Montalcino is famous for its spectacular wines but did you know that there is also a red heart to Montalcino? Saffron! This red gold has been cultivated in the region around Montalcino since the Middle Ages with records going as far back as 1857. The beautiful crimson spice is cultivated from the crocus plant and…
I hated eggplant as a kid. So did my sister, Michele. Any attempt on my Mom’s part to get us to eat it was met with wartime-level subversive resistance. This fierce resistance came to a head one summer evening when my sister and I refused to eat eggplant Parmigiana for dinner. Refusing to give an…
We know it is high summer when our kitchens are swimming in zucchini. We have stuffed and sautéed them, grated and grilled them, frittered and fried them (see what I did there? 😉) but this shaved zucchini recipe is by far my hands-down favorite way to serve zucchini in high summer. Thin ribbons of raw…
I was thinking about the upcoming 4th of July holiday while I was shopping this week. I spotted wonderful summer bell peppers at many of the farm stands at our local farmers market. They looked so sunny, their bright yellow, red and orange hues made me happy just looking at them (green peppers are just…
I just returned from Montalcino where I spent a super relaxing week mostly just hanging in the village. One of my favorite rituals is buying an armful of Italian cooking magazines and saving them to devour 😉 on the plane ride home. I spied a tasty white wine version of a cacciatore in this month’s…
How did I not know about this? On our recent trip to Italy for Mark’s 40th year architecture class reunion, the attendees all ate a final dinner together in Venice. At the restaurant, a slushy mixture in a wine glass went by on a waiter’s tray. We asked what it was and were told it…
Strawberry season is here, and big plump local berries were piled high at our market this past week 🍓. A sight for weary eyes indeed. For the last few weeks, we have been completely consumed with a new renovation project here at our little old home. The old carport was in a state of disrepair…
As I’m writing this, I’m sitting in a 3rd floor apartment overlooking a canal in Venice, Italy. It’s owned by the Contessa da Schio, whose family has lived in this building for six generations. We are staying here to attend Mark’s 40th architecture class reunion; Palazzetto da Schio was also the site of the 20th…
Our mother, Josie, was the champ of fresh pasta. She would turn out delicious homemade macaroni, gnocchi, passatelli with unrivaled speed. However baking was not really her thing – except for her Easter Sweet Bread (and oddly her molasses crumb cake). At Easter, I still think about her dense, delicious version of this Italian tradition…
I just returned from a beautiful long weekend in Montalcino. 🙏 My cousin, Mia, and I were on the hunt for new artisan items for our little OIT shop (Stay tuned! Found some cool new artisan products as well as beautiful new items from our beloved artisans!). The weather was warm and dry – great…
I LOVE ❤️ ceci [beans], aka garbanzos , aka chickpeas. Ceci in Italian, garbanzos in Spanish and chickpeas in English are all the same thing. I just think they have a wonderful creamy sweet taste that is terrific when used in soups, stews, braises and salads. I remember my mom Josie making pasta e fasule,…
One of the things I most look forward to in spring is the arrival of fresh artichokes. 🥳 We eat them steamed, stuffed or sautéed – any way makes my little heart happy. This sausage-stuffed artichoke recipe is a throwback to a meal our Mom used to make frequently (to my dismay). Back then, not…
In a little over a month, spring will arrive. 🥳 Here in Los Angeles, where people often say that seasons don’t exist, the signs of an approaching spring are everywhere. Plants are starting to perk up with new delicate shoots, the days are getting longer and more people are out and about on the streets…
Thought we would pop into your inbox one more time before Valentine’s Day with a quick dinner idea for the upcoming holiday! ❤️ Given Valentine’s Day is on a weeknight, we thought this recipe might come in handy for those needing to pull together a quick meal that will still leave your special Valentine’s heart…
Sicilians love to roll things – beef, fish, eggplant – and these Involtini di Manzo (aka beef rolls) are very common everywhere on the island. There are many versions of these delicious rolls – some with cheese, others without. This version is my personal favorite – filled with raisins and pinenuts and gooey provolone cheese….
Fennel is a versatile winter vegetable that adapts beautifully to all sorts of preparations, but not everyone knows it. Recently when I served this dish, one of our dinner guests not only had never eaten fennel, he had never even heard of it. But he loved this dish! It made me very happy to make…
Over here at Our Italian Table, we are not much for the standard January trends that fill our inboxes each morning – detoxes and dry Januarys and restricting life even further. (Lordy, we have had enough of the restrictions already!) I saw a quote recently on Facebook that was attributed to M.K. Fisher that read…
If you’re part of an Italian family, know an Italian family or have a favorite Italian restaurant, you’re probably gearing up for Christmas Eve and the famous Italian-American tradition of the Feast of the Seven Fishes 🐟🍤! Rooted in the Italian (as in Italy, not my hometown) tradition of eating seafood on Christmas Eve, this…
It’s time for our Seven Fishes Roundup and our Seven Fishes menu for 2021! As mentioned in my last post, the Seven Fishes feast has become a big deal for me over the years. What started as a formal sit-down dinner with way too many dishes has evolved over the years to a fun seven+…
On our recent trip to Montalcino, Joey and I cooked up a Florentine stew called Peposo, which has a long history dating back to when Brunelleschi constructed his magnificent dome in the 1400s. Workers made a simple lunch of stew meat, red wine and peppercorns which was tucked into a clay pot and left to…
We just returned from a few weeks in our beautiful Motherland. Joey and Mark kicked things off early with a week up near Liguria while Jay and I spent a day soaking in the thermal pools at Saturnia to ward off any jet lag. We then met up at a little villa we rented on…
I am not sure what has me more excited….this crostata or that we are headed back to Italy next week! (Ok, I really know the answer to that but this salted chocolate crostata was pretty darn tasty 😉) First, lets talk about the crostata, shall we? This supremely chocolate-y piece of heaven is super simple…
As the calendar ticks forward into Autumn 🍁, food magazines and newspaper recipes would tell you it’s time to start making stews and belly-warming dishes to ward off the coming Winter Blues. There’s just one problem: nobody told the zucchini plants they should stop growing. Markets and farm stands are still filled with these glorious…
Oh glorious summer – how I hate to see you go (excessive heat, tornados, hurricanes and floods aside :-)). Summer is my season and as it slowly fades into fall, I want to squeeze every last bit out of these remaining warm days. My fridge is still packed with the last of the eggplant, zucchini…
Here’s another tasty and simple summer 😎 😎 😎 dish that won’t heat up your kitchen. Pasta mare e monti is a wonderful dish from the Marche region of Italy that combines the fresh summer taste of the sea (squid 🦑), the earthiness of the mountains (mixed mushrooms 🍄) and the fresh bright taste of…
Summer living is the best, isn’t it? There is something about the simplicity that the summer season brings to my cooking that makes my little soul happy – life lived mostly outdoors, the crazy abundance of fresh veggies, easy cooking both indoors and out. And as a born and raised Jersey girl, summer means delicious,…
Summer, summer, summer ☀️ ☀️ ☀️ ☀️… what to cook this hot summer? When you want something tasty and filling, Sicilian stuffed peppers are the ideal choice for a light summer dish. They can be stuffed (and cooked on a cool night) ahead of time and reheated or served cold or at room temperature. They…
When the intense summer heat hits, one of my favorite desserts to make is frosty granita, a glittering, icy, slushy frozen Italian treat that makes the hottest day feel as if a cool ocean breeze is suddenly blowing across your face. During what I call my ‘Sicily’ years, we would spend long, lazy afternoons tucked…
Tuna sauce (“tonnato”)?! On pork?! Served cold?! 😲 What is going on here?! Welcome to an epic summer Italian-style with a delicious twist on a classic! The summer of 2021 is shaping up to be quite a season. People are making up for lost time by visiting with friends and family they’ve missed, going to…
Let’s talk about rice salads, shall we? Here in the US we don’t eat rice salads, insalata di riso, nearly as much as they do in Italy during the summer months. But we should! In my opinion, this summer staple comes close to the perfect dish for the hot, humid days of summer. You can…
About a year ago, my sister Michele had the idea to write a short cookbook called Gatherings (⬅️ to download a free PDF version or to purchase a hardcopy). We thought surely the pandemic would be over soon and it would be time to have big family gatherings again. We put together our favorite family…