywhere
INGREDIENTS
>Canned tomatoes – can be whole or chopped (must be San Marzano from Italy)
>Four (4) raw cherry tomatoes
>Two (2) Garlic cloves
>Half (1/2) bouillon cube (a quick shortcut to avoid lots of vegetable chopping)
>Extra virgin olive oil
>One (1) pound of pasta (I recommend Delverde or DeCecco)
>Sea Salt
“Put me to work, Mom!”
DIRECTIONS
>Peel two cloves of garlic
>Cover the base of your pot with extra virgin olive oil. Heat on a low setting and do not adjust temperature.
>Leave the garlic cloves whole to put in sauce (Italians prefer just a hint of garlic flavor). If you prefer a stronger garlic flavor you can chop or mince the garlic.
>Put the garlic in the pot with the heated olive oil and cook long enough to extract flavors. Be mindful not to burn.
Garlic should be lightly browned
>Add can of tomatoes (must be San Marzano, which is the region in Italy – there are various brands)
Canned tomatoes
>Dice raw tomatoes and add to sauce
Diced, raw tomatoes
Tomatoes added to pot
>Add half of a vegetable bouillon cube and stir
>Add sea salt (approximately a teaspoon… or Italian style, this much)
About this much salt… adjust based on hand size
>Remove the garlic and set aside (it gets added again)
>Blend the sauce with a hand mixer
Blend with hand mixture to get the correct consistency
>Place garlic back in pot
>Let sauce simmer over medium-low heat for approximately 30 minutes
>Finish with a dab of butter
>Remove from heat and serve
Pasta
>Add cold water to the pasta pot with coarse sea salt (my mother always taught me to pour the salt until you finish saying “Father, Son and the Holy Spirit”)
>Boil water as your sauce nears an end
>Place pasta in water
>Cook to a nice al dente – the appropriate time will be listed on the spaghetti package
>Drain pasta water and cover pasta with sauce until it is covered but not drenched
The requests have been flooding in by the virtual truckload…
“Now that you live in Italy… what are you cooking?”
Well, we’re here to tell you two things:
1) Not a single person actually asked the aforementioned question (I just thought the subject might make a fun post).
2) Some things are not that different – some things are very different.
And since I’ve thrown myself headfirst into this “blogosphere” and haven’t posted in a couple days… I’m starting to feel like an addict without an outlet. So here we go – we’re going to let you into our kitchen and show you our pantry and refrigerator. You’ll be able to get a first-hand glimpse at what we’ve been eating (when we eat at home that is)!
OUR PANTRY (my favorite)
Pantry Overview
It’s my favorite because I can so easily organize and stack everything neatly, as you see above. This image was not “doctored”. I did not straighten up before taking this shot, but I must confess – I did just unload some groceries and so it was freshly organized. For those that now me best, they won’t be surprised to see all labels out. OK… let’s break it down.
Top shelf – cookies, biscotti, baby biscotti (yes, it exists), dry cereal, etc. Jen’s convinced the fiber in those biscuits make them good for breakfast. I’m still too Americanized and prefer a bowl of cereal.
Top Shelf
Next is “Jen’s shelf”. I call it “Jen’s shelf” because I have no interest in it other than making sure it’s straight and tidy. Here you’ll find the dried beans and canned goods she uses to make her various soups, her tomatoes which are sometimes used as a base in her delicious sugo (sauce) and some other stuff I know nothing about. Oh, I picked up those artichoke hearts – they were on sale. Can’t figure out when/how we should eat them.
Jen’s Shelf
Next is my favorite shelf, because it’s easy to put stuff away and very easy to keep clean. So, I guess I’ll call it my shelf. Let’s see… we’ve got (from left to right) acqua naturale (flat water), acqua frizzante (sparkling water), milk… ok let’s pause a moment. Yes, I said milk. You see, milk is sold here in an aisle as well as the refrigerated section. Initially, we were only getting the refrigerated milk – but it goes bad after a couple days, so after my insescent “encouraging” – we tried this stuff and it’s actually pretty good. Plus, you don’t have to drive frantically to the store if you’re low on milk – you just go the pantry. OK… where were we? Ah, yes. Wine. You’ll see one of our new favorites in the front there. Just picked up four of these puppies for the low-low price of 3€ a piece! And it’s goooood! Moving on we have a row of various vinegar’s and then several types of olive oil – including a special one in front from Civitella, the town of Jen’s nonna (grandmother).
Greg’s Shelf
Our Fridge…
“Shut the damn door!”
We don’t have anything too fancy, several common things based on Italian dietary habits. Yogurt, for your afternoon “snack”. Beer (for Greg) – sold in three packs (weird), bitters (for Jen… I hate the stuff), minestrone soup fresh from last night’s dinner, herbs, frutti di mare (seafood mixtures) that we’ll have for lunch tomorrow over spaghettini (thin spaghetti), Illy coffee, salad and water.
Oh, the good stuff you can’t really see. At the top is a slide out drawer where we keep the ever-present salami, prosciutto, parmigiano cheese, and today we got a real treat… a hunk of speck from Jen’s Aunt upstairs.
A peak inside our fridge
Well, it may not have been the most exciting adventure into our lives – but now you know what we eat on a normal day. I have to say, with Jen’s culinary skills improving at a rate much faster than our lingual skills – I’d rather stay home and eat any day!!
