Carnevale has come and gone and the Lenten season is in full swing. In case you missed it, I told my Facebook fans about my plan, not to give something up for Lent, but to spend a little time each day doing something for someone else. So … if YOU need something, just shoot me a message and if possible-and legal!-I’ll happily oblige.

One of the traditions I’m not tweaking this year is the Catholic obligation to abstain from meat on Fridays. This doesn’t mean you are sentenced to six weeks of grilled cheese sandwiches and cheese pizza. Oh no, my friends, Italian food was created for vegetarians. With the rich array of cheese, vegetables and pasta, there is no limit to what you can do senza carne.

To help you get started, here are five of my favorite meatless Italian recipes.

1. Pasta Puttanesca

This salty concoction takes its name from the ladies of the night, but with black olives, capers and anchovies, it doesn’t matter what it is called, as long as it good. And trust me, it is good.

2. Shrimp and Asparagus Pasta

Crunchy asparagus and fresh shrimp are sauteed in butter and tossed with penne pasta. Does it get any better than this?

3. Gorgonzola and Grape Bruschetta

You might think bruschetta is just an appetizer, but if you eat enough of it-and believe, you’ll eat a lot of it-then it is a safe bet you won’t go to bed hungry. This bruschetta recipe calls for a bit of cream cheese, Gorgonzola cheese, sauteed onions and plump red grapes. Yum!

4. Cacio e Pepe

This is one of my favorite Roman recipes and it is ideal for a meatless Friday during Lent, a quick, easy pasta dish at the end of of a long day or a nice surprise for your vegetarian friends … and really, Italian cooking doesn’t get any easier than this.

5. Pasta e Ceci (Chickpea pasta)

This pasta dish is like chicken soup for the Calabrian soul. It is healthy, it is hearty and it is wholesome. Oh, and it is also delicious.

What is your favorite meatless Italian recipe to cook during Lent?

PS: Gina of Warm October is the winner of a bottle of Calabrian Olive Oil and Paula of Paula’s Talk won  a $50 gift certificate to Monica’s Fine Foods. Thank you to everyone who played along and auguri to our winners!

Before I moved to Italy cooking was somewhat of a chore for me … I was cooking for one, it wasn’t fun and I was trapped in an endless cycle of repeated recipes and take out (more on this later).

Now that I am here in the bel paese, I figure I can spice things up. And who better to spice things up with, than my caro marito?

Ahem.

You see, the truth is that even in the gastronomical capital of the world, well-meaning couples can fall into the routine of eating the same thing. Over and over. And over. Again.

(See? I told you you’d hear that again!)

So, starting tomorrow my husband and I are taking the *No Repeated Recipe Challenge (that we created ourselves) and are vowing not to repeat recipes for the whole month of September.

To kick things off, we challenged each other to a bruschetta “bake” off and while I’m not gonna tell you who won (cause, uhm, that would be mean) I will tell you that it is my recipe featured today.

So without further fanfare, I present to you …

Gorgonzola and Grape Bruschetta

Ingredients:
- Homemade Italian bread (sliced)
- Red Onion (finely chopped)
- Olive Oil
- Cream cheese
- Gorgonzola
- Red Grapes (cut into fourths)

Directions:

1. Slice your bread and place it on a grill, turn if necessary.

2. Saute onions while bread is grilling.

3. Spread a thin layer of cream cheese over bread as soon as you remove it from the grill.

4. Cover with a spoon of sauteed onions.

5. Sprinkle chunks of Gorgonzola over the onions.

6. Top with small pieces of red grapes.

Buon Appetito!

* To follow along with our progress-or to take the challenge yourself-follow My Bella Vita on Facebook and receive a link to a new recipe every Monday-Friday throughout September.

 
See those leaves up there?
 
Well, technically they are in our backyard year-round. What is not there year-round are those plump, light green balls of figlish deliciousness you see buried among them.
 
You know, figs are the summertime fruit here in bella Calabria … in fact, they are so popular, people have been known to beg, steal or borrow them from our their neighbor’s yard. But no. I’m no, I’m not bitter.
 
Lucky for me, we have plenty to go around.
 
Unluckily for me, it took me a couple of summers of seeing ‘em before I tried them. Back in the states, the closest I had gotten to a fig was the newton and well, justice was not done.
 
Last summer, I gave in and can I just tell you, it was a loooong 11 months before they came back.
 
My favorite way to eat figs, besides after lunch, dinner or as a snack, is as part of a healthy breakfast. And since a typical Italian breakfast normally consists of coffee and a pastry, this summertime treat is a welcome change for my ever-widening backside.
 
Here is what you do.
 
1. Go in your backyard, or your neighbor’s backyard, or the market, or the grocery store and gather up some of the best figs you can find.
 

 
2. Peel them, slice them and place them on a plate with a couple of slices of fresh Italian bread.
 

 
3. Enjoy!
 
Do you like figs? What is your favorite way to eat them?
 

 
There is just something about summertime that makes you want to dig into fresh, fruit-flavored desserts that are taste light as air … or well, if you are like me-there is just something about ANY time that makes you want to do that. While it is true that even the finest chefs in Italy can’t stand the summer heat, some sweets are worth that extra hour or three in the kitchen and this cream and limoncello-filled dessert, my friends, is one of them.
 
Delizie al Limone
 
1. Pan di Spagna (cake)
Ingredients:
>> 4 eggs
>> 1/2 cup sugar
>> just under 1/2 cup flour
>> 1 tablespoon vanilla
 
Directions:
 
1. In one bowl, beat the egg yolks and sugar until peaks form.
 
2. In a separate bowl, whip the egg whites until foamy, then add to the first egg and sugar mixture.
 
3. Slowly add the flour and vanilla, mixing the entire time.
 
4. Pour into a six-muffin pan and bake for 40 minutes at 300° F.
 
2. Pastry Cream
Ingredients:
>> 3 tablespoons of sugar
>> 1 1/2 tablespoons of flour
>> 1 egg yolk
>> 1 tablespoon vanilla
>> 3/4 cup milk
>> 1 1/2 tablespoons whipping cream
>> 1 shot of limoncello
 
Directions:
 
1. In a pot, combine the milk, egg yolk, sugar, flour and vanilla, and whip until smooth.
 
2. Heat the mixture until it is lightly boiling, then reduce heat and continue mixing for a few more seconds.
 
3. Let the mixture cool.
 
4. In a separate bowl, beat the whipping cream until peaks form.
 
5. Add the blended milk mixture and limoncello and continue to mix until blended.
 
3. Soak
Ingredients:
>> 1/2 cup of milk
>> 1 tablespoon of sugar
>>1 shot of limoncello
 
Directions:
 
1. Combine all of the ingredients and mix until sugar is dissolved.
 
4. Final Cream
Ingredients:
>> 1 1/2 cups of whipping cream
>> 1 shot of limoncello
>> 1 shot of cream limoncello (optional)
 
Directions:
 
1. Beat the cream until peaks form, then add the two shots of limoncello.
 
Final Assembly:
 
1. Slice the bottoms off of each cake and scoop some crumbs from inside the larger piece to create a cavity. Don’t throw away the crumbs-you will need them later.
 

 
2. Moisten the cavity of the cakes with the “soak” until lightly wet. (1-2 tablespoons).
 
3. Fill the cavity of the cakes with the cream, then cover with the crumbs and the base.
 
4. Line the bottom of a glass dish with a layer of “final cream,” then place the cakes on top of the cream.
 

 
5. Generously cover the cakes with the remaining “final cream” and decorate with a thin slice of lemon peel.
 

 
Buon Appetito!
 
And Happy Fourth of July!
 

And no. I don’t mean sticky, gluey, undercooked, overcooked or otherwise inedible pasta. I mean bad pasta. As in “lady of the night” bad. Whore bad. Hooker bad.

Or as we they say in Italy … Puttana bad.

Yep. That’s right. One of Italy’s most famous pasta sauces gets its name from the run-around wife who, according to one of our Roman friends, would rush home after an elicit love affair and whip up an easy pasta sauce for her husband and children.

Sound crazy?

Well it might be. I tried to confirm the origins of this sauce with another Roman friend who said the name derived from the 1950’s when whore houses were a big business and a brothel’s madam would entice customers to their house with the promise of dinner … then dessert.

Diane Seed confirms this theory in her book Top 100 Pasta Sauces when she writes that “Italian housewives usually shop at the market every day to buy fresh food, but the (brothel employees) were only allowed one day a week for shopping, and their time was valuable. Their specialty became a sauce made quickly from odds and ends.”

Ahhh … Italians.

Well, even if you are a good girl, you can spice things up and make Pasta Puttanesca tonight for your friends, your husband … or your lover.

Here’s the deal.

Ingredients*:
(Serves two)
>> 1/2 pound of pasta
>> 1/4 cup of black olives
>> 1 tablespoon of capers
>> 1 large can of tomato sauce
>> Olive oil
>> Garlic

Directions:

1. Boil pasta in salted water.

2. Lightly saute garlic in olive oil, then add tomato sauce and cook for 10 minutes.

3. Add chopped olives and capers (unless you are lazy like me-then you can just toss them in) and cook for another 10-15 minutes.

4. Add to pasta and serve without cheese.

* The original recipe calls for anchovies (1-3) but since I’m not a fan, I always omit them. If you like, grind them with your fork and add them to the olive oil before you add the tomato sauce.

Buon Appetito!

 
Even before I moved to Italy I was a sucker for a good homemade pasta sauce with crisp, fresh vegetables. Now that I’m here? Well … it is darn near an obsession. So you can imagine I jumped at the opportunity to have shrimp and asparagus pasta when I visited Carn e Vino Ristorante last month.
 
And since you know my hubby is Italy’s answer to Emeril Lagasse-or at least, Viale Isonzo’s prompt response-then you shouldn’t be surprised to know he rushed home to recreate the dish.
 
His version of Carn e Vino’s Spinach and Gorgonzola Pasta was featured in my newsletter “Questo Mese in Italia” a few months ago (click here to receive the newsletter), but since spring is ending and fresh asparagus will soon be in short supply (and because I’m just a tad bit hungry) I’ll present this recipe right here-right now.
 
Shrimp and Asparagus Penne Pasta
 

 
Ingredients:
(Serves two)
>> 1 tablespoon of butter
>> 8 ounces of shrimp
>> 2 large asparagus stems per person
>> 2 large tablespoons heavy cream
>> splash of milk (optional)
>> 8 ounces penne pasta
 
Directions:
 
1. Add pasta to boiling, salted water and cook until al dente
 
2. In pan, melt the butter and cook the asparagus until desired texture (I like mine very crisp, my husband likes his very soft, so we compromise.)
 
3. Add the shrimp and cook for a few minutes until done
 
4. Stir in the cream until heated and add milk, if needed to thin the sauce
 
Buon Appetito!
 
 

 
One of the best things about Rome, as in many Italian cities, is the undeniably delicious food you get to eat when you’re there. Know what’s even more fun? Bringing that dish home with you.
 
Of all of the typically Romano dishes, Cacio e Pepe, is one of the best-and likely the easiest-to make at home.
 
Here is what you need to whip this up at your house.
 
Ingredients:
(Serves two)
>> 200 grams / almost half a pound Spaghetti or Bucatini Pasta
>> 100 grams / 3.5 ounces Pecorino Romani Cheese
>> Fresh Black Pepper
>> One spoon of Butter
 
Directions:
 
1. Boil pasta in heavily salted water until al dente
 
2. In another pan, melt the butter and half of your Pecorino cheese
 
3. Conserve 1/2 cup of the boiling water, then drain the pasta and add it to the pan with the melted cheese
 
4. Generously pepper the mixture
 
5. If sauce is too thick, add the hot salted water, as needed
 
6. Dish the pasta into individual bowls and top with the remaining Pecorino and more black pepper.
 
Buon Appetito!
 
In case you missed previous Rome Week entries-where have you been?-we’ll help you catch up.
 
Weekend in Rome Overview
How NOT to Get Robbed in Rome
Where to Eat in Rome
A Pictorial Tour of Rome: Editor’s Pics
 
Have you tried other Roman specialties? What is your favorite?
 
Buon Weekend!
 

 
In honor of the upcoming Cinco de Mayo holiday, the First of the Month Recipe series and the fact that this month’s guest blogger just. may. be. the cutest I’ve ever had (sorry ex-guest bloggers!) I present to you … Cole Moore-my 8-year-old nephew.
 

 
I’ve written extensively about Cole in the three years since I’ve started My Bella Vita and there is no denying that I not-so-secretly covet my sister’s son. In fact, I gushed about him so extensively in the beginning of my relationship with my husband that his friends thought I was lying to him and that Cole was, in fact, my child.
 
Like  many 8-year-old boys, Cole enjoys playing baseball and beating his high score on his Wii-but he also likes to cook. So please give a warm welcome to one of my favorite people in the world as he shares one of his favorite recipes.
 
Fiesta Taco Pizza – by Cole Moore
 

 
Hi, everybody.
 
Stitch is in the pictures because it is one of his recipes in the book; Disney’s The Magic Kitchen Cookbook.
 
Here are the ingredients:
>> 1 tomato
>> 1 onion
>> 12 ounces ground meat
>> 2/3 cup of salsa
>> 6 tostada shells
>> 1 cup shredded cheese
>> 1/2 to 1 cup shredded lettuce
 
Ok first we set the oven to 375 degrees.
 
We put the tomato and onion on the cutting board, we sharpened the knife and started cutting the tomato and onions.
 
We set the tomato aside for later.
 
Then we put the beef on the skillet and let it cook.  We broke up the meat with the wooden spoon and we put the skillet on the burner.  We turned the burner to medium heat and cooked it until the meat was brown and the onion was tender. It took about 8-10 minutes.
 
Then we turned off the burner and removed the skillet and then drained the meat and then put it back into the skillet.
 
We stirred 2/3 cup of salsa into the meat in the skillet.
 
We arranged the tostado shells on the baking sheet and put the beef mix on the shells and sprinkled it with cheese.  And then let it bake for 10 minutes.
 
We took it out of the oven and put lettuce and tomato on it.
 

 
We made 6 servings.
 
Think you and your kiddos would enjoy making recipes like these? Cole uses Disney’s The Magic Kitchen Cookbook, a 128-page, spiral-bound full-color cookbook where Disney characters show kids how to create healthy, low-fat meals and snacks.
 
Thank you, Cole for sharing these fiesta taco pizzas with us today. I hope you’ll make them for me on my next trip to Texas.
 
Buon Weekend!
 

 
Auguri tutti!
 
Today is the 3rd annual World Nutella Day celebration, brought to you by my bella bloggin’ buddies, Sara at Ms. Adventures in Italy and Michelle from Bleeding Espresso.
 
If you haven’t eaten Nutella, you should immediately report your parents as you were apparently neglected in your formative years … as for me. Well, yes. I was neglected, as well.
 
The first time I had Nutella was in 2000 when I lived in Paris, France. I was at a neighbor’s apartment when she pulled out a jar of dark-brown peanut butter (ok, that is what it looked like to me!) and spread this chocolate-hazelnut delight onto a slice of white bread. She handed it to me.
 
… and I was in love.
 
You can learn more about how World Nutella Day was hatched or peruse the ever-growing recipe list at their site, but first … take a break and have a cookie!
 
In celebration of World Nutella Day 2009, my Nutella-lovin’ hubby and our bed and breakfast guests will dine on Nutella-dipped pecan biscotti (and dip ‘em in nutella cappuccini, of course).
 

 
Nutella-Dipped Pecan Biscotti
(Serves 12 normal people or 3-4 Nutella-crazed Italians)
 
Ingredients:
>> 9 ounces / 200 grams butter
>> 1 1/3 cup / 280 grams white sugar
>> 5 eggs
>> 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
>> 4 3/4 cup / 600 grams all-purpose flour
>> dash of salt
>> 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
>> 7 ounces / 200 grams chopped pecans
 
For Dip
>> 1 tablespoon butter
>> 3 tablespoons Nutella
>> Additional chopped pecans for decoration
 

 
Directions:
 
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F ( 165 degrees C ).
 
2. Warm the butter and mix it with the sugar in a large bowl. Add eggs one at a time and beat until fluffy.
 
3. Stir in the vanilla extract.
 
4. In another bowl, sift the flour, baking powder and salt together.Add the flour mixture to the egg mixture along with the chopped pecans. Stir with a spoon and as the dough comes together.
 
5. Knead by hand and divide the dough into two equal parts.
 
6. Form each piece into a log about 15 inches long and place the logs on a cookie sheet.
 
7. Flatten the logs until they are about 3 inches wide with a slight mound in the middle and bake them for 25-30 minutes, or until the loaves are firm.
 
8. Cut the loaves into diagonal slices 1/2 inch wide, and place the slices back on the cookie sheet.
 
9. Toast on each side for 5-6 minutes, then turn them over to toast the other side.
 
For Dip:
 
1. While the biscotti are baking, melt the butter and half of the Nutella.
 
2. Decorate your biscotti by drizzling them with melted nutella, by spreading Nutella over the top half with a knife or by spreading them with Nutella and then rolling them in chopped pecans.
 
For an additional Nutella-infused breakfast, add a spoon of Nutella to your milk before you foam it to create a Nutella cappuccino.
 

 
Did you participate in World Nutella Day this year? If you did, feel free to leave a comment so we can find you. Otherwise, what is your favorite way to enjoy Nutella?
 
Be sure to check the World Nutella Day website on Monday, February 9 for the 2009 recipe roundup!
 

 
Christmas Eve, or La Vigilia, is one of the biggest feast days in Italy … but, wait. We’ve already talked about that, haven’t we?
 
Known as “The Feast of the Seven Fishes” because southern Italians traditionally served seven different types of seafood, this custom has been passed throughout generations of Italian-Americans, written about and blogged about.
 
Two of my blogging buddies, MaryAnne of Finding La Dolce Vita and Joe at Italyville have teamed up to create an Italian-style Christmas Eve feast like none the blogosphere has ever seen.
 

 
And they asked for help.
 

If you have a great seafood recipe to contribute to the Seven Fishes Feast, here is what you do!
 

Create a fish or shellfish dish and post it on your blog.

 

Display the “Seven Fishes Feast” badge and link back to both Maryann and Joe.

 

Send your entry to joe (at) italyville (dot) com and put “Seven Fishes Feast” in the subject line.

 

Include your name, blog name, url, the name of your recipe with a photo and a link to your post.

 
They will post the recipes as they arrive… so check in with them throughout the week!
 
Oh, also they will chose a name at random on December 19th and the winner will receive a super-cool Calabrian-inspired gift basket.

 
So count me in.
 
This pasta dish is easy, peasy and is a staple at our house year-round.
 
Pasta al Tonno
(Serves 2)
 

 
Ingredients:
>> Canned Tuna (one small can per person)
>> Penne Pasta
>> Olive Oil
>> Parsley
>> Garlic
>> One Fresh Red Pepper
 
Directions:
 
1. Lightly brown garlic in a small amount of olive oil.
 
2. Drain the tuna and add to the pan.
 
3. Slice the pepper in half and add it in with the tuna.
 
3. Cook for 2-3 minutes.
 
4. Add parsley.
 
Enjoy.
 
** See? I told you it was easy peasy! **
 
I’ve already said this is a staple at our place. What are some of your favorite meals to quickly whip up at the end of a long day?