Welcome Italian Food Forever Subscribers!

July has absolutely flown by and we are now already halfway through our stay here in Umbria. Our season here in Italy is always a very busy, exciting time for us though it does seem to go by too quickly.

Our farmhouse rental Il Casale di Mele is now completely booked until the end of October when we will harvest our olives so we will be welcoming many new folks to our little piece of paradise here in Umbria over the upcoming weeks. We have been truly blessed the past five years to have had the best guests stay with us, and many have returned to stay with us again after their first visit. We are also booking up quickly for 2014, and have four weeks already booked with three more pending, so 2014 looks to be another great year!

Having guests and a large property to take care of occupies a lot of our time, but we do like to stop and "smell the roses" as the saying goes, or in our case, enjoy the amazing Umbrian sunsets as shown in my photo, as often as we can.

We have family leaving today with more arriving tomorrow, and lots of summer festivals planned to take place in the small towns around us over the next few weeks, so the rest of the summer will be very busy indeed. Hope you are all having a great summer as well!

Pasta with Shrimp, Zucchini, & Cherry Tomatoes
We recently had a very busy day and decided to grab a pizza out at a local pizzeria. We were surprised to learn when we arrived that they too were offering a seafood menu on Thursdays and Fridays each week. Having already made my mind up that I was having pizza, I turned down the seafood menu, but one pasta dish had grabbed my attention and almost made me change my mind. The dish was fresh pasta with zucchini, shrimps, and cherry tomatoes. This pasta dish looked delicious, and though I didn't order it, I had it on my mind for the next couple of weeks until I made it myself at home. Get The Recipe......

Beer Batter Zucchini Flowers
There are times when I honestly think I grow zucchini in our garden just so I can pick fresh zucchini flowers whenever I feel the urge. Zucchini flowers are light and delicate and really do not have a lot of flavor on their own, but are perfect to stuff, bread, or dip into a batter and fry as in this recipe. I made these beer batter zucchini flowers a few times while my family was here in Umbria visiting and they were thoroughly enjoyed by almost everyone. Get The Recipe......

Panzanella Salad with Artichokes, Black Olives, & Capers @ SeriousEats
As we move into the heart of summer and plump, juicy tomatoes begin to ripen on the vine, I start to crave Panzanella. The simple, rustic salad from central Italy is made with stale bread and ripe tomatoes, epitomizing the classic Italian tradition of using leftover ingredients to create an amazing dish. The Panzanella bread is soaked in cold water, squeezed dry, and then mixed with other ingredients and dressed with a red wine vinaigrette. Read More......

Prosciutto Wrapped Stuffed Summer Figs
I love figs, so when they are available I can eat them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and not tire of them. White summer figs are just now being sold, so when I saw them on a recent trip to the Perugia market I picked some up. I had family visiting at the time, so I decided to use my figs for a light appetizer, first stuffed with goat cheese, and then wrapped with prosciutto. Just before serving, I drizzled the figs with a little aged balsamic vinegar and they were delicious. Get The Recipe......

Spicy Stewed Zucchini
We are in the middle of the summer season which means that we have zucchini growing like weeds in our garden. For whatever reason, zucchini is always one vegetable that always produces well for us…… too well in fact! I came across this recipe when looking through some old gardening magazines before I threw them out, and simply made a few changes to make the recipe more appealing to my personal taste. Get The Recipe......

Zucchini Toss
As I strolled into my kitchen with yet another armful of zucchini from our garden, I seriously thought of hiding them so I wouldn't have to deal with them, but my conscience got the better of me and I tossed them into the sink for a quick wash. I decided quickly that I wanted to make a simple side dish to go along with our grilled veal that evening, but didn't want to fuss as it was simply too warm. Get The Recipe......