Dinner #2: A Night in Naples in North Beach
The next in Gianni’s dinner series gives us Neapolitan cuisine from the Caputo Family of Pulcinella. Four courses paired with four wines. Experience the birthplace of pizza!
Tag: authentic
Potato Gnocchi with Three Sauces
Potato Gnocchi from scratch, with Trepanase, Pizzaiola, and Gorgonzola Sauces.
Caffe Pascucci: Bastard Caffe
In Italia, you never see a menu in a traditional caffe. You can ask the barista for an espresso, macchiato, cappuccino or latte.
Cotechino: Traditional New Year’s Dish
Today, I’m making a traditional New Year’s dish, cotechino (a spicy fat boiled sausage from Italia) served over lentils. If you can’t get a cotechino you can use any Italian sausage. To poor southern Italians the lentils symbolized all the coins they hoped to amass …
Recipe: Mostarda di Sedano (Celery Chutney)
Preserved vegetables are a staple in the Italian pantry. This celery relish or chutney is a great accompaniment to salumi and cheeses either on their own or as part of an antipasti. The little cubes of celery glisten like tiny emeralds and its sweet-sour flavor …
Italy: The Rules
Every time I go to Italia, I learn more rules. If you’re gonna go – and I naturally recommend you do – keep some things in mind… Rule #1: Bring a Swim Suit After the long flight I find it important to rest and recharge …
Sunday Gravy
Hand-crushed tomatoes, and meats galore. The traditional, long-cooked pasta sauce from Campania.
Ciuti 2010 First Cold Pressed Sicilian EVOO Has Arrived
We’ve been waiting for weeks for this year’s press to arrive. Word came that the olive oil, from trees in the foothills near Agrigento, was finally put on a boat in Sicily. It arrived in LA a couple of weeks later. I was there when …
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 …
Pizza Margherita
Simple, fresh ingredients are the starting-point for a great Neapolitan-style pizza.
San Marzano Sauce
A simple, light tomato sauce, made from the last of the fresh San Marzano tomatoes and fresh basil, served over choke the priest pasta.
Choke the Priest!
No, it’s not a euphemism for self-abuse, ya pervert. It’s the translation of the name of a type of pasta called strozzapreti, which has disputed origins, all versions of which are fascinating: One is that gluttonous priests were so enthralled by the savory pasta that …
“Basic Italian”
Local writer Matt Baume penned a fabulous write-up of me for The Bold Italic, a beautifully-designed San Francisco web magazine that bills itself as “an experiment in local discovery.”