Italian Lifestyle Blog

Lisa’s Summer Vegetable Lasagne

A few years ago, Lisa was faced with a dilemma. Her youngest son, Guido, stopped eating meat and cheese! Without the ability to serve her celebrated meat lasagne or Italian-American lasagne, Lisa soon went to work inventing an all vegetable version. Needless to say, it was a hit with Guido and anyone who stopped by Lisa’s home to taste it. We’ve shared some insight before into how to make this Vegetable Lasagne on Lisa’s Italian Kitchen social media pages

Lisa’s 2023 Ferragosto Menu

Lisa at Forte dei Marmi in August, 1994 Ferragosto is a treasured holiday in Italy. Historically, Italian workers would take the entire month of August off for vacation. If you are an Italian movie lover, you might have scene Pranzo di Ferragosto, in which Roman shenanigans ensue when the middle aged bachelor Gianni entertains his friends’ and colleagues’ mothers (along with his own!) on a hot, deserted Ferragosto in the historic center of Rome. Today,

Lisa’s Uova in Carrozza (Italian Eggs in a Basket)

Do you know the scene in Moonstruck when Loretta comes downstairs after Johnny Cammareri proposes to her? As she shuffles around the kitchen and gets ready to eat with her mother (and talk about the next steps in her life…) Rose Castorini, Loretta’s mother, is making the classic Italian-American breakfast Uova in Carrozza. These Italian Eggs in a Basket are a favorite in Lisa’s house (as is the movie- quotes from Moonstruck are some of the most quoted by

Lazy Sunday Dinner Ideas from Lisa’s Italian Kitchen

It’s officially Spring- the weather is getting warmer, the sun is out, Spring is springing and what does that mean? You want to spend less time in the kitchen and more time outside! Maybe you want to eat al fresco or enjoy a glass of Prosecco in your garden while your dinner cooks itself. In other words, you’re on the hunt for lazy Sunday Dinner ideas! And here is Lisa, to the rescue!

Healthy Italian Appetizers: An Italian Tagliere Feast

As I’ve mentioned before, one of our favorite Sunday Dinner traditions at Casa Caponigri is aperitivo and apericena. The Italian, Mediterranean diet offers so many options for healthy Italian appetizers – from cheeses to cured meats or dried fruits, to crostini and roasted vegetables. Everywhere you go in Italy, there is an abundance of healthy Italian appetizers to choose from. Below, I spotlight my famed Tagliere; an Italian board full of great healthy

Christmas Sunday Dinner: An Italian Holiday Pranzo

Christmas Day falls on a Sunday this year, which makes it a perfect opportunity to create a hallmark Sunday dinner found at most Italian-American tables: Holiday Pranzo! For my family, that means a Sunday dinner menu of cheese lasagna alongside beef tenderloin, broccoli rabe with pine nuts and raisins, and tiramisu or zuccotto for dessert. While you might have both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day dinners planned out, there’s still the issue of what to cook guests,

Holiday Sunday Dinner: Lisa’s Classic Italian Gnocchi Recipe

One of my family’s favorite ideas for Sunday Dinner is gnocchi. When my children were younger we would always reserve gnocchi, and it would be an all-day family affair. Now, you might be thinking, ‘Gnocchi?! Isn’t that ridiculously hard to make?’ The answer is, no! Below, I share my Sunday dinner recipe for gnocchi, with some recent tips my family and I incorporated after making them often during the pandemic.

Apericena: An Italian Sunday Dinner Idea

Apericena, or a combined feast of aperitivo and cena, is my daughter’s favorite Sunday dinner idea. She discovered this tradition when she studied abroad during law school at Bocconi in Milan, where Aperol Spritz and buffets are plentiful on the Navigli. Spending frosty February and March evenings and then hot summer nights later in the semester at spots on the Ripa di Porta Ticinese soon became a favorite pastime of my daughter’s. She soon also discovered other

Sunday Family Dinner Ideas from Lisa’s Italian Kitchen

As a second-generation Italian-American, Lisa grew up with the tradition of Sunday Dinner and the Sunday family dinner ideas that accompanied that tradition. For Lisa and her family, Sunday was a time to disconnect from the rest of the world and reconnect with family and friends. As Lisa raised her own three children in the United States and in Italy, she kept Sundays sacred for her family, making sure to cook together and dream together each Sunday in the kitchen. But

Lisa Caponigri on Lisa’s Manicotti with Authentic Classic Tomato SauceMarch 3, 2024
Dear Noelle, I don't make homemade manicotti shells. I buy my shells imported from Italy at an Italian store. But,…
Noelle on Lisa’s Manicotti with Authentic Classic Tomato SauceFebruary 27, 2024
Lisa, recipe for homemade manicotti shells. Noelle
Lisa Caponigri on Lisa’s Shrimp ScampiAugust 24, 2023
Thanks Ginny! We've just updated the recipe- Lisa uses 2 lbs of frozen shrimp! Buon Appetito and thank you for…
Ginny on Lisa’s Shrimp ScampiAugust 22, 2023
I can’t find how much shrimp you used.
whoiscall on Christmas Sunday Dinner: An Italian Holiday PranzoAugust 16, 2023
Thanks for sharing.