This bread is too good and needs to be shared... I tried the recipe by Frollemente and I can't stop making it. I already made three loafs, brought it to neighbors and family and everybody loved it. When I cut it I at least eat two slices but I really need to work on my will power to not eat a third one. It's addictive. It's perfect with butter and jam but also with cheeses or cold cuts. It's so easy, no knead bread that can be prepared in one day. This bread has a crunchy cru

Summer goes too fast, it feels like ages ago that swimming and sunbathing were the daily routine... It has been an incredible summer. I will remember it fondly. It was full of love, 3 hour meals with laughs and a few tears, and beauty everywhere. I titled this post European because my trip started in Tenerife Island, Spain. This is where my sister Carolina moved to open a nice restaurant, Hola Poke. I hadn't seen her in almost 2 years, unbelievable! I was able to spend two re

It has been a while... a long while since my last post. This 2021 started with so many good things: my Green Card first of all, my trip home after a year and a half and finally a very cool project I have been involved in. A new amazing Italian restaurant has opened in Knoxville!!! A true, authentic Italian one. And by that I mean that the menu has been designed by an Italian person: me. What an opportunity to bring the food I love to Knoxville and share it with the community.

Or Piada, a thin Italian flatbread typical of Romagna. Here Piadina is the queen of street food, stuffed with savory ingredients or Nutella. If you go to Riviera Romagnola, on the Adriatic Sea, you will have a Piada for lunch in one of the kiosks selling them. Rimini, Riccione, Milano Marittima the destinations for young people who like to party and clubbing but also for families who like all sorts of comforts at a very reasonable budget, kilometers of beach with all sorts of

Il Panettone, il Paneˈtũ: in Milanese dialect. With "the" as an article. One of the symbols of my city, Milan. One of the Italian Christmas traditions I am so proud of. There is a battle in Italy between Pandoro, another Christmas cake from Verona, the city of Romeo and Giulietta, and our milanese Panettone. The first one is octagonal, plain, soft and simple, sprinkled with powdered sugar. The second one is round, has candied orange and citrus peel, "canditi" and raisins in

Yesterday night I had a blast. I had the great opportunity to cook with 8 amazing 9 years old girls. We prepared ricotta gnocchi together and had lot of fun (recipe in bio). They were engaged and curious. One of the girls, Sarah, asked me what inspired me to start this career. The answer is that cooking makes me feel at home. As many Italians, I grew up in a kitchen and cooking is for me a moment of joy. I hope to inspire more family to take time to cook with their kids as I

Sbrisolona got its name from Brisa that means "crumb" in Mantova dialect, where it comes from. This cake in fact has the peculiarity to crumble and break apart. You don't slice it. You break it from the center with the tip of a knife. It's a dry cake, almost like a biscotto texture, and it is traditionally moistened with grappa. It's a very easy cake that you can prepare in 10' and a great gift to take to friends. I tried a few recipes (basically the ingredients were the same

I spent last November in India on a 300hrs yoga TT. I think it has been one of the happiest months of my life. Of course, when I got there I had a bit of cultural shock and events didn't play in my favor. I first spent the whole flight squeezed again the window because an old Indian man stared at me for the whole flight, saying that he loved me and started to come closer and closer... Once I got to New Dehli, I queued for 2 hours in line at the custom and missed my connection

INGREDIENTS: (24cm cake pan) 7.7 oz-220 gr flour (I used corn and brown rice 50%/50%) 1oz-30 gr potato or corn starch 2 eggs 4.4 oz-125 gr plain yogurt (vegetable based if you want it dairy free) 3.17 oz-90 gr brown sugar 4 tbsp - 60 ml coconut oil 1 tbsp - 16 gr baking powder (me lievito vanigliato Bartolini) a pinch of salt a couple of spoon of rasins 4-5 fresh figs a handful of chopped almonds q.b. sliced almonds INSTRUCTIONS: Put the raisins in a glass with water and turn

INGREDIENTS: (4 servings) 50 g basil 70g Parmigiano Reggiano 30g pecorino 100ml Extra Virgin Olive Oil 16g pine nuts half garlic clove a pinch of coarse salt INSTRUCTIONS: We should use a mortar but we will use a mixer... Sorry to purists I usually put my mixing jar and mixer blades in the freezer before starting to avoid overheat that might impact the color of our pesto Clean the basil leaves with paper towel Put half basil into the mixer with garlic, salt and pine nuts Star

It's a very special pasta, even for Italians. You can find it in a small area, Lunigiana, between Liguria and Toscana. I know them very well since I was little because, driving back from Tuscany, after the summer spent at my aunt house, we would always stop and buy a couple of Testaroli to take home. Since I cannot find them here and my family is in Tuscany at the moment, I decided to try to cook them and somehow feel there with them. This will be the dish for our next IG cla

I am experimenting easy recipes for the free IG classes, "A Journey Through Italy". It is not easy to find a recipe that: can be cooked in 1 hour, doesn’t need special equipment, is vegetarian so that everyone can have it and doesn’t need too much ahead preparation. Yesterday's class was Trentino, northeast of Italy, the Dolomites home, a region that I love but I am not particularly familiar with. I just have very good memories of a skiing week between Trentino and Alto Adige

I love gelato. I used to have a gelato maker machine when I was little (as I was already a foodie). I am sure many Italian kids had la Macchina del Gelato, very 80s toy. I tried this recipe this week as it's hard to find good gelato in Knoxville... This recipe is amazing because doesn't require a gelato maker (even if I am thinking about getting one). The result is impressive, the preparation is super quick and simple, only 5 ingredients! I thought you might like it. I used V

Today I went back to my IG Live with Italy. I missed them so much! I took the chance to have fun cooking with my lovely mom and her Argentinian best friend who taught me an easy and fresh, summery recipe: Salmorejo. It is actually a Spanish dish, traditionally made adding Serrano ham and hard-boiled egg. Today we made it with an Italian touch adding Burrata (a mozzarella shell with stracciatella and ream heart). It was delicious! INGREDIENTS: (2 servings) 350 g cherry tomatoe

Milan, Milan, my beautiful city. I miss it so much. The vibe, the mix of history and modernity, the amazing restaurants and bars, its people... I can't wait to go back home. In the meantime, I bring home to Knoxville cooking the Milanese dish for definition, the Risotto. INGREDIENTS: (2 servings) • 200g Carnaroli rice or Arborio • vegetable stock (1 carrot, 1 celery stick, half onion, herbs you like) • 40g Parmigiano Reggiano • 40g Butter • the rest of half onion you used for

Mountain Roots Farm is located in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Sevierville, Tennessee, about one hour drive from Knoxville. This was literally the first farm I went to visit when I arrived in Knoxville. Beau and Paul welcomed me into their farm and have been very friendly since. They call themselves a small market garden, less than one half cultivated acre, but they offer a big variety of veggies and herbs (about 50 types of easy recognizable ve

I recently met Maja and I feel so blessed. We immediately had a connection and decided to start doing something together. We have a lot in common: both European (me from Milan, Maja from Slovenia), we both moved here to Knoxville for love but above all, we are both passionate about food and wine! Maja is a Sommelier, specialized in Natural Wine, who loves cooking. I am a cook, who loves wine and who studied to become a Sommelier. I mean, we are a perfect couple, complementing

This pasta is typical from Val d'Orcia, Tuscany. It's a fresh homemade pasta, similar to thick spaghetti, made with flour and water. Very approachable even if you have never made homemade pasta, you don't need any tool to make it and it is very fun, perfect to cook with your kids. I love simple things, that's why my favourite version is with tomato sauce. They are very good also with Pesto but you can really personalize the recipe as you like. The texture is the best part, in

INGREDIENTS: (12 CREPES) 5 eggs 500 ml vegetable milk (I used coconut) 150g brown rice flour 50g fresh spinaches 12 basil leaves salt pepper coconut oil INSTRUCTIONS: Blend the leaves with the milk Beat the eggs and add the "green" milk Add salt and pepper and the rice flour The batter will be liquid Make it rest in the fridge for 30' or more Grease you pan with oil, mix the batter again as flour tend to go on the bottom of the bowl and pour one ladleful of crepes batter I co

Normally you serve soups in the winter and salads in the summer but... I love soups so much that I am still cooking them; from cold Gazpacho to this warm Pea and Mint soup served with a creamy Burrata. A simple dish with lots of flavour and feelings of comfort. INGREDIENTS: (2 servings) 2 cups of peas 1 blonde onion 1 medium potato 4/6 leaves of fresh mint 4 leaves of fresh basil salt pepper water or veg broth EVO 1 small burrata INSTRUCTIONS: Put your diced onion into a pot