Recipes

Pasta e ceci

Quick, hearty, and delicious, this pasta e ceci (pasta and chickpeas) is just what you want for dinner on a cold day.

Marcella Hazan's Tomato, Butter, and Onion Sauce

This sauce is genius, both for its simplicity and ease but also its incredible depth of flavor. The onion here infuses the tomatoes with a subtle sweetness, and the butter rounds off and softens their usual acidity, all the while giving the whole thing an incredible richness.

PastaFrancesca BruzzeseSeptember 11, 2017easy, italian recipes, pasta and risotto, savory Comments

Pasta con pesce spada e melanzane

Pasta with lots of juicy summer tomatoes, creamy mild eggplant, and substantial, steak-like swordfish, all tied together with a sprinkling of bright fresh parsley. This dish is extremely easy to throw together, and a nice change of pace from the usual spaghetti alle vongole that is so popular here in Italy June-August.

Pasta al Pesto di Pistacchio

Pesto with a flavor that is more nuanced and complex than your usual basil pesto, thanks to not just the typical flower-y basil but also bright, refreshing parsley; the pistachios have a stronger, nuttier, more substantial flavor than the mild-flavored pine nuts that you usually find in pesto. The garlic adds a little spicy sharpness and a boost of flavor, and the cheese, well -- a good dose of cheese is always a good idea, especially where pasta is concerned.

Pasta, VegetarianFrancesca BruzzeseJune 23, 2017easy, italian recipes, pasta and risotto, summerComment

Pasta con fave, pecorino, e guanciale

Pasta with fave, pecorino, e guanciale, a dish that preserves the classic primo maggio flavors while also transforming them in to a complete dish, a luxurious meal rather than a simple snack.

Tonnarelli cacio e pepe

Fresh tonnarelli, dressed to the nines in a luscious, cheese-y sauce whose richness is interrupted only by the underlying heat of the black pepper. A dish of this will transport you directly to the Eternal City, guaranteed.

Canederli with butter and sage

Bread dumplings hailing from the North of Italy, light and fluffy and, jam-packed with gooey melt-y cheese, salty rich speck, and sunny bright parsley, divine when served with a spoonful or two or three of toasty sage brown butter.

Pappardelle con Zucca e Funghi Porcini

Thick ribbons of pappardelle with sweet roasted squash, earthy mushrooms, and caramelized onions. Yummm.

Spaghetti with Super Quick Cherry Tomato Sauce

This a no frills recipe -- we have just olive oil, tomatoes, garlic, basil, and spaghetti, perhaps the simplest cut of pasta. The star of the dish, not surprisingly, are the peak-of-the-season cherry tomatoes, cooked in lots of silky olive oil until they burst and cook down to become their own quick sauce.

Pasta, Vegetarian, VeganFrancesca BruzzeseAugust 19, 2016easy, italian recipes, pasta and risotto, summer, veggiesComment

Sun-dried Tomato Pesto Pasta

Just a few ingredients and a whirl or two in the food processor and you have one of the most exciting sauces ever to be tossed with pasta. Don't estimate the short ingredient list, either, as all four pack a punch: intensely flavorful sun-dried tomatoes, peppery garlic, fresh and sunny basil, and salty rich Parmesan makes for a loud in-your-face sauce (in a good way).

Pasta, VegetarianFrancesca BruzzeseJuly 6, 2016Rome, easy, italian recipes, pasta and risotto, savory, summerComment

Pici with sausage ragù

A recipe that exemplifies the sort of simplicity of Italian cuisine that I have come to love — this delicious ragù comes together to make an amazing dish with minimal effort, with a certain depth and richness of flavor that makes it seem like it has been simmering for hours.

PastaFrancesca BruzzeseJune 10, 2015easy, italian recipes, pasta and risotto, savory, winterComment

Rigatoni with Eggplant, Tomatoes, and Mozzarella

Rigatoni with a melanzane alla parmigiana twist.

Pasta, VegetarianFrancesca BruzzeseMay 27, 2015easy, italian recipes, pasta and risotto, savory, summer, veggiesComment

Fettuccine with Brie, Tomatoes and Basil

Here the olive oil, brie, and tomatoes combine to make a fantastic no cook sauce, and the longer you let the ingredients marinate, the better the sauce becomes. The brie is an unusual touch to the pasta – usually mozzarella would be the traditional accompaniment to the basil and tomato combination, but it switches things up a bit and gives the dish a nice richness.