Mario Matassa explores the riches of the food of Naples, perhaps the most iconically Italian of all cuisine. Simply grilled vegetables, milky white balls of buffalo mozzarella, spaghetti with tomato sauce, pasta e fagioli (pasta with beans), clams with linguine, melanzane alla parmigiana, torta di ricotta, babà al rhum (just one in a long list […]
Ricotta cake is hugely popular in Naples. This dish must be left to cool completely. I find it is better if you leave it to cool overnight in the fridge before eating. Add a spoonful of pine nuts for a different texture. Recipe and photo: Mario Matassa • MAKES One 24cm tart • PREPARATION 15 […]
In the restaurants of Santa Lucia this recipe is a daily fixture. The clams are delivered by small fishing boats to the restaurants in the harbour. You can add mussels or shrimps too, or have a combination of all three. Recipe and photo: Mario Matassa • SERVES 4 • PREPARATION 10 minutes • COOKING 15 […]
Despite the name, this dish has nothing to do with Parma: it is as Neapolitan as Mount Vesuvius, but it does use Parmesan cheese. Few dishes better symbolise the cuisine of Naples. There are variations, including adding a few slices of cooked ham. Recipe and photo: Mario Matassa • SERVES 4 • PREPARATION 1 hour […]
This frittata uses whatever is to hand, but always the Neapolitan staple of dried pasta. It is a great way to use up yesterday’s pasta and is often taken on Sunday picnics. Recipe and photo: Mario Matassa SERVES 4 PREPARATION 5 minutes BAKING 15 minutes Ingredients • 125g mozzarella • 100g cooked ham • 2-4 […]
Creamy Tuscan Cannellini Bean Pasta with Tenderstem® broccoli Super-quick and easy to make, this vegan pasta dish is a great store cupboard supper, using mashed cannellini beans to create a creamy sauce to coat the delicious pasta. Topped with walnuts, chilli flakes and perfectly cooked Tenderstem® broccoli, this recipe is packed with the flavours of […]
Italy’s cheeses are famed throughout the world – and with good reason! Here are our top five… which is your favourite?! Photos by iStock/ Getty Images 1 Parmigiano-Reggiano, the undisputed king of Italian cheeses (above), comes from a designated area around Modena, Parma and Reggio Emilia, and is a grana, or hard cheese, with a nutty, […]
Meascia, a type of bread cake, was a staple of cucina povera – an inexpensive way to make dessert using whatever was in the store cupboard. Mario Matassa shows us how to make it I’ve used apples from the nearby Valtellina in this version of meascia, but it can also be made with pears and you […]
Mario Matassa brings us this trout dish, known in Italian as filetti di trota con pesto di olive e capperi – make it tonight! Lake fish, like trout, naturally features strongly in the cuisine around the lakes. It was once a staple but overfishing was such that, for a time, other sources of fresh fish […]
This gnocchi dish originates from the Como area, and uses a local taleggio cheese, which combines with the tomato and pancetta to make a flavourful sauce, says Mario Matassa There is a long tradition around the Italian lakes of making homemade gnocchi – this dish is an easy way to recreate the flavours of the […]