Living in Italy and Getting Dual Citizenship! Part 2

I love experimenting in the kitchen, especially when the outcomes are striking!

Welcome to the beginning of Marco’s Italian recipe and cooking cuisine. All the dishes and recipes featured in my videos are of my own creation and were developed and cooked by myself while my wife and I lived in Italy, during my recent dual citizenship journey.

All these recipes are relatively easy to make, are very tasty and inexpensive to produce (especially in Italy!), are healthy and require fresh ingredients. I have also paired them with some fantastic wines! The wines mentioned here are all very solid local Italian wines that are quite reasonable in cost, even at home in the US.

However, I do believe that no matter what wine region of the world you visit, I’ve found that the very best wines produced in those regions never leave the locality from which they are born. This is one of the reasons we love to travel and taste different foods and wines. Every dish and every wine taste infinitely better when paired properly. Always respect the culture!

I hope you enjoy my labor of love!

Fresh Pasta and Clams – (From Part One of this video series; Serves 3-4)
Ingredients:
1 Kg fresh Mediterranean clams
255 grams (9 oz.) Fresh pasta
1-4 cloves of Italian garlic (sliced)
Carapelli brand Tuscan EVO - lots
Italian Pinot Grigio wine for cooking (and drinking with this dish!)
Butter
“Italian Spices”
Pinch of crushed Calabrian chillis

1. Rinse, scrub and ready the clams
2. Prepare pasta water w/ a pinch of salt
3. In a large pot, add 2-5 tsp butter, EVO, sliced garlic, spices (Italian blend as available in the US), chillis, and 1/3 bottle Pinot Grigio, bring to simmer
4. Add clams to simmering pot; simmer for 3-5 mins. Remove unopened clams.
5. Start fresh pasta in boiling water, cook 2-3 minutes until aldente.
6. Add pasta to clams and broth; mix and serve.
7. Enjoy with a glass of Pinot Grigio from the Veneto region of Italy (delicate hints of apricot and peach, hawthorn and pleasant mineral notes; dry, fresh, harmonic).



Marco’s Tuscan Pot Roast Red Sauce w/Polenta, Mushrooms and Broccolini (Serves 3-4)
Ingredients:
1 bone in chuck steak (around 1 pound)
1 large can of Italian tomatoes (San Marzano)
3-5 cloves Italian sliced garlic
Salt / pepper seasoning on meat and broccoli
Herbs to taste
1/2 bottle of Montepulciano D’Abruzzo red wine
Assorted fresh Italian mushrooms (2-4 cups)
Carapelli brand Tuscan EVO – lots
Butter
Fresh made polenta slices (In Italy you can buy a slab of pre made polenta)

1. Sear seasoned meat on high heat in skillet, remove and place on dish
2. In the same pot (reduced heat) Sauté 3-5 cloves sliced garlic in EVO for 3 minutes max.
3. Add meat and tomato sauce to garlic, back in the pot
4. Bring sauce to boil then simmer
5. Add Herbs, spices and pinch of red pepper flakes to taste
6. Add wine
7. Simmer partially covered, stirring occasionally, for at least 5 hours!
8. After 5 hours, Add mushrooms; simmer 1-2 more hours
9. Sauté polenta slices in skillet w/butter
10. Sauté broccolini in skillet w/EVO and salt / pepper seasoning to taste
11. Serve polenta sliced, covered with meat and sauce
12. Add broccoli on side
13. Enjoy with Cecchi La Mora “Morellino di Scansano” Reserva - DOCG, a red wine from Grosseto, Tuscany (intense red color with fruity aroma from marasca cherries, red fruits and plum, with spicy vanilla notes).


Fresh Asparagus, Artichoke and Tomato Pasta (Serves 3-4)
Ingredients:
Fresh Italian asparagus (6-12 total)
Fresh Italian cherry tomatoes (24 each)
Fresh Artichoke hearts (4-8 each)
3-5 cloves Italian garlic sliced
Thin slices of fresh Italian Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
Carapelli brand Tuscan EVO - lots
255g of freshly made tagliatelle pasta
1. In the oven, roast the asparagus, sliced artichoke hearts and tomatoes together on a pan, covered in EVO, and spices (red pepper flakes and salt and pepper to taste).
2. Add garlic slices to oven roasted vegetables at end for 3-5 minutes; do not burn garlic!
3. Cook pasta in salted water
4. Throw all veggies and sauces in bowl; slice veggies if desired
5. Throw pasta on top in same bowl, mix
6. Add more EVO to taste
7. Serve with more Parmigiano Reggiano cheese thin slices or graded
8. Enjoy with a white wine like “Aragosta” Vermentino Di Sardegna (dry, crisp and lively with white peach, green apple, citrus and floral note with a pleasant aftertaste of almonds).

Rovigo’s close proximity to many other Italian regions and cities made it a great location for our home base, as we traveled and discovered some of the many incredible features of north/central and southern Italy.
Please follow us for more details of our extensive traveling in Italy, our love of Italian culture and food, as well as becoming a dual citizen in less than 10 months!

Instagram: @coachmarco_maui
Email: [email protected]
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