The Mediterranean diet offers a great variety and with a little creativity and the right ingredients, it is easier than ever to enjoy a delicious meal also during a hot summer day.
Some of my favorite Italian recipes for summer are also super easy to make and are perfect for an outdoor lunch with the family or to bring with you on a local trip to discover nature.
Here are some of my go-to recipes for hot summer days:
The no-bake king of Italian desserts!
If you asked me which is the best comfort food I would definitely say home-made Tiramisu! This typical Italian dessert is easy to make and delicious. Perfect for every season, it is almost impossible to find anybody who doesn’t love it!
The secret, as always, is choosing good quality ingredients. This is a no-bake dessert so fresh eggs are a must!
Here is my shopping list for the perfect Tiramisu:
300 gr Savoiardi (Ladyfingers) cookies
Try this easy recipe and enjoy warm bread at home every day!
Growing up in an Italian family means that I am used to having fresh bread on my table every day.
My home-made Colomba recipe for Easter
“Colomba” means dove in Italian and the name comes from the unique shape of this precious dessert: this Easter cake is a symbol of peace and love and it is a must of the Italian Easter holidays.
This year I tried for the first time to bake a Colomba at home. The process is quite long and complex and made me appreciate even more the amazing artisanal Colomba by Borsari that we sell on BellaItalia, but it was an exciting experience and allowed me to personalize the recipe: my kids are not great fans of candied fruit so I tried making Colomba with chocolate chips, and they loved it!
My recipe for the Italian Easter Cake: bake your Pastiera at home!
It wouldn’t be Easter without Pastiera!
Legends say that the traditional Pastiera Napoletana was firs baked in a Neapolitan convent. The nuns wanted the cake to have the perfume of the flowers of the orange trees which grew in the convent’s gardens. What we know for certain is that the nuns of the ancient convent of San Gregorio Armeno were always considered to be geniuses in the complex preparation of the Pastiera, but after some years of experimenting in the kitchen, I perfected my recipe too!
Zeppole di San Giuseppe: the traditional Italian recipe for Father’s Day
On March 19th in Italy is impossible to miss the smell of freshly baked or fried Zeppole. This dessert tastes always amazing but it is traditionally served on father’s day.
This tradition was born as a way to honor the day of Sait Joseph, the father of Jesus, who to support his family took up also the job of “frittellaro” - selling fried sweets. We don’t know if this story is true, but what is certain is that the tradition of cooking Zeppole on father’s day stick to this day and we love to honor it!
On the 8th of March International Women's Day is celebrated around the world. Every country has its own tradition and in Italy it is customary to gift a Golden Wattle flower - in Italian Mimosa.
What we feel is most important about this day is that it is celebrated to remember the rights obtained by women in the last century and those still to be obtained.
The tradition to gift Golden Wattle on this day is typically Italian: Do you know why?
The secret for a great Italian Aperitivo!
An Aperitif is a drink, usually alcoholic, served before a meal to stimulate the appetite, but for some people, especially in Italy, “Aperitivo” is almost a lifestyle!
For us, this is the perfect excuse to meet friends at a bar and eat some delicious food while also sipping a glass of wine or the king of aperitif cocktails: a Spritz!
Panettone and Pandoro are classic desserts for the Holidays. For us, they are not just a treat on the Christmas table, we love to eat them also for breakfast and with every toast and celebration: from Santo Stefano to New Year’s Eve!
But Pandoro and Panettone alone can become a bit boring...so it is becoming a new tradition for me to add delicious creams to these desserts to make it even more difficult to resist!
Next November 28th we will celebrate our sixth Thanksgiving in the United States and I have been thinking about how this day means a lot to me and my family even if we only moved back here in the United States in 2014.
As I told in the About Us section of this site, I was born here and I spent my first years in the Italian Delicatessen that my parents used to run in the Bronx.
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