Italian


Ever since coming home from Italy, I’ve been searching for more ways to connect with my roots. Creating traditional Italian dishes is one of the ways I honor my family heritage. Although I absolutely love eggplant parmesan, the standard recipe is really heavy and not very healthy. So, I decided to create a lighter eggplant parmesan recipe that still tastes decadent but it’s secretly healthy.

One of my very favorite things to do during the holidays is to bake. I love trying different cookies, cakes, bread, and bar recipes. Over the years, I’ve tried to find different Italian recipes as a way to learn more about my cultural heritage and feel a connection to my Italian roots. My grandparent immigrated to the U.S. before my dad was born. They died when I was quite young, so connecting to my heritage through food and travel is how I’ve tried to make that connection. This Italian fig cookies recipe is the newest in a line of Italian recipes I’ve made lately.

If you’ve followed my blog, you probably know about my southern Italian heritage. I love to share traditional, modern, and the best Italian recipes on my blog as a way for me to connect with my heritage. I’ve had the chance to visit Rome, Florence, Naples, Positano, and Milan, so I love to explore the different regions through my cooking and baking. I was supposed to travel to Venice this past summer but had to postpone that trip due to the pandemic.

If you’ve been to New Orleans, you’ve probably tried a muffuletta – or at least passed some stores with muffulettas for sale. They are a classic New Orleans sandwich, first created by Italian immigrants. The word muffuletta is based on Sicilian sesame bread. Muffulettas first appeared in the French Quarter as early as the 1890s and have remained a popular sandwich in New Orleans. I received a bunch of deli meat in the mail, so I decided to create a muffuletta recipe as a way to enjoy all of the delicious meats.

One of my all-time favorite Italian appetizers is a simple, yet classic Caprese. I absolutely love fresh mozzarella, basil, and tomatoes. It is such a simple combination, but pure perfection. I didn’t think it could get better, and then it did. This bruschetta Caprese is even better than the all-time classic.

Bruschetta is one of my favorite appetizers. It’s so easy to make, and such a perfect appetizer or even a quick lunch. I recently made this bruschetta Caprese and it was a huge hit. Given how much everyone liked it, I thought I’d try again. I had a lot of extra mushrooms in the house, so I thought I’d try a mushroom bruschetta.

Do you like pesto? If so, I have a really easy homemade basil walnut pesto recipe that I love to serve with store-bought gnocchi. This is such an easy meal to make any night of the week and I just love pesto gnocchi. I have made homemade gnocchi in the past, but it is very time-consuming. However, making fresh basil pesto is actually really easy to do. It’s the perfect way to make an easy meal that still tastes super fresh.

Especially every holiday season, I love to make Italian-inspired dishes. I’ve made several Italian cookies in the past, so I searched for a new one for this year. These Sicilian S cookies are the perfect cookie to enjoy with your coffee or tea. They are crunchy, sweet, but not too sweet, and you can dress them up with a glaze and sprinkles, or keep them plain. If it’s not super obvious, the S stands for Sicily.

The other week, I did order pick-up and ended up with a bag of lemons rather than the bag of apples I had tried to order. Good news for me, I actually love lemon. So, this mistake gave me the chance to create a lemony dessert I haven’t made before. Making biscotti is super easy, so I did some research and found an awesome pistachio and lemon biscotti recipe I adapted to share with you. I’ll delve into the origins of biscotti, explore the allure of lemon biscotti, and share some other easy biscotti recipes.

There’s something incredibly comforting about homemade bread — especially when it’s warm, golden, and infused with the rich aroma of olive oil and rosemary. This olive focaccia is one of my favorite easy bread recipes to make because it’s simple, flavorful, and always impresses guests. Whether you’re a beginner baker or someone who loves trying new variations, this easy focaccia recipe will quickly become a staple in your kitchen.

If you’ve been searching for an easy Italian tiramisu recipe that tastes like it came straight from a cozy café in Rome, you’re in the right place. This is a true classic tiramisu recipe made from scratch, including the ladyfingers. Using homemade ladyfingers gives you a softer, more flavorful base and takes this from good to unforgettable.

Whatever you call them, snowballs, Russian tea cakes, Italian wedding cookies, or even Italian Wedding Christmas cookies, these powdery nutty cookies are a mainstay on most Christmas cookie platters. Despite their popularity, I had never made them before. My mom didn’t make these at Christmas, and I only had them a few times when we received cookies from other holiday bakers.

I’m half Italian. My grandparents immigrated to the U.S. before my dad was born. Although we are Americans first, my dad always instilled a strong Italian pride in me as a child. As an adult, I’ve consistently seek ways to connect with my Italian heritage. That’s why it’s so surprising it’s taken me nearly a year to get to the North End Boston.

Have you heard of La Befana and the feast of the Epiphany? I hadn’t until a few days ago. I’m always looking for more ways to connect to my Italian heritage. My birthday is on Three Kings Day – aka Epiphany, so I researched ideas of traditional Italian desserts and that’s how I learned about befanini cookies.














