Then there's always my kids' summertime favorite; fresh garlic sauteed in a generous amount of extra virgin olive oil (my favorite, Colavita), crushed tomatoes (as fresh as you can get them, but canned will do also), a generous helping of crushed red pepper and fresh ground black pepper and salt, and TONS of fresh basil, all simmering while the pasta cooks. Your choice of pasta, but we like rigatoni, rigliotoni, or penne. It just speaks summer!! Especially with a nice Pinot Grigio.

Sorry, I misread the OP. So, please, ignore the salad.

Don't know the recipes, but I had the fetuccini al funghi secchi (dried mushrooms) at a simple restaurant in Piazza del Erbe, Verona. Interesting enough, the owner dragged us while we were walking by the piazza, and made us seat, telling us that his was the best pasta in Italy. When the food was served, it was a huge dish of pasta, so delicious that we ate it all. It might not be the best, but it was surely one of the best pasta dishes I ever had.

The ravioli di zucca with Gorgonzola was served in a fancy restaurant, also in Piazza del Erbe, Verona. It was ravioli stuffed with pumpkin, served with a little butter and Gorgonzola cheese. It was cooked to perfection, with a delicate mix of soft flavors.

Surlok. How about a pumpkin ravioli in a light butter/sage/parmesian sauce? Want the recipe? If you live near an Il Foranio Restaurant they make a great ravioli de zucca.

Stcirq - just looking for my crema de noce notes. I promise a recipe soon.

Oh, yes, Calamari. It would be great to have the recipe. Thanks!

I live far away from Italy, but if you tell me where Il Foranio is, I'll try to eat there in my next visit to Italy.

Barzalletta, my pizzoccheri experience started in US. Bon Appetit magazine did a spread on Lake Como and included the recipe. They used orichetti pasta since they said you couldn't get buckwheat pasta here. I believe they also substituted cabbage for the swiss chard. I made the recipe and we thought it good so I had to taste the real thing when we got to Vecchia Varenna from whom they'd adapted their recipe. I was bowled over. Theirs tasted nothing like the Bon Appetit recipe which paled in comparison. It was incredibly rich, sringy with cheese and fabulous. So, for me it certainly wasn't an acquired taste, I was apparently born to love this stuff. JmVikmanis

Hey guys,

Get a pasta rolling machine (about $25) a bag of semolina and a bag of King Arthur AP flour and make your own pasta.

ira, thanks for a memory! My mother used to make pasta all the time when we were growing up, using a machine she bought in the North End in Boston and KA flour (milled not too far away in Vermont). She had her own drying system using all the oven racks rigged up all over the kitchen. Sometimes we went without homecooked meals for days (or at least that's how it felt to us kids!) because the kitchen was "occupied" with pasta strings hanging all over. My sister has the pasta rolling machine now, and when she gets on a pasta kick, the same thing happens at her house...

This remind me of something..Years ago I bought a pasta machine in California...Never used it there, moved to Texas , still in the box... At the end I donated it to charity..
I guess that with so many good fresh pasta around , it was easier for me just buy it..

>I guess that with so many good fresh pasta around , it was easier for me just buy it..<

Go ahead and rub it in, Kismet. Some of us have to travel over a hundred miles to get something resembling fresh pasta.

Ira, if they ever invented a pasta machine that does everything, even putting the pasta in boiling water... I then may consider buying it!!!:):):)

Kismet, you can borrow Mama any time.

Thanks Dln.....I could use her sometimes..:)

So, Calamari, when do we get that tagliatelle alla noce recipe??? Sounds delicious!

Re: "Kismet, you can borrow Mama any time."

That reminds me, I liked the second segment of "The Restaurant" when Rocco brought his Mama into the kitchen to make her signature meatballs (made with three different meats, as I recall.) Pretty active, and cute, for a woman in her late 70s.

There was a post in the US forum about a mother feeling guilty about leaving her kid behind on a vacation. Hah! My kids are pushing me out the door (and not too gently, I'm afraid) when DH and I are off to Italy for 2 weeks.

Why? My parents are staying at the house to hold down the fort. My mother is going to make homemade spaghetti and meatballs...the kids are beside themselves with glee.

JanT
Must first confer with gourmet hubby. Can't find notes and do not want to give you a recipe for disaster.

I eagerly await, Calamari!

Lucky Dln, I just came back a little over a week ago and want to go back already....By the way , where are you going in Italy?