One of my all time favorite cheeses is Gorgonzola. It can be “dolce” (mild) or it can be “piccante” (and have a bite). The difference between the two is a factor of the age of the cheese, or its maturity. Its appearance is unmistakable – creamy yellow with those undeniable blue/green streaks. Its flavor is even more unmistakable, though I will admit that it can be an acquired taste. But once acquired, there is no cheese quite like it (I swear).

Gorgonzola can be eaten many ways. Straight up with a spoon is my preferred choice (especially when no one is looking). But it can also be used as a spread on fresh bread. Gorgonzola Piccante is a wonderful contrast to sweet fruits like figs, pears, and berries. It also works well with jams. A quick appetizer is sliced baguette rounds with a spread of Gorgonzola Piccante, two thinly sliced pieces of pear, and a drizzle of honey.

I use Gorgonzola Dolce in a very simple sauce that I make for gnocchi.

Saute 1/2 small yellow onion in 2Tbsp butter melted in 4Tbsp olive oil. Add 1/2c chicken broth and simmer for a few minutes on medium heat. Then add a good amount of Gorgonzola Dolce (I used the entire pre cut wedge I bought at the store) cut in cubes. Allow to melt completely and finally add 1 1/2c heavy cream. Stir well and allow the cream to boil and reduce. Finally season with salt and pepper to taste and add 1/4tsp fresh lemon zest. The sauce should be on the thick side and not watery.

No gnocchi? No problem! This can obviously be used with any pasta. It can also be used as a dipping sauce for spinach balls and other vegetable or meat croquettes.

Buon appetito!

Avocados are always on hand in this house. I know a lot of people who don’t really care for them, but I find them both versatile and delicious. From straight up guacamole, to using them in pasta salads and sandwiches, to making a killer pesto for pasta…they never disappoint. They also happen to be good for you!

Ready?

Add two ripe avocados (obviously pitted and scooped out of the skins), 10 large leaves of fresh basil, 1/2c freshly grated Parmigiano, 1/2c chopped walnuts, 1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice, and pinch of salt and pepper to the bowl of a food processor. Process until starting to get smooth and then with the machine still running, slowly add about a 1/4c extra virgin olive oil.

Done.

Now the hard part is waiting for the water to boil and the pasta to cook (al dente…ALWAYS!). I generally use penne for this (always a pound…with two boys anything less is laughable), but spaghetti will work just as well. Remember to save about a cup of the cooking water to thin out the pesto as you mix it with the pasta.

This was our dinner last night. No…there were no leftovers.

Being stuck inside for the next few weeks is not going to be easy. Life as we know it is on major pause. Schools closing. No sports. No eating out. No dinner parties. Madness….but all necessary if we are to put the nightmare of Covid-19 in the rear view mirror.

This is the perfect opportunity to stay home, try new recipes, and begin using some of the food you have stockpiled. This morning I realized that I have an over-abundance of bananas. When this happens I usually peel them and freeze them in freezer bags. This way I always have them on hand for smoothies or shakes.

However, today I decided to use them in Banana Bread. My friend Michele gave me this recipe, and I have been using it for at least the last 15 years. (That’s a lot of banana bread!)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. With an electric mixer, cream together 1/2c butter (softened), 1c sugar, and 2 eggs. In a separate bowl, combine 1 and 1/2c flour, 1tsp baking soda, and 1 tsp salt. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture. Blend well. Add 1c mashed very ripe bananas, 1/2c sour cream, and 1tsp vanilla extract. Finally stir in 1/2c chopped walnuts or pecans. I sometimes substitute the nuts with chocolate chips (trust me on this). Pour into a well-buttered loaf pan and bake for one hour. Before removing from the oven, I always test the center of the bread with a toothpick (old school) or a cake tester to make sure it is done. Then I allow it to cool in the loaf pan for a bit before turning it out onto a rack to cool completely.

It is my sincerest wish that this pandemic craziness will pass as quickly as possible…but more than that I wish you all good health. Stay well, my friends. Ciao.

In a moment of temporary insanity, I headed to the grocery store this morning. While this is a trip I sincerely look forward to, I was half dreading it today. With all of this Covid-19 hysteria, I had no idea what I would or wouldn’t find when I got there. I quickly found the courage I needed when I considered being stuck with two teenage boys out of school for two weeks and low food supplies…talk about hysteria.

The crowds were pretty average…I have definitely seen it worse. As I made my way through the produce section, everything looked to be well- stocked. Then I got to the refrigerators where the bagged lettuce is kept…totally empty. I stood there thinking, “Was there a run on lettuce?” I venture further into the store with what was surely a “WTF” look on my face when I got to the meat section, and my jaw just dropped. There was not a single pack of meat to be seen. Not. One.

No beef. No chicken. No pork. No bacon. The duck was gone. The veal was gone. There weren’t even any hotdogs. Nothing organic or kosher. Nothing. Nada….except for two or three packs of some cut of lamb and I chose not to go there.

The momentary insanity that brought me to the grocery store flashed back. I thought, “What’s wrong with the meat? Have they pulled it from the store?” Then it dawned on me that it was completely sold out. Holy hell.

Thankfully everything else was pretty abundant – minus the toilet paper (don’t even get me started). Suffice it to say that we will be eating a lot of pasta in the next week…totally fine by me.

With this…I am grateful that I decided to make a pot of meatballs last night. No pasta..just some nice, crusty bread and a salad. Fantastic.

I combined ground beef, ground pork, 2 slices white bread soaked in milk, 1 egg slightly beaten, a nice helping of grated Parmigiano and Pecorino Romano, 1/2 small yellow onion finely diced, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. I sautéed them a minute or two in the pan, added a splash of white wine, and 1 can whole peeled tomatoes (pureed). Covered and let cook on low heat for a good hour and a half.

Lord knows I am not picky when it comes to pasta dishes. However, my absolute favorite pasta is Pasta al Grate’.…essentially a pasta gratin. My Nonno Gino was the master of this pasta, and he made it for me and my mother every time I saw him in Italy.

Béchamel plays a central role in what makes this pasta so. darn. good. Who would think that butter, flour, and milk could turn ordinary penne into a decadent dish that makes gorging perfectly acceptable?

In a nutshell, béchamel is made by melting butter and adding flour to make a rue. Then slowly adding slightly warmed milk and whisking constantly until thickened.

This simple white sauce can be used in so many ways. I always drizzle it throughout the layers of my homemade lasagna (no ricotta in lasagna here). It can be added to baked ziti for extra richness. It is the base sauce for vegetable lasagnas and vegetable gratins.

To make béchamel you will need 3 Tbsp unsalted butter, 3 Tbsp flour and 1- 3/4c whole milk (slightly warmed). Melt the butter and whisk in the flour. Combine well and slowly add the warmed milk. Continue whisking over medium heat until thickened. Season to taste with salt and add a dash of nutmeg.

The simplest things can bring forth some of the best things ever. Enjoy!

I. Live. For. Dinner.

I do. It is on my mind seven days a week. Before I have even cleared the table, I am already thinking about what I will make for dinner the next day. When I go to the grocery store, I shop for dinner. Breakfast and lunch are a No Man’s Land of “whatever we have in the fridge”. But dinner…dinner is special. Dinner has meaning.

While breakfast and lunch are both important meals, they just don’t rank with dinner. First of all…who actually thinks about food first thing in the morning? Coffee comes first in this house. Breakfast is just something you eat with your coffee. Lunch…well when it isn’t skipped completely, it is usually eaten standing up at the kitchen counter and it involves whatever was left over from the night before. Sorry.

But dinner. Dinner is the culmination of the entire day. Dinner requires some planning and effort. Dinner is savored. In this house, dinner is sacred.

Unfortunately many of us don’t have time for dinner. Sports, work, and other activities make cooking and meal time next to impossible. But I can honestly say that even if we are eating hot dogs and frittata (actually had this for dinner one night many moons ago) at 8:30pm, I make a conscious effort to set the table and have my family sit and eat dinner – together.

Mind you, dinner does not need to be fancy. In fact, the simpler the better…especially if time is not on your side. One of the easiest things to make for dinner is – you guessed it- PASTA! And one of the easiest pasta dishes is Pasta al Tonno.

Cook pasta according to package instructions. Around here, I cook nothing less than a pound, so this recipe is for 1lb of pasta. While the pasta cooks, in a large skillet, saute one small chopped yellow onion in about 3 Tbsp olive oil. Add two cans of “tonno” in olive oil (undrained). Then add a small 5oz jar of green olives (with or without pimentos) chopped. If you have them, 2 Tbsp of capers can also be added.

Mix well and let saute over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Then add 3/4c white wine and 3 to 4 Tbsp tomato paste. Mix well and season to taste with salt and pepper and a nice dash of red pepper flakes. Reserve about 1c of cooking water when you drain the pasta. Add the pasta to the skillet and mix well. If needed, add the cooking water , a little at a time, to thin the sauce.

Serve immediately…and while adding grated cheese to a fish dish is severely frowned upon is some places, this is the one time I make an exception.

Buon appetito!

I grew up in the era of recipe cards. My mother had a typical recipe box and inside there were what looked like hundreds of 3×5 index cards. All the cards were written by hand in that unmistakable penmanship that only someone educated in Italy can have. The recipes were always named after their source. For instance, Crema di Mimma was the custard recipe from Mimma. There was always phonetic spelling involved or the “Italianization” of an American word. The majority of the recipe card was just a list of ingredients…that’s it. No. Instructions. Needed.

Somehow, I ended up with a lot of these recipe cards from my mother’s box. What a treasure. Some of the cards are old, faded, and food stained, but they are beautiful reminders of a time long gone. Reading through the cards, I could vividly remember my mother using them. Even though she probably knew the recipe by heart, the card was always sitting out on the counter for reference.

One of the recipes that will forever stick out in my mind is the one for “Sponge Cake”. I remember it not necessarily because of the recipe itself, but because when this cake finally made its way into the oven, the kitchen was essentially off limits. There was no jumping, heavy walking, or breathing near the oven. Even thinking of opening the oven door could get you disowned. When the cake was finally taken out of the oven, an intricate cooling system was put into play. Three or four espresso cups were placed on the counter and the fluted pan was VERY CAREFULLY inverted and balanced on the espresso cups. The cake had to remain totally undisturbed until it was completely cooled. All of this was done to ensure that the cake could be successfully removed from the pan without deflating or falling apart. Hence the reason that I have never attempted to make this cake myself. Too much pressure.

I recently came across my mother-in-law’s recipe box. She, too, was an amazing cook, and one of my favorite recipes of hers was for Castagnole. These are basically balls of dense dough that you deep fry. They are usually eaten before Lent at Carnevale or Fat Tuesday. Some people sprinkle them with powdered sugar. My mother-in-law made a mix of equal parts honey and whiskey ( powdered sugar is for sissies) that was heated to a syrupy consistency and then poured over the Castagnole.

The recipe is pretty straight forward. The only modifications I made were: I used a cup of milk instead of a “water glass” and I fried them in vegetable oil..no Crisco. They tend to flip or roll over as they fry. I fried them on medium high heat until they were dark golden brown all over. For the syrup, I eyeballed one part whiskey to two parts honey (feel free to improvise to personal taste) and warmed it over medium low heat until the honey dissolved.

The use of recipe cards may well be a thing of the past. The internet and sites like Pinterest provide every recipe imaginable at the touch of a button. But there is something very special, and definitely nostalgic, about reading that 3×5 card and following the recipe (instructions optional).

When I was young, the last place I wanted to be was in the kitchen. I remember my mom yelling up to me to come down from my room and help her in the kitchen. Trust me, there was always something going on in her kitchen. My mother was born in Italy to a family of chefs…brother, father, uncles, grandfathers… all chefs. Being in the kitchen was in her DNA. But I had no interest in helping her make pasta, pizza, or bread. The last place I wanted to be was up to my eyeballs in tomatoes that needed to be canned, or fresh fruit that needed to be made into jams or jellies. I especially detested having to pick through the mountains of “highway weeds” (aka rapini and dandelion greens) before they could be blanched and stored in the freezer.

Fast forward thirty years (yikes!) and where do I spend the majority of my time? You guessed it..in the kitchen. It could be because I have two teenage boys who eat like today is their last meal. It could be that aside from talking, eating is my favorite thing to do. Or it could be that the “chef gene” is part of my DNA, too, and there is no escaping genetic programming.

There is a certain satisfaction that comes from preparing a meal and sharing it with the people you love. I am firm believer that good food does not have to be fancy or expensive. In fact, the simpler, the better. With this blog, I hope to share some of my craziness for food and cooking. So whether you have the “chef gene” or not, sit back, relax, and I will see you in the kitchen!