Italy on a Plate - The Week in Italian Food: 12-19-2010

 

 
 

 

It's a merry week of Italian food.  Many Italian Christmas recipes fill up the top 10 Italian recipes this week.  Eating Italy also has a few Christmas-themed features along with one about a pork binge, Parma food museums, a little-known wine region in Northern Italy and, of course, chocolate.  I hope you enjoy this week's edition of Italy on a Plate.  Buon Natale and Buon Appetito!

 

My Choice for this Week's Top 10 Italian Recipes from Around the Web:

Frank helps you out if you have an extra ham hock around: Mushroom Barley Soup - Memorie di Angelina

Guanciale and Pasta a la Gricia  A little bit of information on one of my favorite parts of the pig, guanciale (necessary for any Amatriciana dish) and another classic Roman pasta recipe - Elizabeth Minchilli in Rome

Christmas ravioli - Ravioli with Piacentino cheese, walnuts and Pasta amara (cocoa) - Love Sicily 

A Tuscan Potato Tortelli - Tuscanycious

Lobster Fra Diavolo - A special dish for special occasions, possibly the Christmas Feast of the Seven Fishes - Bell'alimento

A platter of stuffed vegetables (verdure ripieni) for a Taste of Liguria - The Panini Girl

Tis the Season to be Baking - We get four Christmas different types of delicious Italian cookies - Proud Italian Cook

Cartellate - A Christmas fried sweet from Northern Italy - Ciao Chow Linda

Tuscan sweets - Traditional Tuscan and Fig & Walnut Panforte for Christmas - Over a Tuscan Stove

Cena della Vigilia di Natale - Christmas Dinner Neapolitan style - includes recipes for Spaghetti con le Vongole (spaghetti with clams), Struffoli (honey glazed fried dough covered in candy) and Mustaccioli (Christmas cookies) - Napoli Unplugged

 

 
 

 

Eating Italy:

I Left My Heart in Northern Italy Last Christmas - Penny tells a touching story of a family's cooking in Northern Italy through words and photos - Appetite

G2 Kitchen Christmas Issue - A beautiful ezine and many of my favorite food bloggers in Italy share their Christmas with you -  Juls Kitchen

Chocolate lovers going to Milan - A list of the Best Chocolaterie in Milan - Italiasquisita (In Italian but you can translate into English and there are links and addresses for each location) 

Panettone: The Story of Italian Christmas Cake - Educated Palate

A post full of pig food porn in Italy and elsewhere: A Look Back at the Great Pork Binge of 2010 - Parla Food

Food and wine tales from A Little Known Wine Region in Italy - The Atlantic

Parma Food: So Good, Museums are Devoted to It - Jetsetter Passport

 

 

 

Upcoming Food and Wine Festivals in Italy:

Cioccolart - December 18 to January 8, 2011 - Taormina, Sicily - In Piazza del Carmine, chocolate, art and culture come together

Sagra della Sfincia - January 6, 2011 - A town outside of Palermo, Montelepre (the town of my grandparents) celebrates the town's sweet fried dough

Cioccolosita (Chocolate Festival in Tuscany) - February 4 to 6, 2011 - The town of  Monsummano Terme, near Pistoia, hosts a chocolate festival and brings chocolatiers from all over Italy with samples!

Sagra del Mandorlo in Fiore (Almond Blossom Festival) - February 2 to 11, 2011 - The town of Agrigento celebrates spring and almond blossoms with this festival featuring typical Sicilian foods

Carnevale di Venezia  - February 26 to March 8, 2011 - A magical event that I would recommend attending at least once in your life, the entire city of Venice becomes a stage

***NOTE: For Christmas Markets and Festivals in Italy, check out my post on Christmas in Italy***

 

 

 

Related Posts:

Snowball Cookies and Christmas Baking Memories

Cantucci - Biscotti from Tuscany

Cannoli Siciliani

Gianduja Budino and a Chocolate Pass in Turin

Torta Setteveli - Seven Veils Celebration Cake

Involtini di Melanzane - Appetizer for a Sicilian-Inspired Holiday Dinner

Braciola di Maiale - for a Sicilian-Inspired Holiday Dinner

Pasta all' Amatriciana - A Roman Treat

Roman Pasta Dishes and Ten Places to Eat them in Rome

Taste of Napoli - 15 Favorite Dishes for the Food Lover in Naples

Comments

[Elizabeth]

Thanks so much for including me!

[Paula]

There's an old Italian tradition that I haven't heard much of lately and I really miss it. I always loved Spumoni ice cream, but I can't find it in local stores anywhere. American companies have gone to making all these trendy ice cream flavors like "eggnog," "gingerbread," "pumpkin pie," "candy cane" ... I even saw "hot chocolate" (which includes marshmallow, of course). But no spumoni. Do they even make it in Italy any more??

[Esme]

All of these look so good-thankfully I am finished with my holiday baking-I am visitng my parents and there is a great Italian store in their city that I will visit to see what Christmas treats are there. I love anything with figs. I made a Christmas cake with pine nuts, dried figs and other dried fruit.

[Kathy]

Elizabeth - You're very welcome. I loved the explanation of Guanciale. La Gricia is one of my favorite pasta dishes, right after L'amatriciana

Paula - I'm going to have to double check. I wasn't too into spumoni, and would pick out the candied fruits whenever I ate it, thus never searched it out in Italy.

Esme - Good to hear you have all your Christmas baking done. Your Christmas cake sounds delicious.