Archive for May, 2010

My Fellow Americans, Happy Memorial Day!

Just a quick post to wish my fellow Americans a Happy Memorial Day as we remember our veterans and all they’ve sacrificed for us.

And now it’s time for me to step away from the computer for a bit as I regroup, take some photos, scratch some goatie faces, walk with the pooches, hang out in the campagna, and get psyched up for a busy summer ahead. Woohoo!

What do you have planned for the summer?


What’s Cooking Wednesday: Pasta with Peas

As you know, we’ve had gorgeous peas from the garden around here lately. One day, we wanted to eat peas but also something a bit more substantial, so P said, “Well can you just put some pasta in with the peas?”

Of course, amore mio, and I came up with this — now one of our favorite meals, especially for lunch in warm weather. It’s so very simple and delicious, and even great cold as a salad IMHO. Feel free to add whatever you like, including pancetta. Yum.

Pasta e Piselli
(Pasta with Peas)
(serves 2)

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 small red onion, chopped
  • 250 grams of shelled (or frozen) peas — canned wouldn’t be great in this
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 250 grams of short or even soup pasta like lumachine (similar to elbow macaroni in the US)
  • Salt
  • Freshly grated parmigiano

1. In a medium pan, saute onion in olive oil over medium heat.

2. Add peas and water to pan, and let cook until tender (depends on peas, but can take anywhere from ten minutes and up), adding salt to taste along the way.

3. When the peas are nearing done, put on water for pasta and when it comes to a boil, add salt and prepare pasta.

4. Strain pasta and add to pan with peas and toss together well.

5. Add a drizzle of fresh olive oil and top with lots of freshly grated parmigiano.

Buon appetito!


Calabrian Peas Fresh from the Garden

Remember when I shared Judy Witts Francini’s recipe for Piselli alla Fiorentina from her wonderful cookbook Secrets from My Tuscan Kitchen? I had to use frozen peas for that dish because ours weren’t ready yet . . . but then they got ready. And man do I love fresh peas from the garden.

Peas are even gorgeous as plants, aren’t they? Such pretty flowers!

I know the goats agree, and although I’m sure they’d love to munch on the peas at any stage of growth, they usually just get the pods once we’ve removed the peas.

And they love ’em!

If you’ve been following along at Goat Berries, you know that these photos are from a few weeks ago as we no longer have the goats pictured above. *sigh*

But we still have Pasqualina and Pinta, and they both love the pea pods too (and fava pods if you got ’em) . . . as I also wrote on Goat Berries, we now even get gift bags of pea and fava pods left in front of our door just for the girls!

I don’t have to tell them twice to eat their veggies!

Come back Wednesday for another great fresh pea recipe — this time with pasta!

What’s growing in your garden right now?


Prosciutto e Melone, Caprese Salad, and Palazzo Paparo

We’re enjoying absolutely gorgeous weather here today in the toe of the boot, which often means a quick, cold lunch like this one:

Prosciutto Crudo e Melone and a pseudo-Caprese Salad — this time with oregano because I didn’t have any basil, but hey oregano is still green, so the whole “colors of the Italian flag” thing still works.

Grab a chunk of Italian bread and a glass of red wine and head out onto the balcony, and all is right with the world…especially now that the old palazzo of Baron Paparo across the street from us is being freed of its scaffolding (previously attached to our house, for the past 10 years!).

I’ll be following up on this palazzo, by the way, taking some photos, posting them here, and hopefully sparking interest in wealthy investors who would like to help us (the town) restore the palazzo to its former grandeur. The first time I walked inside, I felt like I was in a scene from Titanic, when you see the ship underwater but then it magically transforms into what it *used* to be…. *le sigh*

In the meantime, if you know of anyone who might be interested, let me know! I know it would mean the scaffolding would have to go back up, but it would be *so* worth it.

Hope you’re enjoying your weekend too!


Cavolfiori al Forno – Baked Cauliflower

Are you on the edge of your seats wondering who will win a copy of Breaking Bread in L’Aquila by Maria Filice? Well you’ll have to wait just a wee bit longer . . . you can enter the drawing until Thursday, May 20th at 11:59 p.m. CET and then I’ll announce the winner on the Bleeding Espresso Facebook page and also tweet it via @michellefabio (and contact the winner, of course).

P.S. Remember to also join in the contest over at She Who Blogs, where you can read an interview with me *and* enter to a win a signed copy of Mary Amabile Palmer’s Cucina di Calabria!

For now, I’m going to share my adaptation of another of Maria’s wonderful recipes; last week was the recipe for the best crostini ever and this week we’re playing with cauliflower.

I don’t know about you, but I love cauliflower . . . I just get so *bored* with how to make it. And please don’t tell me to mash it up like potatoes. P will barely eat mashed potatoes as it is; I’m not about to risk losing our twice a year mashed potato splurge because of a cauliflower dish gone wrong. Anyone who has cooked for a picky eater knows where I’m coming from on this, right?

Needless to say, I was excited when I saw Maria’s “Cavolfiori al Forno” recipe for baked cauliflower. Fast, easy, delicious, and pretty darn healthy to boot . . . just like we like it around here!

Cavolfiori al Forno – Baked Cauliflower
from Breaking Bread in L’Aquila by Maria Filice
(as adapted by me)

  • 1 large cauliflower, cut into florets
  • Salt for blanching cauliflower
  • 1 clove garlic, cut into two or three pieces*
  • 1/4 cup of unseasoned bread crumbs**
  • Chopped parsley to taste
  • 1/2 to 3/4 cup of freshly grated parmigiano cheese
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • Salt and black pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C).

2. Fill a large pot about halfway with water and bring to a boil.

3. Add two tablespoons of salt and cauliflower. Boil for 5 minutes and remove cauliflower with a slotted spoon.

4. While the cauliflower is boiling, prepare a bowl with the garlic and olive oil. Add the cauliflower and mix to cover it, then transfer the cauliflower (leaving the garlic behind) to a baking dish.

5. In a small bowl, combine bread crumbs, parsley, and cheese. Spread evenly over cauliflower and season with salt and pepper to taste.

6. Bake uncovered for about 8 minutes; remove and move around cauliflower a bit. Bake for another 8 minutes or so, or until golden. Serve warm.

Buon appetito!

* The original recipe calls for minced garlic, but I found this to be a little too garlicky for my taste, so I left the garlic in bigger pieces for us the next time and really enjoyed it. Feel free to experiment.

** I think you could also go seasoned, or alternately, add a little onion and garlic powder (instead of adding the garlic) ala my veal cutlets. I’m going to try this next time.


Michelle KaminskyMichelle Kaminsky is an American attorney-turned-freelance writer who lived in her family's ancestral village in Calabria, Italy for 15 years. This blog is now archived. 

Calabria Guidebook

Calabria travel guide by Michelle Fabio

Recipes

 

Homemade apple butter
Green beans, potatoes, and pancetta
Glazed Apple Oatmeal Cinnamon Muffins
Pasta with snails alla calabrese
Onion, Oregano, and Thyme Focaccia
Oatmeal Banana Craisin Muffins
Prosciutto wrapped watermelon with bel paese cheese
Fried eggs with red onion and cheese
Calabrian sausage and fava beans
Ricotta Pound Cake