Homemade Fig Cookies for Christmas! This year forget that real exciting display case at the end of the aisle and get some fresh scrumptious chocolate and fig cookies straight from Italy. Put them on that Christmas table and impress them! (Hide half of the cookies for yourself, just in case.) Start this so-so jolly season right with Adriana's Italian Cookies!

"Buon Giorno to all our new subscribers!" My name is Angela Reina and all of us here at the oregano farm in Sicily send our most sincere and warm greetings to all our subscribers and we welcome you to our very first newsletter issue!

We're pretty excited about it and we hope you'll get a lot of good use out of it. It's a no-nonsense newsletter that will come to you every Thursday afternoon packed with hard to find Italian and Sicilian recipes and a couple of interesting specials from our close Italian affiliates.

And speaking of recipes, give our certified Organic Oregano a try to spice up your favorite Christmas dishes. It's not crushed, pulverized, or minced! We'll ship you 7 bags of our oregano (still on their branches so that they maintain their full flavor) for just 15.12 Euros to the USA, global priority shipping included. Compare us and you'll see!

Also, be sure to read the complimentary news article on Italian current events brought to you by "Only In Italy.com" at the end of every issue. It's hilarious and dedicated to those people who think Italy is just a beautiful place to visit and eat delicious food.

Thanks again for subscribing and we sincerely wish everyone will capture the spirit of the Christmas season!

Yours Truly,              
Angela Reina       

Impt: Christmas Ordering Deadlines

It's too late to spice up your Thanksgiving turkey but you still have time to order our Organic Oregano for your Christmas specialty dishes. If you would like to order please keep in mind the following deadlines:

USA, Canada, and South America Orders
All orders must be placed by Sunday, Dec. 12, at midnight EST.

European Union Orders
All orders must be placed by Sunday, Dec. 16, at midnight, Greenwich time.

Click here to order!

Recipe: Pollo Origanato

Pollo Origanato
Grilled Oregano Chicken

Ingredients:

4 chicken legs and thighs
4 garlic cloves
1/4 cup parsley leaves
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup olive oil
4 tablespoons organic oregano
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Crushed red chili pepper (optional)
Lemon wedges

Directions:

Rinse the chicken and remove any excess fat and skin, then pat dry. Make a marinade by mincing the garlic, finely chopping the parsley and squeezing the lemon juice, then place the ingredients in a bowl and combine with the olive oil, oregano, salt, and pepper. Put the chicken legs and thighs in a baking dish and pour the marinade over them, then cover and place in the refrigerator for at least a couple hours, turning the chicken every thirty minutes or so. Preheat a gas grill to moderate temperature, or light the charcoal. Place the chicken on the hot grill and baste regularly with the marinade. Turn the chicken after about ten minutes and continue basting until the chicken has thoroughly cooked and is crisp and golden brown. Brush the chicken with the remaining marinade and serve with lemon wedges.

That's it!

Recipe: Peperoni Ripieni

Peperoni Ripieni
Stuffed Peppers

Ingredients:

8 green bell peppers
4 cups crumbled day old bread
1/2 cup grated romano cheese
1/4 cup breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons pine nuts
2 tablespoons currents
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup minced onion
1/4 cup finely chopped parsley
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 egg
Freshly ground black pepper
Extra virgin olive oil

Directions:

To make the stuffing, lightly moisten the crumbled day old bread and put them in a large mixing bowl. Add the romano cheese, breadcrumbs, parsley, pine nuts, currents, garlic, onion, oregano, egg, a few twists of black pepper and 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Evenly mix until well integrated. Fill each of the peppers with the stuffing and replace the tops, rub with olive and put them in a flat baking pan, then roast them in the preheated oven. Turn the peppers once each side has roasted and wilted. The peppers should take about 40 minutes to cook. When done, remove the peppers from the oven and let cool. When cooled enough to handle, transfer the peppers to a serving dish and either cut them in half or leave whole. This dish can be served warm or room temperature and makes a formidable side dish or main course for lunch.

That's it!

Recipe: Spaghetti con Tonno e Finocchio

Spaghetti con Tonno e Finocchio
Spaghetti with Tuna and Fennel

Ingredients:

1 lb spaghetti
8 ounces fresh tuna or packed in olive oil
1 onion
2 garlic cloves
4 anchovy filets
1 large ripe tomato
2 tablespoons capers
1 pinch saffron
1/4 cup parsley
1/2 cup fennel leaves
1/4 cup olive oil
Mollica (toasted breadcrumbs)

Directions:

Dice the onion, slice the garlic cloves in half, finely chop the parsley and the fennel leaves. Slice the tomato in half, gently squeeze out the seeds and coarsely chop. If using frsh tuna, sear it a a pan with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Chop the fresh tuna or crumble the tuna packed in oil. Bring a large pot of salted water to boil, then add the spaghetti. Meanwhile, in a large sauté pan, add the olive oil, chopped onions and garlic and cook for over moderate heat until the onions are transparent. Mash in the anchovy filets, then add the chopped tomato, capers, parsley, fennel and saffron and cook for several minutes. Add the tuna to the sauce. When the spaghetti has cooked al dente, strain and toos the pasta in the sauce and simmer until the ingredients are well incorporated. Sprinkle with toasted breadcrumbs and serve.

Mollica: To prepare the toasted breadcrumbs it is preferable to make them from stale, dry bread, by either grating the bread by hand into a large mixing bowl. Better still, is with a food processor and using the pulse switch. Be sure not to allow the crumbs to become too fine. You can use packaged plain breadcrumbs from the market; however, the quality will not be as good as homemade and are often too fine for adding to a pasta sauce. Lightly coat a pan with olive oil and allow the pan to warm over moderate heat and add the breadcrumbs. Constantly stir the breadcrumbs to prevent them to sticking or burning. When they have evenly toasted to a golden brown, remove them from the pan and set aside. You can make as much as you like, as they will keep for some time in a covered plastic container.

That's it!

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It Could Only Happen in Italy!

"Only In Italy" is a daily news column that translates and reports on funny but true news items from legitimate Italian news sources in Italy. Each story is slapped with our wild, often ironic, and sometimes rather opinionated comments. And now, for your reading pleasure, a sample of today's edition:

Southern Italy: Water Shortages For 32 PCT Of Families

(AGI) - Palermo, Italy, Nov. 21 - Southern Italy's poor competitiveness record is largely ascribable to poor infrastructure. "No signs of improvement have been witnessed over the last years; areas most sensitive to such a lack are the water provisioning and transport sectors" according to the Curella Foundation which presented its report on southern Italy in Palermo, today. Between 1996 and 2001 the percentage of families complaining of poor domestic water supplies rose from 12 to 16.3 percent nationwide and from 19.8 to 32 percent in southern Italy...Well, our last hope is for a USA invasion so we can get some reconstruction money from the United Nations. In case Santa is reading this, can you please send us a water well for Christmas?

"Only In Italy" Subscribe today and feed your sense of intellectual superiority by reading and wondering how Italy still survives after 50+ governments. Click Here to Subscribe!

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RECIPES

 Insalata di Pasta
 Eggplant Caponata
 Linguine con Gamberi
 Linguine with Tuna Roe
 Bucatini In White Sauce
 Macaroni with Sausage
 Grilled Breaded Steak
 Rabbit in Sauce

 More Recipes!

 

More From Italy Newsletters!

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 Silver From Italy.com
 Cookies From Italy.com
 Only In Italy.com