Like the rest of the world, we were sucked into the Sicilian landscapes featured in Season Two of White Lotus. Each episode inspired a flurry of VRBO searches in Taormina and Expedia flights to Palermo. Our bags were packed in our heads, but the reality of our busy life got in the way of actually booking that trip.
So we did the next best thing – we decided the Spring Release should be focused on Sicily and started searching for and sampling all of the Sicilian delights we could get our hands on (after all, our motto is, “we can’t always be in Italy, so we bring Italy to you”).
And what did we find? A sampling of staples from the Sicilian table that have made their way into Italian cuisine and our very own kitchen. There is an heirloom grain pasta, tomato sauce with salty capers, the world’s best citrus olives, and sweets…so many sweets.
Music
First things, always first. Mike has once again created his Spring Playlist. This season’s music was inspired by, what else, our favorite scenes from White Lotus. Each upbeat song helped us imagine that we were walking the streets of Sicilian towns, relaxing on the beach, or sharing an aperitif at an outdoor café.
Antipasti: Taralli, citrus olives and aperitivo forks
This season, little olives, sweet taralli, and olivewood forks create the perfect aperitivo plate.
Sicilian cuisine is known for agrodolce – the combination of sour (agro) and sweet (dolce). Our first box included an eggplant caponata with this combination we love so much and now we are including a unique taralli that balances the sourness of onions with the sweetness of small raisins. These little guys are addicting. A bag never lasts long in our kitchen! Eat these on their own or, even better, layer them with a piece of hard pecorino cheese.
In our family, olives are a food group that we take very seriously. Sicily is known for its larger, castelvetrano olives and our plan was to include these in our box. But then we had these Taggiasca Olives with Citrus and absolutely fell in love. They are simply the BEST olives I have ever had. Taggaisaca olives are Ligurian but the lemon rind is undeniably Sicilian-inspired. I have eaten these as a meal and saved the olive oil in the jar to use as a salad dressing. The tiny little aperitivo forks add some flair to the entire experience and stop me from devouring the jar too quickly.
Primi
Both the grain, Timilia, and the shape, Busiate, of this season’s pasta are Sicilian but the producer is one of our favorite pasta makers, Rustichella d’Abruzzo. One of the things we hear most often from our members is how flavorful Italian pasta is in comparison to the typical grocery store selections. This season’s pasta is no different. Timilia is an ancient varietal of durum that is native to Sicily and has a unique, nutty flavor. My Official Taste Testers (aka my kids) described it as smokey and earthy. Whatever word you choose to describe it, I have a feeling it does not taste like any pasta you have tried before. The bronze dies used in the pasta-making process create a rough texture that is ideal for soaking up sauces. Busiate pasta is a staple of Sicilian tables and has been traditionally created by rolling strips of pasta dough around a buso (thick knitting needle) to form its perfect curly shape.
We knew we needed a flavorful sauce to add to the pasta and let its nutty flavor shine through. After sampling quite a few pestos and red sauces, we landed Masseria Mirogallo’s Tomato and Capers. We love the sweetness of the tomatoes grown on the Mirogallo family farm mixed with the saltiness of the capers that are so prevalent in Sicilian cuisine.
This gourmet sauce is made in small batches so you will have extra pasta. For those willing to take the Timilia Busiate to the next level, try out this Sicilian Pasta Alla Norma from Cookie and Kate. Although Kate is not Italian, she has a knack for creating delicious, easy-to-follow recipes that honor local cuisines.
Dolci
I think we could have created a box of Sicilian sweets alone, but we landed on three of our favorites; pistachio cream, almond paste cookies, and chocolate-covered torrone.
We fell in love with pistachio cream in Italy and searched far and wide until we found the absolute best jar to share with our members. Pistachios get the luxury treatment in this smooth, sweet spread from Il Colle del Gusto. The extra virgin olive oil creates such a smooth texture, but the flavor is all pistachio. Il Colle Gusto’s version is set apart from the rest because of the high percentage of Sicilian pistachio paste in their recipe. We love to eat this right out of the jar, but you can also enjoy Pistacchiosa spooned over ice cream and spread over toast or bread.
Amaretti alla Mandorla cookies are Sicilian delicacies that have slowly made their way into pastry cases all over Italy. In our travels, we have always gravitated toward the soft, chewiness of an almond-paste cookie. These little treats have never lasted long enough for us to share with anyone at home so we were thrilled when we discovered a version available in the US that rivaled the fresh cookies we have had on our travels. These incredible, hand-shaped cookies from Marabissi are available only twice a year during the Easter and Christmas holidays. We knew we had to jump on the opportunity to include them in our Spring Release. These treats are wonderful with your morning coffee or after dinner with a glass of sweet Italian wine.
And finally, a small bag of Fiasconaro’s chocolate-covered torrone, the nougat treats that are synonymous with Sicily and visits to Italian family homes. These bite-sized treats are the perfect ending to your Sicilian feast.
Buon appetito!