By Maria Filice • April 14, 2011 
I made a bean salad a few days ago and had enough to serve at my dinner party last night. I served it in my edible Radicchio cups. I also serve my seafood salad in radicchio cups in my book “Breaking Bread in L’Aquila”. Perfect plating in martini glasses or your favorite antipasto plate! I served the bean salad with prosciutto wrapped in sesame bread sticks.
Maria’s Bean Salad:
1 can (14 oz) each: (use your favorite)!
red kidney, black-eyed, garbanzo and cannellini beans, drain, rinsd
1 red onion, finely chopped
3 carrots, finely chopped
4 celery stalks, (finely chopped) – what was left in the refrigerator ….
1 cup of sun dried tomatoes, rough chop
1 cup of Kalamata olives, pitted, use your favorite
black pepper (to taste)
red chili flakes (optional)
2 tbsp. dried oregano
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
salt (to taste)
Radicchio, 4 leaves (they shape into cups)
Parmigiano cheese (shavings)
Mix everything in a large bowl and ready to serve! I served a scoop of bean salad in the radicchio cups, shaving of parmiagiano cheese.
a presto,
Maria
By Maria Filice • August 12, 2010 
I was inspired to make this salad after the TRAIN concert … “Hey Soul Sister” made a tasty California Salad.
The perfect salad medly of mesclun (a mixture of young salad greens or….use your favorite greens), thin slices of red onion, cherry tomatoes, sliced mushrooms, olives (love’em). Add slices of fresh strawberries, drizzle extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and fresh black pepper and voila; the perfect salad. Adding the strawberries brings out sweetness and a nice change for salad lovers!
Serve with your favorite wine! Include fresh crusty bread, cheese (now we’re talking)!
a presto,
maria
By Maria Filice • July 29, 2010 
Here’s a tasty pasta sauce with a little bit of pantry and little bit of fresh ingredients!
My cousin Renee prepared a quick and easy pasta sauce while the pasta water was boiling for the farfalle pasta (farfalle translates to butterfly). They also resemble bow ties or butterflies.
In a saucepan (medium heat), drizzle a little olive oil and sautee one clove garlic (thinly sliced) until golden brown. Add four plum tomatoes (rough chop) and add to the pan. Stir for a few minutes. Add a can of artichoke hearts (chopped in quarters), 1 cup of kalamata olives (jarred), 1/2 cup of roasted peppers (chopped), 1 tbsp. capers. Stir for another five minutes.
Add the sauce to the farfalle and add approx. 2 cups of arugula and freshly grated parmigiano. I added a pinch of red chili flakes to my dish! loved it! Not to mention, it only took less than twenty minutes to prepare and eat!
ps – Renee Angela Filice is my cousin who painted the lovely silkscreen of the Trattoria San Biagio in L’Aquila for my book Breaking Bread in L’Aquila. Check out her beautiful work at http://www.reneeangelafilice.com
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