About Italian Food: Baskets full of Grapes...

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Italian Food Italian Food Quick/Easy Recipes Le Basi Classic Recipes From Kyle Phillips, your Guide to Italian Food It is that time of year, and the vines are heavy with ripe grapes, so one would expect winemakers to be eagerly preparing to bring them in and transform them into wine. And some are. However, because of the economic slowdown others still have last year's wine in their tanks, and some have made the terrifying (to me) decision to leave the grapes where they are. Or invite people to take what they want, and wife E's aunt A gave us at least 10 pounds of grapes yesterday. Beautiful, sweet, firm grapes, and we'll be putting them to use, making jelly and schiacciata con l'uva. To be honest, I'd rather the winemaker had threatened trespassers with a shotgun rather than inviting A into the vineyard, but these are the times we live in. Schiacciata Con L'Uva One of the nicest things about autumn in Tuscany is Schiacciata con l'Uva, an astonishingly rich, sinfully juicy wine grape pie whose country roots are clearly revealed by the dough and the crunchiness of the grape seeds. This is a fairly elegant, city version, in which the traditional lard and honey have been replaced by olive oil and sugar. A Traditional Shciacciata Con L'Uva Recipe Schiacciata Con L'Uva, Illustrated Pasta Al Forno Pasta al Forno is baked pasta, and though there are a few baked pasta recipes that are nice in summer (pesto lasagna, for example) it really is a cooler weather dish, and now that it has actually begun to see cool at night it's time to start thinking about firing up the stove. You can, if you want, use lasagna sheets that don't require preboiling (make the sauce slightly more liquid if you do), but I prefer the texture of lasagna made with boiled sheets of pasta. It's Also Polenta Time Polenta is corn meal mush, and as such is not something a non-Italian would necessarily identify with The Peninsula. But it was the staple food of the northern poor, especially those living in the country, and while this was not good -- a diet of just polenta leads to pellagra -- polenta is an excellent accompaniment to all manner of stews and sauces, and is wonderful baked too. So northerners still enjoy polenta as often as they can -- but not just by itself. Pecorino Romano: Roman in what sense? Though one might expect Pecorino Romano to be made around Rome, and perhaps in the Alban Hills, its production area is considerably wider, extending into southern Tuscany and also Sardegna, which is where the Consorzio per la Tutela del Formaggio Pecorino Romano, the organization that oversees the production of Pecorino Romano, has its offices. Why would the organization overseeing the production of a Roman cheese have its offices off in Sardegna? Italian Food Ads Gift Baskets Fruit Baskets Food Baskets Food Hamper Food Gift Featured Articles Peppery Beef Fillet With Herbs, Filetto Impepato Adriana's Beef and Pork Stew, Lo Stufato Dell'Adriana Roast Beef with Sliced Onions Graziella's Baked Breaded Chicken Breasts Sardinian Panadas, or Sardinian Meat Pies Fennel Sformato, Sformato di Finocchi   More from About.com Is it a Cold or the Flu? Knowing whether you have a cold or the flu can help you treat your symptoms more effectively. More> Concerned About Your Drinking? This short quiz can help you identify whether or not you have a drinking problem. More> This newsletter is written by: Kyle Phillips Italian Food Guide Email Me | My Blog | My Forum   Sign up for more free newsletters on your favorite topics You are receiving this newsletter because you subscribed to the About Italian Food newsletter. If you wish to change your email address or unsubscribe, please click here. About respects your privacy: Our Privacy Policy Contact Information: 249 West 17th Street New York, NY, 10011 © 2010 About.com   Seen Here and There The Evils of Corn Syrup: Misdirected Anger? From Judy Francini: Fall Foods- When Tuscany Shines Slovakian Rabbit on Mushrooms Advertisement