Diva Eats Italia

This cavatelli and broccoli, is one of my mother-in-law’s many recipes. This dish is really more of a soup than pasta and sauce. The pasta and broccoli sit in a broth made from chicken stock and tomatoes. My mother-in-law uses dried cavatelli instead of fresh, so it could hold up better to the broth. Until I ate this, I had no idea there was such a thing as dried cavatelli. Who knew!

Along side of the pasta, Rosy would always serve crunchy, toasted breadcrumbs, as a condiment. I think the crumbs were my favorite part. They shouldn’t be left out. They really do add something extra to the dish. I love the crunch. They also, soak up the broth to make it less soupy. Either way, it’s an easy and delicious recipe I wanted to share with you. Hope you like it.

Enjoy!
D I V A
continue for the recipe>>

For me there is only one way to eat veggies, and that’s to roast them. It brings out all their naturally good sweetness. It’s almost as though you can taste them for what they should be. They way nature intended.

All they need is a drizzle of olive oil, salt & pepper….basta! (enough)

Here, I mixed freshly roasted carrots, parsnips, brussel sprouts, golden beet, onion, chestnuts, along with lots of fresh thyme & tossed it all with fusilli pasta. It was a perfect meal for a cold winters night.

Gustatela!
D I V A
continuare per la ricetta>>(recipe)

It’s tomato season! Hurry, start picking them from your garden or rush right over to the market & get yourself a bunch. You don’t want to miss out, they are extra good this year. Right now, tomatoes are at their peak, which means a juicier & sweeter fruit.

Salsa di pomodoro crudo, which is uncooked tomato sauce, is a perfect way to highlight their natural flavor. Because the tomatoes aren’t cooked, it’s important to use the ripest tomatoes you can find.
I diced & marinaded tomatoes for a few hours with garlic, olive oil, basil & salt to draw out the juices. The longer they marinade the better the flavor will be.

It’s one of my favorite dishes. It’s light, refreshing & easy.

continuare per la ricetta (recipe)>>
Gustatela!
D I V A

“Ora verde della Sicilia,” means “green gold of Sicily.” This expression is referring to the Sicilian pistachio. These nuts grow well in the volcanic soil due to Mt. Etna. The production of Pistachios in Sicily have tripled since WWII, they’re mostly grown in the town of Bronte. They are very proud of these little hard shelled nuts, so much so, that they have a festival dedicated to them every September.

Sicilian pistachios are slightly different, than what we get here in the states. Their nuts are more of an oval shape, have a slightly greener color & a stronger taste. They are generally used for desserts, but you can find them in savory dishes, as in the case of my pesto.

In my Sicilian pesto, I wanted to highlight the flavor & texture of the nut. The pesto is mostly pistachios, some oil & mint. To keep some of the texture, I left the nuts somewhat chunky. The addition of the raisins came after I had mixed the pesto into the pasta. It was great but I felt like it could do more. I kept thinking sweetness. I don’t really know why, it’s just what my taste buds were telling me. I’m glad I listened to them, the raisins took the dish to another level of deliciousness.
Gustatela!
D I V A

Whenever I travel, I always load up on food magazines, from whatever country I’m in. The recipe I posted here, came from a magazine I bought in Italy. This particular issue focused on baked pasta dishes. It mentioned that, “pasta e patate il forno,” was a popular recipe from the region of Calabria. When I decided to focus on this region on Diva Eats Italia, I thought of this dish right away.
Some of the things the region of Calabria are know for are, red onions, sausages, and peppers.
This recipe incorporates all of these ingredients into one dish. It has, caramelized red onions, sauteed red peppers, fennel sausage, sopperssata, also potatoes and tomatoes. The pasta is baked with gooey, creamy, cheese running through it. It’s one of those dishes, that’s great when you have to feed a crowd. I’m glad I found this magazine issue with this great recipe. It’s one that I’ll make over and over again.
I’ll be heading back to Italy and then on to Greece in a few weeks. I think I’ll bring an extra suitcase for the new food magazines I’m going to cart home.

Gustatela!
D I V A
continuare per la ricetta (recipe)>>

Angela is a young woman, who goes to the same gym as me. When we first met, she told me that her family is from & still owns a home in Salerno Italy. So, when I decided to focus on the Campania region this month on Diva Eats Italia, I thought of her right away. She told me of a dish that is a specialty of Salerno & that her mother often prepares.
Angela was nice enough to tell me how her mother makes “Maccheroni con i pomodori ripieni.” What that means is, pasta with roasted stuffed tomatoes. The roasted tomatoes are placed on top of the pasta. When they are cut into, the juice of the tomatoes & the stuffing, becomes the sauce. This was new to me, so I was excited to try the recipe. It sounded like something I would love, so in the kitchen I went.
I hate to say this, but I changed a few things in the recipe..(don’t tell her) I added & changed a few ingredients to the stuffing & the pasta. The stuffing has homemade breadcrumbs (which I think produces the best results.) It also has capers, gaeta olives, pine nuts, parmesan & basil. The tomatoes are then stuffed & roasted. (Angela told me that, her mother has stuffed cherry tomatoes to make this dish. That’s a little too ambitious for me, so I opted for the larger variety)
I then heated some olive oil in a pan & browned garlic, anchovy fillets & red pepper flakes. When the pasta was cooked I mixed it with the flavored oil, as well as any juice that was in the pan from the roasted tomatoes. They’re then placed on top of the prepared pasta.
I’m so glad, Angela was nice enough to share this dish with me.
I love trying new recipes, especially when they come from family & friends. It makes them that more special & delicious.
Gusatela!
D I V A
continuare per la ricetta>>

During Lent all Catholics from the ages of 14 & older are to abstain from eating meat on Ash Wednesday, Good Friday & all other Fridays of Lent. As a kid I never really understood this church law, it didn’t make sense to me. I just did what I was told so I wouldn’t be a sinner.
On most Fridays during Lent my mother would make some sort of pasta.
When I got home from school on those afternoons, I knew just by the smells what we were having for dinner. There is nothing like the smell of garlic browning in hot oil. Orecchiette with broccoli rabe & cannellini beans was one of the dishes she would make & one of my favorites. Orecchiette in Italian means little ears, which refers to the shape of the pasta.
I think most people know what broccoli rabe is or rapini as it’s know in Italian. It’s a leafy green that has flowery buds & a bitter yet peppery taste. I know some people don’t like it because of it’s bitterness but for me, the more bitter the better!
I still abstain from eating meat on Fridays during Lent. It’s not because I think I’m going to sin, but because I have visions of Sister Mary Margaret hitting me with a yard stick if she found out I ate a hamburger. Old fears never die!!
Gustatela!
D I V A
continuare per la ricetta>>

In the region of Calabria, which is located at the toe of the boot of Italy, is known for peppers, hot peppers. Whenever I go to Italy I always seek out Calabrian red seed pepper & pepper oil to take home. I love spicy food as you may know by now if you’ve been reading my blog & I incorporate seed pepper into a lot of what I cook. In Calabria you’ll find stings of hot peppers in every household. They take the fresh peppers, string them & let them dry.

In this recipe I didn’t use red seed pepper for the spice, I used fresh long hot peppers.
This dish is one of my favorites because not only is it simple & delicious, it takes no time to make & it satisfies my love of spicy food. While the water is boiling & the pasta is cooking, I heat extra virgin olive oil, (the only oil I use) in a pan, brown garlic & saute the peppers. It’s that easy! As for the peppers, I like to cut them into thin strips this way you never get too big of a piece of spiciness.(I do this for those who have sensitive palates). I recommend that you taste the pepper first to see how spicy they actually are because the heat sometimes varies.
Gustatela!
D I V A
continuare per la ricetta>>

A few years back I was fortunate enough to visit a small Island off the North coast of Sicily called Salina. Salina is part of a chain of Islands know as “Aeolian.” If you ever get a chance to visit these gems it’s a MUST. They’re a little difficult to get to but worth the effort!!
I don’t want to go on too much about the islands because I intent on sharing some photos & experiences from that trip in a separate post.
On our little venture one day we stopped on charming Salina. That afternoon we had the most incredible meal at this cute harbor side restaurant. They set up tables for us by the water were we relaxed, ate & laughed as we watched kids play on the rocks. The one thing that sticks out in my mind about that meal was a pasta dish..spaghetti with swordfish & eggplant, which is a typical Sicilian dish. I’ve been wanting to recreate a version of this pasta for longest time but don’t know why I never did. So finally the other night I created my version of pasta with swordfish & eggplant & I am oh so happy I did. From the first bite this dish transported me back to that lazy day on Salina.
Gustatela!
D I V A
continuare per la ricetta>>

I had mentioned before that there are many pasta recipes that can be cooked up in 30 minutes or less. When ever I need a quick meal I turn to pasta. Not that we mind, mind you. Pasta is one of my favorites if not my favorite things to eat.
This recipe is so simple. I chopped kalamata & green sicilian olives added some capers, lemon zest & parsley. I used chitarra pasta which is like a spaghetti except the noodle is square in shape. In Italian chitarra means guitar. The pasta has this name because the machine that they make the pasta on is a frame that is strung with wire (like a guitar) that cuts the pasta. No matter what pasta you pair with this sauce it will be a winner.
Gustatela!
D I V A
continuare per la ricetta>>