January 2010 Archives

I am a big fan of Lidia's - officially Lidia Matticchio Bastianich but known throughout the foodie world simply as "Lidia".  She is as authentically Italian as they come and you can taste every bite of her heritage in her food.  She has restaurants in New York, Pittsburgh and Kansas City, and an Italian food empire that includes cookbooks, websites and TV shows. 

If you love Italian, you should definitely be cooking from her books...or her website, which features recipes from her all her cookbooks, like this wonderful dish for cold winter nights:

Ziti with Sausage, Onions and Fennel
Serves 6

For the sauce:
1-pound sweet Italian sausage (without fennel seeds)
1 large fennel bulb with stem and fronds (about 1 pound)
1/3-cup extra virgin olive oil
2 medium onions cut in half-moon slices (2 cups)
1/2-teaspoon salt
1/2-teaspoon dried peperoncino (hot red pepper flakes)
1/2-cup tomato paste
Boiling water from the pasta cooking pot

For the pasta and finishing:
1-tablespoon kosher salt, for the pasta cooking water
1-pound ziti
1/3 cup finely chopped fennel fronds
1 cup freshly Grana Padano

Prepping:
Heat 6 quarts of water with the tablespoon of kosher salt to boiling in the pasta-cooking pot.
Remove the sausage from its casing and break the meat up a bit with your fingers.

Trim the fennel bulb. Slice the bulb in half lengthwise, then slice each half in 1/4-inch thick lengthwise slices. Separate the slivers of fennel if they are attached at the bottom; cut the long slivers in half so you have about 3 cups of 2-inch long matchsticks of fennel. Chop and reserve 1/3-cup fronds for garnish. Have the remaining sauce ingredients ready and nearby.

Making the Sauce and Cooking the Pasta Simultaneously:
Pour the olive oil into the skillet and set it over medium-high heat. Add the sausage meat and cook, stirring and breaking it up more with a wooden spoon, until it is sizzling and beginning to brown, about 1-1/2 minutes.

Push the sausage a bit aside and drop the onion slices into a clear part of the pan; sauté, stirring, till they're sizzling and wilting, another 2 minutes or so, then stir them in with the meat.

Clear another space in the pan by moving to one side the mixture of sausage and onions. Drop in the fennel; let it heat up and wilt for 1 minute or more, then stir it around with the sausage and onions.

Sprinkle on 1/4-teaspoon salt; drop the peperoncino in a hot spot and toast the flakes for 1/2 minute, then stir them in.

Clear a good-sized hot spot in the center of the pan, plop in the tomato paste, and cook, stirring it in the spot for a good minute or more, until it is sizzling and caramelizing; then stir it in with everything else.

Ladle 3 cups of boiling pasta water from the pot into the skillet, stir well, and bring the liquid to a boil. Adjust the heat to maintain an active simmer all over the pan.

Drop the ziti in the boiling water in the pasta pot. Stir and bring back to a boil. Cook about 8 minutes (a minute less than what is recommended on the package), until the ziti are not quite al dente.

Continue to simmer the sauce until the flavors have developed and the fennel is soft but not mushy, 6 minutes or more. The sauce should not get too thick: stir in another cup or two of boiling pasta water if it reduces rapidly. When the sauce is done, taste it and add more salt if you want. If the pasta is not ready, turn down the heat to keep the sauce at a very low simmer until the ziti are on their way-then turn the heat up.

As soon as the ziti is ready by your timing, lift them out of the pot with a spider. Let excess water drip off only for an interest, and drop the wet cylinders into the simmering sauce.

Start tossing pasta and sauce together; ladle in more water if the sauce seems too thick.

Sprinkle over all the chopped fennel fronds, and continue to cook and toss the ziti in the skillet for 2 minutes, or until they are perfectly al dente and coated with sauce. If the pasta appears dry, ladle in more hot pasta water; if it is soupy, cook rapidly to thicken sauce.

Finishing the Pasta:
Remove the skillet from the heat, sprinkle the grated cheese over the ziti, and toss it in. Serve the hot pasta right from the skillet into warm pasta bowls.

You can find the perfect pasta bowls anytime on our website; here are some of our favorites:







Tutti a tavola a mangiare! (Everyone to the table to eat!)

Authentic Italian Majolica plates are not just for the tabletop anymore...more and more, they are being used as a decorating statement for the kitchen, a bathroom, or any other room in the house - or outdoors -- that will benefit from the flexibility of design that decorating with plates offers.

Whether you want to use Italian Majolica plates as a border or hang them in a pattern on a blank wall, decorating with plates is a unique way to express your creativity.  Here are some of my favorites from our Italian Majolica wall plate collection:

Francesca Niccacci studied 16th and 17th Century art with Romano Ranieri, a famous Deruta master, before beginning her own studio where she specializes in the Renaissance Period. She has combined this study with her love and passion for the works of the many artisans who came before her to create treasures of unparalleled beauty from that studio, Vecchia Deruta.  Here are some fine samples of her Italian Majolica wall plates:





Giovanni DeSimone was born into the Italian aristocracy, and was a student of Pablo Picasso's, whose influence is clearly apparent in his work. A well-known Italian potter during the latter part of the 20th century, Giovanni's pieces are often compared to those of Picasso. While being inspired by one of the greatest artists of the 20th century, Giovanni departs in his use of bright colors and warm palette, creating truly unique and innovative works that continue to inspire his descendants:



For over 40 years, FIMA has preserved the ancient traditions of using only the highest quality clay to create their masterpieces.  At FIMA, the ancient Deruta traditions of hand-painting each item are observed. Each piece has a corresponding stencil that serves as a master design to ensure likeness. However, each piece is still hand-painted and thus unique unto itself:

Have you ever had a really exceptional Italian cream cake?  I don't know what it is about the winter that makes me crave cake....maybe the sugar withdrawal from the holidays....but I have a wonderful Italian cream cake recipe I've used for years that I wanted to share.  It comes from Emeril Lagasse:






So if you're looking for a beautiful cake plate that takes the cake -- as well as tons of compliments -- check out all our offerings at www.villaggioceramics.com!

One of the reasons I love visiting Italy - aside from meeting with my wonderful Italian ceramic artisans - is the olive oil!  If you've never been to Italy and dipped warm crusty bread into a shallow dish of authentic Italian olive oil....well, you just haven't lived!

And luckily, living is what great olive oil is all about!  Medical authorities like the prestigious Mayo Clinic now recognize the healthy benefits of olive oil for reducing our risk of heart disease.  How?  Olive oil contains monounsaturated fat, which is much healthier than saturated or trans fats, and actually reduces the LDL (low-density lipoprotein, or "bad") cholesterol in our blood. 

Health experts now advise us to use olive oil in place of butter, hydrogenated oils or other animal fats.  The healthiest olive oil is extra-virgin, since it is the least processed form of olive oil.  EVOO contains high levels of polyphenois, a powerful antioxidant that promotes a healthy heart.

And, of course, having heart-healthy olive oil readily available in our kitchens also provides us with the perfect excuse for procuring beautiful olive oil jars!  Here are some of my favorites from our collection:



We also have several beautiful oil and vinegar sets that add beauty - and health --to any table:

  


If one of your New Year's resolutions is to live a healthier life - and let's face it, we all usually have this one on our list - then consider making olive oil a part of your heart-healthy diet.  The perfect reward is a beautiful Italian ceramic oil jar - as well as a healthier life!

I don't know about you, but I always want to give a gift that I'd want myself.  For my best girlfriends, I love to give a gift of an Italian ceramic jewelry box.  Each one is totally unique, and it's something that will give pleasure every day as it sits on a dresser or dressing table.