Baccala Pizzaiola (or Chicken)

Extremely versatile and packed with flavor!  Simple to vary ingredients with what you have on hand and what you prefer. 
I love this preparation for chilly evenings, served hot and with dried chili peppers on the side to chop in--or this can be made with tofu and served at room temperature or even cold the next day.  Serving it like this means you can enjoy it in the warmer weather,  substitute the greens with what is in season )spinach, chard, etc)

If using chicken, use chicken breast as it is lean as is baccala.
Here is the recipe with baccala

Spicy Parsley Spread

How many recipes call for a couple tablespoons of parsley or a bit more?  And how many times do you buy a bunch of parsley? 
All that extra parsley you have from other recipes goes to good use in this recipe.  Can be used as a sandwich spread, spread on crackers with cheese, make thinner and use as a dip for veggies or use on top of fish.

Olive Tapenade Provencal

The simplest appetizer/antipasto but really reliant on quality of ingredients.  This uses large green Castelvetrano olives and a mix of black olives (kalamata, nicoise). 

As you chop the green olives it will feel like you are making your own olive oil as they release the oil bound within--use a kitchen blade to get all the great oils into the bowl, you want that green goodness... 

This is the time to use the best quality olive oil you can, a first press and cold pressed extra virgin olive oil. 

The balance of the creaminess of grated or crumbled cheese, bit of brine and crunch of green olives, brightness from the lemon zest, nuance of flavors from herbs de provence and then the olive oil dripping off crusty bread.... You will only be able to stop once this is gone or you just walk away! 

This also works well as a vegan appetizer by omitting the cheese and using chopped orange peel and roasted garlic.

Ahh-malfi, enjoying the Amalfi Coast

To the beach

We have the good fortune to stay at my husband's fathers home when we are in Italy.  It's a home that is only used by family and only in the summer months.  There is no whole house heating in use any longer, there are 2 fireplaces--one that faces into the kitchen and the backside of that facing into another room. 

With a dose of faith we headed there towards the end of September and our stay was to last until the second week of October.  We took our time getting there by starting in Paris and driving from there through southern France.  We stayed at various locations in France and northern Italy and were blessed by some beautiful weather.  We were still enjoying warmth and sunshine when we arrived in Baranello. 

They say all good things come to an end, well the weather took a nosedive and we took a dive too--to the south. 

The splendor of the Amalfi Coast comes not only from the abundance of sun and warmth but from so many tangible and intangible things that go along with that. There is a main road that travels along the coast and it slices through the mountains bisecting a flurry of seaside villages.  From this vantage point imagine our joy at seeing for ourselves the seemingly impossible construction of homes directly into the rising stone cliffs.  The site can be dizzying as you look up and see a community clinging to the edge of stone, but look down and you will see even below there are more homes below road level jutting above the sea.  With this kind of construction there is little or no room for parking so be prepared, you will likely park at road side parking and climb up or walk down many steps to get to dining or accommodations.  That's a great thing though--the food in southern Italy is so good you will want the extra exercise just to work some of it off!

Easter Monday French Toast

Peach and ricotta oozing out of warm Easter bread french toast

WARNING!-- Highly Addictive....
Here's a little gem to make with that leftover Easter bread, works amazingly well with brioche too.
This will be great cooked as a standard french toast, but since you are being so decadent, why not stuff it with some ricotta and peach preserves?
I had some homemade ricotta leftover from the day before and made a slit on the side of the Easter bread and piped in a bit of that with some peach preserves from last summer and voila!
This was so incredible words cannot describe, I hope you try it for yourself!

Italian Easter Bread

You might want to make this the day of Easter.  You could make it a day in advance but once you smell this baking in the oven you may not be able to wait a day to eat it!  This bread is a  high, delicately sweet, buttery brioche type bread.  I flavor it with orange zest, orange juice and anise.  Occasionally I will add golden raisins that have been steeped in sambuca, reminiscent of a panettone.

you can bake without the eggs nestled in braid

This makes 1 large loaf or 2 small loaves 

Fiadone con Formaggio

Simple and surprisingly good.  The dough is quick to assemble and can be mixed easily by hand.  The flavor comes from the quality of the ingredients.  The filling is made with grated parmeggiano, romano and another cheese (use what you like depending on if you like a sharp cheese or a mild cheese).  Add to that eggs and some chopped parsley and you are ready to bake.  The smell of them while baking is amazing!

There are also a sweet version that are prepared, I will post those at another time, they are made with ricotta and just a touch of sugar. 

Mediterranean Lentil Salad

I love this as a side dish or as a lunch.  If you really want to pack in more protein and nutrients add some cooked quinoa.  The lemon vinaigrette makes the flavors of artichoke, sundried tomatoes and parsley bright.  This works best with french lentils, they will stay firm if cooked for about 15 minutes.  While the lentils cook all else can be assembled.  This can be served warm or after refrigerating.  It gets even better as it sits so it's a great dish to make ahead.