There are two foods that I truly love – and I love them when used together:  tomatoes and mozzarella.

So when I was asked by The Harvard Common Press if I was interested in taking a look at a new book they were publishing called, Tomatoes & Mozzarella – it was an easy yes.

Anyone who likes tomatoes and mozzarella will truly enjoy this book .  But let me explain why.

The book has a beautiful cover which instantly makes you start thinking about your next trip to the store so you can get started with some of these recipes.

Tomatoes & Mozzarella

The book includes recipes not only from Italy, but from other countries such as France, Spain, even some places here in the US.

When I first agreed to read the book, I thought all the recipes would be from Italy (after all this is an Italian website).   So when I realized this was not the case I was bit disappointed until I started looking at the pages and reading the recipes.

To give an idea of what you can expect, one of the recipes is called Deviled Tomatoes.   Instead of using hard boiled egg as the “bowl”, they use small plum tomatoes to house the chopped ingredients – one of which is hard boiled eggs.

The Deviled Tomatoes are then topped with sliced small mozzarella balls.  How ingenious! I can guarantee this one is a perfect appetizer that will get tons of raves.   Too bad I’m not writing this in the summer -but hey – who cares when you make it!

Catalan not Roman Garlic Bread

Catalan is in Spain so when I saw the recipe for Catalan Tomato Bread, I had to find out what makes this different from an Italian bread?

The concept is the same – toasted thick artisan bread, rub garlic on bread, sliced tomatoes on top along with mozzarella, and a drizzle of olive oil along with a dash of salt…. and here is the added ingredient… a drizzle of red wine vinegar.

Most Italian garlic bread recipes that I’ve seen don’t come with the red wine vinegar.   Not saying it can’t be done, in fact I plan on testing it out myself with a loaf of bread we have in the freezer.

Marinated Artichoke Salad

I chose this recipe because A) it’s Italian and B)it is similar to a combo of two recipes I have (my anti-pasto recipe and my cannellini bean salad recipe).

It’s basically an antipasto which is really hearty and served on top of lettuce leaves which I think is a great idea!   I’d omit the capers, but that’s just me.

The Healthy Parisians

When I think of French food I think butter and more butter.   But one of the recipes, Tomato Lentil Salad really stood out to me.   Not only is it not smothered in butter (burro in Italian), but it really is healthy.

Ingredients include lentils, water, thyme, bay leaves, garlic, white onion (less pungent than red or yellow onion), tomatoes, pesto and shredded mozzarella.

It is simple enough to prepare and you probably have most of these ingredients around if you have an Italian filled pantry or refrigerator.

Unique

This book is unique – that’s the only word that really comes to mind.  I say that because it has such a wide variety of recipes.  For example, you wouldn’t think that a tomato and mozzarella book would include a tomato jam recipe.   This one does.

What about Basil scones?  This one does.

How about a Southwestern layered black bean salad with smoked mozzarella?  This one does.

I have not tried too many recipes from this book to be honest.   Not because I don’t want to – trust me I want to try them all!   I’m just sayin’ I can’t vouch for all of the recipes yet.

Great for Vegetarians or as Meatless Alternatives

The book is not vegetarian but there are a lot of meatless recipes here.   Since my husband has recently given up meat for the past 2 months I’m left with trying to find good recipes that fit the bill.

This book does that.

For example, the Wild Mushroom Macaroni and Cheese is a good choice for us.    It’s hearty and still fills the stomach.

The book offers more than boring recipes, it offers a variety of creative recipes from various regions and offers a ton of ideas how to use tomatoes without getting sick of them.

This past summer a friend emailed me with a problem.  She told me she had a huge number of tomatoes that had come out of nowhere and she had no idea what to do with them all!   I don’t think I was much help – told her pretty much just make a lot of sauce and freeze it.

I wish I had this book back then because I know it would have been a huge help for her.  So if you know someone who grows a lot of tomatoes each year or just really like tomatoes and mozzarella – this book is very much for them!

You can order the book from Amazon here if you want to take a look at the inside of the book to check it out.   If you’re total is over $25 (the book is less than $15) you get free shipping.

I had never heard of ricotta pie and to be honest when I did, I wasn’t too excited about it.

My husband however was very excited and insisted that I make it.   So I looked around and based on other recipes and created my own Ricotta Pie recipe based on what I thought was appropriate.

I posted it online about a year ago or so and to be frank, had forgotten about it until a reader named Luke emailed me about the recipe.

He was making it for his church group’s Thanksgiving lunch.   Instead of recapping the

Ricotta Pie by Luke

email I’ve included it below along with a photo he was kind enough to take.

“I had a grand luncheon. The pie was well received…..  I told my tablemates about the desserts I brought (pumpkin pie  a la Libby’s; a Hazelnut and olive oil
cake –from La Cucinna magazine; and a ricotta pie).

One of the ladies at  my table raced off to get the ricotta pie saying saying her grandfather used to make it….gotta remember all of the group is over 65.

She said the pie brought back memories….

I am 72 and have baked 5 desserts in my whole life—3 in the last 2 days.  I
look for simple recipes…not many steps…

Thanks for your recipes….Next time I will let cool for 2 hours (your video)
and use just a few strawberries as they infuse the pie with a pleasant flavor..today’s
coverage may be too much for my taste…need to experiment some.”

Testimonials like these make my day – actually my week.  I’m proud that Luke chose to make my recipe and I hope you give it a try as well!

Thanks Luke!

Sincerely,

Liz
www.simpleitaliancooking.com

Sadly, when most people think of Italian food, they conjure up images of a plate of pasta sauced with something red and tomato-like, then topped with grated “Parmesan” that comes from a green plastic tube.

But Italian food is so much more than that. Thanks to its location smack dab in the middle of the Mediterranean Ocean (and that whole “vast empire” thing), Italian cuisine is really an amalgamation of different cultural influences and flavors that stretch far beyond typical ‘Italian Restaurant’ menus.

Now while that may seem daunting to the home cook, don’t fret: while Italian cuisine is based on a variety of world dishes, those dishes anchoring its place in the culinary world are famous for their simplicity.

Below are some “fancy” Italian dishes you can prepare at home that will both impress your friends, and broaden your horizons.

Chicken Cacciatore

Chicken Cacciatore

Chicken cacciatore (or chicken “hunter-style”) is a braised chicken dish that’s not only fun to say, but fun to prepare. All you need to do is:

Brown some quartered chicken, sauté rough chopped vegetables, braise in a combination of stock and wine.

The trick to great cacciatore is really in the braising technique: be sure to keep the pot covered and at a low, steady simmer for the entire hour or two of cooking.

Too hot a boil or too harsh a temperature change, and your chicken (or rabbit, or roast) will come out tough and dry.

But if you keep everything within that 250 – 275 ºF range, the muscle’s collagen melts down, and you get this wonderfully tender meat and perfectly paired sauce that goes great over some pasta or polenta.

Ossobuco

Again: a braised dish of luxurious consistency. Ossobuco is traditionally made with veal shanks (the cut between the shoulder and hoof), but with all the outcry over mistreatment of veal, adult beef is more commonly used.

Just like the cacciatore above, the trick is in maintaining the right braising temperature and pace, but what separates ossobuco from any other dish is the marrow’s presence in the finished sauce.

During braising, the bone marrow slowly leaches out from the shank, thickening and flavoring the sauce as it does so. After cooking, the marrow left in the bone is essentially meat butter; spread over some crusty bread it is truly remarkable.

(Quick tip: ossobuco can be rather rich. To help counter that richness, mince some lemon

zest with garlic and parsley, and you get this herby, aromatic gremolata that will bring those lemons sitting in your fridge into a whole new light.)

Gelato

Gelato

The moment you hear someone say “gelato is just like ice cream,” you know one of two things about that person: they’ve either never had it or they were sold ice cream that some crafty creamery labeled “gelato.”

Gelato is kind of a wonder: it contains less milk fat than ice cream, yet the way it feels on your tongue is far silkier and satisfying.  Reasons for that range from gelato’s serving temperature to the amount of air trapped in the finished product, sure, but all that really matters is: you can make gelato at home.

There are a wide range of countertop gelato makers available, and they come with easy-to-follow instructions. Just add your ingredients, turn the machine on, and just wait for the magic to happen.

So it’s time for you, the home cook, to put on your Big Boy (or Girl) Britches and start taking on fancier Italian food offerings. They’re easy, exciting, and most of all: DEE-licious.

Here in America, when we think of “Italian appetizers,” things like cheese sticks, calamari, and bruschetta come to mind. Nothing wrong with that, but the end result is pretty run-of-the-mill: something the kitchen can whip up in a hurry to keep you at bay so they can work on the rest of your order.

And while those dishes can indeed be satisfying, there is so much more to the Italian antipasto than what we typically see on restaurant menus.

True is creative and colorful, and involves way more than a plate of fried food with canned marinara dipping sauce (the four words at which every Italian cook should shudder).

It is light and exploding with flavor; the variety of dishes available is limited only by the imagination of those preparing it. What follows are just a few examples of some genuine Italian anti-pasto ingredients you can combine to whatever extent your heart desires.

Cured Meats

Cured ham

Poor pigs: born into this world with the perfect meat to fat ratio, and raised by farmers who need both meat and fat.

Over time, those farmers and their families have tinkered with science and nature to produce specialty cured meats like coppa (shoulder), guanciale (jowl), and prosciutto (ham) to great effect.

Every type of cured meat – be it cured in a chamber or hung from a rafter and air-dried – has its own unique flavor and texture. Though some are fatty, they are usually sliced paper thin so they don’t feel heavy… and taste great when wrapped around a piece of fresh melon or fig.

Sausages

Italian sausage is way more than just sweet, hot, or mild. It is soppressatta, salami, mortadella… the list goes on and on. In fact, sausage making is considered an art, and just about every town you visit has their own version and opinion of how you should make (and eat) sausage.

Real Italian sausage can be dried (or smoked) and served at room temperature, grilled and presented as a main course, or diced and rendered down in a hot pan as the base for a good tomato sauce.

It is fascinating just how versatile Italian sausage is and can be, and as part of antipasti, its sheer meatiness makes for a wonderful contrast of textures.

Cheeses

Italian Cheese

The list of Italian cheeses reaches beyond 400 different types, so let’s just condense all those down into two: hard and soft.

Hard cheeses like Parmesan and pecorino are often grated over pasta and salads, but shaving them into paper-thin slices offers your antipasto a nutty, slightly crunchy saltiness that does great battle with the richer meats and cured vegetables and fruits.

Softer cheeses (stracchino, buffalo mozzarella, and burrata) are milder in flavor and sliced thicker. Given the robustness of the other items on the plate, these are usually best for texture… and pressed over some warm, crusty bread.

And this is only the beginning.

To a plate of cured Italian meats, sausages, and cheeses, you can add things like pickled sweet Italian peppers, a good olive tapenade, and some smoked fish or grilled whole sardines.

Just drizzle with a bit of quality olive oil and serve with crusty bread, and you’ll be amazed at how many wonderful flavors your mouth can handle.

Once you use just a little imagination, you’ll never crave a fried macaroni ball again.

Ah, the Italian Sub: fatty, tangy, and oh-so enjoyable.

And so conveniently impersonated!

There’s just nothing more disappointing than going in to a deli with cured meat hanging from the rafters and huge wheels of Parmigiano-Reggiano resting behind the counter, ordering an Italian Sub, and having it fall absolutely flat on its face.

No tang, no spice, no… oomph. The bread sticks to the roof of your mouth, the oil falls from the back of the sandwich, and every bite pulls back out an entire slice of meat.

It’s a real culinary travesty is what it is.

So instead of doling out ten bucks and risking this heart-breaking disappointment, why not just learn to make a genuine Italian Sub in your own kitchen?

It’s easy, affordable, and you won’t have to wait in line.

The Bread

Just as much as a balance of flavors, the Italian Sub is a balance of textures. That said, any eight- or nine-inch loaf of white bread with a crispy, flaky crust is ideal.

You want to grab the bread and give it a little squeeze; if the surface cracks, that’s the keeper.

Those soft hoagie rolls your deli’s trying to pawn off on you? Save those for panzanellas, bread pudding, and homemade breadcrumbs.

The Salad

While every other sandwich in the world starts with good bread, the perfect Italian Sub starts with a good salad.

Since this sandwich is all about balance and the rest of the ingredients have a creamy and fatty mouth feel, it is important that your salad be sharp enough to cut through all that richness.

Chop some Romaine lettuce and dice some tomatoes; mince some raw onion and garlic, and toss them together.

The Salad Soak

You will want to have a lot more dressing than a normal salad; you’re marinating – pickling, actually – so think of the dressing in this regard.

Make a quick vinaigrette using olive oil, white vinegar, salt and pepper, and load it up with herbs, both dried and fresh.

Add a pinch or two of red pepper flakes, and pour over the chopped vegetables.

Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour, giving the vegetables a chance to absorb all that briny goodness. (Careful not to over-marinate; too long, and the lettuce will lose its crunch.)

The Cheese

Provolone. No exceptions.

The Meats

This is when your meat slicer can finally be put to good use.

Choose a spicy Italian meat like capicola or sopressata, and combine it with a good, fatty Genoa salami, some slightly salty quality prosciutto, and some creamy mortadella.

Though balance is key, don’t spend too much time worrying about it: use whatever amount of each your heart desires.

And stay away from plain ham. It’s too watery, and contributes nothing but overall disappointment to the sandwich.

The Building

Press your butterflied crusty loaf down onto your work surface, and brush both sides with just a little olive oil. Drain the salad to rid it of any excess moisture.

While that drains, layer the meats on one half, and top with the Provolone. When the salad looks light enough, put a good layer over the cheese, and fold the bread over to complete.

Served with chips or even by itself, you’ll find the sandwich you make after following these simple steps to rival anything you’d find in New York, Chicago, or even Rome.