Food Lover's Odyssey: Italy on a Plate Weekly Roundup

Italy on a Plate Weekly Roundup

May 27, 2012

Italy on a Plate - The Week in Italian Food: May 27, 2012

Travel by mouth through many of Italy's regions this week. Crabs in Venice, food travel in Sicily, pasta in Basilicata, pork in Abruzzo, wine in Naples, slow food & slow living in Piedmont, summer wine festivals in Tuscany, and a grape in Puglia.

Between a lot of eating and adjusting to the time change, I've just now got myself on a regular routine. I have many food tales to tell. In the coming days be sure to come back here to read about Dining in Rome with Tavole Romane, my gelato crawl in Rome, A Perfect Day in Napoli (yes, pizza, sfogliatelle and gelato are included in the day), the Wine Fest in Naples, a remarkable dining experience high atop the Amalfi Coast in Ravello (a giveaway is included in this post), Delizie al Limone in Amalfi, and a little about the people we'll meet on the culinary tour in Puglia. By the way, there are a few spaces left for the delicious Food & Wine Lover's Culinary Tour in Puglia. Make sure you're part of the fun and book by May 30th to receive $200 off. Enjoy & Buon Appetito!

My Choices for This Week's Top 10 Italian Food Recipes:

Angelina's Carciofi Imbottiti (Stuffed Artichokes) - Memorie di Angelina

Stuffed Lemons in the Oven - La Tavola Marche

Pappa al Pomodoro, the Tuscan Tomato Bread Soup - Jul's Kitchen

Pasta Cresciuta and Fiori di Zucca Fritta - Napoli Unplugged

Pancetta Wrapped Stuffed Chicken Cutlets - Italian Food Forever

Crespelle Verdi di Pesce - Emiko Davies

Fried Meatballs with Provola - Scordo

White Bean and Sausage Ragout with Toast - Panini Girl

Hazelnut Cake (torta di nocciole) with Honey Drizzle - Z Tasty Life

Crema al Forno con Punch Abruzzo (Baked Egg Custard with Punch Abruzzo) - The Front Burner

Eating Italy:

Chef's Guide to Rome - Chef John, gives his tips for eating in Rome - Caput Mundi Cibus

Moeche: Soft Shelled Crabs of Venice - Wandering Italy

Abruzzo: Food, Feast, More Food & Pork! - Heart Rome

Best Carbonara of Rome: Top 10 Choices - Buzz in Rome

Lunch Meet Ups in Rome (and one of them was with me!) - Browsing Rome

The Slow Life at La Ca di Banda in Cuneo - Italianna

Naples Week Long Celebration of Wine - Napoli Unplugged

Summer Wine Festivals in Tuscany 2012 - The Florentine

Fiano, the Mysterious Grape of Apulia - Jeremy for Cantele Puglia Wine Trails

The Italian Language in the Kitchen - Becoming Italian Word by Word

Divina Cucina on the Road - Sicily 2012 - Over a Tuscan Stove

Making Pasta at Palazzo Margherita {Basilicata} - Elizabeth Minchilli in Rome

Five Favorite Places for Food Near the Vatican - Revealed Rome

Upcoming Food and Wine Festivals in Italy:

Festa a Vico - June 3 to 6 - Vico Equense - A celebration of food and the chefs behind the food at this town along the Bay of Naples

Slow Sea Land - June 8 to 10 - Mazaro del Vallo in Sicily - Celebrates the fish products of the mediterranean - For information on the festival in English see here

Festa Artusiana - June 16 to 24 - Forlimpopli - A gastronomic festival to celebrate Pellegrino Artusi, author of the first Italian cookbook, in his home town in the Emilia-Romagna region

Melodia del Vino - June 27 to July 7 - Various locations in Tuscany - Where Tuscan wines and classical music meet

Barolo Night - July 21 - La Morra in Piedmont - A food and wine pairing (Barolo, that is) event in the Barolo producing town of La Morra

Mercantino del Gusto - August 1 to 5 - Maglie in Puglia celebrates the flavors of Puglia

CousCous Festival - September 25-30 - San Vito lo Capo in Sicily

Events in Tuscany - Site listing many events throughout Tuscany, and not only food and wine

Events in the Langhe area of Piedmont - Site from the Alba Tourist office listing many festivals, mostly wine & food, happening in the Langhe area of Piedmont

Join me on a Food & Wine Lover's Culinary Journey Through Puglia!

Book your trip by May 30, 2012 and receive a $200/per person discount

Making Pasticciotto in Puglia

Pastries of Lecce Tour with Chef Luca Capilungo

Cassata Siciliana

Eggplant Caponata and Sicilian Market Etiquette

Journey Through the Pastries of Napoli

Pizza Lover's Odyssey in Naples

Eating My Way Through Venice - Cicchetti and Seafood Antipasti

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May 14, 2012

Italy on a Plate - Week in Italian Food: May 13, 2012

After 11 days of dad-sitting traveling with dad (and no internet), I'm not only back with this week's roundup of Italian food but I'm also back in Italy. Late last night I arrived in Rome and spent my first day here walking, shopping food markets and a little snacking. Most of the photos in this post are from my day here. Tomorrow I have a post for you on making pasticciotto in Puglia and later this week I'll share some of the good eats I've found in Rome!

Byt before I head off for some artichokes and a big plate of pasta, I wanted to get you this week's top recipes, which include lots of fish - from Calabria, a fish cooking class in Abruzzo, fish soup and pesce in saor. There are also a few to-die-for desserts: a hazelnut & caramel crostata and a lemon & rosemary panacotta. Eating Italy travels by mouth to Rome, with many food finds from Italy's capital. Along with Rome, you can eat your way vicariously throughout the boot: chocolate in Umbria, cheesemaking and a cherry festival in Tuscany, restaurants in Lunigiana, Naples and along the sea in Lazio. Enjoy and Buon Appetito!

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

Minestra di Cicerchie - Briciole

Marinated Fava Beans with Burrata Cheese - Italian Food Forever

A Sustainable Calabrian Lunch: La Pittea Tropeana - Emiko Davies

Squid in Tomato Sauce with Polenta - Life in Abruzzo

Pollo alla Cacciatora Napoletana - Napoli Unplugged

Fish Soup - Mario's Italian Kitchen

Pesce in Saor - Over a Tuscan Stove

Hazelnut and Caramel Crostata - The Front Burner

Jam Crostata - Video Recipe - Jul's Kitchen

Lemon and Rosemary Pannacotta - Lucullian Delights

Eating Italy:

Choc Full of It: The Perugina Chocolate Factory - Possibly making chocolate, but defintely making a mes and looks fun at a Perugina chocolate class - Time Travel Turtle

Lake Trasimeno, Chocolate and Cashmere in Umbria - Roundup and video of the Travel Bloggers Unite meeting in Umbria with lots of links to more posts on chocolate in Umbria! - Umbria on the Blog

Six Pizzas in Rome that Will Make You Forget Naples - Being a Pizza Napoletana fanatic, I can't say I agree with that title, but Katie Parla gives her picks for best pizza in Rome - Eater

Prawns of My Grandfather ~ Seafood and a Sunday Stroll Along the Waterfront in Naples - Carbonara's Weblog

Cesare al Casaletto {Rome} - Elizabeth Minchilli in Rome

Osteria Fernanda, the Best Restaurant in Trastevere - Revealed Rome

Rome Food Tour with Walks of Italy - Browsing Rome

Wines of Puglia, Calabria, Basilicata and Sicilia - Scordo

Digestivi - the reasons Italians can easily put away those huge meals - Under a Tuscan Gun

The Day at Cantina Rizzi - Barbaresco - Italianna

Day Trip Friday: Just Beach It - The beach and seafood in Santa Marinella, an easy day trip from Rome - Young in Rome

A New Restaurant in Old Lunigiana: Alla Piazza di Sopra - A Path to Lunch

Pecorino Fresh from the Farm - Panini Girl

Cherry Lovers Flock to Festival in Lari (near Pisa) - The Florentine

Lidia Bastianich, portrait of an Italian-American Mother - DoBianchi

On the Italy Food and Wine Trail: Bassano del Grappa - Honest Cooking

Visiting Dario Cecchini's Butcher Shop and Restaurant in Tuscany - Europe Up Close

Upcoming Food and Wine Festivals in Italy:

Wine in the City - May 16 to 19 - Naples - Throughout the city wine will be the focus of this event, where there will be wine to taste

Vitigno Italia - May 20 to 22 - Naples - 8th Annual Wine Festival in Naples at the Castel dell' Ovo

Firenze Gelato Festival - May 23 to 27 - Florence - The piazzas and streets of Florence will be filled with gelato stands and gelato!

Festa Artusiana - June 16 to 24 - Forlimpopli - A gastronomic festival to celebrate Pellegrino Artusi, author of the first Italian cookbook, in his home town in the Emilia-Romagna region

Melodia del Vino - June 27 to July 7 - Various locations in Tuscany - Where Tuscan wines and classical music meet

Events in Tuscany - Site listing many events throughout Tuscany, and not only food and wine

Events in the Langhe area of Piedmont - Site from the Alba Tourist office listing many festivals, mostly wine & food, happening in the Langhe area of Piedmont

Join me on a Food & Wine Lover's Culinary Journey Through Puglia!

Book your trip by May 30, 2012 and receive a $200/per person discount

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Technorati Tags: best Italian food, best Italian recipes, eating in Italy, Food and Travel, Food and Wine Festivals in Italy, Italian Food, Italy, Italy on a Plate

April 30, 2012

Italy on a Plate - The Week in Italian Food: April 29, 2012

This week the Italian food and wine links are more delicious than ever. If you can't find guanciale, that most necessary ingredient for pasta all' amatriciana, locally? No problem, there's a recipe for making your own. Also there are links for handmade farfalle (butterfly) pasta, braised pork cheek ravioloni, artichoke risotto and more. In Eating Italy, find out about a fish cooking class on one of Abruzzo's trabocco, dining in Venice and lots of food photos, another food photo essay on food in Rome, much about wine in Puglia, Verona, Liguria and Orvieto, and a link to clips on a TV program in Italy that humorously pits north against south in the kitchen.

On another note, I've been offline this week due to a few things. One is that my 82 year-old aunt Giuseppina, one of my most loyal readers and whose hands you see regularly in food photos, has been in the hospital. I've been spending a lot of time there and helping to get things in order for her recovery and return home. Sweet, independent and also stubborn, I'm sure she's determined to get back to driving and lunching with her club of Sicilian-Italian ladies. Get well soon, Josie!

Besides that, I've been planning for another summer on the road! After a week of traveling with dad in Scandinavia, I'll continue this food lover's odyssey with a culinary giro in Italia and southern France. The giro begins in Rome and ends in September with the fabulous Culinary Journey in Puglia! (If you'd like to join us, spaces are still available but are filling up fast!) I promise this week you'll hear more from me here on the blog and with daily photos from Italy and France on Facebook. Enjoy & Buon Appetito!

My Choice for This Week's Top 10 Italian Food Recipes:

Homemade Guanciale - Scordo

Torta Salata ai Carciofi (Savory Artichoke Tart) and photos from the artichoke festival in Ladispoli (near Rome) - Aprons and Sneakers

Chili Pepper Farinata - Lucullian Delights

Minestra di Verdure Stile Ribollita (Ribollita-Inspired Vegetable Soup) - Briciole

Artichoke Risotto: Risotto ai Carciofi - Educated Palate

Risi e Bisi (Rice and Peas) - Kitchen in the City

Handmade Farfalle, Pesce Spada e Pistacchi (Farfalle with swordfish and pistacchios) - Volevo Fare lo Chef

Braised Pork Cheek Ravioloni - Emiko Davies

Saltimbocca alla Romana - Manu's Menu

Seppie in Zimino (Cuttlefish with Leafy Greens) - The Florentine

Eating Italy:

Fun with Fish: An Italian Fish Cookery Course Aboard a Trabocco - Life in Abruzzo

Benvenuti a Tavola: Nord vs. Sud - Clips and thoughts about a TV show in Italy that uses humor, and food & cooking, to shine a light on north vs. south in Italy - Rubber Slippers in Italy

A lot of eating in Venice going on by Melissa - at Anice Stellato and also at Il Ridotto and finally at one of my favorites Osteria La Bottega ai Promessi Sposi - Melissa Santos

Food in Rome: Restaurants, Campo dei Fiori and a Giant Mortadella - great food photos from Rome - Wired 2 the World

Festa della Palamita - A Tuscan Food Festival - Honest Cooking

Artichoke Indulgence - Photo essay of the abundance of artichokes in Rome - Elizabeth Minchilli in Rome

Enoteca Trucchi in Rome Specializes in Natural Wines - Parla Food

Salice Salentino DOC: The Basics - Cantele, Puglia Wine Trails

Rossese - A red wine to go with fish and some info on dining in Liguria - The American in Italia

Barberani Winery - And the Importance of Sharing Your Story - Vindulge

The Potent King of the Valpolicellas - story about Amarone and the winemaker Giuseppe Quintarelli - New York Times

Upcoming Food & Wine Festivals in Italy:

Porto Cervo Wine Festival - May 4, 5, and 6 - Sardinia - Sample wines from 60 of Sardinia's wine maker and from other regions of Italy while enjoying the beauty of the Emerald Coast

Le Strade della Mozzarella - May 7,8, and 9 - Paestum - Celebrating mozzarella di bufala and other food and wine of the region. Check the program for details (in Italian)

Wine in the City - May 16 to 19 - Naples - Throughout the city wine will be the focus of this event, where there will be wine to taste

Vitigno Italia - May 20 to 22 - Naples - 8th Annual Wine Festival in Naples at the Castel dell' Ovo

Firenze Gelato Festival - May 23 to 27 - Florence - The piazzas and streets of Florence will be filled with gelato stands and gelato!

Festa Artusiana - June 16 to 24 - Forlimpopli - A gastronomic festival to celebrate Pellegrino Artusi, author of the first Italian cookbook, in his home town in the Emilia-Romagna region

Melodia del Vino - June 27 to July 7 - Various locations in Tuscany - Where Tuscan wines and classical music meet

Events in Tuscany - Site listing many events throughout Tuscany, and not only food and wine

Events in the Langhe area of Piedmont - Site from the Alba Tourist office listing many festivals, mostly wine & food, happening in the Langhe area of Piedmont

Join me on a Food & Wine Lover's Culinary Journey Through Puglia!

Book your trip by May 30, 2012 and receive a $200/per person discount

Nutella Frittelle - Nutella filled Venetian Fritters for Carnival

Tasting Venice: A Food Tour with Monica Cesarato

Best Ways to Savor Venice

Eating My Way Through Venice: Cicchetti and Seafood Antipasti

Cassata Siciliana

Seafood and More with Chef Lino at Ristorante Donna Lisa in Salento

Art of Making Pasta by Hand a Pugliese Pasta Lesson with Nonna Vata

Cooking with Mamma Giulia in Salento - Orecchiette and Salentine Breads

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Technorati Tags: best Italian food, best Italian recipes, eating in Italy, Food and Travel, Food and Wine Festivals in Italy, Italian Food, Italy, Italy on a Plate

April 23, 2012

Italy on a Plate - The Week in Italian Food: April 22, 2012

Besides 10 great recipes (for of them desserts), this week's roundup includes HomeFood's home cooking in Italy, dining in Venice, Italian pizza, wines from around the boot, seeing stars (of the Michelin kind) in Lake Maggiore and more. Enjoy and buon appetito!

My Choice for This Week's Top 10 Italian Food Recipes:

Fabrizia's Panelle - An Appetizer for all Seasons - Delicious Days

Laundry is Forever, Fava Beans Are for Now - A fresh fava bean puree and a writer's love for this seasonal bean - Domenica Cooks

Frittata with Garlic Scapes - and a little about Umbrian cuisine - Umbria on the Blog

Tomato Sauce 101 - Memorie di Angelina

Fresh Lemon Tagliolini - Juls' Kitchen

Fried Artichokes - Italicious

Brutti Ma Buoni (Ugly but Good cookies) - Italian Food Forever

Fior di Latte al Rosmarino & Gelato in Florence - Emiko Davies

Cappuccino Panna Cotta and a Le Creuset Cafe Collection Giveaway - Bell' Alimento

Gelato alle Fragole - Sunday at the Giacometti's

Eating Italy:

Pizza, Pizza, Pizza - A little bit of history and some information on the famous Italian fast food - Under the Tuscan Gun

Michelin Restaurants in and Near Stresa - Information on fine dining establishments around Lake Maggiore - Stresa Sights

Al Fontego dei Pescatori, Venice - Dining in Venice - Melissa Santos

A True Home-Cooked Meal in Italy: Homefood - Italy Beyond the Obvious

Traditional Balsamic Vinegar of Modena - tour of a balsamic making manor in Modena - La Tavola Marche

Bordeaux Blend, Amarone & Barolo, Oh My! - Italianna

I Clivi Wines and Wine Comics from Friuli - Hawk WakaWaka Wine Reviews

San Lorenzo Market, Florence - The Purple Foodie

Taurasi, Italian Grape Name & Appellation Pronounciation Project - How to pronounce and a little information on this wine from Campania - DoBianchi

Guide to Wine Tasting in the Istrian Peninsula - Europe Up Close

A Few of My Favorite Things in Friuli - Part 3 - Food, Wine & great photos from Friuli - J. C. Reid, TX

Upcoming Food & Wine Festivals in Italy:

Sapori e Saperi 2012 - April 21 to 25 - Pompeii - Located at the Pompeii Sanctuary (Santuario di Pompeii) is this food festival celebrating typical products of the Campania region (Information about the Sapori e Saperi Festival in English)

Pic & Nic a Trevi - April 28 & 29 - Trevi - Enjoy art, music and food - and picnic among the olive groves in this Umbrian town