Elizabeth Minchilli in Rome

tasca d'almerita {regaleali - sicily}

2013-05-23T06:50:00.001+02:00

This past Monday I had a marvelous dinner at Casa Bleve, in Rome. As I wrote about a few months ago, Tina and Anacleto are back to their old ‘formula’ at lunch time, laying out the buffet that we all knew and loved for years.

On Monday evenings, though, they have started a new tradition. Every two weeks a different wine producer is invited to present their wines, and a four course menu is served. Prepared by Tina of course. And so delicious, of course. Food plus wine all at an incredibly low price of 40 euros.

But this post isn’t about that dinner. It’s about the fact that the featured wine producer this week was Tasca d’Almerita from Sicily. And the first wine we enjoyed (I actually enjoyed three glasses of it) was their sparkling Almerita Extra Brut. To go with the wine, Tina prepared a scrumptious dish of pan fried green peppers coated in crunchy toasted breadcrumbs. Which is exactly what you want to go with one of my favorite bubbly wines. Something fried, crunchy and full of intense flavor.

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eating near the biennale {venice}

2013-05-21T08:07:00.002+02:00

Every two years almost everyone I know heads to Venice. I used to be more involved in the art world and so most of my closest friends are art historians, art dealers, professors or artists. And almost all of them go to the opening of the Biennale which takes place - as the name implies - every two years.

Countries from all over the world exhibit contemporary art in their own pavilions that are located at Venice’s most Eastern tip. While I usually don’t head up for the opening events (too crowded for me, I go later on in the summer) I content myself with the fact that most of my friends usually end up making it down to Rome too.

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vongole + lemons + zucchini {pasta}

2013-05-20T07:33:00.002+02:00

I love to cook from my terrace. The problem is, our tiny space in Rome is not that big. So what we usually focus on growing are things that will thrive in pots. That means herbs, of course, but also radishes, arugula and every so often a cherry tomato plant.

What we do have in abundance are citrus plants. We started out, ages ago, with an ordinary lemon. Then our local nursery in Umbria started getting in exotic things like Meyer Lemons and Limes. When Domenico started working on a house up in Tuscany, that meant that he drove by one of the best citrus nurseries in Italy, and at that point there was no stopping us. Except, of course, for the size of our terrace. (which still didn’t stop Domenico bringing back a limon di pica from Chile in his suitcase a few years later).
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tomatoes + mozzarella + mint {pasta}

2013-05-16T07:44:00.000+02:00

Sometimes you just have to make do with what you have. I am reminded of this pretty much every time we head up to Todi for the weekend. In the summer and fall I have the bounty of the garden to jump into for inspiration and ingredients. But during the rest of the year? There is no garden to speak of and I kind of forget what I have (and don’t have) in the cupboard.

A few weekends ago the weather was grand, and we decided to stay longer on Sunday than I had planned. That meant I had to figure out something for lunch. My go to solution is, of course, pasta. I can always figure out some sort of pantry pasta, right?
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bi-rite market {san francisco}

2013-05-14T07:41:00.002+02:00

Ok, I know that with only one week in San Francisco I should have taken advantage of every single meal opportunity to dine out. Breakfast, lunch and dinner. There are that many fantastic places in that food obsessed town.

So how did it happen that I did take out, and stayed at home two nights?

Bi-Rite happened.
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fave + pecorino {bruschetta}

2013-05-13T07:11:00.001+02:00

It’s been one holiday after the other in Italy these last few weeks. April 25 (Liberation Day) and then May 1, which is basically European labor day. Traditionally, on May 1, you are supposed to take the day off and head out to the countryside for a picnic.

Ideally, included in this meal, would be fresh fave beans and pecorino cheese. It’s a very social kind of snack, since everyone peels their own fave beans, nibbling on them raw, while they alternate with bits of cheese. It tastes great, and a pile of fave beans on the table is admittedly gorgeous. But.....I always find it a bit too rustic a combo to serve at a real meal. Plus, I”m always thinking that while nice, there must be a way to incorporate a bit of salt and olive oil, which I feel is missing.
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dandelion chocolate {san francisco}

2013-05-09T07:30:00.001+02:00

During my trip to San Francisco I had the great pleasure of going on a tour of the Mission district. If you think SF is foodie obsessed, the Mission District is its beating heart. Leading our group in and out of some of the best places was Sean Timberlake who, besides being a blogger there, also leads these mouthwatering tours for Edible Excursions.

While it was one delicious experience after the next, perhaps the highlight was a sweet trip to a chocolate factory. Of course San Francisco would have a bean-to-bar chocolate factory in the middle of town, right? This small place sources single varietals of beans directly from growers, and then roasts and grinds them right on Valencia street, before pouring them into bars to be hand wrapped in pretty gold foil.
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lanificio {brunch in rome}

2013-05-07T06:43:00.001+02:00

I’ve long ago admitted to my laziness when it comes to getting out of the center of Rome. But the other day, I got a sweet email from a reader of my blog, Sarah B., asking me if I knew of any restaurants way out on the Nomentana? She was a musician, and had a ‘gig’ in that part of town (where there are plenty of night clubs) and was fearful that between rehearsals and performances she wouldn’t get a chance to make it down to the center of town.

That’s when I remembered that I’d been meaning to go to Lanificio for way too long. Which is where, it turns out, the musician was actually playing!
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pasta alla romana {taverna dei fori imperiali}

2013-05-06T06:46:00.000+02:00

Saltimboca alla Romana is a Roman classic. Fragrant sage leaves are sandwiched between a tender veal cutlet and a transparently thin slice of prosciutto. Held together by a toothpick, the trio are quickly sauteed in a mixture of white wine and olive oil. It is a staple of almost every Roman trattoria in town.
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beans + greens {fagioli badda di polizzi}

2013-05-02T08:12:00.002+02:00

Remember my avowed obsession with beans? I’m always buying them, especially when I travel. They can be just plain and ordinary fave from Puglia, or else fancy haricots trabais from France. If I can manage to fit them into my suitcase, home they come.

I’m always especially successful ‘foraging’ for beans at the Salone del Gusto. The Salone is divided into regions and each one always has new and wonderful beans (always on the verge of extinction of course ) and never before seen (at least by me).
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hog island oyster co. {san francisco}

2013-04-30T09:57:00.001+02:00

I’ve admitted my oyster fascination in the past. When I’m in a city not my own, I head for the nearest oyster. Because in Rome, even though I can get oysters, I usually don’t trust where they are coming from, and they are ridiculously expensive. In other words, they are a fancy restaurant kind of thing.

So of course, my point of entry into the San Francisco dining scene was Hog Island Oyster Company, located in the Ferry Building. Hog Island Oyster company has been raising sustainable and fresh oysters up the coast in Tomales Bay since the early 1980’s. While you can make the hike up to their farm (which is a fantastic experience and which we did about 8 years ago) their oyster bar in the Ferry Building is a bit of oyster heaven itself.
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wild asparagus + ricotta + lemon {pasta}

2013-04-29T06:19:00.001+02:00

I’m sitting on my terrace in Rome as I write this. This is not intended to make you jealous, I just wanted to let you know that Spring has finally arrived. And spring is such a fleeting thing in Rome, I enjoy it to it’s fullest. Because that sweet spot between too cold to sit on our terrace, and blazing heat seems to be way too short.

Kind of like the wild asparagus season.
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the mill {toast + coffee in san francisco}

2013-04-25T09:13:00.001+02:00

If you follow me around FB, Twitter and Instagram, then you know I’ve been away for the last few weeks. The reason for my trip the States was two-fold. I went to attend the annual International Association of Culinary Professionals conference in San Francisco, and then stopped in New York to visit family, friends and (big news coming soon) publishers.

Playing catch up now on the blog, I’m going to try to start filling you in on San Francisco. Believe it or not, I’d never really spent any real time in SF. Yes, it’s the foodie capital of the universe, but it’s also a long way away from Rome. So I decided to arrive four days before the conference began, and eat/do/see as much as possible.
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dressed olives {olive condite}

2013-04-23T08:45:00.001+02:00

Some of my favorite, standby recipes that I use over and over again come from the vendors at Roman markets. This is standard practice. I’m not alone in turning for advice to the one person in whose best interest it is to keep me coming back for more.

The vendors in the markets are like living, breathing cookbooks. Although there are of course standard recipes for certain dishes, if you ask five different artichoke vendors for advice on how to cook carciofi alla romana, you’ll get five different recipes. In fact, I had a vendor come running up to me recently at the market, only to tell me that I had gotten the recipe that I had written up on my blog - from a different vendor - wrong! “Signora, you have to use wild mint, not spearmint! You better correct that!”
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grains + beans {soup}

2013-04-22T08:38:00.001+02:00

I know my mother is going to comment on this post. And say something like “I guess you would call this clean out the jar of beans soup”. And make herself laugh. (she loves her own jokes)

For some reason ‘clean out the anything’ recipes have become her signature dish over the years. Clean out the fruit basket pie, clean out the fridge soup, clean out the cabinet casserole. There is no amount of leftover anything too small that can’t be saved, put in a tupperware container, and used to create something the next day (or week?). My sisters and I have gotten into the habit, while cleaning up after dinner, of holding up a lone lettuce leaf that is stuck to the salad bowl and asking “Should we mail this to mommy?”
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fave + spring pesto {orecchiette}

2013-04-18T07:30:00.000+02:00

The problem with this blog thing is that everything (at least food-wise) is out there in public. I can’t kid myself that I haven’t eaten twice my body weight while in Venice because it’s out there, in living color, that I did.

Between the blog, facebook, instagram and any other social media you can think of, every meal, trip to the farmers market and snack gets documented, written about and posted. There’s no hiding.
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omnivore books {san francisco}

2013-04-16T14:18:00.001+02:00

If you’ve been following me around the social media circles, then you know I’ve been in the States the last week or so. First stop was San Francisco, where I attended the annual IACP conference. And first stop in SF was a place I’d been dreaming of visiting for as long as I could remember: Omnivore Books.
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citrus cake {from eugenia}

2013-04-15T07:00:00.000+02:00

I’d been hearing about my friend Eugenia’s clementine cake for quite a while. I know she mentioned boiling the fruit, but beyond that, once she started describing the recipe, my mind kept wandering. I admit I have a very hard time focusing on a recipe before I’ve actually tasted the dish.

What’s the eating version of being a visual person? I just can’t imagine what something will taste like until I’ve actually put it in my mouth.
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procacci {florence}

2013-04-11T06:36:00.000+02:00

Want to immediately feel like a classy Florentine shopping on the uber chic Via Tornabuoni? But don’t really want to drop a few thousand euros at Bulgari? If you stop in Procacci, you can pretend - at least for a half hour or so - that you are a barone or principessa, from one of the old families of Florence.
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fergana pilaf {uzbekistan via rome}

2013-04-09T08:59:00.001+02:00

As much as I like to host dinner parties, I enjoy going to friends’ houses even more. Which is not so surprising, since I have very good friends, who are also very good cooks. And I’m not talking about my chef or restaurant-owning friends. I’m talking about my girlfriends (and some boys too) who not only love to cook, but who are also very good at it.

My friend Eugenia is known in our circle of hungry eaters as the person who will bring dessert. She is the master of brownies, is also highly skilled at producing the most delicious apple pies, fruit crumbles and all other sorts of sweets that expats long for. And while I’ll be getting to one of her recent sweet creations later on, for now she’s been kind enough to reveal the secrets of what has become her signature dinner party dish: Fergana Pilaf.
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do mori {venice}

2013-04-08T06:07:00.000+02:00

Do Mori is definitely a Venetian institution. And if you decide to just hit one bar for the ritual giro di ombre (snack and a glass of wine) then this should be it.

It’s not that they have the very best cichetti. Or even the most extraordinary selection of wines. But they do have a one-of-a-kind atmosphere that dates back centuries, which is kind of what you want. It is supposed to be the oldest osteria in Venice (and does look like it). The wooden counter top is worn with age, and copper water pots hang from the ceiling. In other words: it oozes atmosphere.
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top five panini {florence}

2013-04-04T17:17:00.001+02:00

When I first started this blog, I thought that one of my main standbys for posts would be lists of things. You know. Best Gelato in Florence. Five Favorite Restaurants in Venice. That kind of thing.

While I did do a few of these in the beginning, I’ve come to realize that I find it very hard to choose the ‘best of’ anything. There are so many variables when choosing favorites. How I feel that day. What I feel like eating. How much I want to spend. And if I’m doing the choosing for someone else? Like you? Well, then it gets even harder.

But the thing is, if you’re a blogger (and I’m that) then you’re supposed to do these kinds of lists to get traffic. I should know, since the posts I love the most on other peoples blogs are things like “Five tips for better Food Photography” or (more to the point) "The top five pastry shops in Paris.”

So, in response to this self imposed guilt, I'm going to try to be a better blogger. And provide more lists. Because that’s what you want, right?
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artichokes + fave {pasta}

2013-04-02T06:06:00.001+02:00

It’s spring and a girl’s heart turns to thoughts of artichokes. If you know me, you know my passion about all things carciofi. Roasted, stewed, fried, in frittata, on pasta, with rice and even with rabbit. At the Minchilli house it's artichokes 24/7 while the going is good.

This year is even better. Or worse, depending on how I look at things. For whatever reason (heavy rains? late frost?) the artichokes bedecking the markets of Rome this year are humongously gorgeous. Big, full round globes of purple and green goodness.
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osteria da alberto {venice}

2013-04-01T08:19:00.001+02:00

Sometimes you want to go someplace special or creative or fancy.

And sometimes you just want to sit down and have a good meal, without spending oodles of money. It's oddly difficult to do the latter in Venice. Most of the places that people talk and write about are either fancy (expensive), creative (expensive) or just special (expensive).

Alberto is nothing 'special.' It is simply an unassuming, relaxed restaurant located between Campo San Giovanni e Paolo and my favorite church in Venice, the Santa Maria dei Miracoli. It's not new, and you're not going to find any modern twists on classics. Instead - especially if you go at lunch - you're likely to find regulars (tourists and well as locals) tucking into heaping plates of the daily pasta.
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celery + dates + pecorino {salad}

2013-03-28T07:12:00.001+01:00

I know, I know. I just wrote up a recipe for celery salad recently. But this one is different, I promise.

Well, it’s not that different, I guess, since the main ingredients are celery and cheese. But if the Perilli-inspired dish I wrote up a couple of weeks ago is more about the cheese, this one is much lighter, crisper and - just a little bit - sweeter.
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