Meal Menus

Friday Recipe: One-Pan Pork Chops with Potatoes and Sweet Cherry Peppers

Tired at the end of a long day? You can make this full-flavored dish in one pan in less than 30 minutes. Easy to make and an easy clean-up too.

Hotness Challenge – Macaroni with a Baby Back Rib Sauce

Calabrians love hot peppers that make their food zesty and memorable. How many drops can you take?

Friday Recipe: Belly-Button Ricotta Gnocchi in a Sage Burnt Butter Sauce

The rising popularity of the potato gnocchi video promtped me to share a simpler gnocchi recipe using ricotta to make the dough instead of potato.

Little Scaloppine Bundles

These little bundles are sometimes called scaloppine “rollatini” (little rolls with a filling) or scaloppine “ripieni” (stuffed).

10 for 1 – Super Versatile Scallopine

At least 10 different dish variations are possible from this one veal cutlet recipe.

Spaghetti Pie

So I had some spaghetti with basil pesto left over from last night’s dinner. Boy-oh-boy the next day it’s breakfast–a spaghetti pie.

Basil Pesto–The Genoa Way?

Just a few ingredients and you’ve got this pesto in 10 minutes. Use it to dress fettuccine as they do in Genoa (they call the dish trenette) or with spaghetti as I did this time.

A basic recipe from Campania that you can have as I make it here and eat in 10 minutes. These quickly steamed cozze e vongole (mussels and clams) are just out of the Bay of Naples, pristine and briny.

Zucchini, Potato, Onion & Tomato Stew (Ciambotta)

A fan reminded me that zucchini is overflowing the garden, so how about two Friday Recipes to cook this prolific summer vegetable. Gagootz is an Italian-American word for zucchini. It derives from the name of an Italian squash cucuzza.

Sweet Grilled Shrimp on a Hot Summer Day

Enjoy caprese, sweet grilled shrimp, pesto and pasta, and sip home-made sangria for your next meal on a sultry summer day.

A Taste of Spring in Venice at da Flora Ostaria

Don’t miss this custom Venetian-style menu with wine pairings from my favorite North Beach restaurant!

Menu: Italian-American Thanksgiving Dinner

Updated for 2011: Turkey, stuffing and gravy recipe. I’m first generation Italian-American. Most of my friends were second generation and were more Americanized than my family. In my early years we celebrated this American holiday Thanksgiving but the meal was really Italian. As my …

Menu: Il Pranzo

This is the menu for a recent lunch I prepared for about a dozen work colleagues, evenly divided between Bay Area and NYC residents. I wanted this meal to feature the best of slow food in the Bay Area for our NY guests, so I …