Mary Ann Esposito's Ciao Italia™

Five-Ingredient Favorites is Here!

Mary Ann's eleventh cookbook, Ciao Italia Five-Ingredient Favorites, is now in bookstores nationwide!  Buy your copy from Amazon.com today!

Have you bought yours yet? Do you have a favorite recipe?

Buon Appetito, Julia!

Julia Child has been on my mind of late, and not just because of the newly released movie, Julie and Julia, but also because I have a real connection to this culinary icon.

Julia was my first adviser when I started my career in public television and launched Ciao Italia. I remember the day I picked up the phone to ask her how I should proceed with a television program all about Italian food. Her fever pitched voice came resonating over the phone as she said, "Deary, get a good lawyer!" And without missing a beat, she added, "When are you coming down for lunch?"

I stayed in touch with Julia over the years at culinary events, dinners at friends' houses, and seminars that we both attended. I always remembered to send her a birthday card because both of our birthdays were in August.

One year, when Julia was vacationing in Maine with her niece and nephew, I invited her to stop by the studio while we were in production. I remembered that it was her birthday, so I told the staff that I wanted to make her a cake. Imagine, me making the queen of baking St. Honore's a cake! But this was going to be an Italian cake, not a French one, so I whipped up a pan di spagna (sponge cake), and filled it with pistachio cream.

When Julia arrived, we presented her with the cake, and sang "Happy Birthday". But there was still a small segment to shoot, and the subject was frittata, or what Julia called an omelette.

Julia sat on a stool and provided the commentary as I whipped the eggs and made the frittata. When it was cooked, I offered a sample to her and asked if it needed anything, like salt or pepper. Once again, her quick wit caught me off guard. "More bourbon!" she pronounced. Buon Appetito!

Photo Courtesy Gary Samson, UNH Photographic Services

Julia Child's Birthday Cake

Serves 12

Cake
4 eggs, separated
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1 1/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
Grated zest of one large lemon

Pistachio Cream Filling
2 1/2 ounces natural pistacios
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup flour
4 egg yolks
2 cups milk

Garnish
1 cup whipping cream
1 tablespoon Alkermes liqueur (optional)
2 tablespoons sugar

Cherry Filling
1 1/2 cups amarena cherries, pureed

Directions
For the cake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees Farenheit. Butter a jelly roll pan and set aside. Dust a clean kitchen towel with confectioners' sugar and set aside.

Beat the egg yolks with sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy, then beat in the butter. Set aside.

In another bowl, whip the egg whites until soft peaks form. Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt together. Sprinkle the flour mixture a little at a time over the egg whites and gently fold them in with a rubber spatula.

Fold the egg white batter into the egg yolk batter, along with the lemon zest.

Spread the batter on the jelly roll pan and bak for 10-15 minutes or just until the top and edges are nicely browned and the cake springs back when touched with your finger.

Turn the pan over onto the towel lightly dusted with confectioners' sugar. Starting at the short end of the cake, roll it up gently in the towel and let cool.

For the pistacio cream filling, grind the nuts and 1/2 cup of the sugar until powdery in a food processor or wiht a mortar and pestle.

In a saucepan off the heat, beat the egg yolks with the remaining sugar until the mixture is lemon colored, then beat in the flour. Slowly stir in the milk. Cook the misture over medium high heat until it thickens and coats the back of a spoon. Remove the mixture from the heat, and stir in the pistachio and sugar mixture.

Transfer the pistachio cream to a bowl and cover the top with a piece of buttered wax paper. Refrigerate for at least one hour.

Line a 2-quart bowl with plastic wrap, allowing excess to hang over the edges of the bowl.

Unroll the cake and spread it with the amarena cherry filling; then carefully spread a thin layer of the pistachio cream over the cherry filling. Re-roll the cake, wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate for one hour.

Using a serrated knife, cut the cake into 1/2 inch slices. Place a few slices in the bottom of the bowl and cover wiht a layer of pastry cream. Add another layer of cake, positioning the layers against the inside walls of the bowl and add more pastry cream. Be sure to put a few pieces of cake in the center as you layer filling and cake. The top layer should be cake. Fold the overhanging plastic wrap over the cake and refrigerate until ready to serve.

In a bowl, whip the cream with the Alkermes and sugar until stiff.

Turn the bowl over to un-mold the cake onto a decorative serving dish. Remove the plastic wrap and discard.

Fit a large pastry bag with a #2 star tip. Fill the bag with the whipped cream and pipe a decorative border around the base of the cake and at the top if desired. Cut into wedges to serve.

Making the Show

If you're wondering what I've been up to and where I've been this month, look no further.

Behold! The Ciao Italia kitchen!

This is no ordinary kitchen. I know it's disappointing to many viewers who want to know if this is my home kitchen. I often watch the smiles turn to frowns when I admit that, no, this is a specially designed TV studio kitchen.

My studio kitchen only exists for 10 days each June. That's barely enough time to stock the refrigerator, but in 10 days time I have cooked my way through more than 60 regional Italian recipes. We have completed filming a new season of Ciao Italia for your viewing pleasure.

On the final day of taping, the set vanishes faster than the setting sun.

Everything you see in the kitchen is real and high quality from the salmon colored marble counter tops to the cherry cabinets and Dacor appliances.

The front counter is where I talk to you and cook most of the recipes, except when I am in the mood to show you some baking. Then I move to the back counter where I make everything from cookies to pizza.

During the 10 days of shooting, there is a flurry of activity in my kitchen. Visitors come to see a taping, guests appear to cook their favorite Italian foods with me, and members of the media come to write stories for their newspapers and blogs.

There are untold numbers of volunteers who come to help dice, knead, steam, roast, and do hundreds of other things that help the show run smoothly.

When the last camera shuts down, and I say, "Until I see you nella cucina again, I'm Mary Ann Esposito," I know that my studio kitchen will be lovingly packed away until June comes around again.

Enjoy the shows!

Behind the scenes of season 20

Ok, this is probably farther behind the scenes than you ever wanted to go, but here at Ciao Italia, no one is afraid to get his hands dirty.

In this photo, our Executive Producer Paul Lally gets to work solving some on-set plumbing issues.

Paul is great and he has reasonable rates. Just don't expect him to clean windows.

You can view more behind the scenes photos by clicking here to view our online photo gallery.

Filming season 20 has been a blast! I know you're going to love the episodes!

20 Years of "Ciao Italia"

The Nashua Telegraph: Be sure to check out this wonderful article by Marc Bouchard today. In its 20th year, Marc notes that Ciao Italia is the longest running cooking show in television history, owing to Mary Ann's deep sense of tradition in Italian cooking.

He also celebrates the 20th year of Ciao Italia by discussing his favorite Mary Ann cookbook, Ciao Italia in Umbria. Umbria is an often overlooked region of Italy, but it has its own intriguing culture, food and wine, including the recipes that Marc reproduces in his article.

Thanks for the kudos, Marc!

Kissed by the Vice President

Do you know the fairytale about the princess who kisses a frog that turns into prince?

I do, but I never thought I would be treated like a princess and kissed on the cheek by the Vice President of the United States at the Sons of Italy in America gala in Washington, D.C!

Vice President Biden and I attended the gala to pick up awards, and he could not have been more down to earth. It turns out he grew up surrounded by Italians. He reminisced about his childhood friends, the moms in the neighborhood who invited him to eat Italian food, teachers he had in school, his football teammates, and many other Italian-Americans in his life.

He seemed very reflective and moved by the award meaning we had a lot in common!

The Vice President was gracious enough to pose for pictures and stay for dinner with his wife and  granddaughter (and more secret service agents than I could count). As the night wore on, speeches were made, including one by yours truly, about the importance of preserving our Italian heritage for the next generation. There was wonderful Italian music and Joe Mantegna hosted as master of ceremonies for the evening.

All through the dinner I was thinking about how I could give a copy of my latest book (Ciao Italia Slow and Easy) to the Vice President. The moment presented itself just as he was about to leave and one of the guests at my table, Judge Michael Jones, sprang to his feet and managed to present it to Jill Biden, the Vice President’s wife.

I have visions of her paging through the book and dog-earing it for recipes she would love to try, if only she had the time. Because I know that deep down the Vice President is wishing for a nice home cooked Italian meal!

Click here to see more pictures from the gala.

Mary Ann, Rocco, and Michael Cook LIVE at Mohegan Sun

On Saturday, March 14th, Mary Ann, Rocco DiSpirito, and Michael Luboff all went nella cucina on the set of Ciao Italia before a live studio audience at the Mohegan Sun casino in Connecticut.  The audience was amazing and the three chefs were really cooking, literally and figuratively!

See if you can give the chefs a run for their money and prepare the three dishes they whipped up in your own kitchen.  Whose is better, yours or theirs?

Calabrian Pitta
Mama's Frittata Sandwich
Michael Luboff's Super Tuna Panini

Remembering John Mangasarian, Jr. (1959-2009)

The Ciao Italia family lost one of its most loyal members last week when John Mangasarian passed away.

Every summer when we produced our programs at Rhode Island Public Television, John would work side by side with us, from the first day to the last.  Whether it was helping build the kitchen, rig the lights, run the camera cables, sweep the floor, whatever we needed, John could do it, and often did.  He even brought in great vegetables from his garden -- what a green thumb he had!

For years John was also our “Up Cameraman” who stood on an uncomfortable tower for hours on end, aiming his camera at the close-ups of the food. If you ever thought, “I would love to eat what Mary Ann is cooking!” you can thank John for making those recipes look great.

Above and beyond these many talents and gifts, John also had an understanding heart. And because of that he instinctively understood both the happy and sad parts of life, the good and the bad, the sweet and the bitter. But after spending time with him, you always had the feeling that no matter what happened, the world would go on, you would prevail, and all would be well.

The world does go on, all is well, and we will prevail. But today this world is missing John Mangasarian. Even worse, this summer when we go into the studio, we will miss him even more; this man who had such a generous heart and who truly loved Ciao Italia.

Rest in peace, John.

Contra Costa Times Reviews Ciao Italia Slow & Easy

The Contra Costa Times newspaper in Northern California does an interesting thing with cookbook reviews.  It provides the cookbooks to its readers and lets the readers write the reviews.  Pretty ingenious.

Recently the paper published a review of Ciao Italia Slow and Easy written by a fellow by the name of Bob Dellanini of Fremont, CA.  Bob has some pretty nice things to say about Slow and Easy:

"Besides great recipes, 'Ciao Italia Slow and Easy' is filled with Esposito's sensible advice, knowledgeable tidbits about the history of Italian cuisine and, most of all, a sure sense of what tastes good together.

"On a personal note, this collection of recipes brings comfort to my home with the tastes and smells I so fondly remember as a child."

Thanks, Bob!

Click here to read the entire review.

In Memory of NIAF Chairman Kenneth Ciongoli

Dr. A. Kenneth Ciongoli, the Chairman of the National Italian American Foundation recently passed away after a yearlong battle with cancer.

Mary Ann offered the following condolences:

 "The entire Ciao Italia family was saddened to learn of the passing of National Italian American Foundation Chairman, Dr. A Kenneth Ciongoli.  Ken lived and loved life to the fullest, cherishing his family, his work, and his Italian heritage.  He was a wonderful friend and supporter of the series and appeared in several episodes cooking his favorite recipes.  May he riposa nella pace and may his family find comfort in the rich legacy he has left for future generations."

Dr. Ciongoli was a frequent contributor to Ciao Italia and joined Mary Ann on set to prepare Thick Spaghetti Amatrice Style.  The recipe is available at CiaoItalia.com.  The video portion is normally for Premium Subscribers only, but because we want everyone to be able to enjoy and remember Dr. Ciongoli's terrific sense of humor and love of authentic Italian cuisine, we are offering it for free to all visitors.

The video is also available by itself on Ciao Italia's YouTube Channel.