Whipped Ricotta Fettunta

I got another ricotta bounty from my cheese supplier (AKA friend who works for the best Italian cheese company ever). There is an Italian restaurant nearby that I used to go to specifically for their Whipped Ricotta Fettunta… until it occurred to me that with the incredible ricotta from my friend I could probably make…

Peperonata

One day I was looking for something to do with some spare bell peppers, and I remembered having peperonata when I was in Italy. It’s a stewed bell pepper dish which often also includes onion, garlic, and tomatoes. All I happened to have on hand was bell peppers and red onion, but it still came…

Quick Stewed Eggplant with Coconut

Cookbook Club – Holiday Year in Review 2021 Our December Cookbook Club is traditionally a year in review event where we pick recipes from any of the cookbooks we’ve used that year. But because of COVID we were only able to gather for about half the year. That meant we had fewer cookbooks to choose…

Spicy Italian Sausage with Kale and Tomato

This dish uses just a handful of ingredients and a single pan, but the flavors of the sausage, kale, and tomato go so well together that you don’t need anything else. My boyfriend says it’s like a really delicious pasta, only without any pasta – that’s a glowing endorsement from someone who would live on…

Persimmon Crisp

Our Cookbook Club tradition is to do a Friendsgiving event in November, where instead of using a cookbook everyone makes a dish that’s either a Thanksgiving tradition for them or something new they want to try this year. It’s persimmon season, and my friend recently gave me a bag full from her tree. I make…

Chocolate Pomegranate Clusters

I got a load of pomegranates from a friend’s tree, and after eating a ton on salad still had so much left and was looking for something to do with them. These chocolate pomegranate clusters are an easy 3-ingredient guessipe, but they look super festive and are a great combo of salty-sweet-tangy. Perfect for holiday…

Quince Custard

A friend of mine gave me some quince, which are in the pear and apple family but aren’t eaten raw. I baked them into a custard which my boyfriend liked so much he said it was the best dessert I’ve ever made (though I should make the disclaimer that he has a really short memory…

Salted Egg Yolk Pumpkin

I ate a fried pumpkin dish in a family-owned Chinese restaurant like 10 years ago and have been dreaming about it ever since. The pumpkin had a salted egg yolk coating that I couldn’t get enough of. So when I saw a package of salted egg yolks at the Asian market, I had to buy…

Sweet Pea Soup with Coconut and Ginger

Cookbook Club – In Bibi’s Kitchen In October we used Hawa Hassan’s cookbook In Bibi’s Kitchen for Cookbook Club. Hassan gathered the stories and recipes of bibis (grandmothers) from eight African nations: Eritrea, Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, South Africa, Madagascar, and Comoros. To get a taste of the foods we tried from these bibis’ kitchens,…

Rosemary Ricotta Lemon Bars

After making a full ricotta-themed meal (appetizer, main, dessert) with the best ricotta ever (no exaggeration), I had exactly 2/3 cup of ricotta left. I figured that was the perfect amount to mix into lemon bars for a little creaminess to smooth out the lemony tang. I also used rosemary in the shortbread crust to…

Lemon Ricotta Torte

I had made an appetizer and a savory main course with the ricotta from my friend, and I still had a few treasured cups left. So it seemed appropriate to try my hand at something sweet. Ricotta is so versatile! A crumb crust provides a nice bit of crunch to complement the creamy goodness of…

Chipotle-Garam Masala Olives

Cookbook Club – Season: Big Flavors, Beautiful Food September’s Cookbook Club book was Nik Sharma’s Season: Big Flavors, Beautiful Food. Sharma’s stunning photography showcases his take on Indian cooking in this gorgeous cookbook. To see all the beautiful food, go to my Cookbook Club site. For now – my dish! I got as far as…