• Skill Building Project #2: Cooking in Italian (Week 1) Tiramisù

    I started cooking my own meals in 2010. In October 2010, I took part in a plant-based cooking course for beginners. That’s how I got started. In 2011, inspired by my teacher in that course, a few documentaries, and books, I decided to become vegan. Since then, I follow a plant-based diet with no animal…


  • Cooking in Italian (Week 2) Spaghetti alla Carbonara

    There are many theories on the origin of the Carbonara. Some people claim that it was created many centuries ago, others say that’s a recent invention. This week I’ve heard that it might have started during the Second World War, as a mix created out of the Italian and North American culture. Supposedly, the American…


  • Cooking in Italian (Week 3) Pizza Napoletana

    When I was a child we used to buy pizza at a place that made it with a wood-fired clay oven. The pizza was very thin in the middle and had wide borders. It was just like a pizza napoletana. Except for one thing: they didn’t call it “napolitana” or even “Italian”. It was just…


  • Cooking in Italian (Week 4) Cannoli Siciliani

    I have to say I hadn’t never heard of the cannoli siciliani before attempting this cooking project. As I started researching popular Italian recipes, I took note of those that popped up more often. The cannoli were one of those. I looked further into them and I just loved the concept and the presentation of…


  • Cooking in Italian (Week 5) Sfogliatelle

    Have I already mention how much I like pastry and bakery? I love that stuff! Last year I tried doing my first cinnamon rolls at home. I tried the regular (vegan) version with white flour, and also whole wheat flour recipes. All of them are great 😊. While doing the sfogliatelle, I had a dejavù:…


  • Cooking in Italian (Week 6) Gnocchi alla Sorrentina

    Did you know that you don’t need to put eggs in your gnocchi? It turns out that gnocchi is one of the easiest recipes to veganize. You just ditch the egg, and there you have it: vegan gnocchi! I have eaten them many, many times. They are just like the non-vegan ones. Most people cannot…


  • Cooking in Italian (Week 7) Lasagne

    One thing I wasn’t sure about before preparing this recipe was the pasta part. Would I have to make the lasagna sheets myself? Or would it be “okay” to buy the dry ones at a store? After watching a couple of YouTube videos the question answered itself: I would do it with the dry ones!…


  • Cooking in Italian (Week 8) Sbrisolona

    How did I pick the recipes for this project? First I searched online for the most popular (or representative?) Italian dishes. I started from there. One other thing was my personal preference. I wanted to try preparing many of these recipes for a long time (such as the “pizza napoletana”, the “tiramisu” or the “lasagna”).…


  • Cooking in Italian (Week 9) Ragù di Soia

    I got to know about ragù just last year, in 2020. One of my favorite sources to learn Italian, were the comedy videos I found on YouTube (for example, Casa Surace). And that’s exactly where I started hearing time and time again about this traditional Italian recipe. In the beginning, I thought it was something…


  • Cooking in Italian (Week 10) Torta tenerina

    To choose this recipe I didn’t have to look further into its ingredients. I didn’t even need to see a picture. It was love at first sight. When I first saw the name, I immediately liked it. With such a sweet name (torta tenerina ~ tender cake), it had to be good. And indeed it…


  • Cooking in Italian (Week 11) Risotto allo Zafferano

    In Argentine, we know this dish as “arroz con azafrán”. It’s not exactly the same, but I would say it’s pretty close. I’ve eaten it many times, with and without chicken (before becoming vegan). The vegan version of this risotto replaces the usual butter and parmesan cheese with olive oil and nutritional yeast flakes. Following…


  • Cooking in Italian (Week 12) Salame di Cioccolato

    I have to admit that in the beginning, I thought this was a very strange recipe. A sweet salame? Made of chocolate? When I first learned about it (three months ago) it made no sense and sounded like a joke. But as I came back to it at the end of this project, after learning…