Eggplants were first introduced to Europe by Arab farmers in Spain and Sicily. The anonymous Cordoban Calender of 961 mentions eggplants. In Sicily the word for eggplant, milinciana derives from the Arabic word for the plant bādhinjān. It was not at all popular at first. As for the combination of pasta and eggplants which is […]
Romanesco Cauliflower with Pasta …Studies on Mandelbrot Fractals
December 7, 2016 by Leave a Comment
This preparation of the small ridged rigatoni called rigatoncello is meant to feed a large group of people. It makes for an ideal party dish. The romanesco cauliflower used in this pasta dish is one of those marvels of nature that once could only be found in farmers markets, but now many supermarkets sell them, […]
Pasta and Shellfish Scream Summer Is Here
July 13, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Maybe it’s the fact that when I summered in Wellfleet on Cape Cod or spent my teenage years on Long Island we ate tons of shellfish and I came to associate linguine and shellfish with summer. I have a zillion versions of this classic linguine in white clam sauce. It’s a dish that appeared on […]
4 Easy — And Cool — Pasta Dishes For Summer
June 16, 2015 by Leave a Comment
Everyone loves pasta, but during hot summer days a bowl of steaming pasta doesn’t sound that appealing. Some people make cold macaroni salads, but I think pasta is not meant to be eaten cold and besides, those macaroni salads usually have mayonnaise in them and fill you up too much. The Italians have an ideal […]
Pumpkin and Pasta? Now That’s Italian!
October 13, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Pumpkin is an ideal bland food with a distinctive taste. That’s a good thing because it means you have to do something to the pumpkin to make it palatable and delicious. Typically, pumpkin pie is a solution, but nowadays it’s going into all kinds of things from beer to cookies. Pumpkin is a member of […]
Summertime Raw Sauce for Pasta
August 19, 2014 by Leave a Comment
A delightful way to prepare pasta for a hot summer day is to toss it with a raw sauce or what the Italians call a salsa cruda. Summers can be too hot for full-fledged piping hot food so a raw sauce can come into play. It is exactly what it sounds like, a melange of […]
for 
Recent Comments