Category: recipes of Italian cuisine

Chocolate, Banana and Peanut Toast Recipe – Italian Cuisine

Chocolate, Banana and Peanut Toast Recipe


  • 150 g dark chocolate
  • 150 g vegetable whipping cream
  • 100 g brown sugar
  • 25 g salted peeled peanuts
  • 8 slices of homemade milk-free crusty bread
  • 4 tablespoons of peanut butter
  • 2 ripe bananas

For the chocolate, banana and peanut toast recipe, melt the chocolate in a bain-marie and let it cool. Whip the cream with the electric whisk, then incorporate it in the melted chocolate to obtain a vegetable ganache. Dissolve the brown sugar in a saucepan with 20 g of water and cook it until you get a very light caramel.
Incorporate whole peanuts and another 25 g of hot water to make it more fluid. Peel the bananas and cut them into rounds or in half lengthwise and again in 2 on the short side.
Toast the slices of bread in a pan or in the oven for a couple of minutes, spread a spoonful of peanut butter on 4 of them, then distribute the chocolate ganache, bananas and complete with the peanut caramel. Close the toast with the remaining slices of bread.

How the famous pizza by the meter of Vico Equense was born – Italian Cuisine


The history of pizza by the meter, the 180 cm long specialty of Vico Equense invented in the 1930s by Luigi "Gigino" Dell’Amura

One of the most important specialties of the frame of the Sorrento coast, and in particular of the enchanting town of Vico Equense, and the pizza by the meteror a pizza up to 2 meters long, seasoned with various ingredients and served at the table inside a pan transported on trolleys. The merit of the invention of this gastronomic excellence, famous and widespread both in Italy and abroad, goes to Luigi Dell’Amura, aka Gigino, owner of the pizza restaurant of the same name. Let's go back to its history and find out what features distinguish it from the classic round Neapolitan pizza.

From the invention in the thirties to the University of Pizza

The idea of ​​pizza by the meter came to Gigino Dell’Amura in the thirties, and was born from the need and desire to satisfy the demands of an entire table at once without losing out on quality, serving on a single long pizza base plus condiments. Thanks to this creation, the Dell’Amura restaurant, once known as to Gigino 'or zuzzuso, became increasingly famous. Word of mouth and the curiosity to taste this new pizza recipe grew in fact to such an extent that customers soon began to rush from everywhere, creating an endless line outside the restaurant. Over time, the recipe for the talented pizza maker was also perfected patented in the sixties, to then be replicated, then as today, by several pizzerias scattered in Italy. Another important step for Gigino's activity, as well as a fundamental step in the history of pizza by the meter, was the opening of theUniversity of Pizza. In this school, set up within the same structure, aspiring pizza chefs are instructed by the masters on techniques and secrets of preparing pizza. Currently the restaurant has over 200 seats, has three large wood-fired ovens and can count on a staff of skilled pizza chefs who churn out meters and meters of pizza every day and a menu that, in addition to offering a large variety of pizzas, includes numerous specialties of traditional Campania and Neapolitan cuisine.

The secrets for a perfect pizza by the meter

But now let's move on to the technical characteristics of this special pizza. It must first be said that the pizza by the meter is 180 cm long, and, as we have seen, it can be stuffed with different ingredients which are eventually separated by strips of dough. Ingredients and preparation of the pizza dough by the meter are quite similar to those of the classic Neapolitan, although the former contains a little more water and less salt. The real difference, in addition of course to the shape and the final presentation, is made by the majority short rising times (6-8 hours versus over 12 for round pizza) and i longer cooking times. In short, the popular Gigino pizza can be considered a product in itself compared to the Neapolitan pizza and the pizza slices, whose recipes can be considered almost a connecting link, and its realization is the result of years and years of passion, skill, creativity, as well as the selection of top quality ingredients.

Photo: Pizza by the meter Vico Equense_Official website Restaurant Pizza by the meter.jpg
Photo: Pizza by the meter Vico Equense_Tom Newby_Flickr.jpg

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Farewell to Sirio Maccioni, symbol of Italian cuisine in America – Italian Cuisine

Farewell to Sirio Maccioni, symbol of Italian cuisine in America


He passed away at the age of 88 in his home in Montecatini Terme. After a long apprenticeship, he achieved success with the Le Cirque restaurant in New York

He was a sought after chef and a successful entrepreneur, one of the most famous and appreciated Italian restaurateurs worldwide. Sirio Maccioni he died at 88 years of age, 15 days old, in his home in Montecatini Terme, in the province of Pistoia.

His own story

Famous for his restaurant Le Cirque, in New York, he traveled one long mess tin before reaching fame. It began at the Grand Hotel La Pace in Montecatini, before moving abroad and working at the Plaza Athenee in Paris, at the Hotel Atlantic in Hamburg and on large cruise ships, where he learned the secrets of high-level international catering. Which he has applied since, in 1974, he opened the Le Cirque restaurant in New York, first at the Mayfair Hotel, then at the Palace Hotel – under the Le Cirque 2000 banner -, and finally at the Bloomberg Tower.

A place that had an extraordinary success: it was attended by many presidents of the United States, from Nixon to Reagan, from Carter to Clinton, and from international celebrities. Maccioni took care of the high level of cuisine and the origin of the raw materials, which was brought directly from Italy. From Tuscany, for example, Colonnata lard was sent. "In the United States people want a simple kitchen. Everyone asks me for pasta ", he had told in an interview in 2012." In recent years, however, I have understood that Tuscan dishes are the ones you like best. For example, boiled meat, which nobody does as my wife does. " Henry Kissinger is said to have loved his special cod ravioli, and Woody Allen la crème brulée.

But, in addition to Le Cirque, Maccioni opened other successful restaurants all over the world: in Las Vegas (Hotel Bellagio), India, Abu Dhabi, Dominican Republic, with the help of his wife Egidiana and their children Mario, Marco and Mauro. A long and intense life, which he told in his autobiography Sirio: the Story of My Life and Le Cirque, who wrote together with the food critic Peter Elliot.

Even if he lived abroad for eleven months a year, Maccioni never forgot his Montecatini. "When I became mayor, I asked him for a foreword to the touring guide of Montecatini Terme, which I personally brought to him and which he kept in plain sight in Le Cirque," recalls the ex-mayor of Montecatini Beppe Bellandi. "Among other things, he wrote these words:" I love New York, my second home, the land of my success, but when I serve a Tuscan dish to my customers and friends, I also bring all my love for Montecatini to the table Terme, enclosed in its simple and genuine flavors .

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