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I finally took the plunge and made my first batch. I used the recipe for swiss chard malfatti in Amanda Hesser's NYT book, but, being me, I couldn't help tinkering with it. Frankly the specified amounts of butter and eggs were frightening. I used the basic ingredients and technique. My first problem was that the chard purveyer at the farmers' market didn't have a scale, and the recipe specified 4 lbs. I went away with two enormous bunches, which I figured might weight close to 3 lbs. I don't have a scale at home either, so I just winged it and used it all; when it was well drained and chopped it seemed like a fair amount. I used almost the amount of ricotta and flour specified, but literally half the butter and half the egg yolks. The end result was far better than I expected for a first try. They were not stiff but rather delicate, but they did just hold their shape sitting on a board for a couple of hours before cooking. They were very chardy, which I liked, light and tasty. I served them as suggested, with a brown butter sage drizzle. Next time I might try them with a fresh tomato butter sauce, or a cooked tomato sauce in the winter. I checked a few other recipes and it seems that they all are wildly different. Some use bread instead of flour, some use no eggs, some use lots of whole eggs, others mostly yolks. And they also differ as to cooking time, even allowing for the fact that the size of the dumplings varies somewhat. Most all recipes say they are done when they float; some recipes say that will take about 3 minutes. Amanda says 8-10 minutes. Mine floated at about 2 minutes, so I left them in to simmer another 5 minutes, which seemed fine. What's your experience making malfatti? Are the quantities of ingredients as flexible as they seem or was I just lucky? Gnocchi seem much less forgiving.

The pizza-consumption idiosyncrasies topic has been a goldmine of ideas for related topics. One thing I wanted to start getting to the bottom of is a taxonomy of non-pizza, pizza-like things. I happen to like stromboli a lot. I assumed it was a real Italian pizza variant but Wikipedia says it comes from Philadelphia in the 1950s. I also hear that "pizza rolls," which are sometimes like stromboli, I gather, and sometimes like egg rolls with sauce-cheese filling, are gaining popularity. What else is out there?

Hi it is my good friend's birthday this sat. He eats, as he says, to live. In comparison we say we live to eat. Basically he eats very healthy, but his favorite cuisine is Italian. Definitely leaning towards old Italian ie pasta with clam sauce. Do you guys have a recommendation for somewhere in Manhattan that offers this? Thanks

Does anyone have any recommendation for a short term {month or more} professional or at the very least a very serious amateur cook, school in the Naples area?

Lately, I've been thinking I want to make a pot of minestrone, like maybe this weekend after I get back from USGM. Minestrone is a wonderfully versatile soup that can take on many different forms because its ingredients depend on the season and what's available at the market. Some examples: Harvest minestrone -- onion, potatoes, pancetta, cabbage, Swiss chard, zucchini, celery stalks, celery leaves, string beans, squash, tomatoes, RG beans, water. Summer minestrone -- onion, summer squash, green beans, fresh tomato, corn, carrot, cheese, vegetable stock Spring minestrone -- onion, ramps, asparagus, carrot, heirloom potatoes, celery, watercress, shallots, parsnips, RG beans, cheese. I used chicken stock this time around. In general, I prefer a light version where the vegetables aren't cooked to death, and where tomato isn't so predominant. I usually include pasta or beans. Sometimes I'll serve with a thick slice of crispy toast that's been rubbed with crushed garlic and drizzled with a little olive oil. How do you make yours?

Anyone have any good suggestions for places to pick up some top italian / italian-style ingredients? after good olive oil, salted anchovies, mustard fruits etc - not London based but happy to mail order.

Tomorrow yet again I have to BS my way through a cooking project. I have never actually made a brown butter and sage sauce for pasta. Is it really as simple as melting butter over medium heat and stirring until it browns, adding chopped sage for a minute, tossing with pasta and adding parmesan? Anything else I need to know?

Been having major woes making IMBC. Last 5 times turned into soupy mess. taking syrup to 245f, beating egg whites to room temp butter cool and smashed to soften no go, no idea I might even take a video of next time. Any suggestions ?

I was making my own homemade tomatoes - based sauce for spaghetti but i used JACOB'S CREEK - CHARDONNAY for tomato sauce.. i wonder any suggestion for any white wine such as SEMILLON CHARDONNAY etc..

I'm on the search for Roman dishes of contested origins. I know there's a difference of opinion about carbonara and amatriciana, but are there any other Roman dishes that are questionable in their origins? Thanks in advance for any advice or help or suggestions.

I just bought a Kitchenaid Pro 600 mixer and I hope to get the pasta making attachment this week. I really love quality dried pasta but I wanted to try making fresh. What recipes do you recommend that really show the fresh pasta to its best advantage? I know stuffed pastas but what about the non-stuffed ones?

I was wondering as general rule as with bread flour whether the better quality product has the highest protein content? I did a quick shelf survey and the dreadful quick cook stuff has a sub 10% (sometimes 6%) protein content whereas the seemingly highest quality and pricier dried pasta is 13% plus and has much longer cooking times. That's not to say they weren't some lowish protein content pasta's masquerading as high end products and priced accordingly. Is it a credible theory?

In a fit of enthusiasm I bought a small basket of good ricotta at the market Saturday, thinking we'd serve it as-is on Sunday, but we had so much stuff, I didn’t bring it out. Now every time I open the fridge it squawks at me that it's not getting any younger. I have realized for some time now that I greatly need new ricotta ideas, so here I am. Let me specify: I really don't want to make a sweet; I already know how to make regular pasta con la ricotta and view it as a last resort (though it may come to that), and I'm too exhausted from the Easter lunch yesterday to think about making ravioli. I might wait till tomorrow (when I can buy eggs) and make a tiella di Gaeta with ricotta, herbs, and onions, though my enthusiasm does not extend to the making of pastry. I also might just wind up putting it out with some excellent salami and bread and hoping Franco will eat it. Still, I'm sure there's some wonderful dish out there in ricotta land that I'm totally missing. Maureen B. Fant www.maureenbfant.com

I'm buying a hand crank pasta machine and wanted to know what people thought of the different available brands. I've really been mostly looking at the Imperia that they sell at W-S but wanted to know if there were others I should look at. What kind do you have and what are the pros\cons?

Hey Everyone. I was watching this video on youtube, and was wondering what kind of pasta your would call this. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xB7V8I94mY At 6:13, a pasta is being made, then, it does happen quickly, but it looks like the filling is piped out in a straight line and folded to make these very nice pockets. Would you call these raviolis? Anyone have any details on how to make these? I make raviolis on a semi regular basis, but the way they were doing it in the video, it seemed like it could be done very fast and made into a nice shape. Anyways, just wondering if anyone's seen it done like this before.

I'm currently trying to pick up some basic Italian and I wondered if anyone knew of any good Italian language television programmes, whether on air at the moment or older ones that I might be able to find online? I tried searching Google, but I couldn't work out good search terms to use. For learning Spanish I found Jose Andres's Vamos a Cocinar and Juan Pozuelo's Que Comemos Hoy really great for listening practice and mainly I'm looking for similar format, ie someone making something and talking you through it, but to be honest anything else food related would be great as well

I'm trying to decide between buying a hand cranked machine (probably and Atlas or Imperia) vs the kitchenaid pasta attachment. The Kitchenaid is about twice as expensive but it's automatic. What are the pros and cons with each? For people who've owned them, which do you prefer?

I'm going to the Italian Market tomorrow and need veal stock. The small demi-glace packets are available several places but IIRC they're expensive. Any other recommendations?

we are meeting friends for dinner tonight and they would like to go to an Italian restaurant. We will be in the East 80's from 2nd Ave to Madison. Would like to keep it moderately priced. Any ideas? Thank you.

I am looking for cookbooks that feature recipes and cuisine from the Northern region of Italy. ( My ancestors originate from Torino. ) I am looking for 'light' or healthier versions of traditional northern Italian recipes. Any recommendations?

We'll be visiting the Ft Pierce area in February. Staying for a couple of weeks. We're looking for recommendations as to the best places to dine. We eat just about anything, but would be particularly interested in places that serve the best fish or steaks or Mexican or Cuban. Any suggestions greatly appreciated.

So I am sat here watching Masterchef professionals and they complained about how someones pasta is too thick. How can you make pasta too thick? Given you just keep turning the dial to make it thinner and thinner till the lowest setting how is this possible and especially for a professional? I'm more interested because I might be missing a trick to make my pasta thinner! Thanks, Paul

So I've yet to ever cook with polenta, so I bought some to experiment with. I got the 'pre-cooked' package this time to simplify things. What should I make first? Other ingredients on hand: A couple of racks of pork ribs (on sale!), lots of great frozen hatch chilies, all kinds of root veg and aromatics. I'm jonesing to use the ribs, green chile AND polenta, but so far have come up with nothing inspirational. Any ideas?

Okay, pizza in Buenos Aires...a very complex topic to tackle! At once, it's ubiquitous and elusive. There's cheese (to the gills!) and no cheese. There's ham--deli-type and salt-cured--but no pepperoni. There's the thick, gooey crust that tastes and tooths like bread or there's the "pizza a la piedra," or stone-baked, thin, crispy crust that tastes like a water cracker. There's faina, a...hmm, how to describe it...chickpea flour biscuit-like, focaccia-shaped bread thing, slightly reminiscent of cornbread in appearance, that is eaten on top of the very local, very traditional pizza called fugazzetta (pizza dough piled thick with lots of onions, oregano and cheese, maybe some green olives...yep, that's it.) So, what's the complexity about? For starters, locals--Porteños, the residents of the Capital--will say that they LOVE pizza and that Buenos Aires has the best pizza in the world. Being here in BA, you will quickly identify that the former statement is as true as can be: almost every commercial corner in this city has either a pizza joint (or two) or a resto-bar that serves pizza proudly. Any lunch cafe will serve pizza. In other words, ubiquitous. But you will find that these eateries serve an identical menu--empanadas, pizza, ham and cheese sandwiches, milanesas--indicating that the local palate is quite limited. That isn't to imply that a limited palate necessarily must be an indiscriminate one, but...here, it kind of is. Argentine pizza is in its own category of cuisine. It is not Italian pizza. It is not NYC pizza, nor Chicago pizza. In order to appreciate it at all, you MUST divorce your preconceived notions of pizza from the experience of eating Argentine pizza. Then--and only then--you might be able to enjoy what you are ingesting. You will find that Argentine pizza is oozing with unbrowned, insufficiently baked, rubbery, bad mozzarella. You will find that the sauce is both lacking in quantity and flavor. You will find the crust, if it is the soft kind, bready without any yeastiness, often toothless. The cracker-crisp crust is better because of the improvement in texture, but again, tends to be flavorless. Sorry I sound so cynical, but 90% of the Argentine pizzas I have eaten have caused in me regrets and disappointment and low after-dinner self-esteem. My suggestion: try it for the experience of it, but I can't bear to make any recommendations here on an integrity basis and because I refuse to be held accountable either for intentionally leading anyone to a negative dining experience or for finding out that anyone had a great experience with something I define as mediocre! So, to find a GREAT pizza in Buenos Aires was an exercise in patience and grave tolerance, but finally that elusive pie has been identified... Siamo nel Forno Costa Rica 5886 in Palermo Hollywood 4775-0337, reservas@siamonelforno.com.ar Tues-Sun from 8 pm to close An exercise in Neapolitan-style, artesanal excellence: Original, imported, wood-burning oven from Italy; thin-crust, gourmet pizzas using highest-quality ingredients; nice wine list; great coffee! Warm, personable, professional service, English-speaking staff; owner/head chef will probably stop at your table to check in; comfortable ambience Super busy on weekends, so reserve if you plan to go after 9 pm. Second choice: Piola, 2 locations Libertad 1078 in Barrio Norte 4812 0690 / 4815 4746 open late night (until 2 or 3 am) Gorriti 5751 in Palermo Hollywood 4777 3698 / 4777 3298 http://www.piola.it/...mber=21〈=en International chain of pizzerias out of Italy, but consistent and with a huge variety of pizzas; also offer pastas and other dishes. They give a complimentary sweet limoncello (?) blended drink at the end. Service is sometimes perfunctory and slow, but generally kind. Lots of English-speaking waiters. Also very busy; they take reservations, but if you go early, you'll get in. Open all day. I don't quite understand why there are always TV's on at this restaurant.

After candying some quince, I decided the best fate for it is panforte, then realized that there is no way I'm going to be able get the ostie (thin, flat wafers made of I'm-not-sure-what) that cover it. My first thought was 'Make them!', then I wondered whether the rice wraps used for spring rolls could be used (thin as the discs are, the seem a bit thicker than what I have in mind, and the starch looks more gelatinized than it is in ostie). Have any of you either successfully used rice wrappers, or made ostie? I could get them online, but then I'd have masses of them, and I'd rather not have to store anything I won't be using relatively quickly, since storage is at a premium (we're in a very temporary space).