Polpettine di Ricotta

In Basilicata sheep speckle almost hillside, tended by a shepherd who is accompanied by several wooly dogs. They provide a timeless, pastoral image - as well as lots of delicious pecorino cheese. "Pecorino" literally means little pecora, or sheep, and is used to denote cheese made from sheep's milk. There are many varieties depending on the producer and region.

At the agriturismo we recently occupied for a two weeks' stay, the owners make several types, including "normal" slightly aged cheese, long-aged hard cheese for grating, and a unique variety all their own, pecorino with walnuts (delicious!). They also produce excellent sheep's milk ricotta, which we enjoyed plain, stuffed into ravioli, and tucked inside a sweet breakfast cake.

One evening she made polpettine di ricotta (meatballs, but without meat) as part of their antipasto plate. They were fried in oil then topped with a rich, long-simmered tomato sauce. She said they are also traditionally served in a soup, demonstrating the local flair for maintaining the region's cucina povera (peasant's cooking) dishes. The ricotta balls, once fried, are placed on top of a thick slab of bruschetta, which is made from local, hearty semolina bread. Two or three ladlesful of broth (either chicken or vegetable stock) are poured over top. A sprinkling of freshly grated hard pecorino cheese and the soup is ready to serve.

Polpettine di Ricotta

1 1/2 cups fresh ricotta
1 egg
1/3 cup finely grated parmigiano cheese
1 TBSP flour
1 TBSP fresh, minced parsley
salt and pepper to taste
extra flour
olive oil/oil for frying

Put the ricotta in a bowl and break it up with a fork, fluffing it. All all the other ingredients and, using your hands, dig in and blend it all together well. Roll the dough into balls about the size of golf balls.

Lightly coat the balls in flour then fry in hot oil, placing them on paper towels to drain. Serve hot.

You can serve them as stated above - drizzled with sauce or in the soup. They are also good as is, with just a sprinkling of coarsely-ground pepper on top. They can also be drizzled with pesto, with truffle sauce, or creamy mushroom sauce.

La Matriciana

This is one of my most stand-by recipes of all time! Spaghetti all'Amatriciana hails from the town of Amatrice (oddly enough), which is located in the mountains of Lazio, skirting the Abruzzo border. Romans often try to claim it as their own, though they use bucatini instead of spaghetti, and frequently make it using onion and garlic, the addition of which the good Amatriciani say is akin to blasphemy. They should know; they've been making this plate for generations. The town isn't labeled "la citta` degli spaghetti" (spaghetti city) or nothing!

The original "matriciana" was made in bianco, without tomatoes. Shepherds used cured guanciale (a type of bacon made from the cheek) and the abundant pecorino cheese to flavor their pasta. Eventually, tomatoes got thrown into the pot, and a famous dish was born.

While you can use smoked pancetta if you can't find the guanciale, do not substitute parmigiano for the pecorino!

Spaghetti all'Amatriciana
serves 4

about 1/4 pound guanciale (or pancetta), chopped
1/2 cup white wine
2 1/2 cups tomato puree
salt, pepper, red chile flakes
1/2 cup coarsely grated aged pecorino cheese
1 pound spaghetti

In a large skillet fry the guanciale (or pancetta if you can't find guanciale) in a little olive oil until cooked and crispy. Remove half the meat to a paper towel to drain, set aside. Add the wine into the skillet and let it mostly evaporate, then add the tomatoes along with some salt and pepper and a dash of red chile flakes.
Cover and let simmer about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, bring a pot of water to a boil and cook the spaghetti until they are al dente. Drain and add to the sauce in the skillet, tossing well. Toss in half of the pecorino cheese and combine.  Sprinkle on the remaining crispy pieces of guanciale.

Serve with a healthy dusting of the pecorino on top.

Spaghetti alla Elia

We met Elia through my dear friend, Maria. She and her husband came for a visit and reconnected with her cousin, whom she had not seen in 40 years. It was touching and heart-warming to see them talking, laughing and gesticulating as if it had just been a few years instead of forty.

Elia (Italian form of Elijiah) is a fashion designer who is opening a boutique hotel in the hills of central Le Marche, with a focus on organic, eco-friendly construction. Each room is decorated differently and his eye for detail and beauty will surely make the place gorgeous.

Following our initial introduction and cameraderie with his cousin, he invited us up for lunch. We chatted as he whipped up this easy vegetarian plate of spaghetti. We watched as he set a metal bowl over the pasta cooking water to make the sauce while the pasta was cooking. Ingenious!

You will need:

• a package of spaghetti
• a bunch of chard or rapini
• about 1/4 cup of basil pesto (homemade or store-bought)
• 1/2 cup grated pecorino (If possible, resist the temptation to substitute Parmigiano. Trust me, it's better with the slight sharpness and distinctiveness this cheese gives the dish)
• a dash of ground red chile (cayenne) or chile flakes
• freshly grated black pepper, to taste
• a drizzle of olive oil

-While the water comes to a boil for the pasta, slice a large bunch of chard or rapini (broccoli rape) and throw them in a sinkful of water to wash them.
-When the spaghetti has started to cook, toss the greens right in with the spaghetti to boil together.
-Cradle a large metal bowl or saucepan over top of the pasta pot.
-Add the pesto, half the pecorino, the cayenne, and a drizzle of olive oil. Stir while the heat from the water below melts the pesto and heats the sauce.
-Use a cup to extract some cooking water (about 1/3 cup) and add it to the sauce.
-When it is all hot and combined, remove the bowl.
-Drain the spaghetti and greens, put into the bowl, and toss it all together, topping with the remaining pecorino.

Serve and enjoy!

Cavatelli ai Pistacchi

One of the cool things about coming "down south" for the winter is the chance to see the regional differences in cooking. You see, Italy is still very region-centric and proud (rightfully) of their own unique history, culture, and traditions...especially as relates to food and wine.

Here in southern Campania there is a heavier emphasis on citrus (closer to the groves) and the bread, we have discovered, gets better the farther south you go. As much as I like central Italian cuisine, their bread is really bland. Wine varietals differ, fresh fish is much more prevalent, and mozzarella di bufala is abundant (and cheaper!). Pasta shapes are different, too. Here you see more cavatelli and orecchiette, like in Puglia and Basilicata, and nuts coming from Sicily and Calabria are in big bins at the mercato.

Seeing some freshly roasted pistachios, I remembered this simple dish to use up some of them (yes, I over-bought, because they just tasted so darn good!)

Cavatelli ai Pistacchi

• 1 pound cavatelli (or other small pasta shape, but fresh pasta is best)
• 1 cup tomato-cream sauce (you can make this sauce, eliminating the gorgonzola and adding a little more cream, or use your normal, everyday marinara and add about 1/3 cup cream to it)
• dash paprika
• 1/2 cup coarsely grated Pecorino cheese (don't substitute Parmigiano, trust me, the cheese really helps make the dish!)
• 1/4 cup shelled pistachios, coarsely chopped

Cook the pasta in abundant boiling, salted water. Meanwhile, prepare or reheat the tomato cream sauce, adding the paprika and half of the Pecorino cheese. Stir until the cheese is dissolved.
Once the pasta is cooked, drain it and put in a large serving bowl, topping it with the sauce and stirring to thoroughly coat the pasta. Dust the top with the remainder of the Pecorino cheese, then sprinkle on the pistachios. Serves 4.

Zuppa di Farro e Fagioli

Farro and Cannellini Bean Soup

I first enjoyed a version of this dish in Umbria, where it was made with garbanzos instead of cannellini beans. The thick, rosemary scented soup warmed us on a cold night. The waiter brought a bottle of fresh-pressed olive oil to drizzle un filo (literally, a thread) on top. Wonderful! I've since seen various versions in other regions, including our area of Le Marche, and found that I prefer it with the delicate cannellini beans.

1 small onion, chopped
a clove or two of garlic, minced
one stalk celery, chopped
a carrot, minced
olive oil
a couple sprigs of fresh rosemary
a bay leaf
2 cups chicken or vegetable stock
1/2 cup farro grain (or spelt)
3 cups water
2 cans cannellini beans
salt and pepper
peperoncino (chile powder or crushed chile) to taste

Saute the onion, garlic, celery and carrot in olive oil until soft. Toss in the herbs and add the broth. Bring to a boil and add the farro and water, then reduce heat to maintain a simmer, cover and cook until the grain is tender, about 40 minutes. Add more water if necessary to maintain a good consistency but you don't want it too thin.

Drain and rinse the beans. Put one can of beans in the blender, adding a few ladlefuls of the soup stock to blender it to a smooth paste. Add the paste along with the other can of whole beans to the pot. Add the seasonings, partially cover and simmer about 10 minutes longer. Turn off the heat and let the soup rest about five minutes before serving. Remove the rosemary and bay leaf. At the table drizzle a thin stream of olive oil over the soup and enjoy.

Baked Olives

It's olive season over here. The trees are being stripped and the new oil is out. We went to the frantoio last week to watch the process and buy a healthy-sized jug. The gorgeous green color and fruity yet peppery flavor is unmatched. Is it any wonder I love autumn?

While many of the local olives are being pressed, a good portion are also being cured. Most of those are destined to become the local delicacy, Olive all'Ascolana. The local olive variety, the tenera ascolana, is a behometh in the olive category, perfect for stuffing with meat and deep-frying.

Despite my addiction to the fried critters, I still love a simple dish of baked olives, too. Warm and fragrant, they're irresistable and make a nice presentation when serving guests.

Baked Olives

Mixture of black and green olives, unpitted is best
a bit of lemon or orange peel, grated
a sprinkle of chile flakes
a grating of fresh-ground pepper
a sprig of thyme and/or rosemary (fresh)
2 TBSP red wine
about 2 TBSP olive oil

Combine everything and put in an oven-proof baking dish. Bake at 375 for about 20 minutes. Serve warm.

Bitter Bulbs

While visiting la famiglia in Basilicata, my cousin's wife broke open a jar of home-canned treats packed in olive oil. They had a slightly bitter bite, similar to radicchio but with a hint of orange peel. When we asked, "ma cos'e? Cipollini?" she smiled slyly and proudly replied, "no, they're not onions, they're lampascioni."

Lampascioni look deceivingly like baby onions, but they're actually the bulbs of a type of hyacinth. Melina forages for them in the countryside and then brings them home, soaks them in white wine and with orange peel to remove some of the bitterness, then packs them in jars sott'olio, literally, "under olive oil". They're actually somewhat addictive.

Lampascioni are common around southern Italy, but I've never seen them in the stores here in Le Marche. They are often served as part of the antipasto plate, but Melina gave me a quick and simple recipe that turns them into a delicious side dish, too.

Here it is, according to her verbal instructions:

-Peel and chop some potatoes. (It's always understood that you'll know how many you'll need.)

-Drain the jar of lampascioni, and quarter them all.

-Put the potatoes and lampascioni in a baking dish and mix together. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper, then drizzle on a good deal of olive oil.

-Bake it for about 30 to 40 minutes, stirring it up occasionally., until the potatoes are tender.

If you happen to find these tasty tubers, grab a jar and give them a try.

Penne al Zucchine

We just returned from another foray in the motherland of Basilicata. As always, the simplicity and freshness of the food is just fantastic. We stayed at an agriturismo where la signora prepared a fabulous meal for us, on the one evening we were able to escape la famiglia. She made this dish with freshly-made cavatelli, but as I don't make my own pasta, I am substituting packaged penne. Feel free to use any shape of fresh or dried pasta you want, though. Variety is one of the beautiful things about Italian cuisine! Signora also laid gorgeous, sweet zucchini blossoms on top but I know those are really hard to come by if you don't have your own orto (garden).

This dish is very light but delicious.

Penne (or other shape of pasta)
extra virgin olive oil
1/2 onion, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 large or 2 small zucchini, grated (use the larger grate)
white wine
1/2 cup cooking water from the pasta
3 to 4 leaves of basil, chopped
1-2 TBSP cream

Set the water to boil and cook the pasta. Once the pasta is nearly cooked, take out about 1/2 cup of the cooking water for the sauce. Meanwhile...

In a large skillet saute the onion and garlic in extra virgin olive oil until soft. Add the zucchini shreds and saute about 4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Toss in the wine (about 1/2 cup) and simmer a few minutes. Add the reserved cooking water a little at a time, you don't want the sauce to be too thin, but the starch in the water helps "bind" the sauce. Simmer a couple of minutes, add the basil and stir in the cream. Heat through, then toss with the pasta.
YuM!

Hummus

It's been hotter than Hades around these parts lately. Which means I don't want to cook. Without air-conditioning, lighting up the stove even to boil pasta makes the whole apartment feel like inferno. We've been eating a lot of piatti freddi (cold dishes). The typical ones around Italy are prosciutto e melone, la caprese (mozzerella di bufala, tomatoes, and basil drizzled with olive oil), and insalata dei fagioli. But really, after a few weeks I'm tired of that stuff. I like variety. I like spice!

Then...miracle of miracles, I found tahini in the health food store. In Italy! :hallelujiah chorus:
So now we're having hummus on crackers; spread on piadina bread, topped with veggies and rolled up; on crostini topped with feta crumbles and artichoke hearts. Relief has come for the piatti freddi rut.

Hummus
1 can garbanzo beans, drained
2 TBSP tahini
1 clove garlic, peeled
juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1/4 tsp. ground coriander
1/4 tsp. paprika
dash cayenne
salt and pepper to taste
2 TBSP water
1/4 C. olive oil

Combine all in a blender or food processer and whirl until smooth.

Vino Pescato

The heat has set in...the infamous summer sizzle is scorching the city and making everyone scurry for shade or hibernate inside until the sun sets. The shutters and windows get closed up tight from midmorning until evening in an attempt to keep the heat at bay.

It's too hot to cook, making cold plates de riguer. We're also clamouring for cold drinks. My local barista served us this refreshing Neapolitan speciality, learned from his father-in-law who is a true-blue Napolitano. Called vino peschato, it literally means "peached wine". Nothing could be simpler, or more refreshing, on a hot day like this.

Slice three or four fresh, ripe peaches into a pitcher. Pour a bottle of dry white wine over top. Cover and refrigerate several hours. The wine becomes infused with the fragrance and flavor of the fruit. Pour the wine into glasses, and then serve the peaches in a bowl with toothpicks to skewer them.

Buonissimo!

Spaghetti con gli Asparagi

It's asparagus season! Woohoo. I adore them, especially the thin and twiggy wild version that I found in the mercato this week. I frequently just parboil them, drizzle on a bit of olive oil and sprinkle with salt...basta. But I also like this go-to dish when I can find the truly thin babies. Too thick and this recipe just doesn't turn out right. (But if you can't find the thin ones, you can slice the thicker asparagus in half.) The best part (aside from the wonderful taste, of course) is that it is done in the time it takes to boil the spaghetti.

You'll Need
garlic
a bouquet of very thin asparagus
2 or 3 tomatoes
salt and pepper
basil
spaghetti

While the water is heating for the pasta, mince up 2 cloves of garlic. Rinse the asparagus in a colander. Chop the tomatoes.

In a large skillet, heat a tablespoon of olive oil and saute the garlic over low heat until fragrant and soft. Up the heat a bit and throw in the asparagus, with the water still clinging to them. Stir, cover and saute 2 to 3 minutes. Toss in the tomatoes, stir well, cover and let cook another 3 minutes. Just before serving, stir in some minced up basil.

Quickly drain the spaghetti to leave some of the water clinging to them, toss them into the skillet, toss, drizzle on a little olive oil, and serve.

Cavatelli con Polpettine

Or, pasta with a meatball sauce. While the American version of spaghetti and meatballs doesn't really exist here in Italy, I did happen to see this down-home dish in a country restaurant in remote Basilicata, which is where my family came from. Cavatelli is one of the preferred regional pastas, along with orecchiette, widely used in that area. They are short little things, sort of like curled- up flower petals, and pick up delicate sauces pretty well. The meatballs are not the giant variety we're so familiar with, but instead little nubs...more like marbles than balls and it really is more like a meat sauce than pasta with meatballs. This is a nice, feel-good dish for the winter doldrums.

Polpettine
about 1/3 pound of ground beef or veal
1 Italian sausage link (spicy is preferred in Basilicata, but whichever variety you like)
about 1 tbsp chopped parsley
salt and pepper to taste
a handful of breadcrumbs
1 small egg

You'll also need...
Extra virgin olive oil
about 1/4 cup chopped onion
a clove of garlic, minced
red wine
meat or vegetable broth
pecorino cheese

Mix everything together, combining well. Use a small amount to form into little marble-sized balls, setting aside until all the meatballs are formed.

In a large heavy-bottomed skillet, heat a couple tablespoons of olive oil. Add the meatballs and brown them. This may have to be done in two batches. When all the meatballs are lightly browned, add a little more oil to the skillet if necessary and saute the onion and garlic, stirring well until softened but not too browned. Add the wine and deglaze the pan, then add the broth, returning all the meatballs to the pan. Partially cover and simmer for about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, boil the cavatelli until cooked al dente (about 8 minutes). Drain and put in a serving bowl. Pour the meatballs and sauce over top, then gently combine.

Top with freshly grated pecorino cheese.

Here is another version (in Italian), this one from Puglia.

Peas with Prosciutto

This is the simplest of side dishes but with amazing flavor! I've served this several times when we've had company for dinner and they've raved about it, even those who normally aren't wild about peas. It's amazing what a little cured meat can do for the taste of the humble pea.


1 shallot
extra virgin olive oil
2 slices of prosciutto, cut into little pieces
Fresh or frozen peas

In a skillet, saute the shallot and prosciutto in the olive oil, until the shallot is tender. Toss in the peas and just a little bit of water, stir, cover and cook about 5 minutes, adding more water if needed to keep it from drying out.

I sometimes fry slices of prosciutto in olive oil first, then put them on paper towels to drain and cool. Then I crumble them on top for a little more pizzaz.

Enjoy!

Vin Brule`

What is otherwise known as a Hot Toddy in English, our neighborhood barista recently introduced me to the tastes of vin brule` when I complained about my cold. "This will fix you up," he promised. He must know my mom. She always recommends a hot toddy for such ailments. The Italian version tastes sort of like a cross between spiced cider and sweet wine.

1 cup port wine (some Ascolani substitute the local vino cotto)
a shaving of lemon peel
a couple of cloves
a cinnamon stick

Combine them all and heat. Let sit about five minutes for the spices to give off their flavors. Reheat if necessary, strain out the spices and sip. The fumes do as much good as the actual beverage in clearing up blocked noses and chest congestion!

Zuppa dei Fagiolini

Green Bean Soup

I have childhood memories of my nana making a soup of fresh green beans. Some tomato, basil and lots of sweet beans, that much I knew, but I couldn't find the recipe. My mom had never written it down and couldn't remember exactly how to make it. Never mind; I figured it out and I think it tastes pretty darn close to what I remember; at least, the aroma seemed very reminiscent. I found some beautiful long flat beans in the store so I used those, cut into smaller pieces, but any fresh green beans will work nicely.

1/2 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
Saute in olive oil in a large pot. Add clean, snapped beans and saute a couple of minutes.
Toss in:
2 tomatoes, chopped - with juices
salt and pepper
pinch of oregano
pinch of thyme
Stir, then add broth to cover. I use a mixture of vegetable and beef broth to taste like veal broth but you can use chicken, beef or vegetable broth, as you desire or have on hand.
Mince five or six basil leaves and add to the pot. Simmer until the beans are cooked. I also sometimes add a couple of handfuls of arborio rice or ditalini (little pasta tubes).

Perfect now that the weather is turning colder and rainy!

Peperoni Cruschi

On recent forays into the Motherland of Lucania (the region of Basilicata, which locals still refer to by its ancient name) I became quite enamored by the local delicacy of peperoni cruschi. The dialect name is paparul crushk, a word that sounds more German than Italian to my ears, but spells delicious whatever way they prefer to pronounce it. The strings of peppers that one sees hanging in the sun to dry are not as fiery as you might think. While they do like the piccanti variety, those are distinctly smaller and not revered as highly as these babies. The longer red peppers are, in fact, a variety of sweet peppers that are strung up much like the chile ristras so common around New Mexico, left to harden in the southern sun.


Once dry they are carefully removed from their stems and fried in extra virgin olive oil, tended to carefully so as not to scorch them. They are then served as an antipasto, and delicious they are, too! Sweet and smoky at the same time, the crunchy treats compliment the local cheese and prosciutto nicely.

Once they are fried, the peperoni cruschi are also crumbled and added to sautéed breadcrumbs then sprinkled over pasta, such as the locally-loved orecchiette.

Back to the hot chile, the slender pods are also dried, but are then preserved in a unique way. They, too, are fried in extra virgin olive oil and then crumbled. They are put in a jar and then the oil used to fry them is poured over the top. Simple, but it infuses the oil with spice as well as the unusual smoky-hot flavor. It is drizzled on cavatelli, on roasted potatoes, and on the local semolina bread.

We just returned from a trip to Basilicata; my cousin there went knocking on doors to rustle up some strings of peperoni for me to bring home. They are drying, but when they're ready I'll fry some up and add some photos.
c 2007 Valerie Schneider

Scampi

To say "shrimp scampi" is a repetition...in Italian, scampi means shrimp (though in this area, at least, gamberi is the word most commonly used). There are numerous ways to prepare the little critters; unfortunately, here in the bel paese most of those ways involve the entire creature...heads, peels and all. Not so hard if it's a plate of large shrimp simply prepared. When it's a sauce it's definitely more of a challenge, especially keeping your shirt clean while you're cleaning the shrimp. I really like the flavor of the pesce fritto here, but I don't see the point in keeping the shrimp whole and then frying it...you have to peel off all that good coating to eat the things!

In the summer when we want to keep the house cool and cook in hurry I like to make this shrimp dish. It's done in minutes and can be eaten as is or served over pasta or rice, making it versatile as well.

Large shrimp
extra virgin olive oil
a clove of garlic, minced
about 1/2 cup white wine
a couple good shakes of peperoncino (crushed red chile flakes)
salt and pepper
about a tablespoon of chopped parsley
about 1 teaspoon of prepared pesto sauce
a squeeze of lemon

In a skillet, heat the olive oil and saute the garlic until slightly softened. Add the shrimp and stir-fry a minute. Splash in the wine, then add the seasonings. Boil a minute longer until the flavors mingle and shrimp are cooked through.
Enjoy!

Spaghetti all'Ascolana

A local specialty pasta, this dish makes an appearance on just about every menu in town, especially this time of year when the weather heats up. I'm not sure what tuna has to do with Ascoli Piceno, but they are wild about the stuff around here. The aisles at the supermarket have more varieties of canned tuna than I knew could possibly exist!

Simple ingredients make for a tasty combination, and in the time it takes the spaghetti to cook, dinner is ready...doesn't get much better than that, especially in the summer when you don't want to be spending time in a hot kitchen.

1 pound spaghetti
olive oil
1/2 onion, minced
1-2 cloves garlic, minced (to your taste)
dash red chile flakes
1 C. white wine
1 1/2 C. chopped fresh tomatoes (about 3 tomatoes)
2 cans tuna, packed in olive oil*
a couple of handfuls of green olives (here they use the local Ascoli Tenera variety, which is a very large, mild and meat olive that is not heavily vinegary. But whatever type of green olive you prefer.
Chopped parsley
Pecorino cheese, grated

Put the pot of water to boil for cooking the spaghetti and proceed with the sauce.

Saute the onion and garlic in the olive oil until tender. Add the red chile flakes, a light sprinkling of salt and pepper, the wine and tomatoes and stir well. Add the tuna and simmer about 10 minutes. Toss in the olives, sprinkle with chopped parsley and add to the cooked spaghetti. Top with a grating of pecorino cheese.

Raviolini with Gorgonzola-Tomato Sauce

Raviolini al Gorgonzola-Pomodoro

I love ravioli when they are freshly made. The pasta all’uova shop in town has two varieties…the plump, crescent-shaped ricotta-filled “normal” ravioli, and the little square ones filled with a ground meat and pecorino mixture, known as raviolini. If you can find such a thing, snatch them up! They are delicious. But if not, don’t fret. This recipe works well with any fresh pasta as well as your run-of-the-mill rigatoni (albeit with a different resulting flavor).

It’s simple, too, but impressive enough for guests. Now that fresh tomatoes are in season, it’s perfect.

1 shallot, minced
3 ripe fresh tomatoes, cored and chopped
splash of white wine
salt and pepper
5 or 6 basil leaves
about 3 tbsp. crumbled gorgonzola
about ¼ fresh cream

Saute the shallot in about 1 tbsp. of olive oil until soft. Add the fresh tomatoes and sauté a few minutes until they are soft. Add the wine, basil and salt and pepper, stirring well. Cover and cook about 5 minutes. Add the gorgonzola, stirring until melted. Swirl in the cream and stir well. Pour over the freshly cooked ravioli or pasta.

Stuzzichini Party!

Lately we have become enamored with the aperitivo hour, not just for the nice glass of wine to unwind with, but the little snacks they serve alongside. Called stuzzichini, meaning little teasers, they are presented when you order a drink (including non-alcoholic beverages) in the late afternoon. They are tasty little things, and serve to tide you over until the later dinner hour. We’ve been on a quest to find the best in town.

The US equivalent would be hors d’oeuvres. If you’re planning a get-together, the stuzzichini make nice nibbles.

They can be as simple as a piece of salami or prosciutto on a round of bread and a variety of cheeses, but I like the jazzed-up bites better. For instance:

*Spread pesto on a cracker or bread; top with a marinated artichoke heart or a sun-dried tomato that was packed in oil.
*Hollow out cherry tomatoes and stuff with little mozzarella balls (called cigliegine)
*Hollow the cherry tomatoes and stuff with an anchovy and a piece of asiago cheese
*Spread cooked ham with cream cheese and then pesto, roll up and cut into little rounds
*Spread olive paste (available in little jars in most grocery stores) onto baguette rounds and top with an olive half.
*Top cucumber rounds with slices of tomato, topped with pecorino or casciotta cheese – held together with toothpicks
*Wrap small pieces of thinly-sliced prosciutto around small chunks of honeydew or cantaloupe melon.