Prociutto Salad with Apple, Walnut, and Parmigiano...

Aug 27, 2010 by

While traveling in California introducing Guido to my family, we impressed my Santa Barbara relatives with a simple prosciutto salad. This version is a more embellished version, but you can simplify it by cutting the extra ingredients. Ah...Proscuitto di Parma. Sigh... There are few things in Italian cuisine that I love as much as prosciutto crudo, a thinly sliced salt-cured ham produced in central and northern Italy, most famously in Parma. It's slightly ironic that I love it so much, since I hadn't eaten pork products for almost 15 years before I started coming to Italy in 2010. One evening Guido set some prosciutto on the table along with a few slices of bread, some parmigiano (parmesan), and a little wine. I took a bite, hesitant...I don't really like to eat mammals. But once...

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Orgasmic Watermelon Salad

Jul 23, 2010 by

Okay, I'm going to be up front with you. This dish is NOT Italian. However, I did serve it to a bunch of Italians whilst in Italy, so perhaps that's enough of a qualifier. They all loved it--the flavors are exotic for an Italian palate, but the flavor combinations are familiarly Mediterranean. The final flavor combination fireworks in your mouth: salty black olives, sweet and crunchy watermelon, creamy feta, oniony onions (okay--how do YOU describe onions?), and the gentle snap of mint. I found this recipe on one of my new favorite blogs, Rachel Eats, whose beautiful pictures inspired me to upgrade my Canon lens. So, without further ado...here's the recipe for an Orgasmic Watermelon Salad. Eat it sitting down, so you don't embarrass yourself by falling to your knees in rapture at the...

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