Category Archives: Recipes

sugo di maiale – pork and tomato sauce

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Go into a Sicilian agriturismo in the mountains in the winter, and there’s a good chance you’ll be given a steaming bowl of maccheroni al sugo di maiale. Washed down with some Sicilian vino locale in front of a blazing log fire, I can imagine no better way to warm myself up, or lift my spirits on a dark winter night, for that matter. This is not food for anyone counting their calories, unless of Continue Reading →

insalata di arance e finocchio – orange and fennel salad

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A classic winter salad here in Sicily, when fennel and oranges are at their best. It’s even better when made with blood oranges, but for those I’ll have to wait until later in the season… Fennel and orange is the basic version, although I like to add capers and red onion (in this case, I used the sweet, mild onions from Tropea, across the Straits in Calabria) and sometimes small black olives, not to mention Continue Reading →

insalata di polipo – octopus salad

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Before coming to Italy I’d only ever eaten octopus once, in Rhodes. I can still visualize the plate in front of me to this day. It is a source of constant amazement, not to mention concern, to my wife that I can recall not only dishes, but entire meals I ate years ago. Anyway, in this case I feel justified, since the Rhodian octopus was one of those defining moments in my love story with Continue Reading →

involtini di costardelle – saury rolls

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These length-challenged swordfish are costardelle, saury in English. I’ll be honest – I had to look the word up in a dictionary to get the translation, not that it left me any the wiser. This was not something I ever came across as a kid down at the local chippy. Not even the name rang any bells, apart from sounding like the bad guy in The Lord of the Rings. They’re very popular around the Continue Reading →