Do you ever have those days where you think: What are we going to cook for dinner?  You need to go grocery shopping, you didn’t take anything out of the freezer and you really don’t want to make anything that takes too much effort.  Spaghetti alla Carbonara is the perfect dish for such an occasion!

I haven’t made Spaghetti alla Carbonara in a long time but a few weeks ago I was visiting Chef Chuck and noticed the great new videos on his blog.  I watched him cook a Carbonara and told myself I had to make it again soon, so last night – I did.  It’s a great tasting, easy to cook recipe that the whole family will love!

Here’s what you need (serves 2):

• 1/2 pound of spaghetti (I like Spaghetti #12 because it’s a bit thicker)
• 1 onion
• 1-2 cloves of garlic
• diced sopressata, bacon or pancetta
• 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup of grated parmigiano or romano cheese
• salt and pepper

Here’s what you need to do:

• Add 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil to a large saucepan and simmer your onions, garlic and sopressata for 10-15 minutes over low heat until your onions are caramelized.
• Beat your egg and grated parmigiano cheese together in a bowl and set it aside.
• Cook your spaghetti separately and then add it to the saucepan with your onions, garlic and sopressata.
• Pour the egg and parmigiano over your spaghetti and mix it all together. The hot spaghetti will cook the egg as you mix it all together.  If it’s too thick you can add a splash of pasta water (the water you cooked the past in.)
• Add salt and pepper to taste… remember that the sopressata (bacon or pancetta) is already pretty salty, so you probably won’t need to add much salt.

Pretty simple right?  Make sure to visit Chef Chuck and see him cook it on video.

Oh, did I mention that the Sopressata is ready?? We won first prize AGAIN! Do you want to try it? I’m giving one away so this is what you have to do to participate.  Comment on this post by Friday at 5pm EST and retweet this post by clicking on the retweet button in the upper right hand corner (you’re not on twitter?!!? Get it together! you’ll need to sing-up now won’t you?)  I’ll choose a winner at random… for US participants only (sorry but sending meats internationally isn’t easy or cheap!)

PS – Chuck gets a sopressata for the inspiration. Thanks Chef!

Thanks to all my readers and friends for helping me reach 50 Comments on my post, Q&A with ABC Italiano author Sonya Caruso! I ordered the 50 books Tuesday and they arrived today.  With the help of Linda, Claudia, Marie and Barbara, I hope to get these books in the right hands and help some children take their first steps in learning Italian.

I decided to give away 3 books to those of you who were kind enough to leave a comment.  I removed any double comments and pushed everyone up and then used a random number generator:  Congratulations to Gabriele, Girasoli and Pete Maserati! (I will contact you all soon for mailing addresses.) If you still want a book, make sure to head over to Sonya’s website www.italianbabybooks.com/italyville and use promo code: Italyvilleamici for 20% off!

A very special thanks goes out to Mr. James Brady for contacting me to let me know that he was purchasing 10 books from Sonya and working with a local Italian restaurant in his area to distribute them as well.  Thanks for making a difference James!

Are you serious about teaching your child Italian?

If you are, or you want to take a few classes yourself and you live in the Yonkers, NY area: Make sure to check out La Piazza di Carolina. Carolina Gengo Di Domenico has a wonderful school with classes for children starting as young as 6-13 months and working up to adult classes as well.  Carolina takes it a step further however…. how about Italian Language Camp in Italy!  She’s offering Italian classes June 26th – July 17th in Lido di Camaiore, Toscana.  Go to Carolina’s website to see more details on the summer programs for children and adults along with the classes offered at her school in Yonkers.  Brava Carolina!

**There’s still time to participate in the Olive Oil Shop Giveaway (see below.)  You have until 11:59pm tomorrow.

I hope everyone is having a great 2010 so far!  I recently got back from San Francisco for work and had the pleasure of dinning at a great Italian restaurant called Incanto.  What a treat!  Owner Mark Pastore and Chef Chris Cosentino have something really special going on the left coast… (for the record, they’re both originally from New England!) Their website describes Incanto’s food as, “…food that is based on the bedrock principles of Italian cooking: emphasis on the freshest and highest-quality local ingredients, respectful treatment of food, and presentation that is neither overwrought or fussy.” and when asked what part of Italy their cuisine represents: “…the food we serve at Incanto represents a part of Italy that is called ‘California’.”

I would describe the food as “Italian upscale rustic”… I know, it doesn’t make much sense but a glimpse of their sample menu (the menu changes daily) might help you agree with me.

• Crispy pork belly, cider braised chard, polenta & cipollini
• Duck liver ravioli & balsamic brown butter (they were delicious!)
• Peasant pappa, smoked lumache, pioppini & onion ash
• Pig’s ears & apples

How often do you see those dishes on a menu?!  It sounds like a list of foods my father ate when we were kids but we wouldn’t touch because of what it sounded like and not what it tasted like (your “someday” has arrived dad!)  What were we thinking!!?  Do not miss a chance to eat at Incanto if you go to San Francisco… I also want to applaud Edward Ruiz (Wine Director) for his wine selection.  The Amarone we had was excellent!

A Big Thank You

to Linda at Ciao Chow Linda for the wonderful gift of goodies she sent my way.  Grazie 1000 Linda!!

Not only do I enjoy reading about the amazing food and recipes Linda makes… now I get to try some (without all the work.)  Her fig jam is (as we New Englanders would say) wicked awesome (I had to send some to my mother since figs are her favorite.)  I can’t wait to try the morel mushrooms her brother found… the one mushroom that has managed to elude me.  She also sent some of her husband’s jarred/cured green tomatoes, her blood orange & cranberry jam and a bottle of olive oil.  If you head to Linda’s blog, you can find the recipes or posts on most of these items.  Thanks Linda!

Last year I posted on “Grispelle” and la Grispellissima festival that is held December 8th in Feroleto Antico, where my family is from in Calabria but I didn’t include a recipe… so here it is.  My family makes a fried potato-dough with and without anchovies every year at Christmas time: We call them grispelle & monacialli but they also have other names depending on where in Calabria you are from.  Grispelle are doughnut shaped without  anchovies and monacialli are small balls with anchovies inside.

Monacialli

Grispelle

What you’ll need:

• 5 pound bag of all-purpose flour
• 4-5 large potatoes (we use Idaho potatoes)
• Fresh yeast (about 2 oz)
• Salt
• Grated Parmigiano or Romano cheese
• Vegetable oil
• Canned anchovies in oil (for monacialli)

What you need to do: Peel your potatoes and boil them until they are soft enough to put through a potato ricer.  Once you have riced your potatoes, place them in a large bowl and add some of the water used to boil the potatoes.  Mix together until you have a thick potato/water mixture with no lumps (run your fingers through the water or strain the water to remove any potato chunks.) Let the potato water cool.   Place the yeast in a bowl of warm water breaking it up with your hands until it is completely dissolved and then add it to your potato water.  Now place your flour, salt and grated cheese in a large bowl and slowly add your potato water as needed to make your dough.  The dough should have a soft and fluffy consistency.

Potato Water

Let the dough rise for 1.5 – 2 hours.  We cover the bowl with a dish cloth and a blanket in order to keep the dough warm and speed up the process.  When the dough is ready it should be soft and airy.

Once your dough is ready, you’ll need to oil down a large area (table, counter top, etc.) with vegetable oil.  This is done so that the uncooked grispelle and monacialli don’t stick to the surface before you cook them as the dough is very sticky.  Also set aside a bowl of oil to dunk your hands in while working the dough.

For monacialli, grab a small piece of dough and stretch it flat in your hands, then add a whole anchovy fillet and wrap the anchovy with the dough (see video below.) Place the monacialli on your oily surface while you make others.  This will allow the dough to rise slightly before frying.

For grispelle, take a small piece of dough and poke a whole through the middle to create a doughnut shape and lay them on your oily surface while you make others.

Heat some vegetable oil in a large sauce or frying pan (use enough oil so that the grispelle and monacialli float while frying.)  Add your monacialli or grispelle and cook on both sides until golden brown.  Let cool and eat!

Grispelle are great on their own but you can also sprinkle sugar on them or dunk them in honey or maple syrup… as you can imagine, the kids love them this way.  I’m a monacialli kind of guy.  Whichever you prefer, enjoy and buon appetito!

PS – BUON ANNO A TUTTI!!

It’s sometimes difficult to keep on top of your Italian language skills when you’re away from Italy, your family and others that speak Italian.  I find that listening to music and reading are a big help… especially if you enjoy it.  Here’s a song from Alex Britti called “Piove” that I like.  Hope you enjoy it as well.

I’ve been saving this fantastic photo for the holidays…. the photo was submitted by Julie at Julie Richey Mosaics. Julie took this photo in Florence while living and studying there.  Fantastic Photo Julie and thanks for sharing!

Italian Extra Virgin Olive Oil is like “French Wine” or “Swiss Chocolate” or “German Cars”… Italy isn’t the largest producer of Olive Oil (Spain is) but Italian Extra Virgin Olive Oil is in its own class… not to take anything away from any other country as there is certainly high quality products elsewhere, possibly superior (let’s not get crazy) but we’re talking about marketing and image not facts.

In much of Italy, olive oil is produced from small family groves where they care for their own trees, pick their own olives and bring them to local mills to produce their oil.  Many families only produce enough olive oil for personal use but larger groves may also have additional oil to sell.

The small mills that are very common throughout the south (as I’m sure they are in other areas as well) press the olives for area farmers and in turn will take payment in cash or in oil.  Pretty straight forward right?

The mills that have accepted payment in oil now have a good amount of oil that they need to sell, so they call or are called upon by wholesalers.  The mills will watch the market price of oil and hold onto it if it is low, sell it if it is high (the market game.) Once they decide to sell, the wholesaler shows up with a truck, sucks up the oil and takes it away… simple right?  The problem is, there is only one “wholesaler” in our area of Calabria…. you would think there would be some competition wouldn’t you? NOPE.  Is it surprising? NOPE… but that’s another story.

This wholesaler is from another region of Italy, so after he sucks the “life” out of Calabria (or parts of it at least) he returns to his region where the company either sells it in bulk or bottles it or mixes it with seed oil or takes a bath in it… it doesn’t really matter at that point.  So the wonderful oil that is produced in Calabria and other areas of the south is taken away to other regions and sold as “their oil”… so in the eyes of the world, the best olive oil is made where? I would guess that most people would say Tuscany… not because the world has tasted Tuscany’s local oil (which is wonderful) but because the south, which is the leading producer of olive oil in Italy is supplying the company’s based in Tuscany with oil to sell to the world.  I would love to say that I’m upset that southern Italy isn’t getting recognized but to be honest I’d rather not have the world know because by the time they actually taste that bottle of olive oil it may be mixed with Spanish oil, Turkish oil, Greek oil, hazelnut oil or maybe even motor oil!

So the moral of the story is, no matter what region’s olive oil you prefer: buy local or buy from a small company that supports local farmers and you’ll taste a world of difference.

It’s timeless, it’s beautiful and it’s the foundation of Italian cuisine.  With its silver/green leaves, its fruit and the oil it produces… the olive tree is nothing short of AMAZING.   What’s not to love about the olive tree?    It is referenced throughout history, religion and sports and used as a symbol of peace and glory.  The olive oil industry is one of Calabria’s largest industries producing some of the worlds best oil (I’m a bit biased of course but it is also true.)  The variety that is native to Calabria and most predominant is the Carolea (aka Catanzarese-Nicastrese) As I’ve mentioned before, my family has a large olive grove and an olive mill in Calabria.  It’s interesting to learn the ins and outs of the olive oil industry especially from a marketing standpoint and the impact that it has on so many families. In my next post I’ll dig deeper into the industry.

The season had just ended when I arrived but the work hasn’t as the trees need pruning, the mill needs cleaning and before you know it… another season will begin.

A few forgotten

Olive trees as far as the eye can see