Ah, the joys of Sicilian pizza. I was eating this style of pizza even before I was eye-level with the top of the table in my Mother’s kitchen, so I do know of what I write and eat. What exactly is Sicilian pizza? Before I answer that question, ...

This recipe is very close to how my mother did her meatballs, but there are as many recipes for meatballs as there are Italians. This recipe makes 18 meatballs, each about 2 inches in diameter. Makes 6 servings (scale up in direct proportion) ½...

Stromboli: One of the Aeolian Islands in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the coast of Italy, also the location of one of the most active volcanoes on Earth. Stromboli: The 1950s movie starring Ingrid Bergman. Stromboli: Rolled pizza. Stromboli is in the famil...

Take and bake pizza has finally grabbed the attention of mainstream operators and questions abound on how to make take and bake pizzas. They are really not that difficult to make as evidenced by the fact that some operators don’t do much more t...

Say hello to the family of “little cakes” better known as tortelli, tortellini, and tortelloni. Tortelli looks like a stretched out ravioli (a specialty of Parma, Italy). Tortellini is a small ring-shaped pasta that is filled with me...

Most of the time Carpaccio is associated with beef, as in thin slices of raw beef, veal or even tuna. The name comes from Vittore Carpaccio, the Venetian Rennaissance painter who, as history points out, favored the use of red and white in his paintin...

Menu Development Chill Out Salads are moving year ‘round these days By Jeremy White, Editor in Chief It’s February, traditionally one of the coldest months of the year in much of the United States, and many of your customers are thinking ...

Menu Development Mushroom Madness By Carol Kroskey Look beyond cultivated white mushrooms to add flavor, texture and variety to menu items Diners who like mushrooms really like them, giving operators a chance to promote specialty pizzas like the &ldq...

No question that it’s pretty darn easy to just open a jug, jar or can to take care of your salad dressing needs. However, in this day and age of going artisanal, it’s time to take a look at putting together your own salad dressings. And t...

Vitello parmigiana, veal parmigiana, or veal Parmesan? Take your pick as to which wording you want to use to list this classic dish on your menu since all of them will serve your customers well — as long as you make it great. You have to admit, tho...

If you serve pasta-based dishes that feature chicken or fish, a velouté may be a sauce worth exploring. Veloutés are cheap to make, tasty and perfect matches for pasta. Start with a basic chicken stock — canned, concentrated or fr...

By Pasquale “Pat” Bruno It was at the Anchor Bar in Buffalo, New York, circa 1964, that owner Teresa Bellissimo created the now famous Buffalo chicken wings. As the story goes, she received a large order of chicken wings from a supplier a...