Ribollita alla Toscana
Ribollita is a simple peasant dish in Tuscany but oh boy is it delicious. "Ribollita" literally means "re-boiled", as it is usually made with leftover minestrone. So this recipe is pretty much a minestrone recipe, just left overnight and reheated with bread.
Print This PostSpaghetti Carbonara
Is there any other dish that can rival spaghetti carbonara on time spent versus tastiness achieved? I don't think so.
Print This PostEasy Chicken Soup
I bet someone in your family got a cold in the last months or so... the cold season is here to stay. They call chicken soup Jewish aspirin for a reason — scientists are not sure what exactly, but something in this soup does help to get rid of the cold much quicker, and it has anti-inflammatory qualities. Plus, it's an easiest thing to do and is delicious in any weather.
Print This PostHome-made Pizza
Oh pizza... I can talk and talk and talk more about it and when I'm not talking about it I can fantasize about it ad infinitum. You guessed it — pizza is one of my all time favourite foods. I urge you to make it at home with everything from scratch - you won't even want to look at the restaurant version afterwards. It is time consuming, but actually pretty easy, it takes only about half an hour total cooking time, with a lot of waiting in-between.
Kids adore this stuff (my nephew can gobble three of these at one sitting), and love to assemble their own pizzas. I also had a fun party once where everyone got to choose the toppings on their pizza — it is a great scalable party food, with not to much prep and you can make more or less depending on how many people show up.
Print This PostFennel Salad
Fennel is in season! I had this salad many times in Italy and was always amazed how easy it is yet how amazingly flavourful it can be. Like a sweet cucumber sprinkled with anise. It goes great with heavy, meaty dishes as it offsets them beautifully — sausages, pork chops, roasts.
Print This PostChicken Broth
Chicken broth is one of the most basic building blocks of any soup, stew, or sauce. I can't really attribute it to any cuisine because every cuisine has a chicken broth recipe. It is delicious in any weather and superbly versatile.
There is some confusion with "broth" vs "stock" naming. The difference has to do with meat used in cooking — if you cook this recipe with whole chicken, it will be a chicken broth, if you use only bones, it will be chicken stock. There is a slight difference in taste and meatiness of the final product, obviously, but for most recipes you can use them interchangeably.
This is so called white chicken broth — which means the bones weren't roasted before cooking. If you roast the bones before cooking (at 425ºF for about an hour, turning occasionally), it will be called dark chicken broth. It has nothing to do with colour of the actual broth.
Print This PostSummer Pasta Salad
What better way to use all the seasonal produce than a fresh, crisp, fulfilling pasta salad? Hot or cold, it's good any time of the year with whatever veggies are available, and the whole thing is ready in about 20 minutes, most of the time spent boiling pasta and cutting vegetables.
Print This PostCold Soba Noodles Salad
Quick dinner on a weekday night in a million degrees Fahrenheit? Welcome the soba noodles salad. The prep takes 10 minutes flat, and the result is yummy, healthy and most importantly, cold.
Print This PostGrilled Vegetables Salad
Ahh.. Summer is in full swing finally and that means the season of barbecues and outdoor picnic and no-cook foods and delicious salads from local and seasonal produce. Even if you don't have a barbecue grill, no fret, you won't be excluded. This recipe is equally easy to make on the grill and in the oven. Serve it with some chilled rosé wine and sprinkle with some feta cheese and voila! You got yourself an easy, light and incredibly delicious dinner.
Print This PostHome-made Pesto
It's hard to believe, but before the discovery of America Italians did not have tomatoes. Can you imagine that, no spaghetti bolognese, or margarita pizza, or veal parmiggiano? What did they eat then? - you ask. Pesto sauce, that's what! It is wonderfully easy to make, and once you made it one time I can bet you'll be making it over and over again.
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