Mangia Con Elena

  Italian Cannellini Bean (White Kidney Beans)and Tuna Salad IG: @mangia.con.elena Another classic quick Italian salad. This salad is traditionally made with just cannellini beans (white kidney beans) , tuna and onions but I like to add crunch to my salads by adding celery and making it even more nutritious by adding fresh tomatoes, peppers and parsley. I enjoy the tuna but I have members of my family that do not so I will add the tuna in later as a topping to my salad and everyone can add what protein or dairy that they like!  Add some crusty bread and finito! I have to admit that I wasn’t a big fan of beans growing up. I am pretty sure it’s because we ate them all the time and there was a period where we ate pasta è fagioli everyday ( It probably wasn’t everyday but in my mind it was). My parents grew their own beans and my mother would add day old bread and make it into ribollita as well (still can’t eat ribollita with bread). It was a tough time when my dad’s mining company went on

  Summer Pasta with Roasted Tomatoes in a Creamy Goat Cheese Sauce IG: @mangia.con.elena I love everything about summer fresh produce and I get pretty excited when the fresh zucchini and other amazing vegetables make their way to the local markets! BUT  the best for me is when the tomatoes are at their prime!  I can not get enough of this delicious, versatile and amazing fruit and vegetable. Did you know that the tomato is both? Just makes it even more incredible. Memories of growing up eating tomatoes fresh off the vine and enjoying them a multitude of different ways in different dishes.  In the fall we would harvest them and spend a week making and preserving passata and tomatoes infused with fresh basil. The smell in my house was just heavenly.  I continue to make many dishes showcasing the amazing tomato and this is a really simple one that combines roasted tomatoes with creamy goat cheese, garlic, oregano and basil.  This pasta dish comes together in the time it takes to put the w

  Pasta with Eggplant with Ricotta and Tomatoes IG: @mangia.con.elena    Eggplant is an Italian vegetable that is incredibly flavourful and used in many authentic Italian dishes. It can have a strong flavour that may be a bit too intense for some palates. Some dishes require you to generously salt the eggplant first, place on a colander and let some of the bitterness leech out. This dish does not require you to do that because the eggplant is peeled and diced into smaller cubes allowing the eggplant to become jammy and milder tasting. It also makes the sauce creamier as well. I used fresh herbs but you can definitely substitute dried- just remember to use less as dried herbs are more aromatic. I also would recommend you use full fat ricotta as it makes the sauce incredibly flavourful.  As with all of my recipes the measurements and ingredients are just estimates and suggestions. Don't like a spice? Then leave it out! If you feel you want more of one ingredient then add more! When i

Growing Up Italian: Humble Beginnings IG: @mangia.con.elena The meaning of "La cucina povera" has evolved and has become synonymous with Italian cooking. It is used in restaurants and food establishments to describe meals that are often decadent and modernized versions of authentic Italian cooking. If you look at the history of how and when la cucina povera actually began you will see that Italian cucina povera  food is basic and simple with minimal ingredients. It was born out of necessity for survival during the Ventennio Fascista (20 years of fascisim) in Italy that spanned from 1922-1943. Italy was in the grips of poverty, rations, chaos and fear. Food was scarce and flour was impossible to get. It was much worse for the peasants and lower class who did not have the means to buy food from the "black market" which was also born out of necessity. If you would like to read a fascinating book about what it was actually like during this time then I would highly recom

Cime di Rape (Rapini) filled Calzone   IG: @mangia.con.elena Pinterest: mangiaconelena Growing up in our Italian household we ate a great deal of pizza. My mother would whip up pizza dough quickly and in no time there would be pizza on the table. Her toppings were not very fancy, a simple tomato and basil, potato and rosemary or salami and onions. Sometimes anchovies or roasted peppers. They were delicious. Her dough was thick and moist and the crust perfect.  She was known for her pizza. When my siblings and myself had people over she made pizza for us. When there was a special celebration there was always pizza on the table, cold or hot. The one pizza we all fought over was her filled pizzas with rapini. We never called them calzones. Calzones are a traditional pizza originating out of Naples and named after the Italian word for the leg of trousers or pants. In our region they are just called "Pizza ripiena con rapini" meaning rapini filled pizza. My  mother's version o

  Pasta with Tuna, Olives and Capers IG : @mangia.con.elena Pinterest: Mangia Con Elena Good Friday is just around the corner and with that comes many traditional foods to mark this significant event in the Catholic Liturgical Calendar.  Good Friday signifies the end of Lent, the crucifixion of Jesus and Easter Monday celebrates his resurrection.  On each Friday during the Lenten season many Catholics abstain from meat and traditionally eat fish. Good Friday in my childhood was a day of fast that would be broken at dinner with a meal consisting of fish. The dish my mother served frequently was spaghetti with tuna and olives in a rich and spicy tomato sauce. Along side the pasta there was usually a pinzimonio which is cut up vegetables, olives, cheese and other finger foods as well as pizza filled with rapini and a salad.  I have always loved my mother's pasta con tonno. I loved the smell of it and the taste is incredible. I know that it is not for everyone, however I would highly r

Rapini/Broccoli Rabe   IG: @mangia.con.elena Pinterest: mangia con elena Depending on the region in Italy this amazing green leafy vegetable is known as rapini, broccoli rabe and cime di rape. This nutrient dense vegetable is a member of the turnip family. They are high in vitamin C and A and have anti-inflammatory properties.  Whatever you call them, they are incredible tasty. They were a staple in our house growing up. My dad grew them in the garden and we would eat them all summer long. My mom would then blanche and freeze whatever was left and in the cooler months they became a part of minestrone and other dishes such as pasta, calzone, polenta and bean dishes. Rapini can be served as a side dish and pair well with most meats but exceptionally well with pork.  They are an important part of the Mediterranean diet. My mother tells me of how they would grow them on her farm and they ate every part of the plant. They have a bitter and peppery taste that is tempered by blanching them in

  Growing Up Italian- Two Doors and a Key My Journey Back to my Roots IG: @mangia.con.elena Pinterest: mangia con elena My father lived in the small room at back of house The house they moved into My Mother's house where she was born and raised My parents took us back to Italy several times as children. My first visit was when I was three years old. I remember bits and pieces of those visits such as my cousin's First Communion and the festivities and the food! So much food. We would stay at my paternal Nonno and Nonna's house in the tiny village of Supino that is located in the Lazio region  about a few hours drive from Rome. It is nestled in the valley surrounded by the Lepinni mountains and hills. My father was born in a tiny space at the back of a house and it is where he lived. Later, after my father immigrated to Canada, my Nonni were able to move into another house right next door and that is where I stayed when we would visit. It had one bedroom, one bathroom and a k

Polenta IG: @mangia.con.elena Pinterest: mangia con elena   I adore polenta. Growing up my mother would make it often for Sunday dinners. I love its thick, creamy and flavourful texture. In our region it is served with a rich and meaty meat sauce loaded with sausages and shredded short rib meat that has been simmering all day long.  Eaten with rapini and a dollop of ricotta cheese on top. What a combination! Be sure to get a little bit of everything in each bite and savour that taste sensation! My mother would pour the polenta on a large wooden board the size of our kitchen table that my dad had made for her when they were first married. She would smooth it out before it cooled and then put little dips into it with the back of her spoon for holding the sauce. The sauce would be poured on and the rapini and the sausages placed in the middle. We would then take a bit of ricotta and place in front of us and we began to dig in. We each had our own section and together we made the map of It