Melon panna cotta to celebrate Ferragosto

This melon panna cotta was born by accident and necessity. Now I tell you. From the weekly trip to the local market for fruit and veg shopping haul, I returned with a sweet white onion that, by itself, weighs a kilogram, lots of tomatoes since, at last, I can eat them again, and then a tiny…

ByMonica11 August 20240Comments

COURSES First Course OCCASIONS RECIPES Sunday Lunch

Homemade purple potato gnocchi (eggless)

The intense chirping of cicadas underscores the heat. How long has it been since the last recipe I shared on the blog? It's been a few months. As I knead the purple potato gnocchi dough, I can't help but think how quickly these intense past few months have passed. Now I will tell you the reason for this long…

ByMonica27 July 20240Comments

COURSES Desserts OCCASIONS RECIPES Sunday Lunch

Chocolate salami (without eggs). Nonna’s recipes

If a book about grandmothers served the purpose of not missing mine, I would look for it. I'm usually able to manage memories, but some days, it is hard to manage their B-sides. Yes, memories have two sides, like coins and old vinyl records. Side A makes memories a soft dough that will rise in the oven; it…

ByMonica1 March 20240Comments

Chocolate Christmas COURSES Desserts INGREDIENTS OCCASIONS RECIPES Sunday Lunch

A recipe for chocolate pralines called Cri Cri

Cri Cri are chocolate pralines of Piedmontese origin, and if you're wondering what they have to do with me recounting the cuisine of Emilia-Romagna, I'll tell you right now. On January 6 in Italy, we celebrate the Befana, which closes the festivities of the Christmas season. That day, I would wake up early while the house was…

ByMonica4 January 20240Comments

Cakes and Cookies Chocolate Christmas COURSES INGREDIENTS OCCASIONS RECIPES

Chocolate panpepato from Ferrara, the recipe

The panpepato, or pampapato, is a skullcap-shaped cake. Dedicated to the Pope, created in 1580 from an idea of Alfonso II d'Este, the Lord of the city of Ferrara, and still produced both artisanally and commercially. Made from a mixture of cake flour, honey, bitter cocoa, toasted almonds, a mixture of spices (the composition is…

ByMonica12 December 20230Comments

Fricandò recipe, a fresh vegetables stew

COURSES Gluten-free INGREDIENTS RECIPES Salads and Sides

Fricandò: the vegetable stew recipe from Romagna

The Fricandò recipe is a kind of rustic ratatouille and a typical recipe from the peasant tradition of Romagna. The Italian dictionary reports that the term is an Italian graphic and phonetic adaptation of the French fricandeau. This dish's ingredients are cooked in the same pan as a stew. The name, however, also has a…

ByMonica17 June 20230Comments

Aperitivo Bologna Food COURSES Main Course OCCASIONS RECIPES

Tricks and home recipe for fried polenta

Polenta warmed so many winter evenings of my childhood. Warm and soft or firm and sliced and topped with melted cheese. And, of course, fried polenta was always welcomed with joy. The polenta Grandma Sara often cooked polenta. In addition to the best-known one made with cornmeal, yellow or white, she also made it using chickpea or semolina…

ByMonica21 January 20230Comments

COURSES First Course RECIPES

Pumpkin gnocchi (eggless) with radicchio and taggiasche

In the past, more so than today, there was a funny saying in Italian families. People used to say: "you are a pumpkin" or even "you are a zuccone (a big pumpkin)". The expression had two meanings. It could indicate both hardness of understanding and stubbornness. When I was a little girl, faced with my stubborn resistance to do/not…

ByMonica10 January 20230Comments

Chocolate COURSES Desserts INGREDIENTS OCCASIONS RECIPES Sunday Lunch

Amaretti and chocolate cake: a great Italian classic dessert

How many chocolate cake recipes are there? So many, and I would like to try them all. A chocolate cake and a book I love The recipe is from The Great Dixter Cookbook; Recipes from an English Garden. A book where cooking follows the seasons, using ingredients from the garden of Great Dixter, a historic garden home located…

ByMonica16 November 20220Comments

COURSES First Course RECIPES

Strozzapreti pasta of Romagna: history and recipe

Strozzapreti is a typical pasta of Romagna: water and flour, without eggs. The name literally means strangler the priest. Also known as lunghet, that is, lunghetti, because of the elongated format, they are a gastronomic specialty with a history that deserves to be known. The history of Romagnoli chokes priests If lunghet simply refers to the long, thin…

ByMonica22 September 20220Comments