briciole

strozzapreti / handmade strozzapreti

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano] the moment of truth Our tour of the 20 regions of Italy organized by Trattoria MuVarA is coming to an end. It feels like yesterday that we started from Aosta Valley. Then, every two weeks, we have been hopping around the Italian peninsula discovering interesting places and tasty dishes along the way. I have created a page that gathers the links to all the recipes I prepared during the tour. Our last stop is Emilia-Romagna, a region rich in history, culture, and culinary traditions, a region that includes renowned cities like Bologna,... Read more →

Presto Pasta Nights #288: il riepilogo / the roundup

It's Friday and time to share the pasta dishes that I have received as contributions to edition #288 of Presto Pasta Nights, the popular event created by Ruth of Once Upon a Feast. For each contribution, I will give you the official information (author, blog name and post title) and a short quote or brief description — a teaser that invites you to follow the link to read the relevant post. Make sure you come back to this post and read it all through, included the important announcement at the bottom. Marija of Palachinka prepared Chicken and Brandy Farfalle "Meat gets... Read more →

trofiette / handmade trofiette

trofiette with tomato sauce Thomas Jefferson's Crème Brûlée is an appealing title for an interesting book (see giveaway rules ahead) in which the author, Thomas J. Craughwell, tells the story of Jefferson's sojourn in Paris, from 1784 to 1789. Jefferson was there as a commissioner and minister, and during those years, he had one of his slaves, James Hemings, apprentice as a cook so he could learn French cuisine. As James apprenticed under master French chefs, Jefferson studied the cultivation of French crops (especially grapes for winemaking) so they might be replicated in American agriculture. The two men returned home with... Read more →

annuncio / announcement: Presto Pasta Nights #288

This week, I have once again the honor of hosting Presto Pasta Night, edition #288 to be precise. Pasta comes in a myriad shapes. This past summer, I started a journey into pasta shapes from southern Italy made by hand using an eggless dough: strascinati, orecchiette, maccheroni al ferro, gnocchetti sardi, and fusilli al ferro. I am having so much fun that I am planning to continue teaching my hands to make new tricks. Week after week, Presto Pasta Nights captures snapshots of the countless realizations of pasta dishes by food bloggers around the world. Important note: Ruth of Once Upon... Read more →

Presto Pasta Nights #280: il riepilogo / the roundup

It's Friday and time to share the pasta dishes that I have received as contributions to edition #280 of Presto Pasta Nights, the popular event created by Ruth of Once Upon a Feast. For each contribution, I will give you the official information (author, blog name and post title) and a short quote or brief description — a teaser that invites you to follow the link to read the relevant post. Priya of The Humpty Dumpty Kitchen prepared Tortiglioni with Fire Roasted Tomatoes and Lime Infused Béchamel — "What I wanted to do was a lime infused cream sauce... The only... Read more →

fusilli al ferro / handmade fusilli

handmade fusilli with browned butter and Parmigiano-Reggiano In learning to make maccheroni al ferro, I saw the possibility of using the same simple tool to create another type of pasta shape. Slightly different hand movements result in different shapes. (from this post) This is what I meant: Browsing around, I found a video where the hand movements are basically the same as mine: as I suspected, I had made fusilli. In Italian fusillo means small fuso (spindle). As I have mentioned before, the names of pasta shapes may be a bit confusing. For example, in this video Rosetta Costantino shows how... Read more →

annuncio / announcement: Presto Pasta Nights #280

This week, I have once again the honor of hosting Presto Pasta Night, edition #280 to be precise. Pasta comes in a myriad shapes. Recently, I have started a journey into pasta shapes from southern Italy made by hand using an eggless dough: strascinati, orecchiette, maccheroni al ferro and gnocchetti sardi. I am having so much fun that I am planning to continue teaching my hands to make new tricks. Week after week, Presto Pasta Nights captures snapshots of the countless realizations of pasta dishes by food bloggers around the world. I will be delighted to receive your contribution to this... Read more →

gnocchetti sardi al sugo / Sardinian gnocchi with tomato sauce

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano] malloreddus (Sardinian gnocchi) Another cool type of handmade pasta! You can tell I am having a lot of fun with my recent explorations of traditional Italian pasta shapes. As the Abbecedario culinario d'Italia (Italian Culinary ABC) crossed the sea to reach the shores of Sardegna (Sardinia), I knew this would be my chance to explore the traditional small gnocchi (gnocchetti) that are made on the island, called malloreddus. Although I have been to Sardinia once, a trip from which I have a lot of fond memories, my connection with malloreddus comes from... Read more →

pasta veloce per cena numero 277: il riepilogo / Presto Pasta Nights #277: the roundup

It's Friday and time to share the pasta dishes that I have received as contributions to edition #277 of Presto Pasta Nights, the popular event created by Ruth of Once Upon a Feast. For each contribution, I will give you the official information (author, blog name and post title) and a short quote or brief description — a teaser that invites you to follow the link to read the relevant post. Sarah of La Cuisine de Sarah prepared Truffle & Mushroom Ravioli A series on TV inspired "to dust off the old pasta machine. To honour its outing I decided to... Read more →

maccheroni al ferro al sugo / handmade maccheroni with tomato sauce

handmade maccheroni with tomato sauce I am on a roll with handmade pasta. Just in the past few weeks, I have made strascinati and orecchiette. Here, I continue my exploration of pasta shapes with maccheroni al ferro. maccheroni making in progress In my rendition of this pasta, I followed this video and made relatively short maccheroni. I suggest you do the same the first few times, until you become familiar with the process. Then, if you like, you can try making longer maccheroni, as shown in the video included in this post (in Italian). my first try at making longer maccheroni... Read more →