Here is a basic recipe for making Pane di San Giuseppe in a braid form...

Ingredients

• 2/3 cup warm milk, 110 degrees F.
• 1 package dry active yeast
• 3 cups bread flour
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 2 tablespoons melted butter
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon anise seed or 1 teaspoon anise extract
• 1 beaten egg for glaze
• Sesame seeds for topping

Directions

1. Dissolve the yeast into the warm milk and allow to proof until it becomes foamy on top.
2. Place 1 cup of flour and salt into the bowl of your electric mixer and briefly mix well using a dough hook. Then add the yeast mixture and blend at low speed. Scrape down sides as needed.
3. Next, add the melted butter and honey, then mix for a minute or two while adding the eggs, anise seed/extract. 
4. Gradually add more flour, little by little, scraping down sides as needed, then mix on medium until you see strands of gluten developing. Depending on humidity, you might now need all the flour. The dough should be sticky but forming into a rough, sticky ball.
5. Place the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and knead for several minutes, producing a smooth ball of dough.
6. Transfer the dough to an bowl wiped with olive oil. Cover and allow to rise in a warm place until doubled in volume.
7. Gently punch the dough down, then place onto lightly floured surface and cut into three equal parts. 
8. Roll each piece of dough into ropes, each about 16-18" long.
9. Place the ropes parallel to each other onto a half sheet baking pan lined with a sheet of parchment. Then gently braid the ropes together, tucking under the ends. Cover with plastic wrap and place in a warm place to rise for another hour.
10. Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
11. Once the dough is risen, brush with the beaten egg, then sprinkle with sesame seeds.
12. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until golden brown and a straw when pierced into the middle of the bread comes out clean.
13. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

--GVI

The key phrase on these products is "Limoncello INSPIRED creations". Barely lemon flavor. Mostly artificial flavoring.  But, really now... cups?

Maybe they're scented. Nope... just the same yellow plastic cups they sell on other shelves.

Nothing to see here... pass it by.

--GVI

One of the cucina povera (poor kitchen) Christmas traditions in Italy is Polenta alla Spianatora (polenta on the board), a rustic meal of polenta served as a dinner during the cold nights between la Vigilia (Christmas Eve) and Capodanno (New Year's Day). What makes this meal so unusual is the manner in which it is served. In the old days, hot polenta was poured and spread out directly on the family's wooden table. A slow-cooked sugo (thick, meaty tomato sauce), peas and possibly sausages or pieces of braised pork were arranged in concentric circles. The bits of meat were a real treat for children in the poor, farming communities. Young and old alike were given forks and everyone would make their own trails in the hot mess of deliciousness, each staking out their own section. But as I've been told, in some homes there were rules: you weren't allowed to eat the meat until you ate a path to the center, with some slow eating children not having such luck!

This manner of eating is a celebration of nature from the 15th century when corn was introduced to Italy from the New World. This dish is a celebration of the recent harvest... the circular shape of the polenta represented the sun, and it's corn having come from Mother Earth herself. All the ingredients topping this sun would have also been nurtured by the sun during the growing season: lentils, chickpeas, pork, chicken.

This is an ancient meal that also celebrates life--and family. So everyone was at the table digging in. This is a big meal... with a large amount of polenta traditionally prepared in a copper pot resembling a modern wok.

Nowadays, people tend to use a Spianatora (or spianatoia)--a modern day wooden cutting or pastry board--to pour the polenta onto. There are even some restaurants in southern/central Italy that will service this during the holiday season.

To make this warming meal for your famiglia, first you need to make a Sugo. Here's a link to my own family's Sugo Recipe.

For the Polenta

• 8 cups chicken broth
• 2 teaspoons sea salt
• 4 cups yellow imported Italian polenta

1. Bring the chicken broth to a boil in a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan.
2. After the broth is boiling, add 2 teaspoons of salt.
3. Slowly whisk in the polenta little by little.
4. Reduce the heat to low and cook until the mixture thickens and the polenta is tender still very loose and creamy, but stir constantly. This should take about 20 minutes until it thickens. Once it is thickened, remove from the heat.
5. Prepare a large clean wooden cutting board by rubbing with some Extra Virgin Olive oil, a dusting of course corn meal and a sprinkling of course sea salt.
6. Pour the polenta directly onto a the board and spread into a large circle. Don't use a stone or marble countertop or your polenta will cool off way too fast.
7. Top the entire surface of the polenta with the tomato sauce from your sugo, and then arrange the various meats in the center into concentric circles... perhaps meatballs in the center, sausages around them, and bits of other cooked pork surrounding the rest. One circle can contain peas, lentils (for good fortune in the New Year) or even cooked chickpeas or beans.

Top this beautiful, hot mess with Parmigiano Reggiano  or Romano and invite your amici and famiglia to start scraping.

Buon appetito, Buon Natale and Felice Anno Nuovo!

--Jerry Finzi

When I was a child, my mother would make meatloaf... plain, American style, ketchup covered, meatloaf. Filling, yes, but usually a bit dry and boring. After  learning of the various types of polpettone (Italian meatloaves) they make in Italy, I wanted sometime more tasty with a little bit of a spicy kick. Here's my Polpettone con Salsa di Mele...


For the Polpettone 

1 small onion, finely chopped
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 large egg, beaten
2 cups fresh bread crumbs (honey wheat), cubed
1 cup cinnamon applesauce (of course, you can make your own)
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1 pound ground beef, extra lean
1 pound ground pork
 
For the Glaze 
1 cup cinnamon applesauce
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1 tablespoon honey Dijon mustard
2 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons barbecue sauce (apple maple)
20 “cracks” of freshly ground black pepper

Directions

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
• Finely chop onion and then sauté in canola oil until onions start to caramelize and brown in color. If it looks like they are burning, add a tablespoon of water to the pan as needed until they are a nutty brown color.
• Put ground beef and pork in mixing bowl, then add salt. Gently mix the two meats together.
• In another bowl, mix the breadcrumbs, pepper, egg, onions, one (1) cup of applesauce and mix well (gently toss).
• Add the breadcrumb mixture into the meat and gently mix until combined. Do not over mix.
• Shape the mixture into a metal loaf pan, rounding over the sides to come away from the pan's sides. Do NOT cover with foil.
• Bake at 425 F for 10 minutes to create a crust, then turn down the oven to 350 F and bake for 1-1/2 hours.
• Meanwhile, make the glaze…  Combine the remaining 1 cup applesauce, cider vinegar, mustard and brown sugar in a small saucepan. Crack the pepper into the mix. Heat and stir until blended and the brown sugar is incorporated.
• After the first half hour of bake time, spoon some of the apple glaze over the top of the meatloaf to coat it.
• If needed, brush the top of the meatloaf with some glaze, reserving some for a topping.
• If there seems to be too much moisture around the sides of the pan, use a turkey baster to remove some liquid. If too dry, add more glaze.
• Let meatloaf sit for 20 minutes before serving.

Serve with some of the glaze on top of each slice, with a side of either potato croquettes or homemade spätzle (like they make in the Alto Aldige region of Northern Italy).

Of course, best served with a bottle of Italian sparkling cider.

Just in time for the holidays... Autumn Beet Tart!
(Easier to say than Torta d'Autunno con Barbabietola, wouldn't you agree?)

For the Crust:
1 cup of all purpose flour
3/4 cup almond flour
3 teaspoons yeast
1/4 cup water
4 tablespoons of cane sugar
2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon of ground fennel seeds
1 pinch of salt
1 beaten egg

For the Filling:
2 large beet roots, steamed
1/2 brown sugar

Directions

• In a bowl, mix the flour, sugar, almond flour, water, extra virgin olive oil and yeast dissolved in a little water: knead and let rise for about half an hour.
• Add the salt and the ground fennel, then let rise until doubled.
• Prepare the filling: After steaming, slice ​​beets thinly, then place in a pan with medium heat, until they are caramelized.
• Roll out the dough and spread it in a a pie pan (glass or ceramic works best for this recipe), then trim the sides. Retain some of the dough for decoration.
• Layer in the beets and sprinkle with brown sugar.
• Form decorations for the top... vines, grapes, leaves, etc. Brush with beaten egg.
• Bake at 350 F until golden brown.

Note: As an option, place pieces of feta cheese mixed into the filling before baking. Serve with a Vin Santo.

When we spent some time on the Amalfi Coast, one of our goals was to visit "the" ceramics town--Vietri sul Mare, just west of Salerno. One of its must-see places to visit was the amazing Ceramica Artistica Solimene, one of the most iconic artisan shops for Vietri ceramics. Rather than the geometri, Renaissance designs of other ceramic design shops, Solemene's designs are childlike, with free-handed strokes and creatures and colors of the life along the Amalfi Coast... fish, octopus, pigs, chickens and donkeys.  

The building which houses the "factory" (if you can call it that, since all the ceramics are made by and painted by hand), is itself a work of art, commissioned by Vincenzo Solimene and completed in 1954. Architect Paolo Soleri designed this masterpiece of architecture, a mid-century modern homage to ceramics, with its inverted, cone shaped exterior covered with terracotta discs.

The interior houses a sales area on the first floor open to the skylights on the roof, with a ramp that spirals upward (no stairs, but there is a small elevator) to different levels where the clay is formed, sculpted and then painted. The spiraling design is similar to modern parking garages.

Chain smoking artisans welcome visitors and will even give short lessons on their techniques (our son--then 11--was shown how to attach a handle to a cup). Visiting the Solimene factory can be considered the highlight of spending some time in Vietri sul Mare's ceramics district--there are scores of ceramic shops within a few blocks.

The family business has been creating ceramics for more than a century and has produced tableware, garden ceramics and pots, sculptural pieces, floor and wall tiles--all worked and painted entirely by hand, using a combination of modern and ancient techniques, such as the potter's wheel. Their tableware is food safe (they utilize lead-free glazes) and can even withstand dishwashers. In our own Pennsylvania villa, we serve our meals on Solimene ceramics. So far, in about 5 years, no chips--just compliments.

--Jerry Finzi

Pungitopo is actually a member of the lily family closely related to asparagus botanically speaking. It and was once used in Europe make small brooms to clean butchers' chopping blocks. It's scent had the ability deter rodents from taking an interest in meats hanging to cure. The plant is well known throughout Italy, Europe and to the British Isles. Other common names are jew’s myrtle, sweet broom, kneeholy, pettigree, knee holly, kneeholm. In Italy, they will also be known as asparagi selvatici (wild asparagus) or portafortuna natalizio (Christmas Luck), referring to the time of year it is usually enjoyed in the Italian kitchen.

It is mostly harvested nowadays for its thick, brown rhizome, which is harvested in the fall when the plant stores most of its energy for winter. It's herbal use is to make healing teas.

There use can be as simple as boiling or steaming and served with butter or olive oil, the was asparagus are served. The softer buds are used in fritatta, frittella (fritters), risotto or in pasta dishes. Their taste is bitter but the buds alone are a bit sweeter. Here are a few ideas...

--GVI