Things you don't realize you need until you're in Italy

1. Mac&Cheese (I know, I know. The pasta looks like wet cardboard, and the "cheese" is about as unnatural as you can get. Still, there's something about that uniquely fluorescent orange macaroni that I can't resist. Sometimes you just need something cheesy and instant. I do like adding parmigiano grattugiato to it though, to dress it up a bit.)  

Il Campo, football fields

This is a typical example of a well maintained football field in Sicily. Indeed, this is AmoreMio's favourite field, and he claims it is the best he's ever played on. His 4 reasons for this are:

1. It's well lit. His team last year couldn't afford to repair the lights at the far end of the field, so all evening practices had to be restricted to the 20 meter radius of light provided by the remaining lamp (about a third of the field).

Ricotta

Ricotta is an Italian staple used in everything from egg frittata and various pasta dishes, to cakes and cannoli.

Though considered a cheese, it is actually made from the remaining whey of the cheese making process. Similar to cottage cheese, it is surprisingly low in fat and has a distinctive curdled texture.

Cannoli

In Sicily, no Sunday lunch is complete without a few of these decadent, happiness-stuffed, pastries.

Why are they so popular?

Maybe it's the crunch of the fried pastry tube.

Perhaps the sinfully rich ricotta filling that gushes from both sides.

Or the colorful flourish of dipping the ends into crushed pistachio.

No, it is indeed the genius of combining all three of these elements that make it one of the most popular sweets in Sicily... my apologies to Gelato.

Pasta con la ricotta

Pasta with Ricotta is one of my favorite Italian lunches. It’s fast, easy, and surprisingly healthy for a “cheesy pasta”.

Ingredients

250g pasta ditalini (short tubes, can be substituted with macaroni) Salt (for boiling the pasta)
250g ricotta (preferably fresh)
Peperoncino and black pepper to taste

La messa dei morti

Last Wednesday marked the sixth anniversary of Nonno Gaetano's death. However, to make sure everyone would be available, the Nonna Angela decided to wait until this weekend to have the memorial mass.

Catholic mass is held daily in the evenings, but with an offering (typically about €10) you can ask the priest to mention your beloved's name during the service.

I Cachi

Cachi (kah-key) or "Japanese Persimmons" are a popular fall fruit in Sicily (though you can hardly consider daily temperatures of 25 degrees C as your typical autumn weather... Even the Sicilians are starting to get tired of the heat).

To me they look like psychedelic tomatoes, more of a florescent pinkish orange rather than red. The taste isn't bad either... but I just can't get past the texture.

We are the negatives that don't do anything...

... we just stay at home and lay around. Sorry couldn't resist. I still nurse a soft spot for Veggie Tales

It seemed appropriate for this blog though, because this frustrating example of the Italian negative really does nothing. It serves no purpose whatsoever that I have been able to discover.

It started when I was paging through a cookbook and found this: "Unite i funghi e cuoceteli per 10 minuti, finche' non sono dorati". Literally translated this would mean "Mix the mushrooms and cook them for 10 minutes, until they are NOT golden."

The first time I read this phrase I was utterly bewildered. What do you mean "until it's not golden"? Should I not actually cook it at all? Or leave it in the oven until just before it starts to color? In which case, how am I supposed to tell when it's seconds away from coloring?

Insalata di Rucola e Bresaola

This is cugina Laura's recipe for Rucola salad. AmoreMio typically avoids any kind of leafy green like the plague (he even goes so far as to pick out the bits of basil in his tomato sauce), and Rucola is right up there on his list of "I'll eat mud first".

However the lemon juice balances out the bitter taste of the greens in this salad, and even Mr. Picky was able to force down a large portion (made easier by the fact that I gave his plate an extra helping of bresaola).

Corvo Duetto Rosso

Corvo is easily my favorite line of Sicilian wines, especially their Glicine white, which was until recently my all time favorite wine.

Lately however, I have found my tastes straying more confidently into the realm of strong red wines, and I believe that the new Duetto outstrips any red wine I have ever tasted.

True, my sadly limited experience of wine has been restricted to the cheaper end of the scales, but that's what makes it so awesome. Great taste for just €5.99.

Duetto, as the name would indicate, is a combination of two wines: Frappato and Syrah. I assume this is achieved by mixing the two varieties of grapes before the wine making process. Or at least I hope. I'd feel a little stupid paying them just for pouring two wines into the same bottle.