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.

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!

I remember the first time I tried Bufala Mozzarella…  it was a party in my mouth! and I thought, “where have you been all my life!” There’s no going back to “other” mozzarella after you experience bufala.  If you enjoy bufala as much as I do, you also know that it’s not very easy to find unless you live in NYC, LA, Chicago or another major city.  The problem with makers of good bufala is that they are very proud of their mozzarella and they safeguard their reputations to the fullest extent.

True story: I had 2 colleagues when I lived in Bologna, one was from Battipaglia and the other from Caserta (both located in Campania) and both cities are very well known for their bufala mozzarella.  Every time one of them went home to visit family we would ask them to pick up some bufala mozzarella.  On several ocassions they would fail to produce, not because they didn’t try but because they answered incorrectly when they were asked questions from the seller.  “Where are you taking it?” “When will you arrive?” “When are you planning to eat it?” If your plans didn’t include eating the bufala within a few days of purchase they wouldn’t sell it to you!

So when I returned to the US bufala mozzarella was usually a special find on a high end menu or something to look forward to when I went to Italy but a few years ago I started seeing it at Costco of all places.  It’s not always available and not as good as the ones we used to eat from the mom-n-pop shops in Caserta or Battipaglia but it sure is delicious!  The brand is “Fattorie Garofalo” from Capua (CE) in Campania and imported by Arthur Schuman Inc. in New Jersey.  It comes in a little tub with 5 bufala mozzarella balls.

With tomatoes still in season and loads of basil still in the garden, it’s a great time to make a delicious Caprese Salad.  So next time you’re in Costco… keep a look out in the cheese section for bufala mozzarella and impress your dinner guests with a little taste of Campania.

Caprese Salad:

Slice the bufala and fresh tomatoes into 1/4 to 1/2 slices, arrange them on a plate and drizzle some good extra virgin olive oil over them, add salt, pepper and fresh basil. (you can add balsamic vinegar too if you want… but I think it takes away from the bufala.)  Enjoy and buon appetito!

I was recently inspired by my blogger friend Linda at Ciao Chow Linda when I saw her post on Eggplant Roll-ups.  We purchased some eggplant at a farmer’s market the other day and were thinking of what to make with them… perfect timing Linda!  This is a great dish to make on Sunday when your watching the football games or for all the guys that want to impress that special someone!  It’s easy and delicious.  I went more of a classic route with the rollatini and used ricotta but borrowed a few of Linda’s tips as well with salting the eggplant and using a basil leaf in each rollatini since we have a boat-load of beautiful basil we still need to use before the frost (did I just say frost!?? out loud?)

This is what you need:

• 2 large eggplant
• 1-2 eggs
• all purpose flour
• ricotta
• tomato sauce
• parmigiano cheese
• mozzarella cheese
• sliced prosciutto

If you’re looking for a really good grocery store ricotta… check out Sam Maulucci & Sons.  By far the best ricotta (in my opinion) you can buy without visiting a gourmet cheese shop or local farmer (they should be paying me for that!)

What you need to do:

Start by slicing your eggplant the long way into 1/2 inch slices.  Then lay them out on paper towel, sprinkle sea salt on them and let them sit for about an hour so that the salt removes some of the water from the eggplant (great tip Linda!) Press them with paper towel to remove the water.

Beat your eggs and then coat your eggplant in egg, then flour and then egg again (this tip is from my mother) before frying them in olive oil until they are golden brown on both sides (about 5-10 minutes or so.)  Then lay them out on paper towel again to remove some of the excess oil.

Lay your eggplant out flat and on each piece of eggplant, lay a slice of prosciutto, a dab of ricotta and a basil leaf… also add a layer of tomato sauce, which I did after I took the photo. (For the sauce, we used our homemade jarred tomato sauce, added some fresh garlic and seasoning and let it simmer for about a half hour.)  Once you’ve  put together all your ingredients, roll them up and place them in a shallow casserole dish with some tomato sauce coating the bottom.  Add sauce over your rollatini, sprinkle with parmigiano cheese and top with mozzarella.   Cover and cook at 375 degrees for about 30-40 minutes.  Serve with your favorite Italian bread and red wine.  Enjoy and buon appetito!

Extra Flavor tip: For that extra bang.. try mixing your ricotta with an egg and chopped parsley before adding it to your rollatini.