In my opinion passion fruit is an under-utilized fruit. I love passion fruit’s tropical sweet-tanginess. So I’m ecstatic that I’ve recently come across a local source for purple passion fruit. I’m using some of the seeds to try to grow my own! Until that gets going though, I used some of what I got to…
Tag: Italian
Roasted Garlic Ricotta Pasta
I was trying to come up with ways to use my bounty of ricotta and I hit on this idea that a creamy sauce of roasted garlic and ricotta with oyster mushrooms and corn over pasta sounded pretty freaking good. I am so glad that I figured out how to easily make roasted garlic in…
Pizza Dough Focaccia
Did you know that you can make focaccia using pizza dough? We’ve been doing a lot of pizza parties, but often we end up with leftover dough. It’s a snap to turn that dough into a very snackable rosemary focaccia. Guessipe pizza dough olive oil flaky sea salt rosemary Generously oil a baking pan. Coat…
Caprese
More hookups from my friend at the cheese company! This time he gifted me fresh mozzarella! Of course the first thing that popped into my mind was caprese – the combination of mozzarella, tomato, and basil dressed with olive oil, balsamic, and salt is so simple yet so scrumptious that it’s no wonder it’s on…
Caprese Sandwich
I am a meat lover, but when I’m looking at a sandwich menu there is one vegetarian option that always draws my attention and often wins out over its meaty brethren… the caprese sandwich. It’s fresh and zingy, but substantial enough that I feel completely sated when I’m done eating. When I realized I could…
Pasta all’Amatriciana
Cookbook Club – Milk Street: Tuesday Nights The cookbook for our March Cookbook Club was Milk Street: Tuesday Nights. Due to host availability we had scheduled it for earlier in the month than usual, which turned out to be a lucky thing since COVID-19 may keep us from gathering for awhile. It looks like we’ll…
Glazed Radishes
Cookbook Club – The Silver Spoon For February’s Cookbook Club, we used the The Silver Spoon, a bible of Italian food with over 2,000 recipes. To get a glimpse of our entire home cooked Italian meal, go to my Cookbook Club site. For now – my dish! Radishes are so rarely cooked. In fact, I…
Anchovy Olive Almond Pasta
Even if you don’t like anchovies, don’t discount them as a magical ingredient for amping up the flavors of a pasta dish. You can use them in tomato-based sauces, or as I do here simply with garlic and olive oil. You won’t even know they’re there, but they’ll add so much depth to the dish….
Italian White Beans & Escarole
Cookbook Club – 2nd Anniversary In August, we had a special event to celebrate the 2nd anniversary of Cookbook Club – I can’t believe it’s been over 2 years, filled with glorious food and fun times with friends! We asked people to cook from any of the cookbooks we’ve used so far. I chose to…
Pizza Marinara
Cookbook Club – The Elements of Pizza In June, we did a special event in partnership with the LA Bread Bakers, using their outdoor wood-fired pizza oven! We used The Elements of Pizza by Ken Forkish for dough and sauce recipes and topping combos, and also came up with our own pizza creations. Go to…
Spaghetti with Garlic, Lemon, Kale, and Parmesan
Cookbook Club – What’s For Dinner? For May’s Cookbook Club, we used What’s For Dinner? by Curtis Stone. I chose the Spaghetti with Garlic, Lemon, Kale, and Parmesan. Go to my Cookbook Club site to see everything we had for dinner. For now – my dish! When I saw this recipe, I could immediately imagine…
Drago Centro Restaurant Review
Gold Dig #61 Drago Centro is an Italian restaurant located downtown in City National Plaza. On Jonathan Gold’s 101 Best Restaurants list, he calls it one of “the most commanding restaurants downtown”. The large, glassed-in dining room has a high arched ceiling, an impressive tower of wines behind the bar, and a great view of…