Black Trumpets that is… found these delicious little guys in a secret place near some trees by a road in the woods around the way.  You didn’t think I was going to really tell you where I found them did you?  If you haven’t eaten black trumpet mushrooms (AKA: horn of plenty mushrooms) you don’t know what your missing!  I’m the first to admit that they don’t exactly look all that appetizing but once you start to cook them and get the first aroma from these mushrooms, you’ll be hooked.  They are on the top of the list for many mushroom hunters and chefs alike and have a wonderful aromatic, buttery and nutty flavor that goes very well with pasta dishes.  Perfect for me since I LOVE mushrooms and I LOVE pasta!

The beauty of the black trumpet is that it doesn’t have any poisonous look alikes,  which is great for first time mushroom hunters (but as always, if you don’t feel comfortable with what you find, don’t eat it!)

Here’s a delicious black trumpet pasta recipe if you’re lucky enough to find these little treasures.

What you’ll need:

• Fresh Black Trumpet Mushrooms chopped
• Pasta ( I used gramigna)
• 2-3 fresh cloves of minced garlic
• 1/2 of a small onion diced
• ground sausage meat (1/2 pound more or less)
• 2-3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 cup of half&half or heavy cream
• salt & pepper
• grated parmigiano cheese

What you’ll need to do:

Start by simmering your garlic (which I got from my garlic supplier, Chef Chuck thanks Chuck!) and onions in some olive oil until the onions start becoming transparent.  Then add your sausage meat.  I used the meat from 4 sausage links that I had left over from a bbq and simply removed the meat from the casings.  Break the sausage meat into small pieces as you stir and let it cook until the sausage is almost completely cooked through.   Then add your black trumpets and continue cooking for 5-10 minutes.  When you’re ready to drop your pasta into the water (in a separate pot of course) add the half&half and salt & pepper to the sausage and black trumpets.  Let it simmer until your pasta is done cooking.  Drain your pasta and combine.  Top with grated parmigiano. Enjoy and buon appetito!

It’s a been a while!  Hope you’re all doing well and enjoying the Spring. I’ve been out and about and all over the place in the last several months… keeping busy and not having much time to devote to Italyville but I hope that changes.  I did want to share a few of the best things I’ve eaten recently.

I’ve been in the woods looking for free food – The winter cress were delicious as usual! Some fresh bread and glass of wine and you’ve got a delicious light dinner or side… don’t forget to top it off with some extra virgin olive oil.

This dish blew my mind at one of my favorite restaurants in San Francisco a few weeks ago: Pork skin spaghetti with morel mushrooms, fava beans and truffles.  If you haven’t been to Incato yet… GO!

I couldn’t stop eating my aunt’s sun dried black olives that were still sitting in the Calabrian sun… simply amazing.

What’s the best thing you’ve eaten recently?

If you’re an Italian American you probably have a long list of mis-pronunciations, made up words and funny sayings that your Italian family uses regularly.  I know we do!  So when my friend Maria introduced me to her new apparel line Che Pecat I LOVED it!  Che Pecat (pronounced kay Pa-cod) is a play on Cape Cod (here in Massachusetts) Just ask an Italian who doesn’t speak English to repeat “Cape Cod” for you and “Che Pecat” is what you’ll get. Che Pecat is also an abbreviation of “Che Peccato” which more or less translates to – What a Pity.  Che Pecat’s slogan? “It’s a Pity you can’t be here!” Read about how Maria came up with the brand here.

So check out Che Pecat and maybe I’ll see you there this summer.  We’ll be there the first week of August.  If you’ve never been to Cape Cod…. Che Pecat!

*Che Pecat will be at the Boston Gift Show at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center March 27-30.

The in-box is full and I haven’t been doing a great job of getting back to everyone… it’s been a busy 2011 so far and I can’t wait for all this snow to melt away and enjoy some warmer weather!  I’m headed to Calabria in a few weeks so I’ll get a little reprieve from this brutal New England winter.

So what’s in the in-box?  Here are some highlights.

La Piazza di Carolina is organizing an amazing summer language program in Italy this summer for children and parents that includes learning Italian through singing, cooking, art, horseback riding and swimming! (there’s cooking and wine classes for parents too!)  Now that’s a great way to spend a summer vacation. Click here for details.

Borgo San Benedetto in Montaione (outside of Firenze) is the location of the summer language program

Colors Italiano: It’s here! It’s here!  Sonya Caruso followed-up her first Italian Baby book (ABC Italiano) with Colors Italiano. A wonderfully illustrated book for children that takes them through the names of colors in Italian.  A great way to help your child to learn Italian.  Great job Sonya!  We hope to have Sonya back on Italyville soon to talk about her new book but until then check out the Q&A post on her first book here.

BreakThru Radio in New York City recently had a performance from Andrea Parodi with Livia Ranalli that you need to check out called “La Ninna Nanna del Maggio”  Bravi Andrea e Livia! Check it out here.

Italyville would like to congratulate our friend – Chef Marc Forgione for winning “Next Iron Chef” as he beat out Chef Marco Canora (looky looky..two Italian American chefs!) As they gave us their interpretations of Thanksgiving Dinner in the shows final episode this past Sunday.  You can watch a recap of the final here.

If you missed it, you can also watch the final episode of “Next Iron Chef” again this Sunday November 28th at 7pm EST and then make sure to watch “Iron Chef America” at 10pm EST to watch Iron Chef Marc Forgione in his first challenge.

Wherever you will be tomorrow, I wish you all a Happy and Healthy Thanksgiving Day.

Be Safe and Buon Appetito!

PS – If you’re in Italy and celebrating Thanksgiving… good luck getting the Turkey in those tiny ovens!

The weather is steadily getting colder here in New England and with Thanksgiving around the corner there are different foods showing up at the grocery store.  The summer fruits and veggies are gone and have made room for autumn foods and for me that means castagne (chestnuts.)  In Calabria they still have plenty of chestnut orchards and when we were there this past summer the chestnuts from last year still littered the ground as we foraged for wild mushrooms.

Chestnut trees here in the US used to be plentiful once but many were decimated by a chestnut blight over the last 100 years… I always wondered why there wasn’t a single chestnut tree on  “Chestnut Street” here in town.

I have fond memories of the castagne vendors this time of year in Italy.  They roast the chestnuts right on the street and the wonderful smell combined with the shop-lined cobblestone streets is a page out of a Charles Dickens book.  For 3000 lire (which I’m sure has become 3 Euro) you could get a mini paper bag with 10 warm chestnuts and eat them as you walk.

Most of the chestnuts in our local grocery stores come from Italy and E and I usually make them a few times a week… did I mention they go GREAT with wine?  Many of my non-Italian friends have never had chestnuts… which makes me wonder who’s eating all the “chestnuts roasting by an open fire” during the holidays??? Italians? (Bingo Crosbino?)

If your looking to impress your holiday guests this year… pick-up some chestnuts.  They are easy to make and delicious! This is what you need to do:

• pre-heat your oven at 350-375 degrees
• put a slit in each chestnut with a knife (otherwise they will explode in the oven)
• place the chestnuts on a baking sheet or pan and cook them for 40-50 minutes
• Serve with wine by a fire

In Calabrese we also call roasted chestnuts – ruselle