Tastes of the lakes
Fresh fish from the waters and other produce from the mountains are the staples of traditional cooking on the Italian lakes, as Mario Matassa explains Understand the landscape of the Italian lakes and you More...
Paradise cake with hot zabaglione
Mario Matassa shares his paradise cake recipe – a cake that miraculously improves with age and is better if made one or two days in advance… The name ‘paradise cake’ comes from the fact that More...
Stuffed guinea fowl
For a festive centrepiece Italian-style you can’t go wrong with roast guinea fowl (faraona ripiena). Mario Matassa gives us the low-down… There are a number of ways to cook guinea fowl, but at Christmas More...
Crespelle ripiene (filled crêpes)
This dish originates from Emilia-Romagna and is served in restaurants throughout the area. Mario Matassa brings us a recipe for these tasty crêpes These crespelle – crêpes – make a satisfying dish. The More...
Pancetta-wrapped prawns on crostini
This delicious appetiser is perfect in its simplicity and requires minimal preparation time. Mario Matassa shares the recipe with us… For this crostini dish it is important to find plump prawns and to make More...
Struffoli
These golden balls of deep-fried dough smothered in honey and decorated with candied peel make a wonderful centrepiece for the festive table, says Mario Matassa Struffoli, from Naples, are prepared and eaten More...
Insalata di rinforzo
Full of the strong flavours that are typical of the region, this Campanian dish will evoke memories for anyone who has ever visited Naples – Here’s Mario Matassa’s take on ‘reinforcing salad’: Insalata More...
Baccalà alla napoletana
Baccalà alla napoletana (salt cod) is a hugely popular dish in Italy, and is a popular Christmas Eve dish among Italians. Mario Matassa shows us how it’s done… Baccalà is sold everywhere in Italy More...
The Italian Christmas
Mario Matassa reveals the secrets of Italian festive food. Though Christmas Day provides the climax of the occasion, the Christmas Eve feast provides the perfect opportunity to warm up for the big event Photos by More...
Canestrelli biscuits
This recipe for canestrelli biscuits makes it easy to create this tasty Ligurian treat – Mario Matassa shares his technique to show us how its done… These biscotti would traditionally have been twice cooked More...