My son recently asked me to cook something for dinner. I was tired and didn’t feel like cooking, but he kept asking. Finally, I dug around in the refrigerator, came up with some ingredients for this Mexican/Italian dish and made it for him. He loved it! The Italian Quesadilla is … More

Hello again from New York City! I was sitting at my desk and looking out the window from my office recently, and the snow began to fall once again. It was coming down rather heavily, but it looked so pretty. It was shortly after noon, and for once, the phones … More

Hello, my readers! I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! I started thinking about this recipe for deep-fried cauliflower in December because it happens to be a very popular dish around the holidays for Italians and for some pizza shops. The holidays have passed now, but it’s delicious any time … More

Everybody loves zucchini. A type of summer squash, it’s a special brand of produce that’s sold all over the world. It can be grilled, stuffed, steamed, boiled, baked, fried or even served raw, or you can simply cook it lightly with some butter or olive oil and herbs. It’s low … More

When Joe Bono’s grandfather, Giovanni, came to the United States from Sicily in 1955, he brought nothing with him but a pocketful of old-world recipes and a dream of success in America. He used the former—plus a lot of hard work—to achieve the latter, and a family tradition that persists … More

There are few things more Italian than watching as a fresh-baked pizza emerges from a wood-fired oven, but Italy is now facing a shortage of pizza makers. Despite a long recession and high unemployment, Italians avoid the job because of the long hours and modest pay. And yet, with a … More

Why am I providing a recipe for glazed oranges this month? As most of you know, I live in Tampa, Florida, not too far from Tropicana, the maker of Florida orange juice and many other juice products. When you drive along Route 41 South, you can see 20 or 30 tractors pulling trailers loaded with oranges on … More

The Ybor City district in Tampa, Florida, has a rich Sicilian heritage. People started emigrating from Sicily at the end of the 19th century and moved to Ybor City and West Tampa, where they found work in the cigar factories. Here, they came together with the region’s many Cuban immigrants, … More

It’s easy to find information on how to succeed in the pizzeria business, but most people never talk about why so many pizzerias fail and close down, often within less than a year of opening. Some of the reasons are obvious—a bad location, for example, or the owners’ lack of … More

Some people think pasta is hard to make. They are wrong. In fact, it’s very easy to make your own pasta at home or at your restaurant. And you don’t need a pasta machine—you can do it by hand. All you need is a few basic ingredients and some time. … More