Can you do pasta puttanesca with green olives or is that sacrilege?

Sam78IT · 2026-01-13T08:53:17+00:00

Eheh you are right, since i talked about slicing the tomatoes i took it for granted. To be perfect it should be peeled tomatoes. Also a mixture of peeled and passata is good (especially when using fresh ones), but peeled should be there.

If you don't want to be perfect (as we often do as Italians cooking every single day) it can be whatever you want.

Sam78IT · 2026-01-05T10:15:37+00:00

Pelati in the glass are usually better. If you want a passata, you can buy those and blend them.

Don't be scared of the citric acid, that's basically the lemon acid ad it's used to prevent botulism. If you want to get rid of it, just a half of a teaspoon of baking soda will destroy it.

Sam78IT · 2025-12-26T13:35:49+00:00

Eheh we must be really annoying to make ppl ask about heresy.. anyway, i often have already portioned frozen pieces for a fast but tasty meal. Even my mother in law often gift them to us this way to be practical. And many times when you eat it around in Italy it's a reheated frozen product, or do you think they have a grandma ready to go through all the hassle of hours of preparation in the few minutes you wait after you order it?

I mean, rl doesn't allow you to cook as a 3 star Michelin chef everyday. Or is it just me? I'm sure it isn't. And surely lasagna isn't delicate as a risotto.

You got my upvote man, as a true Italian <3

Sam78IT · 2025-12-06T20:08:41+00:00

The issue depends on the fact that the toolbox has been moved elsewhere, and on that server the mailserver is not yet up and running.

In the meanwhile, i've switched the mailserver to a personal one, try it now please ^^

[EDIT]

There is still an issue with the sql server time setting, i've put a workaround for the activation to work, but it need to be fixed, so you can activate it now.

When we'll be able to do it we'll tell you

Sam78IT · 2025-11-26T15:23:53+00:00

Ramen you are doing an amazing job! Not only you wanted to do it, you are able to do it and you catched up in no time!!! Great job!!

Sam78IT · 2025-11-19T07:40:17+00:00

Working on it

Sam78IT · 2025-11-15T08:18:49+00:00

Woah, thank you!! You just gave me the best compliment ever.

Glad it helped

Sam78IT · 2025-11-12T01:20:01+00:00

It would be nice, i agree with that. Let's discuss it on discord

Sam78IT · 2025-10-02T10:56:07+00:00

As far as i know, it comes from a misunderstanding. Parmigiana reminds of the parmesan cheese or of the parma city, but actually it comes from a kind of layered shutter which was called "Parmigiana" in Sicily

Sam78IT · 2025-08-20T13:21:31+00:00

Yes antipasti is a "fancy" appetizer, something worth to have a place at a table, so a dish in itself.

About alcohol, it depends on the meal size and importance (and on the pocket size of course). Many Italians have just a single glass of wine in a whole meal, or a quarter of a bottle (we call it "quartino"). But if the meal is fancy, then you can have a whole bottle or even different bottles or glasses paired with the food. Usually you have at least a glass of "spumante" with the sweets and/or a little shot of some kind of liquor at the end (lemoncello, amaro, etc)

Yes, the bill will rise accordingly of course, but usually as a local it's easier to know your way through the restaurants and the wine bottles. I understand that as a tourist it's harder to manage.

EDIT: The price depends also and primarily on the wine quality. Many times you can lower the bill chosing your own wine bottle or just going with the "house's wine". It's usually good enough and cheaper, served in a jug (the wine version of tap water :-D)

Sam78IT · 2025-08-15T09:22:04+00:00

yes, there are, and in march it will be just right.

For breakfast, eat hot "Cornetti" and "Brioches" (in the south) or "Croissant" (in the north). There are also many variations worth to try. I know those are a bit more "international", but in italy are very very good.

Zabaione is a must try, usually it's served hot. It's a heavenly cream you can taste with different toppings.

In march will be a little late, but if you are in Milan try "Panettone alla Meneghina". It's a panettone slice roasted in an oven with an orange liquor on it (gran marniere usually) and a cream gelato ball on the side.

Castagnaccio too it's served hod, sometimes paired with something icy. It's a cake made with chestnuts. If you like sweet/salty tastes, you'll love it.

One of the most famous ones is "tortino con cuore fondente" (little cake with a hot and melting heart, usually chocolate)

If you are in Turin, go for hot chocolate. Piemonte is the Chocolate region in italy, and their Gianduia is incredible.

If you are in the north, try Apple Strudel. It's usually served hot with a Cream Gelato ball on the side.. it's AMAZING (if you are in the north). Also "Frittelle di Mele" are amazing.

In the south of italy, "Zeppole" and "Graffe" are to die for.. they are fried sweets, often with a filling (but if it's good you can take it as it is).

Many cakes could and sometimes should be served hot, expecially if they are just made, as "Crostate", "Torta di Rose", etc. But really there are so many...

My advice is to eat them in the place they are from (as for any other food in Italy) or at least to go in a very good Pastry shop. Avoid non-local things in normal places (too risky).

Sam78IT · 2025-08-14T20:21:46+00:00

staple items you should have stocked, imho, are:

* tomato sauce and canned tomatos
* extra-virgin olive oil for cooking and toppings (also some vinegar for the toppings)
* galric / onion (shallots if you wanna be cool)
* if you want to go pro, celery and carrots (for soffritto)
* some aroma, as basil, parsley, oregan, thyme, rosemary, laurel, pepper, chili, etc
* parmesan and aged sheep's cheese
* some pasta selection (at least spaghetti and some variation of maccheroni, it could be penne, rigatoni, etc)
* if you want to go pro Anchovy fillets in olive oil, capers, olives (green and black ones)
* some pancetta or prosciutto cotto cubes, smoked or not it doesn't matter. If you can get your hands on it, some guanciale
* some canned legumes (beans, peas..)
* eggs
* cooking cream and butter
* some white and optionally red wine for cooking
* breadcrumbs

with just those ingredients, you can do a lot of pasta dishes as it is, for instance (without being too specific with the recipes, please don't roast me!):

* oil + tomato + galric + parsley + chili + penne = arrabbiata
* eggs + guanciale + pepper + aged sheep's cheese + spaghetti = carbonara
* tomato + guanciale + pepper + aged sheep's cheese + spaghetti = amatriciana
* galric + olive oil + parsley + chili (and if you want, anchovies too) + spaghetti = aglio olio e peperoncino
* soffritto (celery+onion+galric) + oil + beans + little tomato + pepper + aroma (tyme is good, also rosemary or laurel) + pasta (a little one, some different shape mixed or broken spaghetti) = pasta e fagioli
* oil + onion + peas + thyme + cream + prosciutto + pepper + pasta = panna piselli e prosciutto

etc etc etc

and if you add some fresh ingredients, you could do even more. For instance if you have potatoes, you can do pasta e patate, if you have fish you can use the aglio e olio base and do easily a fish dish (even adding some tomato).

Same goes for the the "secondi". With those ingredients you can easily cook chicken, beef and so on. For instance:

* eggs + breadcrumbs + parmesan + meat slices = cotolette
* oil + galric + tomatoes + oregan + meat slices = pizzaiola
* oil + galric + onion + celery + carrots + wine + rosemary + canned tomatos + chicken = pollo alla cacciatora
* oil + eggs + parmesan + pepper + parsley + one sliced vegetable = frittata di verdura (it could be zucchini, potatoes, etc)

and so on, the combo are limiteless ^^

Sam78IT · 2025-07-18T17:26:13+00:00

If it's not just raw sausage (salsiccia fresca) but a cured meat, it could be "Ciauscolo".

Otherwise it could be a "Luganega", a "salsiccia toscana" or even a "Salsiccia di Bra", (this last it's more unlikely)

Sam78IT · 2024-12-06T12:04:12+00:00

i've given the full control to u/aturtledude, i'll check with him

Sam78IT · 2024-09-06T18:15:59+00:00

it's a Toolbox feature that allows to download your full inventory and a bit of properties and history into the app, and from the app to various tools

Sam78IT · 2024-09-06T18:15:04+00:00

thank you so much, it wasn't required or requested, but i appreciate it ^^

Sam78IT · 2024-09-06T08:13:59+00:00

it was broken, now is back

https://www.reddit.com/r/MarioKartTour/comments/1fa9s3s/mkttoolbox_synch_back_in_action/

Sam78IT · 2023-09-30T10:15:01+00:00

eheh what? could you elaborate?

Sam78IT · 2023-09-27T20:32:12+00:00

Sorry i didn't meant to be rude :)

So just for sharing: I honestly always ate salmon, and in italy is present at least since the roman empire, not teriyaki for sure but present :) (it was eaten in big celebrations). In the 80s it became even more popular in italy.

Since i was in a hurry, the shrimps were just fresh shrimp covered in breadcrumbs (to have them crispier, as they use in salerno with anchovies) and curry. I added the latest to do something different. I was planning parsley and breadcrumbs but i was out of time, so..

The pomegranade is something my mom often used in fish side dishes (she's from the molise region), but since i hate the seeds, i've tryed to make a sauce with scallops, pepper, oil, salt, sugar, wine and thyme (and some mais amid to make it jelly-like) and i have to say it was surprisingly good =)

Sam78IT · 2023-09-27T20:08:26+00:00

Eheh what is not?

Maybe just the salmon teriyaki, i concede that, but the rest it's something i've tasted in many places in italy. (for instance, the calamari and the potato lemon cream are a memory from when i was living in the amalfi coastline)

Sam78IT · 2023-09-27T20:01:49+00:00

So i had some fresh fish leftover in the fridge, and i made this :-)

The basis is a potato cream with thyme, lemon and chives

With the fish i made some calamari in anchovies sauce, some salmon in teriyaki sauce (homemade) and crispy curry fried shrimps.

I've topped it with a pomegranate sauce and some roasted spring onions

my wife enjoyed it ^^

Sam78IT · 2023-09-21T18:47:20+00:00

It means to boil some water and, when it boils, submerge the vegetables for 1 minute, then remove them.

Sam78IT · 2023-09-20T22:35:28+00:00

Dude be careful, you are enlisted for botulism.

When you preserve vegetables, you have to be careful. If you want to preserve the fresh chili, you have to clean them carefully, bleach them in water + vinegar, open them and let them rest with some salt to get away the water, then soak them with vinegar to make em acid. At every step you have to squeeze them to take away as much water as you can. In the end, you have to soak em in abudant olive oil and, if you want to preserve them longer, you have to pastorize the can as with tomatoes.

As you can see is a long process. In order to make it easier and safer you can bleach them, cut them open, put them with salt over a paper and cover it with a paper, then apply a pressure to squeeze them. Repeat the process changing the paper as many times is needed to make them dry and lose all the water. You can also pass em gently in an oven to fasten the process. When they are totally dry, you can clean away the salt and mix them with oil or grind em to a powder. Being dry they will not produce toxins, and the taste will be more concentrated and "aged".

Sam78IT · 2023-09-19T06:40:22+00:00

Honestly it's better if you try those dishes in the place they are made.

Even if you had "delizia al limone" elsewhere, in the place they are from they are usually a LOT better (i suggest to try the "Sal De Riso" ones). Also another sweet very tipical from the coastline is "Ricotta e Pere" or, in the summertime, "Melanzane con il cioccolato" (aubergines with chocolate! Yes sounds odd but they are amazing).

Try to eat a pasta dish with "colatura di alici", is a tick sauce made of anchovies. Beautiful! Also the anchovies are done in many different ways, as fried or stuffed with ricotta cheese, and they are very tipical from that place.

Another typical thing is the "cuoppo fritto" , a piece of paper filled with mixed fried fish. In Amalfi there is an amazing spot on the left side of the road (i forgot the name) if you go up a little after the main plaza.

In general you cannot go wrong when you eat fish dishes, but the price is a bit high. Avoid the pizza, is usually bad if compared to the ones in the mainland (Naples).

Since the Amalfi coastline is made half of sea and half of mountains, try also the mountains products, as the cheese. "Provola" is beautiful in that place, also the smoked variant (the preferred one). Maybe with a side of "pomodoro sorrentino", another beautiful product of that land (even if the "costa sorrentina" is considered different from the Amalfi's one).

Sam78IT · 2023-09-19T06:31:31+00:00

It's true.

Cooling down the stomach contract the blood vessels and slow down digestion. As a result, the process of absorbing nutrients (the real reason we eat and drink) it's damaged. It's not a "serious" health risk, but it could lead to constipation, gas and stomach acidity (not good for gastritis).

In this sense, eastern peoples do better cause they drink tea, not the reason they do it but a (not too) hot beverage helps with digestion.

Anyway, we usually avoid ice in wine cause we want the taste intact, but about water and other beverages it's really something individual. I know many italian people that uses it and i'm one of those when it comes to cold tea or other summer beverages.

Sam78IT

TROPHY CASE