Your Guardian Chef: Laura Giunta Tobin

Buongiorno, The KitchenAid Vegetable Strainer Attachment is 20% off through August 30, and if you live in the US, this is the time to get it. I use this attachment every season: for canning tomatoes in August, for making mashed potatoes without a ricer, and for pressing fruit into juice. One tool, three jobs it does better than anything else I own. You can watch it in action in my YouTube Short here: ▶️ Watch it here Find it in my Amazon storefront at the link below: Get 20% off the...

Buon Venerdì, Late August is when the oven comes back on and eggplant is at its best. You want a proper main, not a side dish. These are baked eggplant mains — the dishes I reach for at the end of summer. Most can be made vegetarian by leaving the meat out, which makes them work for any table. 🍽️ Vegetarian Baked Eggplant Pasta Anelletti 🍽️ Rice Eggplant Timbale 🍽️ Cold Stuffed Round Eggplants 🍽️ Potato Stuffed Zucchini and Eggplants 🍽️ No Fry Eggplant Parmesan buon appetito, LauraYour Angel...

Buon Mercoledì, Late August is still very much entertaining season, and you need something on the table before the mains arrive. These are traditional Italian appetizers — the kind that open a late summer meal and make people happy before they even sit down. Each one is simple to prepare and most can be made ahead, which is what makes them work for a late summer gathering. 🍽️ Italian Bruschetta with Mozzarella 🍽️ Mushroom Bruschetta with Bacon 🍽️ Fried Mozzarella Sticks and Balls 🍽️ Black...

Buona Domenica, Before the summer is over, I want to make the most of my peaches. That is why I want to share the cake I make every summer to use plenty of them at once. In Italy we eat a cake like this not only at the end of the meal but also for breakfast. 🍽️ Italian Peach Cake ▶️ Watch the full recipe on YouTube buon appetito, LauraYour Angel In The Kitchen Follow me on

Buon Venerdì, By late August the best fruit of the year is here, and it will not last much longer. These are the cakes and tarts I make to use it, not Italian classics, just the recipes I reach for when I want to bake with fresh fruit. Each one is built around a specific fruit at its peak, peach, strawberry, pear, lemon, and the baking stays simple so the fruit is the star. 🍽️ Italian Fruit Tart with Custard (Crostata di Frutta) 🍽️ Easy Peach Tarte Tatin 🍽️ Lemon Magic Cake 🍽️ Overripe Pear...

Buon Mercoledì, August fruit is at its best right now, and this is the moment to use it before the season ends. Today we are making gelato and sorbetto, simple, cold, and perfect for this heat. For the recipes we are going to Sicily, where the Italian tradition of cold desserts was born. 🍽️ Homemade Strawberry Gelato with White Chocolate 🍽️ Easy Pineapple Sorbet with Prosecco 🍽️ Homemade Italian Lime Sorbet 🍽️ Uva Fragola Sorbetto (Concord Grape Sorbet) 🍽️ Sicilian Blueberry Sorbet buon...

Buona Domenica, In the heat of summer nothing is more refreshing than watermelon. To make it more interesting and worthy to be presented at a dinner party, this is how I serve it. Made the day before, it comes to the table ice-cold in its own shell. 🍽️ Jellied Watermelon (Anguria Gelatinata) ▶️ Watch the full recipe on youtube buon appetito, LauraYour Angel In The Kitchen Follow me on

Buon Martedì, Ferragosto is Italy's mid-August holiday, always spent with friends and family. This year it falls in the middle of a heatwave where a heavy dinner is the last thing anyone wants. This is the menu I put together for the occasion: a full five-course spread (antipasto, primo, secondo, contorno, dolce) built on seafood, vegetables, and fruit. Light enough to enjoy the whole day together at the table. 🍽️ Italian Octopus Salad (Insalata di Polpo) 🍽️ Prawns & Cherry Tomato Pasta 🍽️...

Buona Domenica, The tomatoes are at their peak right now, sweet and piled high at every market stall. After a summer of sauce and salads, you want to do something that feels like more of an occasion. Sformatini di pomodoro are small baked tomato timbales you can make the day before and serve warm or cold. Perfect for your summer party. → 🍽️ Little Tomato Timbales (Sformatini di Pomodoro)→ ▶️ Watch the full recipe on YouTube Buon appetito, LauraYour Angel In The Kitchen Follow me on

Buon Venerdì, In Italy tomato sauce is not only for pasta, it is so versatile that we use it in many more dishes. During this time of year we preserve for the winter but keep our preserve simple, so we can adapt it to different recipes. They are accessible, no-fuss dishes that rely on a good tomato sauce, the kind you can make on a weeknight. 🍽️ Pizza Campofranco 🍽️ Polpettone 🍽️ Parmigiana 🍽️ Italian Green Beans in Tomato 🍽️ Little Tomato Timbales (Sformatini di Pomodoro) buon appetito,...