A Food Obsession

A Food Obsession a place to share with those who follow me and my blog: http://afoodobsessionblog.wordpress.com/ on a

CAVATAPPI CON POLPETTINE DI VITELLO, BROCCOLI, E PECORINOA tasty one dish meal that contains a protein, a starch, and a ...
08/26/2026

CAVATAPPI CON POLPETTINE DI VITELLO, BROCCOLI, E PECORINO

A tasty one dish meal that contains a protein, a starch, and a vegetable. CAVATAPPI (the hollow corkscrew macaroni) with Small Veal Meatballs and Pecorino Romano. The meatballs are veal which is a more neutral taste so the Pecorino in the meatballs shines, but chicken or ground pork work well too (you like beef the best? then use it).The meatballs are just ground veal, soaked Italian bread or breadcrumbs, minced garlic, minced flat leaf italian parsley, eggs, black pepper, pinch of salt, and lots of grated Pecorino Romano. The Pecorino is the star of this dish, it shows up in two places. The meatballs are fried just till they get a crust on the outside. Remove them to a bowl. Deglaze the pan with a little White Wine. Pour that over the reserved meatballs, cover and set aside. wipe out the pan, and add olive oil. Then added minced fresh broccoli (it cooks quick when it's minced), a generous amount of sliced garlic cloves, pinch of peperoncino. When the garlic is fragrant (don't let it burn) add the meatballs back along with their accumulated liquid. Add more White wine, some Chicken stock or vegetable stock, and let the meatballs simmer for about 20 minutes. The liquid should have reduced some by then. Now add just cooked to al dente CAVATAPPI, blend. Then add a heaping amount of grated Pecorino, blend till creamy, if too dry-ish no worries. Use a little of the pasta cooking water a little bit at a time while stirring gently until you get to the creamy consistency and it all coats the pasta and meatballs. Let it sit off the flame for at least 5-10 minutes. Then drizzle some EVOO over it and some more peperoncino to taste (don't like the chiles? no worries, add ground black pepper to taste). Serve with extra Pecorino and peperoncino if you like. I like. BUON APPETITO AND HAPPY COOKING!!!

SUMMERTIME IDEA....SAUSAGE PATTIES ON THE GRILL....In my area often a Salumeria (Italian Pork Store) and some supermarke...
08/26/2026

SUMMERTIME IDEA....SAUSAGE PATTIES ON THE GRILL....In my area often a Salumeria (Italian Pork Store) and some supermarkets sell in house made Sausage patties, some with peppers and onions in them, some plain fennel sausage. However, you can make your own using Sausage meat out of the casings...adding some minced garlic, grated pecorino, peperoncino if you like it spicy or use hot sausage....Simply mix everything together, add some basil leaves for fragrance...and form into patties whatever size you like...grill them on a medium heat grill..here I served them with a local seasonal tomato salad on top, and a bed of Arugula on the bottom. You can serve with peppers and onions, or with balsamic glazed sauteed onions, ortop with a slice of provolone, or mozzarella....endless possibilities!! BUON APPETITO AND HAPPY COOKING!!

What's an Italian Feast Day without a special dish or pastry for that event!!!??? Today is the FESTA DI SANTA PATRIZIA...
08/26/2026

What's an Italian Feast Day without a special dish or pastry for that event!!!??? Today is the FESTA DI SANTA PATRIZIA, St. Patricia's Day. She's one of the principal patron saints of Napoli and as is the custom, there is a pastry in her honor for this day. It's called LA SFOGLIATELLA DI SANTA PATRIZIA (of course it is) and while it looks like the well known Sfogliatella Riccia filled with a ricotta, semolina, cinnamon, citron, orange peel, sugar, and eggs filling...the Santa Patrizia version has NO Ricotta , but filled with all the rest of the sfogliatella filling ingredients plus the addition of ground hazelnuts and almonds. Next trip to Napoli, i must find this!!!!

Honoring and Remembering an American Icon who left us today...RIP DOLLY PARTON. Bigger than life with a heart and compa...
08/26/2026

Honoring and Remembering an American Icon who left us today...RIP DOLLY PARTON. Bigger than life with a heart and compassion to match...she helped countless people and supported so many. The pic of her singing is from the web....but the pix on the right are from a visit to Tennessee in 2013 with my family. First pic on the right is the entrance gate to her home in Brentwood Tennessee. We visited DOLLYWOOD while we were there and enjoyed a meal in the Aunt Granny's Kitchen there. That LOADED plate had Fried Chicken, Mashed Potatoes and Gravy, Stewed Cabbage, Green Beans and Ham hocks, Pinto Beans, and Cornbread. The meal was delicious, the fried chicken especially good. And for dessert? Banana Pudding with Whipped Cream.

One of my favorite Summer dishes. FRIED SOFT SHELL CRABS 🦀 today’s lunch/dinner at Outside the Box Patio at The Shrimp ...
08/25/2026

One of my favorite Summer dishes.
FRIED SOFT SHELL CRABS 🦀

today’s lunch/dinner at
Outside the Box Patio at The Shrimp Box in local Point Pleasant Beach here the Jersey Shore.

TRAVEL FOOD time...continuing on my April 2026 trip...Encountered an amazing almond pastry, this we had at breakfast but...
08/25/2026

TRAVEL FOOD time...continuing on my April 2026 trip...Encountered an amazing almond pastry, this we had at breakfast but they are available in Portuguese bakeries all day long.
QUEIJADAS DE AMENDOA ALGARVE

The name of this translates as Almond Cup cakes, but this term describes a few different Ground Almond pastries, some with a thin pastry crust in a fluted tart pan, some with no crust. It seems that the style in the Algarve is the one I had in Carvoeiro in the Algarve. A rich ground almond, sugar, egg, butter delicious filling baked in a paper thin pastry/pie crust. Two bites and it's done. I had a very light cinnamon and almond taste, much like baked almond paste. It was a perfect bite with strong black coffee/espresso.

The origins of this pastry comes from the food traditions of the Moors during their occupation of the area. They introduced a large almond cultivation to the region. From these Moorish origins the Christian Nuns would create all sorts of sweets and this one used excess egg yolks. The Queijadas are a subset of Portuguese regional cuisine, starting in the North of the country filled with cheese...as you went further south where the almonds were plentiful, that became the filling.

FINALLY,I tried making one of Rome's popular Pizza styles LINGUE DI PIZZA ROMANA. aka LINGUA ROSSA.Lingue di Pizza are ...
08/25/2026

FINALLY,I tried making one of Rome's popular Pizza styles

LINGUE DI PIZZA ROMANA. aka LINGUA ROSSA.

Lingue di Pizza are a version of Rome's famous Pizza al Taglio, those long pizza with various toppings that are sold by the "cut" or taglio and you're charged by the weight of your tagli. Lingua Rossa shapes a dough with less yeast in it than the taglio dough, shapes it into long more narrow strips which look like a tongue (lingua means tongue). This thin pizza strip is traditionally topped with olive oil, tomato, oregano and it's baked till crisp, sometimes double baked. Some versions may contain a sprinkling of grated Pecorino. The dough generally ferments longer than usual. All this helps with stretching it out thin and it getting that signature crunch. My wife isn't a fan of the tomato, oregano, and olive oil only pizza (it shows up in various forms in regions of Italy)...me, I LOVE it...but then again, I love mostly all forms of pizza. So, to make sure I include her preferences, I made 2 other "lingue"...one with grated pecorino and fresh mozzarella along with the traditional base. And another with Provolone, Mushrooms, Garlic, Mozzarella, added to the traditional base. She loved it. I loved it. However, next time i need to go thinner and put the oven up to 550 degrees F. Tonight I cranked it up to 500. I also placed 2 of them on olive oiled parchment paper, and one directly on an oiled pizza pan. The direct on pan one had a better, more firmer bottom. Next time i make it, no parchement paper.
This pizza is one of those "on the go" street foods and snacks that bakers in Rome created. The crust is closer to a crunchy flat bread than a traditional cushiony pizza crust. I'll also go with an even smaller amount of yeast or no yeast. You'll find recipes that follow any of those 3 methods. The only thing missing was the view, my backyard was a nice setting, but i was imagining the bustling city vibe of Roma, with the Colosseum and Vatican City in the background...Food you've first enjoyed in the place of its origin means every time you have it regardless of where you are, you'll be transported back. I imagined I was in the Campo de'Fiori!! BUON APPETITO AND HAPPY COOKING!!

Lingue di Pizza Romana!! Going into the oven. The all tomato is the traditional. Deb wants cheese so the other one was f...
08/24/2026

Lingue di Pizza Romana!! Going into the oven. The all tomato is the traditional. Deb wants cheese so the other one was fresh mozzarella. There also was a smaller one with mushrooms. Garlic. Provolone. Mozzarella.

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