Italian

Caponata

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Caponata

Boston Globe, March 26, 2008 Caponata Makes about 2 cups Caponata is the sweet, sour, and salty Sicilian eggplant appetizer that looks like a relish and often comes as one of the tastes in an antipasti course. The dish begins with sauteed eggplant cubes, which lend their deep purple color to the mixture, and is …

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Spaghetti lasagna

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Spaghetti lasagna

Boston Globe, January 16, 2008 If there was ever a universal crowd pleaser, it’s lasagna. This dish is a variation on the layers of wide noodles and tomato sauce that usually go into the dish. Here spaghetti, tomato sauce, and mozzarella cheese are stacked in a dish, then baked until the top turns golden. Cut …

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Strawberry napoleon, deconstructed

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Boston Globe, June 13, 2007 Some desserts, like one I was served recently in Italy, are stunning on the plate. In this case, triangles of puff pastry were set into a pool of vanilla custard sauce. Tiny strawberries were strewn around the dish, which was decorated with zig zags of chocolate. In fact, this impressive confection …

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Baked to perfectionAt Somerville’s La Contessa, the prized ricotta pies have a longstanding following

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SOMERVILLE — Paper bunnies and decorated eggs adorn the picture windows at La Contessa Bakery Cafe here. Huge chocolate Easter eggs wrapped in colorful cellophane hang above the counter waiting for excited children. On a top shelf, along with a statue of St. Anthony, are boxes of sweet Italian bread baked in the shape of …

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Pasta is full of carbs, but that doesn’t matter Tomatoes or cream?Here’s your guide

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ROME — A nattily dressed gentleman, unlit cigar poised between his lips, studies the pastas in a soccer-field-length supermarket aisle. Signore Pino Magno is an Italian diplomat who loves to cook. He is choosing pasta to go with one of his sauces. After much consideration, Magno decides on a bag of casarecce, a delicately once-twisted, …

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A little bit of everything goes a long way

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A little bit of everything goes a long way

Don’t pity the poor antipasto according to Lynne Rosetto Kaspar, author of “The Italian Country Table” (Scribner), even though its origins are in peasant cuisine, many of the dishes, developed from leftovers, have now become antipasti, often translated as appetizers. The word “appetizer,” however, barely does justice to the long list of antipasti at restaurants …

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Load up your plate with regional Italian delicacies at a ‘sagra’

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Load up your plate with regional Italian delicacies at a ‘sagra’

MAGLIANO, Italy – There you are, dining al fresco on a warm summer’s eve in the Italian countryside. Plates of the ”gastronomia tipica” (local dish) are splayed out before you, and a pitcher of hearty wine is being passed your way. You are engulfed in a lively, informal atmosphere. The flow of food and conversation …

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In Italy, fine dining is done at home

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You would think a trip to Italy for a food lover would send her scrambling for guides to the endless trattorias, ristorantes, and osterias. When cooking is your passion, however, what can be better than staying in a house with a kitchen? My family recently took a house in the small town of Magliano in …

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