Happy Carnivale

Carnivale in Venice

1990 Trastevere,  Rome

        Carnivale or Fat Tuesday is a big deal in Italy! I found some old photos of a Carnivale we went to in Rome, at the Piazza di Santa Maria di Trastevere. The kids dress up (kinda like Halloween, but not scary) and go into the piazza where they eat sweets, throw confetti, watch puppet shows, jugglers, musicians, etc. It's fun! It goes on in the big cities down to the smallest of villages. Even the grown ups have their celebration in the evening. Venice holds a big one and they really go all out with costumes and masks.
HAPPY CARNIVALE A TUTTI!

The Princess and the Space Pirate

Pasta al Forno a.k.a. Lasanga

Pasta al Forno

         I made a lasagna over the week-end. We call it "pasta al forno" or translated = pasta from the oven. It's a pretty basic lasagna recipe. I saw some Italian ground turkey at the store so I tried that. Wasn't bad.( I don't eat a lot of beef so I substitute a lot with turkey or sometimes pork). I made it for my son, Reid. He goes to college in downtown Chicago. So I thought I could surprise him with a pan of lasagna. He doesn't have a lot of time to cook for himself, poor kid, studying 24/7! I really like the Barilla no cook lasagna. Saves time and tastes pretty authentic.

You're welcome Barilla!

        So this is how I made it:
* saute' chopped onion, celery & carrots in some olive oil (the holy trinity in Italy, almost every recipe starts with it!)
* add your ground meat whatever it is, and brown (beef, pork, turkey, Italian sausage, or mix and match)
* then add some garlic(chopped or pressed) and some chopped green/red pepper (mushrooms, too, if you like lots of veggies!)
* throw in a some cans of diced tomatoes and oregano or Italian spices ( or if you're in a pinch use your favorite ready made marinara sauce)
* simmer it down till a lot of the liquid is gone and the tomatoes start to break down into a sauce ( I like to squish them with a fork to help them along)
* while that's cooking, combine, in a separate bowl, a small tub of ricotta with some defrosted chopped spinach (you won't even know it's there), an egg, and some grated Parmesan cheese.
* when the sauce is done, just build your lasagna. It'll be 3 layers: 2 meat sauce, one ricotta in between
* use a (9"x13" pan), I always use Pyrex or ceramic, spray with some olive oil
* 1st put down a little of the tomato sauce on the bottom of the pan (just so the pasta has something to soak up) then build:
* pasta then meat sauce then grated or sliced mozzarella (never the fresh mozzarella it's too watery)
* next layer more pasta then spread all the ricotta mixture top with more mozzarella.
* last layer same as the 1st. Top off with some grated Parmesan and put into a preheated oven (350 or 375) for half an hour to 45 min. The top should be light golden brown.
Don't start cutting into that right away! Wait about 15 minutes to let it settle and cool off! (and it tastes even better the next day if there are any leftovers) Then enjoy with your favorite red wine, maybe some garlic bread, and all your loved ones.
 Mangia! Buon Appetito!

P.S. In the end Reid ended up coming home for the week-end! Oh the power of the pasta!

Milano 1981( Pics for "L'antipasto")

Nuccio & I

Nuccio, Me, Enrico

Mary, Enrico, & ME

These are the pictures I should have posted with "L'antipasto". If you go back and read it you'll understand. I've been told that it's good to post photos of the stories your telling on your blog. People like that. So I dug out the big box of photos from the garage and actually found three from our trip to Milan, when I first met my husband. I had to scan these cause they were taken in 1981, so they're not so great. Wow, time does fly!

The tomato-basil-mozzarella panino

        So I've thought about it and there's no way I can really recreate the panino that  I mentioned in the earlier post, cause the stuff is just bett...oops, different over in Italy. So this is how I make it when I'm here. (I've added little tips for those who are not familiar with Italian products.)
Ingredients:
* Fresh Tomatoes
        tip: get cluster tomatoes still on the vine or grow your own they just taste better.
* Mozzarella cheese 
        tip: If you can find it fresh, get it, if your asking yourself "What's fresh mozzarella?" don't worry about it just get some sliced mozzarella from the deli. Fresh mozzarella in Italy is like a soft ball of heaven, whatever you buy here won't come close. It has to be eaten within a few days and they sell and store it in little bags or containers with water ( kinda-sorta like tofu here).
* Pesto
        tip: pesto is like a spread of concentrated basil goodness that is usually used for making pasta dishes (we can get to those later) It should be green, you can find it in the Italian or International section of the store.(or you could make it from scratch, it's not hard, we'll talk later)
* Italian bread
       tip: go to the bakery or deli section of your store, they have lots of different breads to choose from. Focaccia is good, too. I get the one in the deli section, it's big and round and already sliced, can't remember the name.
* Mayo, olive oil and salt
       tip: anytime I say olive oil, I mean extra virgin olive oil by default, cause you don't ever want to use anything else (and don't skimp, get the good stuff)
Preperation:
       Take two slices of  the bread, cut about 3/4 inch thick, spread one of the interior sides with pesto, the other, sparingly, with mayo. Put 3 or 4  thin slices of tomato and a couple slices of cheese in the sandwich.(you could also stick a little shaved ham in there, too, if you want) You just don't want to over fill it cause it won't cook right or stay together. So go easy on the fillings. Brush exterior surfaces of bread with olive oil. Put it into a *panini press for about 6 -10 minutes or until the bread has golden brown stripes and the cheese is melted. Sprinkle lightly with salt. Enjoy with a hearty beer or a nice glass of white wine.Mmmmmm it's good, molto buono!

* Ok, so what's a panini press? You've seen them advertised on tv, kinda like a waffle iron that closes on top of the sandwich. It heats it from both the top and bottom. Your George Forman will work fine!

L'antipasto

The Duomo

La Galleria

La Scala

        Alright, on to the next course of my little Italian life. My friend, Mary and I arrive in Milan. Now Milan is known more for it's fashion business then it's tourist attractions, But we found there are some really cool things to see there. We visited the "Duomo" a huge Gothic church right in the downtown center which is right next to La Galleria, a sort of glass covered intersection, with bars and shops and restaurants. Then right next to that is La Scala, the most famous opera house in the world, well we had to see that! And down the street from that was the art museum, which we almost didn't go to because we still had the "Last Supper" and the castle to see and we were only planning on staying in Milan for two days, but for some reason we decided to go to the museum anyway. Which was probably a good decision because I wouldn't be writing this blog right now if we hadn't.
         And there he was. Standing next to the ticket taker, with a huge smile on his face, watching us enter the first room. We got about half way around the room and he came to offer his services as a guide, free of charge, of course! Well you can't do better than free! So off we went to have a guided tour of the museum. He showed us all the important pieces with all kinds of  factual information and when it was over he offered to be our guide for the rest of the day! He would take us to the Last Supper and the castle, but first one must eat something. So, together with his friend/coworker, Enrico,( who he enlisted at the last minute to assist in our guided tour) we were off to this little bar he knew that makes good sandwiches, panini buoni. There I ate, for the first time in my life, a tomato-fresh basil-fresh mozzarella-on the best Italian bread you have ever had-drizzled with extra virgin olive oil-sandwich. It was good, molto buono.

Il Castello Sforzesco

        Next stop, Il Castello Sforzesco, a huge castle in the center of Milan. We visit floor after floor of exhibitions of everything from art work to artillery. Somehow, in all the wonder, we get separated from Mary and Enrico. Now thinking back on the whole thing, that could have been accidental or not, hmmmmm. Who knows? And as we go down this great stone stairwell, we stop on the landing to look out at the courtyard below, and he turns and kisses me, and I let him (cause in reality he had me at the tomato sandwich). And it was good, molto, molto buono!

The Last Supper

          We did go see "The Last Supper" by Leonardo DeVinci and there are so many stories to tell of that trip, but for now I'll end here, in honor of Valentine's Day, on this romantic note. When I finally got back to the states there was a post card, from you know who, my Romeo, my future husband, waiting for me. It was a picture of a famous painting called "Il Bacio" the kiss, by Hayez. It's a couple from the middle ages kissing in a stone castle stairwell. I still have it! Oh, he's good, very, very good. I didn't have a chance!

Il Bacio, The Kiss
Looks a little like Romeo and Juliette to me....hmmmm serendipity!

 

Minestrone

    I make this almost every week-end. I don't remember who taught me how to make this. It could've of been my neighbor , Katia, in Rome (she taught me lots of dishes) or Lina my mother-in-law, or my husband or I just learned by osmosis when I lived in Italy. Anyway, it's easy:
*chop up lots of onions, carrots & celery saute' ( yes, my bff, I said saute') in a large pot. I use a pressure cooker.( I brought it with me from Italy, use it for almost everything)
* then chop up any other veggies you have in the fridge or freezer
   *some of my favorites are broccoli, peas, mushrooms, zucchini, cauliflower, etc, etc., ect..(DO NOT FORGET THE GARLIC)
 * add a can diced tomatoes, some tomato paste, a can or two of beans (I have to have chick peas or "cecci" in mine) just mix and match, oh yeah and a couple handfuls of small dry lentils.
* fill with water till about an inch or two above veggies.
* add salt & pepper
* cover bring to a boil then turn down and simmer for an hour or two.
* you can add some pasta or rice about 20 minutes before the end cooking time.
* when it has cooled down, drizzle(big time) with extra virgin olive oil (get the good stuff, never skimp on the evoo) on top
* serve with grated parmiggiano or pecorino romano cheese, and some warm bread,
 mmmmmm is it dinner time yet?

L'aperitivo

     Ok, for starters, I'm NOT Italian. I don't have one drop of Italian blood in my body. I grew up in the mid-west, in the "boonies", as we called them, of Chicago. But I'm pretty sure I may have been Italian in another life. I started thinking I was when I saw the Zefferelli movie back in the '70's, "Romeo and Juliette". I know all you ladies my age remember that one! I was a tween back then and after seeing it (for the second or third time) I had a pretty good feeling I must have been part of that.
     It continued through high school when I had the deep desire to make homemade pizza every week-end for myself,( desperately, using bisquick mix to make the crust, at the time I didn't know any better) and starting to sing and watch Opera on t.v. I still remember the first opera we watched with Luciano Pavarotti on PBS in "La Boheme". I was mesmerized........The singing continued, majoring in voice performance in college. But, I  became certain of the fact that I had been Italian in another life, in the summer after college. I backpacked with my girfriend through Europe.
    We traveled around on the trains with a two month eurail pass. It was pretty awesome. When we finally got to Italy and stood in that little piazza in Verona looking up at that balcony where Juliette had once stood, something just felt so comfortable. I think I even turned to my friend and said it, "I think I've been here before". She shrugged it off with something like "yeah, right, let's go get some gelato". I was glad to oblige without a second thought.
    Then it happened. In Milan. I met my Romeo! I fell hook, line, and sinker! To be continued, my stomach is growling and the minestrone that's cooking upstairs is calling out to me. It's way past lunch time. Buon appetito!