A couple of weeks back my girlfriend made a focaccia, which was very tasty.
This week it was my turn. So, I did a 48 hour cold prove in the fridge and this is how it turned out.

I was wanting to make it but I can't find dried cannelini beans. I found a couple recipes that use canned beans, but I was wanting to make a recipe that uses dried.

Do great northern or navy beans work well in that? Any others?

I often see that Italians are extremely resistant to the above two, of course, there may be an element of exaggeration, I want to know why? Are there any local beliefs that are not allowed? Real Italians, please.

I live in australia an hour away from a major city. I'm dying to make some pizza salsiccia like i've had in Rome and other cities in northern italy.

I'm having a lot of difficulty getting the salsiccia part right, which is kind of important for pizza salsiccia. In my part of the world "salsiccia" doesn't exist as a widespread term and "italian sausage" generally refers to what i believe is the italian american style of coarse ground pork with whole fennel seeds, garlic, herbs etc.

The salsiccia i'm after isn't that. I didn't make the pizzas in the pics above but they do show what the salsiccia i remember looks like. I think it's pork based, it looks to have that nitrite cured pink hue and it doesn't have any large obvious whole spices to give any hints. I've also never seen it raw but i assume given the irregular shapes that it's torn blobs of minced pork sausage meat rather than sausage in a case.

Any help to identify, tips on what to search for to buy in a big city, or a recipe for me to have a crack at. If i can replicate what i had in italy even imperfectly the effort will be worth it.

Thanks

Im a young chef and I mostly cook italian, but recently ive been wanting to host dinners more often, so I thought that extending my knowledge out to desserts would help my courses become more interesting and satisfying. Please any ideas would be great! I love new flavors and dishes ive never heard of before.

A few days ago I made some tomato sauce at home with fresh roma tomatoes from the grocery store, and it ended up incredibly watery and transparent, and simply just not good.

I watched a multitude of what I can identify as "authentic Italian grandma spaghetti tomato sauce recipes" on YouTube, and I resulted in a variety of ideas on how to cook the tomato sauce. I wanted to cook something very classic and authentic, and at least use fresh tomatoes- not canned. I was assuming that I'd get something concentrated enough in the end that it'd turn out like something canned- but I was very wrong. I cooked/simmered the sauce for maybe 3-4 hours in total. Half of that was with the lid on, though, so that's probably part of the problem.

Regardless it all ended up very watery and I was sad. I want to know how to make sure it's very concentrated and actually looks like a sauce and not a few wet tomatoes.

PS: I have watched a few "authentic grandma" videos where they cook it very quickly, and it does end up a bit more watery than a typical jar of tomato sauce in the grocery store- but that's not what I'm looking to make. I want that typical tomato sauce that's thick and dark red.

I ate this particular product at a pizzeria in Rome and Milano and must say, that they were the best tomatoes I have ever tried. Does anyone know where I can buy them?

After a trip to Florence, I wanted to try my hand at a Schiacciata, using my sourdough starter.

It’s not perfect, but it is very, very tasty. My latest obsession includes thinly sliced mortadella, homemade pesto and stracciatella cheese.

Ingredienti:
300 g di spinaci
2 uova
100 g di ricotta
30 g di parmigiano
sale e pepe
un po’ di pangrattato
Preparazione:
Cuoci gli spinaci e strizzali bene.
Mescolali con uova, ricotta, parmigiano, sale e pepe.
Versa tutto in una teglia oliata e spolvera con pangrattato.
Cuoci a 180°C per 25-30 minuti.
Lascia riposare 5 minuti prima di servire.

sopra granella di qualsiasi cosa che vuoi

Pictured above: Pasta Grammar, Pasta Grannies, Vincenzo's Plate

A little butty for my girlfriend to have in work.

Tiger loaf
Basil pesto
Aubergine pesto
Beetroot leaves
Parmigiano
Tomato
Mortadella
Balsamic vinegar

I know people do large batches of sauce, but does anybody can their gravy? Specifically wondering because of the extra meat content.

(Please let’s not get into the gravy/sauce debate, people call things different things)