A rustic but still decadent strawberry dessert for Mother’s Day? Shavuot? Just because? Yes, yes, and yes, please. Ever since seeing a photo last year of a strawberry cassata, a Sicilian-style ricotta cake, it’s been on my list to try. This year’s arrival of spring’s best strawberries motivated me to do it—to create my own Read more
On the Jewish culinary calendar, it’s time for cheese—all thanks to the holiday of Shavuot (starting Saturday night), celebrated with dairy foods. That inspires me to look longingly at cheesecake recipes of all sorts and think that it’s been too long since I’ve made my Nutella Mousse Cheesecake. But I Read more
No traditional Jewish-Italian hamantashen exists. But don’t worry. One thing I learned early on and I see played out every year in recipe compilations is that these triangle-shaped pastries, like kids in their Purim holiday costumes, can be just about anything. Even deliciously Italian-themed. Hundreds of years ago, that would Read more
In honor of holidays in Israel last week (Memorial Day and Independence Day), I wanted to feature a recipe that represents Israel in a more personal way. This one comes from a Jewish woman I met who grew up in Russia. As you might know, life for Jews even in Read more
Although I’ve been Italian all my life, it took becoming Jewish to motivate me to make my own ricotta. Passover, specifically, bears responsibility for sending me down this path. Even though you can find kosher ricotta, getting your hands on kosher for Passover ricotta is a challenge for most people. Read more
Although nothing compares to fresh homemade pizza dough, when people have good bread at the ready, we haven’t hesitated to make it pizza. Pizza pretzels, French bread pizzas, pita pizzas. We love our pizza, and, quite often, we love convenience—pizza done in minutes and on sturdier bread, which can Read more