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Gina – Page 8 – GT Food & Travel
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GT Food & Travel

Author: Gina

  • Dining in Rome During the Holidays

    Dining in Rome During the Holidays

    DSC_2165With only one week until Christmas, I hope that you’ve reserved your tables for Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve! Although it can be a bit daunting deciphering opening hours and prix fixe menus, there are a number of wonderful restaurants open for the holidays. For starters check out The Rome Digest’s Where to Eat in Rome on Christmas and New Year’s  and Five Favorites for Holiday Dining. If none of the listed restaurants are what you had in mind here are a few more to consider.DSC_3126-1

    Il Bacocco, Entoeca Bistrot Ristorante, located in Trastevere will serve a €90 prix fixe menu, excluding wine. Dishes include roast octopus served with a puntarelle, candied tomato and purple potato salad and lentil encrusted lobster with rosemary sauce. A traditional plate of cotechino e lenticchie and a glass of Bellenda S.C. 1931 Metodo Classico will be served to ring in the new year. For the complete menu or to reserve email info@ilbacocco.it or phone +39 065898587.

    Casa Bleve, well known for its astounding wine cellar and elegant dining space, will be open on New Year’s Eve. They will serve a €95 prix fixe menu, excluding drinks. Dishes include smoked salmon rolls stuffed with crab meat, tagliolini pasta with lentils and shrimp and artisanal panettone. For more information or to reserve email info@casableve.it or call +39 066865970.

    Nonna Betta located on the main street of the Jewish Ghetto will be open on December 24, 25, 26 and 31. A tasting menu will be available as well as a reduced à la carte menu. Try the fried mozzarella, baccalà filets and oven roasted lamb with potatoes. Reserve by email at scrivimi@nonnabetta.it or phone +39 0668806263.

    The listed openings have been confirmed many times but PLEASE  call all restaurants in advance. Opening hours sometimes change at the last second. Happy Holidays, eat, drink and be merry!

  • Traditional Sweet Torrone

    Traditional Sweet Torrone

    DSC_3554With less than two weeks until Christmas, I’m stockpiling seasonal sweets. Yesterday I stopped by my neighborhood pastry shop in Monteverde to order panettone and walked away with two chunks of torrone. The impossible to resist crumbly blocks of torrone bianco al miele remind me of Christmas Eve with my family. The snow-white candy never failed to appear on the Tringali table. The traditional version is made of cooked honey and sugar mixed with hazelnuts and sometimes egg whites. Being a dark chocolate addict I couldn’t resist the torrone fondente made of sugar, hazelnuts, cocoa and cocoa butter.

    If you’re Rome for the holidays treat yourself to artisanal torrone at Confetteria Moriondo & Gariglio at Via del Pie’ di Marmo, 21/22. You won’t regret it!

     

     

     

  • Date Nut Bread

    Date Nut Bread

    With winter upon us, I find myself thinking of the holidays, missing my family and spending time in my kitchen keeping warm, baking and cooking. I leafed through a handwritten book of family recipes and the one for date nut bread caught my eye. Another one of my grandmother’s, the same woman who taught me how to make pasta and beans.

    I hope you enjoy this sweet bread as much as I do.

    DSC_3582Ingredients

    • 1 cup hot coffee or espresso
    • 1 cup chopped dates
    • 1 cup chopped walnuts
    • 1 cup sugar
    • 1.5 cups flour
    • 3 tablespoons butter
    • 2 eggs
    • 1 teaspoon vanilla
    • 1 teaspoon baking soda
    • pinch of salt

    Heat the oven to 300° F. Chop the dates and walnuts. Set aside.

    DSC_3566Combine the sugar, butter, eggs, flour, salt, vanilla and walnuts in a large bowl. Mix until the batter is smooth. In a small bowl add the chopped dates and baking soda to the hot coffee or espresso. In three parts, add the coffee mixture to the batter. Mix well. DSC_3571Pour batter into a greased and floured loaf-panDSC_3579Bake at 300° F for 1 to 1.5 hours.

    DSC_3581Serve warm or at room temperature for breakfast or a snack.

  • Join The Rome Digest for a Charitable Thanksgiving Lunch

    Join The Rome Digest for a Charitable Thanksgiving Lunch

    DSC_3079The Thanksgiving day countdown is on. Historically, Thanksgiving is a day of giving thanks for and celebrating the harvest. It is a day when families and friends share a meal at a table overflowing with seasonal vegetables, turkey and pumpkin pie. This year I’m looking forward to the charitable Thanksgiving-themed lunch organized by The Rome Digest.

    The lunch will take place from 1-5pm on Sunday, December 1 at Casa Martinelli in northern Rome. Roasted turkey, seasonal vegetables, stuffing and more will be served with wine pairings. Lunch will be prepared by a generous and talented line-up of chefs including Chris Behr (head chef of the Rome Sustainable Food Project), John Regefalk (sous chef of Metamorfosi), Jo Ann Parla and Gabriele Bonci (owner and founder of Pizzarium and Panificio Bonci).
     
    All proceeds will benefit Cibo Libero, a working farm and kitchen owned and operated inside Rome’s Rebibbia prison. The cost of the lunch is €85 which includes all food and drink, transport to and from the event venue and a charitable donation to Cibo Libero. For event details and to buy tickets please click here. 
     
    I hope to meet you on December 1!

     

  • Pasta e Fagioli, Pasta & Beans

    Pasta e Fagioli, Pasta & Beans

    My grandmother from Avellino has been on my mind lately. Hours spent in her kitchen, watching her turn the simplest ingredients into the most comforting and delicious dishes. I miss her, our talks and her kitchen. I miss the smell of fresh garden tomatoes simmering in a pot on her stove top, filling the house with sweetness.

    Many years ago I asked her “Why doesn’t my mom’s pasta e fagioli taste as good as yours?” She said, “When she gets to my age it will taste the same, just wait.”DSC_3537

    She didn’t include precise measurements so here is my version of her recipe. Adjust to your taste and enjoy!

    Ingredients for 2 

    • 100 grams (2/3 cup) of pasta (ditalini or mixed pasta)
    • 150 grams (1/2 cup) of dried borlotti beans
    • EVOO
    • garlic
    • plum tomatoes
    • 1 red chili pepper
    • parsley
    • salt to taste

    Soak the borlotti beans overnight in water. Cook them in abundant water in a large pot. Bring to a gentle boil and cover. Cook for approximately 1 hour.

    While the beans are cooking, mince 2-3 cloves of garlic, dice the chili pepper and chop the tomatoes.

    When the beans are nearly cooked heat 2 to 3 tablespoons of the olive oil in a separate pan. Add the minced garlic and cook it for a few minutes until it starts to color. Add the tomatoes, chili pepper, salt and 1-2 cups of water. Bring to a simmer. Cook for 10 to 20 minutes before adding the tomato to the large pot of beans.DSC_3524

    Add the pasta and let it cook for 10-15 minutes on a low flame.DSC_3527

    Once cooked turn off the heat and let it rest for 10 minutes before serving. Finish with chopped parsley.

  • Sicilian Sweets for the Festival for the Dead

    Sicilian Sweets for the Festival for the Dead

    Last night I dreamt of my grandparents who passed away many years ago. We were gathered around the kitchen table, laughing, talking and eating as usual. As tomorrow is All Souls’ Day, my superstitious self said “how appropriate you had a visit from the dead” so here’s to my grandparents.Thanks for the visit.

    Celebrating the dead may sound morbid. I remember it as a day when we would visit the cemetery. Although it is a Catholic celebration, this festival has ancient, pagan roots. It is a day where offerings are made to the dead to honor them and the sweetness of life is celebrated.

    It is also a day of beginnings. Farmers plant seeds today in hopes that the dead will bless the seeds with new life. It is a day when I recall the sweetest of Sicilian sweets La Frutta di Martorana (marzipan fruits).

    Painted in vibrant colors, these marzipan fruits are said to have been created by nuns of the Martorana convent in Palermo for the archbishop’s visit on the Day of the Dead. He was awestruck by the fruit hanging from trees in the cloister. These sugary treats are now made all the year round but are given to children in memory  of All Souls’ Day.

    DSC_0649My favorite places to eat la frutta di martorana in Sicily are Cappello in Palermo and at Perlata in San Vito Lo Capo.

  • FrankRizzuti – Cucina del Sud Ristorante

    FrankRizzuti – Cucina del Sud Ristorante

    I woke up this morning thinking about my most memorable meal in 2013. It was in July during my first visit to the region of Basilicata. The three hour lunch flew by in what seemed like thirty minutes.
    DSC_3160

    FrankRizzuti – Cucina del Sud Ristorante opened its doors in June 2012. At Cucina del Sud, Chef and Owner Frank Rizzuti creates innovative plates using southern Italian ingredients. Not only was I impressed by the mouthwatering food, art-like presentation and brilliant service but also by the chef’s kitchen and dining room presence. And for the coffee obsessed like me, I have to mention the carta del caffè (coffee menu); a rare and appreciated treat.

    Here are my favorite dishes from the summer tasting menu.

    Filetto di baccalà rafols con panzanella all’aglio nero (salt-cod fillet over panzanella with black garlic).

    baccala

    Gnocchi di piselli, julienne di seppie, il suo nero e il limone candito (pea gnocchi, cuttlefish, ink sauce and candied lemon peel).

    peagnocchi

    Maialino laccato al miele, salsa di aglio nero, gelato alla birra e crumble salato (Honey glazed baby pork, black garlic sauce, beer gelato and salted crumble).

    maialino

    Cremoso alla liquirizia, rocce di cioccolato soffiato, crumble al cacao, biscotti morbido al pralinato, e gelato alla menta (licorice mousse, aerated chocolate, cocoa crumble, soft praline cookies and mint gelato).

    mintdessertRicotta, confit d’agrumi, crumble alle mandorle e gelato di wild fennel (Ricotta cheese, citrus confit, almond crumble and wild fennel gelato).

    ricottafenneldessert100% arabica Misore-India caffè from GustoTop.

    coffeeMysore2

    Cucina del Sud
    Largo Pasquale Uva – Potenza
    Tel +39 0971 45506/320 6665608
     

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