The Italian Chef

Butternut Squash Ravioli with Brown Butter and Sage

Phil Torre — Thu, 08 Oct 2026 00:06:02 +0000

Fall is the perfect time for butternut squash stuffed ravioli, it is the pumpkin spice latte of ravioli. I love any ravioli tossed in brown butter and sage, but butternut squash makes a sublime partner for it. You don’t have to make your own ravioli at home (I didn’t), store bought ones are completely acceptable,...

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Sunday Sauce

Phil Torre — Thu, 01 Oct 2026 02:37:30 +0000

Big nor’easter this weekend, so it seemed like a good time to make a nice Sunday Sauce. What is a Sunday Sauce, you may ask? A Sunday Sauce, also known in Italian as a ragù, is a slow-cooked, meat-based sauce made by Italian families. Typically made with whole cuts of meat that are then served...

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Linguine with White Clam Sauce

Phil Torre — Tue, 22 Sep 2026 20:40:27 +0000

Linguine with White Clam Sauce is the dish that taught me the unwritten Italian rule of no cheese on seafood. When I first started working at my father’s restaurant as a busboy, we would bring cheese to the table and offer to sprinkle it on the pasta dishes. I was told early on not to...

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Clams Oreganato

Phil Torre — Sun, 13 Sep 2026 12:52:58 +0000

Clams Oreganato. Baked Clams. Stuffed Clams. No matter what you call them, they are a great appetizer and a perfect starter for your Christmas Eve fish dinner. It is very important that the stuffing stays moist and does not become dried out. If the bread crumb mixture feels too dry, you may have to add...

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Pasta Pomodoro

Phil Torre — Thu, 10 Sep 2026 02:02:54 +0000

Our cousins Paul and Dee can tomatoes every year. They usually give me a few jars, and I use them mostly for my pizza sauce, which comes out great. This year Paul invited me to his aunt’s house in Mineaola, NY to participate in the canning. Oddly enough, even though it is a tradition among...

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Pork Chops with Vinegar Peppers

Phil Torre — Wed, 19 Aug 2026 23:39:35 +0000

There may not seem like a lot to this dish, but boy is it tasty. Pork chops with vinegar peppers is an old Italian-American stand-by. I have always made this with sweet vinegar peppers, but if you prefer you can use hot, or a mix. For a different variation on this dish you can home...

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Lingue di Pizza (Roman Pizza Tongues)

Phil Torre — Tue, 11 Aug 2026 20:03:09 +0000

Lingue di Pizza are a street food snack that can be found in bakeries all over Rome. The word lingue means tongue, which describes the elongated shape. I have been seeing videos from Italy of people making these all over my social feeds, and I decided I had to try making them. My first question...

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Sicilian Pistachio Pesto

Phil Torre — Thu, 30 Jul 2026 16:06:21 +0000

Here is another excellent Sicilian variation on pesto. This is different from the Trapanese Pesto that I featured last week in that there is no tomato, and it uses pistachios instead of almonds. Think of it as closer to Genovese basil pesto, but with pistachios rather than pignoli. The difference is that instead of just...

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Grilled Swordfish with Pesto Trapanese

Phil Torre — Fri, 24 Jul 2026 14:39:48 +0000

I was looking to do some kind of new fish on the grill. I have my standards that I go to all summer long, usually involving swordfish, or steelhead trout, but was in the mood for a change. I decided a simple grilled swordfish with pesto would be a good idea. The reason I do...

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Pistachio Gelato

Phil Torre — Thu, 02 Jul 2026 00:16:49 +0000

We are having a bit of a heat wave here in Connecticut this week. I figured what better way to fight the heat than to try out a new flavor of gelato. I wanted to make a Sicilian style gelato, so I decided to go with a very popular flavor in Sicily, pistachio. Sicilian style...

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