A simple and healthy homemade green pea soup made with frozen peas and lots of flavorful leeks, chive oil and served with a poached egg. This healthy leek soup recipe is my gift to us: the leek and green pea lovers! By all means feel free to use fresh peas here If you have them, I figure most people probably just have the organic frozen bags in the back of their freezer handy at all times, which makes this recipe very convenient. Without ham and ham hock you guys, because ...
Italian Recipes
Italian Beef Stew Recipe
A rustic Italian beef stew recipe or " Stufato di Manzo " with red wine gravy, tomatoes, mushrooms and potatoes. Italy in a pot! Who’s bringing the wine ? I used all mine in the stew, so it is a drunkard style dinner tonight! Just like in the case of a rugu alla Bolognese, there are endless variations of Italian beef stew recipes as well. From family to family, from region to region, from one season to the next, this one pot wonder changes like a chameleon. I sure do hope that makes ...
Italian Chicken Cacciatore Recipe
Easy Italian Chicken Cacciatore recipe, an authentic Hunter Style Chicken Stew in Red Wine Sauce with Italian San Marzano Tomatoes and Wild Mushrooms! You can finish it on the stove top, bake it in the oven or the slow cooker. You knew I was gonna bring an authentic, easy Italian Chicken Cacciatore recipe from Italy for you. How could I not, right ?! Especially because this is a regular at the shack, healthy, light, gluten free and so easy to make. Not to mention perfect for a crowd! There ...
Sicilian Pistachio Pesto Recipe
An authentic Sicilian Pistachio Pesto brought to you straight from Sicily! Today I bring to you a Sicilian Pistachio Pesto all the way from Sicily. I have been dying to share with you my Sicilian spaghetti vongole recipe, made with the squid ink linguine I managed to bring home in one piece, but I found myself without any wild baby clams. Panic all around ! All summer long I can count on Costco to bring me the best wild clams, but yesterday they let me down. Nothing. I won’t even go into ...
11 Goat Cheese Log Recipe Ideas
11 Epic Ways to Dress Up a Goat Cheese Log! From cranberries to chocolate, pistachio and chives, these goat cheese logs are sure to steal the show! Please don’t hate, but this week has been all about discovering goat cheese log recipe ideas. Because everyone loves a cheese board, and how can you have a cheese board without the incredible goat cheese log display, right ?! Impossible! Yes, you can buy some gourmet goat cheese logs at the store, but they won’t be anything like what you can ...
Brown Rice Risotto Recipe with Leeks & Golden Chanterelle Mushrooms
The creamiest, most flavorful brown rice risotto with leeks and golden chanterelle mushrooms. Look at this brown rice golden chanterelle leek risotto I made for us! I mean, healthy comfort food was mandatory as the chanterelle season just began. Plus it started pouring rain out of the blue. Yes for Southern California this is a huge deal, Amen and Hallelujah, we need the rain like, well, like the Dessert needs the Rain I guess.. I hope that makes sense, If not forgive me, I just started ...
Tomato Ricotta Tart Recipe
An exquisite Italian tomato ricotta art recipe made with flavorful heirlooms, creamy ricotta and pockets of burrata cheese! This ricotta tomato tart recipe is everything kids! Especially because you know me, I don’t always bake, but when I do, it’s gotta be with some creamy ricotta cheese ! You know, ricotta muffins, ricotta cake, ricotta pizza ! Yum! I really can not help myself with all those insanely beautiful heirloom tomatoes around me. You do know how me and tomatoes have had a thing ...
Mushroom Bruschetta Appetizer Recipe
Mushroom Bruschetta, a true rustic Italian appetizer of garlic bread topped with wild mushrooms cooked in white wine! This wild mushroom bruschetta appetizer was first mentioned when I wrote the about Florentina page, here on Ciao Florentina. That’s where I first talked about my grandpa who would plop me on the back seat of his old rusty bike after the rain, and we would go search for wild mushrooms. So we could make this exact mushroom bruschetta. I call it an appetizer, but for us it was the ...
Roasted Tomato Soup Recipe
A rustic Italian roasted tomato soup recipe made with the last of summer's heirloom tomatoes, slowly roasted with garlic, onions and a splash of white wine! This roasted tomato soup recipe kids, ahhh! But before I even dive into telling you about how I could eat this each day every day, spring, summer, fall and winter until the end of time, I’ll rewind a little to explain how this actually came to be. To make my recipe make some sense, you'll need to rewind a couple of weeks back. My ...
Baked Potato Bar Recipe
A festive baked potato bar made with hasselback potatoes and lovely toppings, from chive pesto to ragu all bolognese! The reason I decided to share this inspiration for a holiday baked potato bar, is because I realized how easy it really is to set up. Not to mention how loved by everyone it is, including the kids, so get ready for your best baked potato adventure to date! I'm not kidding, that's what the BatMan said. Best part is that as a host you can absolutely prepare all your toppings ...