By Maria Filice • June 26, 2013
Ingredients
- 5 cups water
- 1 cup arborio rice
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 tablespoon pistachio honey
- pinch of saffron
- 1 lb. of scallops
- 2 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, plus shavings for garnish (optional)
Directions
Bring water to a boil in a medium pot. Add saffron, honey, garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper. Remove 2 ladles of liquid (you will add back). Add rice and bring to a simmer, add scallops. Add 1 ladleful of liquid to the pot and continue to add the next ladleful when the liquid is absorbed. Cook until rice is al dente.. Add butter and turn off the heat. Stir in grated cheese. Cover and let sit 2 minutes.
a presto,
Maria
ps – If you are unable to find pistachio honey, you can substitute with your favorite honey. The pistachio honey and the saffron were gifts from the region of L’Aquila, Abruzzo.
By Maria Filice • June 28, 2011 ![Mayor+presenting+gift+to+Mary[1]](https://foodandfate.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Mayor+presenting+gift+to+Mary1.jpg)  
Thanks to everybody!! We did it!!
On June 9th Maria Filice, author and food stylist of Breaking Bread in L’Aquila, publisher, Food and Fate Publishing (imprint of Telos Press Publishing) made a donation towards the construction of a playground for primary and secondary school students in Rocca di Mezzo. Using the net profits from her cookbook, Filice donated $5,000. The playground is dedicated to the memory of Filice’s late husband, Paul Piccone.
The official ceremony for receipt of the donation took place at 11am in Viale Giovanne Minozzi, where Filice presented a check to Emilio Nusca, mayor of Rocca di Mezzo, Carlo Benedetti, President of Consiglio Comunale of the City of L’Aquila, and the school’s principal Claudia Scipioni. Mayor Nusca is also the coordinator among mayors in the L’Aquila region who are responsible for reconstruction after the earthquake.
For those who wish to visit, Rocca di Mezzo is a small town about 15 kilometers from Celano with approximately 2,000 inhabitants. During the height of the summer tourist season, this population swells to 10,000. The town is situated atop a beautiful plateau among the highest mountains of the Abruzzo and the Appennini, about 30 kilometers from L’Aquila. As a smaller town, somewhat removed from the main destruction the April 2009 earthquake in the Abruzzo, Rocca di Mezzo has not received much help with reconstruction. Though the Protezione Civile rebuilt the school that is home to the primary and secondary students of Rocca di Mezzo as well as the nearby villages of Ovindoli and Rocca di Cambio, the playground has not yet been restored. With the donation, Filice hopes to fill this vital need.
By Maria Filice • April 15, 2010 I was watching a segment of Bill Maher’s interview with Alice Waters on HBO.
It makes me realize “What has happened” to our culture? I was raised from a first generation upbringing of organic and ps. no soda pop unless we had company or a special occassion. My God, has it come to this crisis of multi billion dollar education in schools and how to eat?
I am so thrilled that one of my passions is food and sharing with you my first book “Breaking Bread in L’Aquila”. It’s all about simple, fresh, rustic, a touch of elegance – with my a little of this and that (yes, breaking rules too)! Don’t forget to use your linens, dishes and have fun!
I think it’s something everybody needs at the end of day – breaking bread with our friends or family. I think if we do more this, the world would be a much more happier and healthier place.
Here’s to fresh, simple, mindful cooking with a twist of breaking rules!
maria
By Maria Filice • February 12, 2010 
It’s been a busy week with finalizing last minute changes to my first book “Breaking Bread in L’Aquila” pub date: April 6, 2010.
Now that’s a nice bowl of pasta! The front cover is one of my favorite pasta plating designs, served on a hand painted plate from Castelli, a beautiful town near Gran Sasso, in the region of Abruzzo. Castelli is famous for beautiful ceramics stemming back to the 15th Century.
I love these dishes, so bright and colorful, always my favorite pasta dish. Agree? After the shoot, we would enjoy eating and drinking the props!
But seriously, it took more than “a little of this and a little that”to finish the book. Led by my passion, it also takes an incredible team who helped me get the finish line!
Join my facebook page “Breaking Bread in L’Aquila”. I look forward to blogging more in the next day or two.
enjoy the weekend,
maria
By Maria Filice • January 12, 2010 As mentioned in a previous blog, I am publishing my first book titled “Breaking Bread in L’Aquila”. The book has a collection of 49-recipes that are simple, fresh and rustic. The recipes are primary adaptations from a trattoria, San Biagio, owned by two brothers. We used to eat at this small and charming trattoria all the time. It was our home away from home!
On April 6, 2009, there was an earthquake in L’Aquila, the region of Abruzzo. It was devastating and also sad to hear about my late husband’s hometown that I grew to love.
I wanted to share with you my response to Michael Kimmelman’s article “An Italian City Shaken To Its Cultural Core,” which appeared in the New York Times on December 24. Here’s the link: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/24/arts/24abroad.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1262624698-P4Cn8IYifWRMgyaAdK4+NQ
I appreciate Michael Kimmelman’s realistic treatment of the issues and challenges with which L’Aquila is now faced. I was in L’Aquila at the end of September, and I saw first hand the scaffolds, tents, red zones, and emergency relief volunteers working to help.
My response comes from a place of understanding grief. Just as with a personal loss, people are often very attentive at the first. Then, after a while, fewer people check in. Finally, you are faced with the reality of picking yourself up and dealing with the loss. People of L’Aquila are grieving for the city that they call home. When we move from an environment, lose our jobs, or deal with the death of a loved one, it can be challenging. But imagine that the place you call home is now gone. Can a new home ever replace the memories of this lost space? I don’t think so.
Things will never be the same. How could they? But we need to continue to help and to not let the people of L’Aquila become discouraged.
When I was leaving L’Aquila on my short visit in September 2009, in the lobby sitting next to me was an older woman. We made eye contact. I smiled, and she asked me what I was doing in L’Aquila. I told her that I was finishing my book and that I had wanted to see L’Aquila once more before I could put closure on my book’s introduction. She looked at me and said, “Don’t forget about us.” I was moved, and, my eyes wet with tears, I promised her that I would help by donating the net profits of my book to L’Aquila.
My marketing campaign is “We have not forgotten.” I hope to sell millions of copies in support of L’Aquila.
Yes, it won’t be same. Perhaps with the “new,” and with time, people will fall in love with their city and appreciate what they have. But it’s hard right now for them to feel blessed when they have a lot to grieve.
It’s my daily affirmation.
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