Simple Italy

Celebrating Your Inner Italian

SimpleItaly on WFMZ-TV

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Sharon Sanders (L-R), Chef Mike Pichetto of Vintage Restaurant, Eve Tannery, Ron Martin, and Walter Sanders.

Sharon Sanders (L-R), Chef Mike Pichetto of Vintage Restaurant and 3rd & Ferry, Eve Tannery, Ron Martin, and Walter Sanders in the WFMZ-TV Sunrise Kitchen.

This morning, Chef Mike Pichetto of Vintage Restaurant and Wine Bar,  and SimpleItaly’s Sharon Sanders cooked up a sneak preview of the sumptuous dinner that will be served at the RMG Insurance Golf & Gourmet event to benefit the State Theatre Freddy Awards on Thurs., Sept. 18 at the Club at Morgan Hill, Easton, Pa. Chef Mike prepared Gorgonzola Chicken Thighs with Braised Red Cabbage and Sharon made Panna Cotta with Caramel Sauce and Raspberries. Both recipes are from Cooking Up an Italian Life. We were in the WFMZ-TV kitchen with News at Sunrise host Eve Tannery and Ron Martin, the maestro of the annual charity event, from RMG Insurance. Click here to watch the segment–Sharon’s demo follows Chef Mike’s–and get the recipes!

Creamy Panna Cotta is the dessert equivalent of a white silk blouse. Here, it's accessorized with caramel drizzle and fresh raspberries.

Creamy Panna Cotta is the dessert equivalent of a white silk blouse. Here, it’s accessorized with caramel drizzle and fresh raspberries.

 

Southern Italian Desserts

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Crostata al Gelo di Mellone (watermelon pudding tart) from Sicily graces the book's cover.

Crostata al Gelo di Mellone (watermelon pudding tart) from Sicily graces the cover.

I don’t know why Rosetta Costantino’s family emigrated from the small southern Italian hill town of Verbicaro to the San Francisco Bay Area when she was 14. But I am grateful they did.

Had Costantino remained in her native Calabria, I doubt I would be salivating over her new book Southern Italian Desserts. Written with Jennie Schacht, it is a meticulously researched cultural accounting. The book includes 76 recipes for traditional sweets from the regions of Calabria, Campania, Basilicata, Puglia, and Sicily. Some of the pastries, such as Cannoli, are familiar to English-speaking bakers but many, such as Biscotti di Ceglie (almond cookies filled with cherry preserves), are revelations.

With photography by Sara Remington and Ten Speed Press’s signature high-quality production values, the volume is as visually appealing as its recipes are alluring.(Ten Speed also published Costantino’s first book My Calabria.)

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