Easter Pies: Pizza Rustica & Pastiera Napoletana
Serve the pizza rustica as part of the antipasti course and the Pastiera as your dolce (dessert). But only on Easter!
Recent Posts
Breaded Chicken Cutlets
Fried, breaded cutlets are one of my favorite dishes and I make them often. They’re quick to fry up and are delicious. If you’ve been a fan of this site for a while, you’ll remember I’ve shown you chicken cutlets before, but it was in …
Eggplant Balls
I never had polpette di melanzane (eggplant “meatballs”) before I stumbled upon them 8 years ago in Napoli at a family trattoria behind all the fancy hotels facing the Bay of Naples on the Lungomare. Despite the literal translation “eggplant meatballs” there’s no meat in …
Roman-Style Chicken with Peppers
Pollo alla Romana con i Peperoni: Chicken Roman-Style with red and yellow peppers in a sweet tomato sauce punctuated by crispy prosciutto bits is a simple one-pan recipe that is ready in about 30 minutes. I prefer boneless, skinless chicken breast but you can use …
Belly-Button Ricotta Gnocchi in a Quick Tomato-Basil Sauce
I was hungry and wanted something I could whip together in less than an hour. I was thinking about gnocchi and decided to make ricotta gnocchi instead of potato gnocchi that take longer. Just make sure you drain excess liquid from the ricotta in …
Sautéed Escarole with White Tuscan Beans + Uccelletto
The last episode of Lunch with Gianni was a special episode. After the privileged opportunity to cook with expensive winter black truffles for which I am grateful, I’m back in the kitchen cooking what I describe as my “cucina povera”, my “cucina rustica”, the rustic …
Fettuccine with Black Truffle Sauce
Last call for black winter truffles. If you live in San Francisco you can buy them at North Beach’s Il Cilentano on Columbus. They’re also still available from online purveyors. Don’t miss out on enjoying these “Diamonds of the Kitchen.” Treat yourself, maybe even make …
Caper & Butter Petrale Sole & Roasted Fennel
Hey Gianni’s back in the kitchen. As my fans told us during our Meet & Eat YouTube livestream, enough talking. Get back in the kitchen. We took their advice. We’re still in lock-down here. Jeff, Gwen and I cannot be together to produce episodes. That …
Spaghetti al Limone
We took the fast hydrofoil from Napoli for a quick ride to the island of Ischia. We’d never been before and were determined to check out this gem in the middle of the Bay of Napoli. It was a hot summer day so we hugged …
Meet & Eat: A Gianni’s North Beach Livestream Extravaganza
Turns out if you start to type “Gianni North Beach” into Google, it autocompletes with “Gianni North Beach Dead.” Hey, wait a minute! Not true, last time I checked. Sure, we went away for about 3 and a half years. And yes, I’ve been laying …
Chicken with a Garlic, Anchovy, Caper and Lemon Sauce
I’m in Ortigia, a small island off the coast of Siracusa, Sicily. A swordfish dish I ate the first night here in local restaurant included the ingredients in this dish. Today we decided to eat in the apartment we rented. So I bought everything I …
Paccheri Pasta with Ricotta & San Marzano Marinara Sauce
I love paccheri, big fat pasta tubes that trap sauce inside and close and open as you spear one with your fork, sometimes making a smacking noise. They’re fun to eat. Hungry, low energy? You’ll be eating this dish in the time it takes to …
Lamb Chop and Artichoke Kitchen Invasion
More Roman Food in North Beach. Bravo! Maurizio Bruschi, the chef/owner of Ideale, the classic North Beach Roman restaurant on Grant for over 20 years, and his partner Giuseppe Terminiello, recently opened Piccolo Forno on Columbus. Piccolo Forno brings another Roman culinary tradition to North …
Ravioli & Gnocchi Kitchen Invasion
North Beach’s The Italian Homemade Company on Columbus is my go-to spot for fresh pasta made daily. Mattia Cosmi, who hails from Le Marche and his wife Alice Romagnoli, an expert pasta-maker from Rimini in the Romagna region on the northern Adriatic coast are the …
Manicotti Kitchen Invasion
Only in America! You Can’t Get These Manicotti in Italy I’ve been eating at North Beach’s da Flora for over two decades and never had a bad meal there. When my friends and I want to share a leisurely family-style 4-course meal we always head …
Veal Scallopine with Fresh White Truffles
Unlike the black truffle you shouldn’t cook with white truffle. The more mild and sophisticated white truffle is a perfect marriage with veal scallopine. Piero had the truffles, I needed to get the veal. Inspired, I ran across the street to Little City Meats. Mike …