A taste of Italy

Last summer I moved out of Toronto's Little Italy.  I had lived there for almost 10 years and I had watched my neighbourhood go through many changes, but now it was time for me to move on.  One thing I miss about my old neighbourhood (aside from the pizza and numerous amazing restaurants) are the food markets on the street. I knew I would have to give up a few things when we temporarily downsized but it's one thing that our new neighbourhood must have within walking distance when we move back into a house!  The markets were never far off when travelling around Italy, actually, I don't remember them being far off in any of the European cities I've travelled to.  

I'd love to share with you some yummy food's I saw along the way during my travels through Italy last summer.  

Caprese Salad

My favourite things to eat while in Italy were Caprese Salad (Fresh tomato, Mozzarella cheese and basil) and Margarita pizza's.  Yes, I went all the way to Italy and I just couldn't get enough of these two very simple but tasty meals.  Oh yeah, let's not forget the red wine with dinner and giant beer's that cooled me off during lunch.  mmm, Well I think I know what I'm having for dinner tonight!!  

I had at least one Margarita pizza a day!!  I love the thin crust and fresh tomato sauce!  Yumm!!

Gelato Cones ;) 

The stack of cones were so pretty, I couldn't resist taking a snap!  I didn't have much gelato while I was in Italy, not exactly sure why.  I love ice cream back home, and it was pretty warm out while in Italy but I guess that were on the go so much and when we finally did stop, all I wanted was pizza!  The gelato flavours were very diverse and I wasn't really sure where to start but when I did finally have some,  I was boring and had the pistachio and stracciatella.  Do you have a favourite flavour?  

Gelato and more gelato!!

The difference between Gelato and Ice Cream?  Well, the basic ingredients are mostly the same, but gelato has a lower butterfat content and while ice cream is churned and creates air (the air  is used as filler), gelato is frozen quickly in small batches to create a denser dessert.

The morning we headed to the bus stop to leave Portovenere, this fruit market appeared for a few hours. Although we couldn't take anything with us, I had to take a look around.

Fresh Figs!!

Mushrooms!

Olive Trees :)

I didn't find any olive trees for sale at the markets, but I was happy to see olive trees everywhere else!  This was taken on a path through Cinque Terre, (five villages) in Italy.  I love kalamata olives and have heard many stories of how I enjoyed a "plate of olives" when visiting family and friends as a little girl.

Chili Peppers bundled up like a bunch of flowers! So Pretty!!!

A few Fruit Markets on the street & outside shops.  I can't tell you how happy I was to find bananas!

Fish Market by the pier in Venice the morning we were leaving town.  Finally figured out where that smell was coming from....

Thanks for dropping by and please stay tuned for my Cooking Lesson in Tuscany!! 

Pizza Margarita with fior di latte mozzarella

There's a restaurant I frequent in Toronto, Il Gato Nero, that has one of the best pizza's I have ever tasted. It's so simple in ingredients, yet full of so much flavour. A relative to the owner, who also works there, had seen me order this pizza time and time again and had told me a story of where this pizza recipe had come from. If I have my story correct, it goes something like this. This pizza originated in the owner's home town of Naples, Italy, in a tiny pizza shop there. And although this pizza shop in Italy only carries 2 types of pizza's, the line up out the door never seems to shorten. And I can understand why!



Pizza is one of my favorite foods, and I have occasionally made pizza at home, loading them up with any leftover vegetables and cheeses in my fridge. They can be fairly inexpensive to pick up, so if I were to make one at home, I usually cheat a little since all the ingredients can really start to add up in costs and with letting the dough rise, it could take some time to make. I usually keep a can or two of pizza sauce, in my pantry, bags of dough purchased at the local grocer can be kept in your freezer, and any leftover bits of veggies in your fridge will do. If you like pepperoni or other meats on your pizza, you can also keep those in your freezer for those pizza craving moments.

This time I cheated.
I had a bag of dough thawing in the fridge and it had started to rise quickly. I took a walk to the local butcher (who also carried fresh cheese) and bought a ball of fior di latte mozzarella went. I pulled the dough out of the fridge, let it warm up so it could continue to rise and opened a can of pizza sauce. Ok, pizza sauce is really easy to make, but what's easier than opening a can of sauce and dumping it on? I usually have some can's of pizza sauce, tomato paste, and sauce on hand since you can do almost anything with them. Today, I didn't want to waste time.

So I had my ball of store bought whole wheat dough rolled out onto my pizza stone, slapped on the pizza sauce, and sliced up the ball of fior di latte mozzarella and placed over the sauce. There's so much flavour in this cheese that you don't need to much of it to make it taste great. The final touch was the basil out of the garden and then sprinkled some dried oregano (just for fun) and popped it into the oven. It took less than 20 minutes, but you'll have to keep an eye on your pizza. The cheese shouldn't go too brown, and you can also check to see if it's ready by using your lifter to check under the pizza, that should start going brown. You just want to make sure the dough is baked. If you've let the dough rise for some time, your crust will be thick and the pizza might take a bit longer to bake and if the dough is a thin crust, it won't take as long. Got it? You can't really go wrong!



If you had a bit more time and wanted to make this from scratch, here are some recipes.
For the dough:
1 (25 oz) package of active dry yeast
1 tsp white sugar
1 cup warm water
2 1/2 cups flour
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp salt

Dissolve the yeast in the warm water and let stand for 5 minutes
Then add the remaining ingredients and mix by had or by mixer (or just throw it all in a bread maker)
Kneed dough for about 10 minutes until smooth and elastic.
Coat the inside of another bowl with Olive Oil and place the dough in the bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let sit in a warm place to rise for about an hour.
I haven't tried making pizza sauce from scratch, but this is as close as I've come
Pizza Sauce:

1 can of tomato paste
using tomato paste can, measure 1 can of warm water
1 tbsp honey
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried italian seasonings
1 clove minced garlic
2 tbsp parmasan

Place all ingredients in a small pot and place on stove top turning it to Medium heat and let simmer for at least half an hour while stirring occasionally. You can adjust the seasonings to your liking. Add different herbs, more garlic, make it spicy! Whatever you like!