Food is sexy, there’s no doubt about it and figs are one of the sexiest fruits I can imagine and fresh figs are truly things of sensual beauty. If you get a good one, the right one will see you swooning in ecstasy. Get a dry, light one and you’ll probably wonder what all the fuss is about and you won’t feel the sexy vibe at all whilst others will be moaning in pleasure at their juicy fig. It’s like being at a Swinger’s party where everyone is having a good time except for you. Or so I’ve heard.
There are some dishes that stay with you for years and years, long after you’ve eaten them and you tend to remember them for their revelatory awakenings. One dish I had was at Est during my advertising days. Where I was taken by one of my favourite sales reps, who understood my penchant for fine dining. I had a simple dish of proscuitto, figs and blue cheese and thought it was magical. And every time I see figs with blue cheese on the menu I order it.
When I was sent a copy of the Buon Ricordo cookbook to review I flicked through it eagerly. The cover is gorgeous with a lovely embossed fabric image. Armando Percuoco the chef and owner and David Dale start off explaining the basic ingredients of Italian cooking and how to buy and treat them correctly. One thing to note is that photos inside are stunning and are actually one of the highlights for me where images of even a simple poached egg dish or a T bone steak done his way are gorgeous with a very glossy quality to them. Some are downright and outright food porn such as the baked figs with gorgonzola sauce where the figs look like partially disrobed women with a bit of skin peeking through a cream robe. Many of the items that interested me required a timbale or a tall souffle dish which I don’t have and the spectacular Timballo is one that I’ll look at conquering at some stage in the future when I have more time on my hands (and he warns that it’s fiddly). There’s even a healthy section with salads and soups and lighter pastas.
Food porn no?
But back to the figs. If you’re not sure how to buy them the best key is the weight. If they feel heavy then that is a good thing. If they are light don’t buy them. They should be slightly soft to the touch (although not moldy) but not hard or firm. Also smell them, they should smell sweet and light but if they smell like soured fruit then pass on those. There are generally two kinds you’ll find here: black Mission and green figs and although I prefer black figs, these won’t be in season in Sydney for another month or so. They have a luscious sweetness with a tiny crunch from their seeds and a juicy bite to the skin which you eat. They’re also low in calories and high in fibre.
Mine don’t quite look anywhere near as perfect at theirs, my cream sauce was perhaps not as smooth as his so I’d suggest whisking it or processing the sauce. Also I found that the sauce clung to the figs a bit better when it was cooled slightly for 5 minutes or so. Nevertheless this dish was incredibly easy, and probably one of the easiest in the book whilst still looking inviting. It’s great dinner party food as the figs can be wrapped ahead of time and the sauce made and just popped into the oven just before serving. Perfect for that Swinger’s Party no? And before you ask, I’ve never been to one! 
Summary:
Achievability: 3.5 out of 5 we are talking about a high end restaurant and as such some of the dishes can be tricky.
Usability: 4 out of 5
Degree of difficulty: Medium, some are hard but some are easily done. There is a range.
Food porn score: 4.5 out of 5. Much of it is just glisteningly, downright lustful.
Post it note tabbed recipes: 17
Gift book: Yes, beautiful cover and beautiful photography.
So I did promise that you could win 1 of 4 copies of this gorgeous book didn’t I? To win, simply tell me what your favourite Italian dish is! The giveaway ends midnight December 5th AEST just in time for that gorgeous Christmas celebration. Enter as a comment on this story and this giveaway is open to Australian residents only.
The winners are:
S. Beattie
Kris H.
Sian G.
Sandra P.
Congratulations to each of you and enjoy! 
Buon Ricordo is published by Allen & Unwin $65RRP
And yes ladies and gentlemen, it’s Wednesday again (I know, how quick was that?) so here is your Wallpaper Wednesday! Salmon hors d’oeuvres from Aria restaurant from a Nepenthe Wine event.
Fichi Biondo – Baked Figs With Gorgonzola Sauce
Serves 4 (3 figs each)
- 12 thin slices proscuitto
- 12 fresh figs
- 12 toothpicks (to fasten)
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 425ml (14fl oz) cream
- 220g/7.5 ozs gorgonzola
- Handful of chopped parsley
1. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F. Get a piece of proscuitto, fold it in half lengthways and wrap it around the middle of each fig and secure it with a toothpick.
2. Melt the butter, gorgonzola and cream in a small saucepan over low heat until melted and stir.
3. Place the figs in a oven proof dish (I put it on a sheet of parchment just in case) and pour the cream sauce over it. Cover with foil and bake in preheated oven for 7 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for a further 1 minute.
4. Arrange three figs on each servings plate. Remove toothpick. Allow the sauce to cool a little and thicken (about 5 minutes) and then ladle the sauce over the figs. Sprinkle some chopped parsley over for some colour.
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178 Comments | Add your own
I have no idea what it is called, but it uses sea urchin as the base for the sauce and fresh fresh fettuccine. Simple yet delicious!
Hmmm, I have never really known what to do with figs so we usually bypass them when they are in season. Now my brain is ticking overtime because I lurrrrve cheese sauces so any excuse to try something new and something of a favourite can only be a good thing.
I would love to enter the draw for a copy of the book. My favourite Italian food is simple – gnocchi with a creamy cheesy sauce. My partner does not like gnocchi so I can only have it when we go out to dinner.
thanks for sharing
I love the Buon Ricordo book. If I didn’t already have it I would have entered this contest! The one thing that isn’t in his book though is his signature recipe for the Pasta with the truffled egg – now that is divine. In fact, you’ve just given me an idea!
Food porn is right. Figs and bleu cheese happens to be one of my favorite combinations. I had an AMAZING pizza with figs, heirloom tomatoes, prosciutto, and Gorgonzola. It was phenomenal.
A lovely book and a scrumptious as well as refined recipe!
Cheers,
Rosa
Can you believe I’ve never had a fig! Yours look fabulous! xoxo Mum
My Fav Italian dish is Penne all’arrabbiata —Yummmmm
There aren’t very many Italian dishes I can think of that I don’t like. Maybe my favourite would be peaches stuffed with amaretti.
My favorite Italian dish is actually one I had at Buon Ricordo: the Fettucine al tartufovo (fettucine tossed at the table with an egg that’s been sitting with truffles). It was so good. That was the dish that hooked me on truffles.
fig, pig, and stinky cheese–that’s just classy.
Fabulous book review- would love to see more like this!!!
My fav Italian dish is without a doubt arancini- the crisp outer giving way to soft tender rice before again revealing the lovely inner of bolognaise sauce with peas and stringy mozzarella.
Hmmm… that looks great! and what a lovely book too. I would have to say my favourite Italian dish is a lasagna. It brings my whole family together, all wanting just a bit more lasagna as it tastes soo good.
A very simple short pasta, orrechiette even, for a very very long lunch, where the wine keeps flowing (I also envisage a big, long table al fresco)
wow so delicate cuisine
making me hungry
Hey since u hv a blog. Hehe. U might wanna check http://www.ozbloggers.com. It’s new & expanding
connects via Twitter
Yours turned out almost exactly like the book’s. My fav italian dish will definitely have to be the caprese salad. Made with buffalo mozzarella and ripened sweet tomatoes, dusted with basil and sea salt. Simple and lovely.
My favorite dish is when I make a chicken ragu – using a rabbit recipe – and serve it with my home made pappadelle. Yum !!!
My favorite Italian recipe? How about a whole panettone, hollowed out and filled with hazelnut gelato (or whichever takes your fancy), frozen until set and then cut into wedges and served.
Mrs Wills cooks these all the time. To die for.
My favourite Italian dish would have to be Sicillian Spaghetti. It’s really easy to make but god it’s good! With the right amount of chilli it’s to die for!
It’s hard to choose an Italian favourite, but I think it’d have to be risotto because there’s such variation of the end-result when dining out and I have definitely not fully tweaked my home version!
And what’s this fixation with swingers’ parties?!
My favorite italian dish is “cappellacci con la zucca” from Ferrara, my town!
I love the figs – they look amazing. Anything with blue cheese is an absolute must, but I’d have to say my favourite Italian dish is vitello tonnato. The soft unctuousness of the pot roasted veal combined with the velvety saltiness of the tuna sauce… It’s the ultimate food to share over a long lunch and best of all it’s pretty darn easy so the “oohhh” factor is very high!
oooh yummy!
i had an interesting pear and gorgonzola pasta dish at la disfida in haberfield once.
at the time i thought it an odd combination but wanted to be adventurous. it was great but this looks even better.
I am a huge fan of Insalata Caprese – good ingredients, very simple. Perfect for a summer’s evening with a glass of vino!
Oh don’t they look naughty! I love figs too.
My favourite italian dish is tartuffo- I stayed for a month at the village that invented it, and ate one every single day… believe it or not I also lost 5 kilos whilst I was there from the walk up the cliff from the beach to the piazza!
Oh my god delicious!! Figs & gorgonzola how I love thee!
Italian is my favourite cuisine so it’s a hard choice… But I’d have to say Veal Saltimbocca!
My favourite Italian dish would have to be pizza. Simple, easy, lots of different flavours! Yum. I think I’m going to go and kneed some dough now.
Knead! (sorry about that!) Would you believe that I’m actually a teacher
Hi Lorraine,
Having never met a cholesterol I don’t like, without a doubt my favourite italian dish is Fett Boscaiola – one that I make with a dash of chilli oil when softening the onions. The unctious nature of the cream sauce with the piquancy of the chilli in the aftertaste makes me giggle!
Oh, and your comparison of figs and non-enjoyment at a swingers party made me laugh!
‘gards,
mikey
The book looks incredibly exciting!
As for my favourite recipe – potato gnnochi with spiniach, cherry tomatoes and ricotta. Simple, easy to make but just tates wonderful! Not to mention being very italian in colour
My favourite Italian dish is pizza with prosciutto, salami, mozzarella and cherry tomatoes. Yum!
My fav Italian dish, the one I always seek out when we go to Italian restaurants, is definitely spaghetti with chilli and prawns…oh yum… with a nice cold glass of champers of course!
I haven’t been to Buon Ricordo before, but I’ve just discovered it is within walking distance to my boyfriends new house… yipee!
Fav Italian dish is a light supper dish: Lasagne All’Arancia [lasagne with orange zest].
*cook preferred fresh egg lasagne [fresh is best].Drain and pat dry.
*Set oven to 350/Gas4
*combine zest&juice of 1 orange,90ml cognac,240ml double cream,salt&white pepper until just warm.
*layer lasagne&orange cream into buttered dish. Dot with unsalted butter. Bake 20 mins. May sprinkle with fav caviar before serving.
as usual GREAT JUMP-OUT-AT-YOU photography and your ‘evaluations’ are always intensely right on! FAVORITE ITALIAN FOOD: CASTIELLO: Brioche dough with (everyone’s favorite) salami hunks and bit of shredded Parm + small hunks (because they leave beautiful cheesy holes!) of white cheddar, baked in a bundt pan for drama! Serve with dishes of Red Italian Spaghetti Sauce for dipping!
I would like to win the cookbook please!
My favourite Italian dish is one my friend makes. It is very simple. Penne, garlic, butter, parmesan. That’s it!
And regarding figs, in my house they don’t get a chance to be baked or covered in sauce. They go straight in the mouth
Vitello tonnato – perfect summer fare. I love Buon Ricordo. I even love just saying Armando Percuoco – such a musical name.
One dish?! Aww… so hard…
Hard to go past a caprese salad with buffalo mozzarella, ripe tomatoes, fresh full leaves of basil and good olive oil.
Oh so much food porn!! The figs look delicious. Does gelato count? Cause that would be my fave! Haha.
Mine would have to be Vitello Tonnato…tuna, veal and mayo sounds weird but my god it’s good! especially from Cafe Sopra on a hot summers day
I could be a bit of a brown nose and say Armando’s Truffled Egg Fettuccine, as I just had that recently on my birthday. However, I have to say it’s pipped by one of those experiences that will live with me for my entire life: on my honeymoon 11 years ago we visited my wife’s Auntie who lives in the Italian Alps – a little town called Pesaris. She made as lunch in her little kitchen of freshly made gnocchi with a burnt butter and sage sauce, finished off by grated smoked ricotta. It was quintessential peasant food, but the flavours were incredible, and the smoked ricotta was awesome. Now that dish is quite common around many italian restaurants these days, but none (that I’ve tried) have ever held a candle to that one. And I’ve never found smoked ricotta outside of Italy. (Fortunately, my sister-in-law brought us some back last year.) Mouth’s watering just thinking about it…
these baked figs are so pretty to look at! I just adore your photos too
My favorite dish is something I made recently: pumpkin ravioli in a herb butter garlic sauce. It was a simple meal but had a lot of flavor and substance to it
Out & out food porn Lorraine & drop dead gorgeous. My fave would be ricotta gnocchi, and I’m bummed that I don’t qualify for such a great book! Life is…
Okay, wow. I love those. I had them at an italian seafood restaurant recently. I can’t remember where now, sadly.
I’m definitely bookmarking this for when I can eat cheese again. Silly novemeber diet. Never diet in november.
I have 3 favs for italian food. Because I love Italian food.
#1 – Proper Tiramisu (i.e marsapone, savoiardi, espresso)
#2 – Multi thin layered lasange that my GF’s nonna makes. How I wish I could eat more of it.
#3 – Recent easy dish of the week: Lemony Ricotta pasta with basil. So smooth and reliant on the quality of the ingredients. And simple. Like some of the best Italian dishes should be.
That looks so delicious and I’m going to give it a good go.
My favourite Italian meal I make is a puttanesca sauce. I love to make it on cold Sundays and usually make extra to jar up and give to visitors.
I just love the concentrated, lusty flavours and have been thinking about trying it using those new Kumatoes that are sooo tasty.
Your figs deffo look swinger party worthy! And I know I’m not eligible (insert sad face) to win one of these beautiful books, but I do love a good risotto. Saffron risotto, lemon risotto, mushroom risotto, seafood risotto. Yum.
On figs – if you are ever travelling to the ‘blue-water-wonderland’ of Port Stephens from about Nov –> March, you can pick your own figs at Bob’s Farm. Pay per kilo – a whole box for around $20. And eat them en route! Lovely – Go home, have them baked with honey, fresh, with goat’s cheese or wrapped in pigs.
My vote is for Risi e Bisi – Rice and Peas – the ultimate comfort food when the sky is low and close on a Sunday night in winter. Team this with a sly glass of Hunter Semillion and I am a very happy homebody.
This looks like a wonderful cookbook! I completely agree, figs are such a sensual fruit…this recipe looks tantilizing!
Duck Ragu with freshly made pasta. Sooooooo good!
I am not that keen on figs – although I do try them again every couple of years to see if I have changed my mind – but I love blue cheese and a sauce made from blue cheese
My favorite italian dish would have to be a semolina gnocchi with a rich slow cooked tomato (garlic, and basil) sauce. toped with a sprinkle of a good parmesean.
Mmm… I feel bad for saying this, but a proper wood fired margharita pizza is still my favourite.
I could eat it all week…
I drooled over this book in the bookshop the other day – even if I don’t win the book, I think I might just have to try these figs. Positively sinful.
Pizza, the Italian way. A tomato sauce on the base and lots of cheese.
I am a big fan of a proper Italian pizza, thin, crispy woodfired base, dribble of tomato sauce and a simple topping of rocket, prosciutto and torn mozzarella. Divine!
Just one dish so hard to choose,
There are pastas and pizzas and many mouthwatering dishes with creamy sauce too,
Impossible to choose just one so how about some…
Involtini
Tortellini
Amaretti
Luganega
Insalata di mare(mouthwatering)
Agnolotti
Napoli Pizza
Why that spells ITALIAN!!!!
My absolute favourite Italian food is olive ripieni. It’s an heirloom recipe that takes hours to make, involving peeling as many olives as you can – but not just pitting them, peeling them in a spiral shape around the pit with a small knife. You then stuff them full of veal, chicken, prosciutto, parmesan etc etc, crumb and deepfry. They are served as an appetiser on Christmas Day and I love them because they remind me of my nonna.
Oh! Your fig wrapped in prosciutto look absolutely delicious, what a nice presentation. My favorite Italian dish is Eggplant Parmegiana
Hands down Lasagna!!
favourite italian dish? that’s hard!
the sgroppino is the world’s best “adult” lemon slushie.
spaghetti puttanesca fires up the taste buds with anchovies, capers & olives.
straccetti con rughetta was my fav meal when i lived in rome: thin slices of beef w melted parmigiano & wilted rocket.
and don’t forget sweet hot bombolini certainly give churros a bit of competition!
but the best might just have to be vincisgrassi, from the marche region.
before tomatoes made their way to italy, this 18th century forerunner to lasagna is a winning combination of pancetta, porcini & truffles.
too good to pass up.
amazing, amazingly seductive figs
If it wasn’t too darn hot to have my over on for even 8 minutes, I would make these tonight!
My favourite Italian recipe has to be the one my faux-Nonna used to make, olive oil and anchovies in a pan until they dissolve into buttery amazingness, then addbout 4 cloves of finely chopped garlic, stir until heavenly, drop in butter and cook until nutty, add sage leaves and fry fast, throw in the tagliatelli and eat as fast as you can (like you could stop yourself)!
I once ate an entire pan of this straight from the stove to her horror, but it’s SO good!
if you add either parmesan or parsley and lemon at the end, it changes the dish completely and both are delicious (handy for refreshing it if you have leftovers too, or I imagine so as I NEVER do with this!)
first comment btw, thought I better comment as I’ve just come home from Sydney where I basically ate my way through the last few months of your blog! YUM!
Oh gosh that is most definitely food porn! I think I may have been one of those people who happened to eat the dodgy fig because I didn’t think it tasted that great haha. I may have to give them another go someday though.
My favourite Italian dish is homemade potato gnocchi with a simple napolitana sauce
I’m entering this competition! My favourite Italian food? I recently had a steamed artichoke with bagna cauda at an event hosted by Jared Ingersoll at Danks St Depot. It blew my mind. The simplest thing, a perfectly fresh and ready to eat artichoke, covered in this lush, creamy salty sauce. It was all fingers, and mopping with bread with plenty of napkins on the table to wipe our fingers. Truly, one of the most memorable food moments of my year! I would stick a picture in, but can’t do that in comments!
Panna cotta for me please. Like the aforementioned pizzas, risotto etc, this dish is very versatile, and can be accompanied by so many delicious things, balsamic strawberries one of my fav pairings. Also minestrone with crunchy bread.
Looks like a great cookbook. I love figs stuffed with blue cheese – haven’t tried serving the cheese in sauce form yet, and you’re right, the picture of it is very mouth watering!
Yum – they look fantastic! I have to say the best meal I had was cooked for me by a German engaged to a florentine in the Cinque Terre!
She bought incredible tomatoes and mozzarella (buffalo of course) and these were sliced and piled up as you liked. Main was Insalate di farro with farro, garlic, celery (all of it) sun dried tomatoes, olives, spring onions, herbs and lashings of the best olive oil and balsamic vinegar – it was perfection!
Figs-food of the gods! Can eat them all day long but they have to be just right or they can be tasteless. Delicious grilled,drizzled with honey and served with fresh ricotta.
Being Italian ,mum is a fantastic cook, choosing a single dish is near impossible. Her gnocchi are to die for! I make a lasagna that family and friends beg more of but I absolutely love all Italian desserts especially Sicilian Cannoli filled with sweetened ricotta.
I don’t eat Italian often but I’ve been told I’ve invented my own fettuccine which is delicious. Perhaps I need a few more Italian recipes on my shelf…
Figs, prosciutto and blue cheese sounds like a gorgeous combination. It’s nice to find a recipe for a dish you remember so fondly.
I love love love eggplant, so Parmigiana is perfect for me. Can’t go past a good tiramisu and gelato though!
My favourite Italian dish is Veal Saltimbocca but it has to be made with real veal and good prosciutto!
Really good gnocchi is a close second.
That dish can be summed up in a single word: SEXY!
Okay, buying dried figs
Sorry Lorraine but after seeing this recipe all others have fallen by the wayside…oh boy this looks orgasmic! Please say I can still enter the competition!
)
Cheers, Elaine
New favourite (since Halloween) – fresh baked pumpkin gnocchi with parmesan, burnt sage butter and roasted pepitas
Melanzane parmigiana. Constantly amazed that three main ingredients – aubergine, mozzarella and tomato – can be elevated into such a very delicious dish!
ooooh..just the butter and gorgonzola was enough to set me off.
Hmm…my favourite italian food would have to be Risotto with meatballs in tomato sugo topped with fresh parmesan cheese
I love stuffed huge green olives which are then crumbed and deep fried, all meaty filling, salty olives and crispy outer!! YUM!! I have an old recipe if you ever want to try it! Vida x
Definately pizza with simple basil, cheese, spinach and tomato… fresh and crispy
This definitely does look sexy!!
Those figs look amazing! I am drooling!
I’m a definite pasta fiend so for me that tops all other Italian cuisine. I love my mum’s lasagne – I think it’s so great that a dish that would have been considered a very unusual one fifty or so years ago is now in the repertoire of so many Aussie cooks – same with spag bol. I also love gnocchi that has been finished off in a pan, any sort of stuffed pasta, and a simple spaghetti with chili, lemon, cherry tomatoes and cheese is one of my favourite week night dinners.
Lovely plating, Lorraine! I love the contrast of the creamy white sauce and the black plate. And oohh that cookbook looks fantastic!
Pasta puttanesca!
My favourite dish is penne Norma – it’s a rich tomato based sauce with loads of yummy eggplant sprinkled with hard grated ricotta cheese, yumm!
Also, I’m not getting your regular everyday email, they have been a bit sporadic the last few days?
Love the fig dish!!!
My favourite Italian dish is my MUM,s (home made tagliatelle with chickpeas in light sauce)to die for..and even nicer stil the next day eaten cold!!
Thanks for the fig choosing info, I must admit I’ve never yet quite managed to get a perfect fresh fig…maybe I need to go “foraging” *wink*. So hard to choose a favourite Italian dish, there are so many! The simple Arancini is something I could probably eat anytime.
My fav italian dish for the moment would be porchetta di testa… cold rolled pig head thinly sliced and dress with wild rocket and herbs finished with capers.
However, from the classic, it difficult choice between a properly done margarita pizza or Insalata Caprese.
My favorite would be Melanzane al cioccolato that I ate at Buon Ricordo a number of years ago.
Not only it is special because it is a dessert made with egg plants — but imagine the soft velvety texture of the fruit, bake with ricotta and chocolate till silky soft… isn’t it what dreams are made of?
I love figs with prosciutto or serrano ham. However, crispy zucchini/courgette flowers stuffed with ricotta and mint is just as beautiful. It is like an Italian tempura. It look and taste amazing.
Yummmm, can you believe I’ve never had a fig?! I’ve been meaning to fix that
My favorite Italian dish is probably penne with vodka sauce, though I love simple crostinis with creamy goat cheese and red sauce to sop up! I’m getting hungry!
Nothing special, but I’m always tempted by lasagna!
My goodness, this looks beautiful!
oohhhh wowoowww!!! this is just beyond impressive!!
What a tasty dish!!,..these are great appetizers too!! Great for entertaining for Christmas, etc!!
Just beautiful!!
On the Amalfi Coast we were, and still are, years later in foodie awe of a simple but delicious dish called “squid and potatoes”. The freshness of the ingedients tossed in olive oil and parsley was sublime. Have tried cooking it, it was passable but not quite Amalfi standards!
Figs with Gorgonzola sauce sounds wonderful!
My favourite Italian dish is Spaghetti con Acciughe (Spaghetti with Anchovies). I first had it 6 months ago in a little Italian cafe in Cinque Terre. I can still remember the taste but haven’t been able to recreate it.
LOL – food is sexy, and this dish looks amazing! I have never seen figs done like this before, but I am now desperate to try it!
My favourite Italian dish is good old lasagne – meat, vege, full fat, low fat, whatever – you can’t go wrong!
I love this dish. looks sumptious.
my favourite italian dish is the humble bowl of simple pasta. Pasta has to be homemade from the freshest eggs that I can find. Pesto must be made from basil from my garden. Bring it together with a few black olives, finely cubed tomatoes and heaps of grated pecorina cheese. Voila. Perfection and simplicity on a plate.
butternut squash ravioli with browned butter and fried sage leaves
My favourite Italian dish would have to be Arancini. Boring I know but there’s not much options for us Vegetarians
Baked lemons stuffed with bocconcini, anchovies, cherry tomatoes and basil….amazing!
I love figs! I know it’s a bit of a waste but my godmother love to make Chinese soup from figs. It’s really quite nice. Would love to give this recipe a try if I ever see fresh figs!
For the competition my favourite Italian dish is Tiramisu! Tried it for the first time on my 16th birthday. Bliss!
hard to choose a favourite…hmm…the dolci are always hard to resist
Wow…this looks like the cookbook to buy at the moment! yum!
My favourite Italian dish would have to be Tiramisu…although so many other people have chosen it! There must be a a few dozen ways you can make it, but getting the balance right between what seems like a lot of simple ingredients is the key, and I’ve only tasted a few that’ve achieved that!
Simple, fresh, handmade pasta with oil, butter and parmesan. I think I could eat that every day.
Fave Italian dish? Definitely my nonna’s “ricotta pizza” – it the lightest and sweetest ricotta cheesecake you’ll ever taste!
arancini, plain ol spagetti with garlic bread and end with tiramisu- can’t beat that!
Oh Lorraine you have found my Achilles heel. The first time I tried Baked Figs wrapped in Proscuitto with Gorgonzola sauce lovingly caressing them was at Oskars restaurant at Burleigh Heads. One delectable mouthful and I was hooked.
I love Italian cooking but my soon to be son-in-law (whose mother is Italian) adores Arancini and my daughter who has been introduced to so many new gastranomic delights loves Calzone with spinach and ricotta filling.
I saw a talk with Armando Percuoco at Stanton Library advertised for Wednesday but was so disappointed that I couldn’t go because I work on Wednesdays. Such a shame that work gets in the way of a good time!
Bolognese al ragu, inspired by Mario Batali on a podcast wine blog. His “recipe” takes hours to cook, but moments to enjoy. Just gorgeous.
wow those figs look delicious ! Vitella Tonnata is my favourite Italian recipe, no one makes it better than my mum !
Fig Gelato
Fave Italian dish so far (…and I intend to continue my search) is a simple platter of a selection of fresh grilled seafood (think bugs, prawns, scallops) with a side of crusty sourdough bread, obligatory olive oil + balsamic vinegar and glass of crisp white wine. Oh, and completed with a healthy serving of good friends!! Devine.
Spaghetti puttanesca not only is it one of my favourites but it takes but a matter of minutes to cook. Always have the ingredients in my pantry/fridge. Olives, anchovies, capers, fresh or peeled tomatoes and good olive oil and if you have any juices left at the bottom of the plate you must mop them up with some italian pane (bread). Buonissimo
I just cook a simple dish of spaghetti with basil, parmesan, anchovies and olive oil.. I just love spaghetti. It is just so versatile. Pair it with any combination and the world of taste exploded!!
My favourite Italian dish would have to be tiramisu – not savoury! hehee. Or gnocchi if you have to have savoury top. mmm carbs!
I have never had figs before because i was worried about the texture. Plsu i have this weird habit that if i haven’t tried it yet, the food scares me.. I am slowly getting over this phobia with the help of Pascal, of course.
But that dish, I have heard of a similar one before… oh, yum..
Wow…the book looks awesome! I like books with unique covers…
I am not a fan of figs in savoury dishes but i must say that your dish looks nice and i wouldn’t mind trying it at all!
For my favorite Italian dish…I will have to go with Osso Buco! It takes a fair bit of time to cook it until perfect, but the results are just mouth-watering – especially the tasty marrow filling =)
It is difficult to be sexy and cute at the same time but these figs are rockin it!
Just a few weeks ago, I too was obsessing over the sexiness of figs on my blog!
Yours look just as gorgeous as the plated figs in the book photo.
Sadly I live in nyc and am not eligible to win this book, but I will be looking for it on Amazon!
Ohh two of my favourites in one! I love figs and gorgonzola soo much! The dish looks very good, I’d definitely try this dish.
Where would you usually get your figs from? It’s always hard for me to find good figs everywhere I go. Fratelli on Danks street had great looking honey figs but were frozen ones.
Hi Lorraine, your onto a winner again. Fav Italian, Risotto finished with my own choc/hazelnut tiramisu whooops thats two, but to die for.
Buon Appetito……..
Hi NQN,
My favourite Italian dish is my girlfriend’s leek, eggplant and tomato lasagne. It’s even more romantic than riding to a Puccini opera through the Venice canals on a tandem Vespa. (she is vomiting in the background!)
My most favorite Italian dish is a Potato,sea salt and rosemary pizza with plenty of olive oil ,followed by pasta of caramelized onion and bacon all of which I enjoyed on my recent trip to Cinque terre in a bistro in Riomaggiore now that is foodie heaven.
my fav itailian is a simple homemade egg pasta with a basil almond pesto and drizzled with chili garlic oil. the flavours are simple but classic
Fresh pasta cooked until just al dente then placed in a hollowed out head of parmigiano and a small amount of boiling water added to make a creamy cheese. Served with just a sprinkling of freshly cracked black pepper on top it’s simply divine.
Favourite italian dish is spaghetti alio e olio loaded up with parmesan. Total comfort food and the perfect dish for any time of the day – quick and easy.
fav italian dish has to be tiramisu and canneloni, so simple yet so so good.
my Nonna and Nonno had a fig tree at their old house. After dinner we would go and pick fresh figs and eat them with fresh farm cheese and more red wine. So simple. So tasty.
Mmmm… figs. Anyone who hasn’t eaten one is missing out big time! My mum had a fig tree in her front yard when I was a kid, and we would gorge on them every year. One day some council workers came through to put some pipes in, and tore it out. I think the entire family was in tears. I must plant a fig tree for my daughter….
That book looks the goods. As for a favourite dish, it’s hard to go past a perfectly silky smooth Spaghetti Carbonara with homemade pasta, authentic guanciale, Parmigiano-Reggiano and organic eggs.
Every lasagna secretly hopes to become a Vincisgrassi when it grows up. Rarely seen on restaurant menus or cookbooks, the Vincisgrassi is a baked pasta layered with chicken liver sauce and beschamel. The secret lies in the sauce made with grown up ingredients like prosciutto, chicken livers, porcini, calf’s brains (in pre-mad cow days) and sweetbreads, slowly simmered then enriched with cream and nutmeg. How wonderful it is to grow up and yet remain a child. Please may I have the Buon Ricordo book
Favourite Italian dish is Chicken cacciatore! Nearly half as fun as eating it is watching Nonna trying to catch the chicken.
It’s not even a recipe but my foodie best friend and I love to make up antipasto platters and nibble the afternoon away – marinated artichoke hearts, olives, salami, prosciutto, crispbread…. YUM!
I love Spaghetti Bolognaise, not only my favourite Italian dish, my favourite meal of all time. With grated Parmesan cheese on top, of course.
Without a doubt (I don’t even have to think about this) my favourite Italian meal is Ravioli Ricotta with Carbonara sauce. I LOVE this pasta dish – it’s so creamy and delicious! I’ve ordered this from a LOT of restaurants, and I’ve scored both atrocious and superb varieties. I will never get sick of a good Carbonara!
Fettucine carbonara is my favourite dish
Served with bacon, not with fish
Creamy sauce on it will go
Served with wine and eaten slow
Fettucine & meatballs, with basil and lots of fresh parmesan….just the way my dear old father in-law taught me how to cook them before he passed away.
Tiramisu, Tiramisu & more Tiramisu!!!! Just like my old Nonna makes….shame she’s in Italy & not here in Aus to keep me in steady supply!!
The simple old lasagne. Its the italian version of fried rice, anything goes, including leftovers, then baked and walla..instant italian goodness.
Aronchini risotto balls. I love this classic Italian dish. They are easy to make, cheap, great for using left overs and kids love them!
Asking me to pick my favourite italian dish is like asking me to pick a favourite child (well its lucky cause I only have one)
For me, its all about fresh pasta and a rich meaty ragu – something with slow cooked beef cheeks and tomato-ey garlic goodness.
A plate of that with a good glass of red – what can be wrong with the world…
Would love a copy of the book…
Tiramisu! I’m not a huge fan of the coffee flavour however, so I like to alter it by using hot chocolate and creme de cacao liqeur to moisten the sponge, delish!
My favorite italian meal is long and slow cooked, and shared family style at a table bursting with colour, wine, laughter and love.
To pick one dish, I would have to say a slow roasted shoulder of pork with a nice fresh salsa verde, a big salad, and piles fo crusty bread with salted butter.
Hi Lorraine! So this is the book you were talking about! Well after a meal at Buon Ricardo, my favourite dish is quite possibly the Timballo! It would be so lovely to get my hands on their book!
I’m not sure how traditional it is, but I love an Italian-inspired pasta bake, perhaps studded with beef meatballs, with a rich tomato sauce, and topped with a creamy cheese bechamel. Delicious!
Ive made these last weekend fr my italian B-day party,,,everybody loved them! mad ea honey sauce with it,,,Thanks for the post!
All I want for christmas is… a classic pizza on a thin, crisp base, bubbled with heat from a wood-burning oven. It would have Italian salami, basil, garlic and buffalo mozzarella on top and be drizzled with a lovely olive oil. Bellissimo!
One of my dearest friend is Italian, and she has introduced me to the best pizza I have ever tasted.
Its in a restaurant called Rosso Pomodoro in Balmain, and she sweared the dish is truly Italian. It is a simple naepolitan pizza with buffalo mozzarela and tomato base and prosciutto….HEAVEN
We were given a fig tree a couple of years ago. The ripe figs are so beautiful they don’t survive the trip to the kitchen! The recipe with blue cheese sounds worth the wait though. Thanks!
My favourite Italian dish was a pizza with blue cheese and pear. We had it in front of a roaring fire in the small NSW town of Tarcutta.
I love risotto Milanese – creamy, gooey, rich and gorgeous.
My mum would be excited about your fig fetish as she’s always trying to make our visitors try one from the fig tree in the backyard! Maybe I can make a sauce for her next time.
My favourite Italian dish has to be Lasagne it’s my most popular dish to make for friends and family. Yummy and good times.
ooohhh Bring back the FIG!!!!!
I adore good Italian cuisine and these photos and recipes are absolutely sexy! Cooked with love and sensuality,like all good food should be, who wouldnt want to win this gorgeous cook book?
I’m thinking.. Mmm, yes! Risotto con piselli freschi!
Risotto Fungi – really simple but delicious.
Homemade lasagne …
Vitello tonnato is my favourite Italian dish washed down with a glass of red wine.
My favourite Italian dish is gnocchi with boscaiola sauce. It is my first Italian dish as I was being dare to eat a different-than-usual food when a friend treat me to Italian Restaurant while she is dating (Hey, I was asked to accompanying her not annoying her). Most people usually get into spaghetti and tomato sauce first, but I got gnocchi and creamy sauce first.
Tiramisù my favourite Italiano “pick-me-up”. My best friend makes it like it comes from heaven.
I would love to try something that doesn’t appear on my table! I want to expand my taste buds and this book looks like a great place to start!
My answer is quite simply lasagne. When done right it’s so so delicious. It doesn’t get any better then that!
homemade antipasto platters with a chilled glass of white on a hot summers night. we started up a veggie garden so pickling and preserving tomatoes, zucchinis (and flowers) from the garden works a treat
The best italian dish that kills me every time is homemade Veal Marsala. I could eat tonnes of that in one sitting and drool thinking about it – DIVINE!!!
My Favourite is the authentic Sicilian Lemon Chicken with Raisin, served with rice ! Simply DIVINE !
I love the delicious Veneto Chicken, I had it everday when I was in Venice, so good !
There is an Italian dish which we ate in a restaurant in Rome, called Lasagne Verdi al Forno, we enjoyed it so much…….
Gnocchi Primavera , especially the special version served by my wife, i just love it.
My favourite Italian dish? Antonio Sabato Jr.
My fav dish is plain ole Spaghetti bog, delicious and no fightingg the kids to eat it
While in Florence I dined in a tiny restaurant on the most amazing rabbit pappardelle. A few quality ingredients made this rustic dish one of the most memorable meals of my life
My favourite Italian dish is my mum’s home made Italian pasta tomato sauce with either spaghetti or penne.
im going to be boring and say that i love a good old fashioned italian pizza with the lot! mmmm mmmm
Hi Lorraine, My favourite authentic Italian food is Garlic Prawns followed by Pistachio Gelati prepared in an Italian Restaurant
On a trip to Italy last June, I had the most beautiful gastronomic 24 hours of my life. It began late one night at the Alaska Gelateria in Santa Croce, Venice where I nearly wept over the gelato. Fresh pistachio, puce green and light; almond, creamy and rich, and a final, simple but singing lemon sorbet. So good, I called my mum at 5am AUS time to tell her. She understood.
The next day we travelled to Lake Guarda where I had the most transformational Linguine alla vongole. Not many ingredients, just fresh fish, a salty, winey syrup and mediterranean air.
Bliss.
My favourite Italian dish has got to be the hearty quintessential Spaghetti Bolognaise. A well made one filled with thick juicy chunky pieces of beef and sprinkles of parmesan can send my tastebuds into overdrive. I yearn it almost everyday. Maybe because my everyday is filled with sandwiches. Bland.
My other favourite Italian dish is pizza. It can be eaten with any combination which I love to add and omit which I dislike.
I am yet to explore most of these pizza as there are lots of flavour combinations which always make it a new experience. South France pizza also make it exciting for me to explore these new pizza flavour and garnishing.
Grilled Polenta (made on milk and finished with parmesan) with Mushrooms and Anchovies Cabonara, yummmmm
Amazing, just finished making it and totally a hit thankyou
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[...] twitched to make it so I grabbed some cookbooks and flicked through them. I had been sent the Buon Ricordo book to review and I had gone through it tagging recipes to [...]
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