Traditional Italian recipes tested (or developed) by a Southern Italian Nonna. Although Nonna Baldino is Southern Italian, she also cooks traditional dishes of Central and Northern Italy.
This category also includes Italian gardening tips, from designing an Italian kitchen garden to selecting the fruit and vegetable varieties specific to good Italian cooking.
This Southern Italian-Sicilian recipe for fresh asparagus can be served as a side dish or a snack, either hot or at room temperature. A light batter of Parmigiano or Pecorino Romano cheese, garlic, bread crumb, chopped Italian parsley and egg turn fresh asparagus into a special treat that Italians, and my family, devour in a …
This Southern Italian olive oil cake recipe is enhanced with fresh oranges, Grand Marnier, and cardamom spice. Easy to make in one bowl with a whisk, this cake is not-too-sweet, and very aromatic. It is enjoyed by Italians for breakfast, a mid-afternoon snack, or as a dessert. I especially love it during Easter week as …
Planting an Italian kitchen garden for all your Italian cooking needs? Be sure to include some peppers. You will find mostly sweet pepper varieties in the Italian garden, with a few that have a mild spice. Find out more about the best types of Italian peppers to grow, their flavor, growing tips, and classic recipe …
Dried beans that are cooked well can elevate the flavor of many slow carb recipes, from soups and stews to side dishes, to refried beans. But are they always best for any kind of recipe? There are some types of dishes where the flavor (and texture) shines more when you use dried beans and some …
If you love Italian cooking and are experimenting with growing your own Italian herbs and vegetables, you will want to try some chicory in your Italian kitchen garden. This guide on growing chicory will help you decide between the best Italian chicory varieties and give you tips on growing, cooking and storing this delicious leafy …
Love cooking Italian food? Winter squash is one of the more important vegetables to Italian cuisine. The tastiest traditional Italian winter squash varieties aren’t available in-store however, so you need to either grow them yourself or find them at select farmers’ markets. With this guide, I’ll help you discover the best Italian squash varieties, and …
Romano beans and sweet cherry tomatoes make a great low carb vegetable dish for the height of summer. Easy and delicious
Love Italian food? Use your backyard, your balcony or your large garden plot to grow your own Italian kitchen garden. Forget about sad supermarket produce or boring vegetable varieties, and enjoy home-grown vegetables and herbs that are traditional to great Italian cooking. Jump to: What Is an Italian Kitchen Garden? | What To Plant In …
Take a leaf out of the Italians’ book and learn to grow and cook with Romano beans, a broad, flat bean in the same family as garden variety string beans. Romano beans are juicy, with a sweet flavor and a great crunch, and they come in a wonderful range of colors. Italian flat beans taste …
The Italians I know go all out for Winter holiday celebrations, and this show-stopping beef braciole (aka braciola) is often a centerpiece on the Southern Italian table. This Sicilian (Neapolitan) version includes pine nuts, prosciutto, parsley, garlic and cheese as the filling (raisins if you want the sweet flavor). It is served with high quality …
Freezing tomatoes is a great way to preserve both the nutrition and the flavor of fresh heirloom tomatoes to use in Winter dishes
Peperonata is a rustic Italian stew of sweet bell peppers long simmered into a tender melt-in-your-mouth sauce. It is often a side dish or a topping for crusty bruschetta, but in this recipe, it is a sauce that is used to flavor and tenderize pork chops. A common problem with pork chops is that they …
Puttanesca was once considered a humble Italian dish, made with common pantry ingredients. The sauce is typically made by combining tomatoes, capers, garlic and olives, with optional ingredients like red pepper flakes or anchovies into a bold, robust “gravy”. This briny sauce is typically served over pasta (often spaghetti), but it also pairs beautifully with …
Peperonata (peh-peh-roh-NAH-tah) is an Italian vegetable dish of slow-cooked, or stewed bell peppers with onion and garlic. Of course there are variations and some Italian cooks will add tomatoes, eggplant, mushrooms, or other vegetables. This recipe heightens the flavor of peperonata with an Italian romesco sauce served over a creamy bed of butternut squash. Jump to: …
Low Carb Romesco Sauce – an excellent flavor enhancement to proteins and vegetables on a slow carb, low carb, or ketogenic lifestyle