Peach and chocolate amaretti cake recipe

It feels a bit strange to welcome fall into the kitchen with a recipe that tastes so much like summer, like this amaretti cake with peaches and chocolate. It’s all because of this summer, which began in May and still doesn’t seem ready to end, even though the calendar says otherwise. Finally, temperatures are dropping a bit,…

ByMonica10 October 20260Comments

Breakfast and Merenda Cakes and Cookies COURSES OCCASIONS RECIPES

Jam tart 125 (egg-free). A simple recipe and the power of word of mouth

The 125 tart is made with four ingredients in equal amounts, 125 grams each. Four-quarter cakes are soft, buttery desserts made with four basic ingredients: flour, butter, sugar, and eggs, in equal amounts. Usually, the weight of the eggs determines the quantities of the other ingredients, making it a perfect base for tall, fluffy cakes. All clear? Well,…

ByMonica13 March 20260Comments

Appetizers COURSES Main Course RECIPES

Tortelli alla lastra. Traditional stuffed pie from Romagna

Tortelli alla lastra and bartolacci are the same thing. The term bartolaccio refers to tortelli alla lastra from the village of Tredozio, a town in the Romagna Apennines, part of the area known as Romagna-Toscana. Every year, this town holds a festival dedicated to bartolaccio. Compared to the tortelli alla lastra, common in Romagna and Tuscany,…

ByMonica27 November 20250Comments

Breakfast and Merenda OCCASIONS RECIPES

Bread of the Dead (Piada dei Morti). A typical fall recipe from Emilia-Romagna

The Piada dei Morti ( pida di murt ) is one of the Italian versions of the Bread of the Dead (Pan de Muertos). This recipe is traditional in the Romagna area, specifically from the province of Rimini and the municipalities of San Mauro Pascoli, Gatteo, and Savignano sul Rubicone in the province of Forlì-Cesena.…

ByMonica26 October 20240Comments

Cakes and Cookies COURSES RECIPES

Cocoa and ricotta cake. About a weekend kitchen project

Stroll through the stalls of one of the food markets that, every Sunday morning, you can find in my neighborhood. I am one among many, the still floppy cotton shopper slung over my shoulder lazily waiting to be filled. I glance at the food the stalls offer, looking more carefully at my favorites. I take…

ByMonica26 April 20242Comments

COURSES Desserts OCCASIONS RECIPES Sunday Lunch

Chocolate salami (without eggs). Nonna’s recipes

If a book about grandmothers served the purpose of not missing mine, I would look for it. I'm usually able to manage memories, but some days, it is hard to manage their B-sides. Yes, memories have two sides, like coins and old vinyl records. Side A makes memories a soft dough that will rise in the oven; it…

ByMonica1 March 20240Comments

Breakfast and Merenda Cakes and Cookies COURSES OCCASIONS RECIPES

5 minutes cake, a typical recipe of Emilia-Romagna

In this gastronomic journey along the Via Emilia in search and rediscovery of familiar memories and flavors, sometimes it happens that I discover little culinary surprises. Recipes I have never heard of, such as the 5 minutes cake or, in Italian, torta dei cinque minuti. Honestly, I was surprised to discover that The Slow Food Dictionary…

ByMonica8 February 20244Comments

Aperitivo Breads and Pizza OCCASIONS RECIPES

Savory potato chifel (bread), and a forgotten Bolognese history

That is the Bolognese recipe for non-Bolognese chifel. It sounds bizarre, I know. Now I'll tell you the story. The recipe for chifel (or chiffel or kipfel) demonstrates how recipes are travelers with great adaptability. From Austria, Kipfel means half-moon in German. And it is the shape created by Viennese baker Peter Vendier to celebrate the defeat of…

ByMonica26 January 20240Comments

Breakfast and Merenda Cakes and Cookies COURSES OCCASIONS RECIPES

Bustrengo cake: a pantry staple recipe from Romagna

The bustrengo cake is a pantry staple recipe from the peasant tradition of Romagna. But it is widespread beyond also. It is an ancient recipe that the gastronome Graziano Pozzetto, an expert on the cuisine of Romagna, defines as the cake of the peasant family because prepared with the ingredients usually available in the pantry. A pantry…

ByMonica26 February 20220Comments

Bologna Food Breakfast and Merenda Cakes and Cookies COURSES OCCASIONS RECIPES

Traditional ciambella of Imola recipe

This traditional ciambella of Imola is a recipe from San Domenico, a starred restaurant in the small Romagna town where I was born and raised. I could say it is a starred ciambella. A few years ago, I wrote a cookbook with a journalist friend. The book Presto ch'è pronto, written by a journalist friend and me…

ByMonica9 July 20212Comments