There are dishes you make because you are trying to be healthy. And then there are dishes you make because they are so outrageously flavorful that you forget they are healthy. This is the second kind. Jump to Recipe . Jump to Featured Wine . The first time I made this stew, I wasn’t trying to convert anyone to a plant based lifestyle.  I just wanted something bold.  Something warming.  Something that felt like it had traveled.  The kind of dish that smells alive while it sim

In the Parma Apennines, chestnuts were never a seasonal novelty. They were survival, sustenance, and pride, so central that for generations they were called the bread of the mountains. In this landscape, families dried chestnuts slowly in stone drying houses known across the northern Apennines as metati , keeping a low fire steady for weeks before taking the dried fruit to be milled into a sweet, fragrant flour. Jump to Recipe . Jump to Featured Wine . For me, this dish is

Gnocchi belongs to my "roots" even though it is not one of the dishes I remember my grandmother making from scratch. She did buy them and make them for us sometimes, and that matters. In a real family kitchen, roots are not necessarily only what someone hand rolled every Sunday. It is also what they chose to feed people when time was short, when the pantry was what it was, and when the goal was comfort, not a performance. Gnocchi is exactly that kind of food. Soft, stead

Malfatti belong to the mountain pantry.  Greens, fresh cheese, Parmigiano, butter, and a shape that is meant to look handmade because it is.  Even the name tells you not to chase perfection.  Malfatti translates to badly made, but it is said with affection, the way you describe food that comes from home kitchens, not polished for show. Jump to recipe . Jump to featured wine . Across Northern Italy, versions of malfatti show up wherever families had greens, dairy, and a reaso

I never asked my grandmother why she made manicotti. I only knew it was hers. She used crêpes instead of pasta tubes, rolled them around a simple cheese filling, nestled them into marinara, then laid a slice of muenster on top because it melted beautifully and stayed mild. They baked for about 30 minutes, just long enough for everything to turn bubbly and cohesive. Jump to recipe . Jump to f eatured wine . For a while now, I have wondered if the crêpes were old world or p

My grandmother was from a small village near Bardi, with my grandfather from Bedonia, and this was one of her true "roots" dishes. She called it uccelletti. The word literally means little birds, a reminder of an older rural language where names stuck even as the food changed. In home cooking, uccelletti can become shorthand for a rustic meat dish that has nothing to do with birds at all, just small pieces of meat cooked gently until tender. Jump to Recipe . Jump to Featu

Some dishes become part of your story even if they never appeared on your own family table. Tortelli di zucca is one of those for me. Jump to Recipe . Jump to Wine Pairing . It is deeply rooted in the cooking of Parma and the surrounding countryside of the Alta Val Taro, the same mountainous area my family comes from. In this part of Emilia Romagna, pumpkin filled pasta is not a novelty or a seasonal trend. It is simply part of the landscape, part of the rhythm of how peo

This recipe was inspired by my son James. One day he said he wanted to make a chicken parmesan ravioli. Not chicken parm on the side. Not chopped up and tossed. He wanted it inside the pasta. From there it turned into doppio, which means double in Italian. Chicken on one side and cheese on the other. That idea stayed with me and set off a long process of testing, adjusting, and refining. There were versions that were too complicated to make, versions that missed the mar

I have been making pizza at home since before my oldest child was born, and she is now in her mid thirties. Over time, it has gone from something that felt ambitious to something that feels instinctive. With a little practice, homemade pizza becomes not only easy, but deeply satisfying. It is one of those things that reminds you how much pleasure there is in slowing down and making food with your hands. Jump to Pizza Recipe . Jump to Wine Pairing . This particular pizza c

I think my obsession with gingerbread houses started when I was little, though at the time I didn’t realize it would become one. Jump to Gingerbread Recipe . Jump to Icing Recipe . Every year, we used to go to Bear Mountain for a meal with Santa Claus. It was held inside a massive stone lodge with an enormous fireplace, the kind of place that already felt magical before anything festive was added. And right there in the middle of the room was a gingerbread house so large i

My grandmother’s risotto was always simple and she made it the same way every time.  It began with cacciatore sausage and she never made it without it. The sausage added a deep rustic flavor to the tomato and the chicken and it was the aroma that told you dinner was on the way.  If it was simmering on the stove, you could smell it long before you reached the kitchen. Jump to Recipe . Jump to Wine Pairing . A little tip: Cacciatore sausage is firm and dense and you will nee

Thanksgiving has always been a feast of traditions in my family, and the turkey absolutely has its place of honor. Ours was always wrapped in strips of bacon, a ritual that came from my Northern Italian grandmother Elena. The moment that turkey came out of the oven everyone would gather around it and peel off the crisp salty pieces of bacon while they were still piping hot. It was almost a sport and it set the tone for the whole meal. How do you cook all of these side dish

This recipe was inspired by a long lunch in Bolgheri shared with some truly amazing people. It is not difficult to make, and the hardest part is simply waiting for it to be done as the aromas fill your house and make you wish dinner would come faster . Jump to Recipe . Jump to Wine Pairing . Some meals linger in memory long after the plates have been cleared. This one takes me back to the Alfeo family’s estate in Castagneto Carducci, nestled between the hills and the sea n

(Trust me, you won’t miss the meat.) This recipe came to life during the period when my daughters were vegan, and I was determined to make something that would make everyone happy, including the skeptics who believe chili should always include meat. I wanted to create something that was completely free of artificial meat or anything processed, a dish that relied only on pure ingredients and layers of real flavor. What began as an experiment turned into one of those recipes

Growing up, cavatelli was not something I saw on my grandparents’ table. My family roots stretch deep into the mountains of northern Italy, the land of butter, Parmigiano, and filled pastas like tortelli and anolini in brodo. I think my first experience with cavatelli might have been at an aunt’s house or perhaps at a small neighborhood restaurant. It is also possible that it happened on Arthur Avenue in the Bronx. If you've never been you should go! It seems beautifully

A Ravenna Revelation.... After spending several days in Sicily and Calabria with friends, I decided to take a little time for myself before heading home. I went to Ravenna, a place I had never been but always wanted to see. The mosaics were the draw, of course, but so was the idea of slowing down for just a few days in a smaller city filled with quiet beauty and centuries of art. Jump to Recipe Jump to Wine Pairing By the time evening came, I had walked nearly fifteen mile

Yes, it’s as ridiculous as it sounds. This whole thing started with a dilemma: lasagne or mac and cheese?   I didn’t want to choose. I wanted the gooey, golden crust  of a baked mac, but I also craved the structure and satisfaction  of a layered lasagne. So... I stopped choosing. I just started layering. I wasn’t planning to reinvent anything. But somewhere between a craving for cheesy layers  and prepping for an Easter lamb dinner , this golden, bubbling monster  of a dis

This has all the flavors of broccoli rabe and sausage in each amazing bite.

The first time I tasted tomatillos, I was struck by their tangy, citrusy brightness. Their unique flavor instantly stood out and left me wanting to incorporate them into my cooking. Over time, that initial impression grew into a deep appreciation, inspiring me to create this chili verde recipe that highlights their vibrant essence. Jump to Chicken Tomatilo Chlle Recipe Jump to Wine Pairing These small, green fruits, often mistaken for unripe tomatoes, stand out for their ze

Making croxetti is a delightfully simple and engaging process. If you don’t have a hand-crank pasta machine, a rolling pin works perfectly. Kids will love joining in too—cutting out circles from the dough and stamping them with unique patterns becomes a fun, hands-on activity that brings the whole family together in the kitchen. Read below about the history of Croxetti or Jump to Croxetti of Varese Ligure Recipe Jump to Wine Pairing When it comes to food and culinary tradit