The Glorious Pasta of Italy

Q&A With Olio2go’s Luanne Savino O’Loughlin ~ and a Book Signing in Fairfax

September 18, 2012

I’m pretty sure I have more olive oil than blood running through my veins. I cook with it and consume it every day; in fact, it is in the biscotto on which I am munching at this very moment. And yet I find the whole subject of olive oil confusing, not to mention disheartening these [...]

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Hello, Tomato Season…

August 23, 2012

Right now, across the country, farmers’ market stalls are teeming with tomatoes. Fat, lopsided heirlooms, green-striped zebras, shiny round cherries, and plump Romas among them. When it’s tomato season I eat them every day. Every day. I make tomato salad, with or without mozzarella. I put them on pizza and poke them into focaccia. I [...]

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Master Pasta Class in Mrs. Wheelbarrow’s Kitchen!

August 17, 2012

How would you like to roll up your sleeves and make some magic with flour and eggs? On Sunday, September 9, I’ll be teaching a Master Pasta Class at the D.C. home of my friend Cathy Barrow (a.k.a. Mrs Wheelbarrow). This is a special 4-hour class in which we will be making three fresh pasta [...]

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Sage Advice

June 8, 2012

The other day I received a large, lovely bouquet, not of flowers but of sage, which is much nicer in my opinion. The gift was from my good friend (and—lucky me—next-door neighbor) Anne, who happened to be thinning out her herb garden and had more sage than she knew what to do with. I was [...]

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Dicembre Dolce: La Cicerchiata

December 20, 2011

Fabulous photo by France Ruffenach for Chronicle Books Fried dough pellets glued together with honey to form a ring. That, in essence, is la cicerchiata, a traditional dessert from Italy’s Abruzzo region. There is nothing subtle or sophisticated about it. And yet, it is impossible to resist. Here is what will happen if you set [...]

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A Trip to Hawaii and A “Re-Entry” Family Dish

August 15, 2011

Coming back from vacation is tough. No matter how good it feels to be home, it also feels kind of bad. One day you’re lolling on the beach, or body surfing off the coast of Oahu, or enjoying a coconut cocktail at the famously pink Royal Hawaiian Hotel. The next day you’re wading not through [...]

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Spaghetti al Farouk: Abruzzo circa 1975

June 17, 2011

I’m pretty sure it was my dad who ordered the Spaghetti al Farouk at that restaurant on the beach. It was like nothing we’d ever had before—silky noodles tossed with fresh Adriatic seafood and cloaked in a creamy, golden saffron- and curry-laced sauce that was spiked with ginger. This was a long time ago, more [...]

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A Glorious Pasta Party!

June 1, 2011

There is, as far as I’m concerned, only one way to celebrate a new book about pasta, and that is to throw an outrageously delicious, no-holds-barred Glorious Pasta Party! As some of you already know, today is the official publication date for my latest cookbook, The Glorious Pasta of Italy. To help give my baby [...]

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Peas…with a little news tossed in

May 20, 2011

When my kids were little, I used to make them shell the peas I brought home from the farmers’ market. This accomplished several things: It kept their little hands busy, and it freed mine for other tasks. Also, it made them participants in the preparation of dinner, which I liked. My son, the oldest, used [...]

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