Meet Lynn Novo, a true Italian food lover and a Chef who has studied culinary arts at schools around the world - including most recentlyl at the Academia Barilla Culinary School in Parma, Italy, where she spent some time studying with a group of students from the American Personal and Private Chef Association.

Lynn Novo is a chef, kitchen manager, and recipe developer. She owns Comfort Sisters, an Atlanta, Georgia based meal service company that plans customized meals and prepares from-scratch home-cooked food for busy executives. Lynn teaches cooking classes that feature food and wine pairings and authentic Italian cuisine, and actively promotes the use of Italian regional, artisanal food products.

She is the chef for the very popular “Wine Makes the Meal” series of classes at The Cook’s Warehouse in Atlanta, where you can also find the full range of Academia Barilla’s gourmet specialty products. As Special Events Coordinator for The Cook’s Warehouse and Sherlock’s Wine Merchant Store in Decatur GA, Lynn manages the showroom kitchen for special events such as the Decatur Book Festival and has assisted celebrity chefs including Scott Peacock, Virginia Willis, Marvin Woods, and Shirley Corriher.

Beside of running all these activities, Lynn is also the host and guide of VIP gourmet trips to the Academia Barilla Culinary School in Parma - her next gourmet trip to Italy is scheduled for next September 21-26, 2008. If you live in the US SouthWest and want to join Lynn’s group for a guided culinary trip to Italy, we advice that you get in touch with her as soon as possible, as space is limited, and reservations are running out!

In this post are some pictures of Lynn with some fellow travelers at her latest passage from Parma, engaging in a culinary session, but also enjoying the results of the cooking.

Do you want to get in touch with Lynn Novo? Just call +1 (678) 693-4133, or try to catch up with her in person tracking her calendar of events at the Cook’s Warehouse in Atlanta, where she proposes her exploration of the food of Emilia-Romagna, the heartland of Italy.

This evening, Thursday April 24 from 7pm to 9pm, Lynn will be the host of a gourmet event in Decatur, during which she will share with participants recipes highlights, her Italian cooking experience, and her deep knowledge on food ingredients of the region.

Lynn’s Emilia-Romagna-inspired menu includes both Parmigiano-Reggiano with Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale (Parmigiano Cheese with aged Balsamic Vinegar) and Funghi Marinati (Marinated Mushrooms) with Salame di Finocchio (Sausage with fennel) as antipasti.

Then, Lynn follows not with one but with two pasta dishes: Tagliatelle al Prosciutto (Egg Pasta with Prosciutto di Parma and Cheese) and Maltagliati alla Bolognese, which features a Bolognese style Meat Ragu.

Space is limited (capacity: 25), so call Lynn Novo now to secure your reservation! The address is 180 West Ponce de Leon Avenue, 30030 Decatur, GA. Driving directions? Google Map here below for your convenience.

Experience Italy with Lynn Novo, in Atlanta with Lynn’s signature foods, or in Parma at the Academia Barilla Culinary School!

Are you an olive oil virgin? Do you really know your balsamic? Are you ready to move past your salad days (well, at least for these two great condiments!)?

Join Academia Barilla Italian Culinary Specialist and Iron Chef Judge Mario Rizzotti on Monday April 21 at the Grovewood Tavern and Wine Bar in Cleveland, Ohio, for an evening of deep insight and gourmet tasting where you will learn how to distinguish real Italian products from the fakes.

Participants will learn how to taste extra virgin olive oil and Traditional Balsamic Vinegar of Modena the professional way. More to it, the ingredients are matched to a yummy 5-course dinner where you can experience the ingredients “in action”!

The ingrediends and dishes on the Grove Tavern menu:

100% Italian Unfiltered EVOO From Sicily, made from Cerasuola and Nocellara del Belice olives. Medium fruitiness, with very fresh aromas, showing strong undertones of green grass, pachino tomatoes and oregano.
Course One - Antipasto Salumi Misti and Mozzarella di Bufala drizzled with Academia Barilla 100% Unfiltered EVOO from Sicily.

Balsamic Must of Modena, aged 8 years The luscious aromas of the Modena grapes and the sophistication of barrel-aged vinegar blend into a unique product that contains all the richness of a Traditional Balsamic Vinegar of Modena and the full-bodied texture of the honey-like grape must.
Course Two - Primo piatto Risotto with Amarone and radicchio, in Parmesan cup, drizzled with balsamic must, aged 8 years.

100% Italian EVOO From Italy, made from a blend of traditional Italian olive varietals. Delicate intensity, with fresh olive flavors and a well-rounded body.
3 year old Balsamic Vinegar of Modena From Modena, the aroma and flavor are tangy with hints of fruit and wood; rich and full of oak. The texture is thick, sweet and pungent.
Course Three - Insalata Insalata Tricolore – Belgian endive, radicchio and arugula, served with 100% Italian EVOO and 3 year old balsamic vinegar of Modena.

Chianti Jelly Artisinally produced. The condiment shows a delicate but intense aroma, without wine notes but rich in fragrance. On the palate it is delicate, non-alcoholic, fragranced, soft and with a rounded texture.
Toscano Extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO) From Tuscany, made from Moraiolo, Leccino, and Frantoio olives. Medium-strong intensity, showing aromas and flavors of herbs, artichoke, green pepper, and olive pulp.
Course Four - Carne Seared Lamb Chop with Chianti Jelly and drizzled with Toscano EVOO, accompanied with penne pasta with yellow squash and balsamic vinegar.

25 year old Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale This exclusive product comes from the ancient cellars in and around Modena. Its all-enveloping flavor and unmatched aroma depend on the meticulous selection of the best local grapes, and on the masterful ageing process which entails numerous transfers of vinegar to small barrels over the 25 year period. This most precious of elixirs shows an intense and captivating aroma and concentrated flavors, with a creamy, dense, remarkably rich texture.
Dessert DOLCE Vanilla gelato with fresh berries, drizzled with 25 year old Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale.

Interested? Then rush to make your reservation by calling +1 (216) 531-4900, as seating is limited and by reservation only. The dinner and tasting price is $40 per person (add wine pairings $24, tax and gratuity not included).

The address to the Grovewood Tavern is 17105 Grovewood Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 44110. As usual, we provide you with a useful Google Map for your driving directions.

Last March 29 Academia Barilla Italian Culinary Specialist and Iron Chef judge Mario Rizzotti joint forces with the Share the Spirit Foundation in Chicago for a gourmet fund raising event aimed at learning and understanding all nuances about Italian extra virgin olive oil.

Educating Americans about real Italian food is what Mario Rizzotti does best. Mario loves to teach how to distinguish real Italian products from fake, including Parmigiano Reggiano cheese and Prosciutto di Parma, but he really loves to talk about Italian olive oil and balsamic vinegar of modena. Here is a previously published video of Mario with a few key tips on olive oil - enjoy!

We want to spend a couple of words on the Share the Spirit Foundation, as we strongly feel close to their mission. Share the Spirit was formed in 2003 to “provide help for those in need.” With the help of many contributors, the Foundation has collected thousands of dollars to help kids, families and those too ill to help themselves.

Among the charity activities organized by Share the Spirit in the last years, a close work with schools and social service agencies to provide funds to those who need a hand. Share the spirit has distributed thousand of socks to kids, and also bought hiking boots and scheduled outdoor camps for kids who have never had the opportunity to experience a summer camp. In 2005 Share the Spirit coordinated with the US troops in Iraq to distribute shoes to children in that area and in 2006, the Foundation became involved with efforts to assist families rebuilding after hurricane Katrina.

We really like Share the Spirit’s approach - they know charity work is a daily struggle, so their team vowed to coordinate the efforts of the Foundation with a personal challenge of their own team members, challenging themselves physically by hiking the Grand Canyon, walking the Colorado Trail and backpacking in the high country of the Sangre de Cristo mountains.

These activities are not also help Share the Spirit’s team member get trained to face other fund raising activities through sport, such as participating to the Avon Breast Cancer 3-day-walk, raising awareness and money for breast cancer - this was actually the moment when share the Spirit was born.

Last March 29, Academia Barilla teamed up with Share the Spirit, with a tasting event held at the Quartino Ristorante in downtown Chicago, and all proceeds from this event went to support the activities of the Share the Spirit Foundation.

While Mario Rizzotti was educating the crowd on authentic Italian food, Cicchetti Wine Bar was offering a gourmet buffet with finger food dishes such as assorted bruschette, Chef select salumeria, veal meatballs, eggplant parmigiana, passed assorted Neopolitan pizzas and house-made biscotti.

You can support the Share the Spirit Foundation, too. Just visit their website and try not to miss one of their upcoming events. You can also support the Foundation by making a donation - remember that Share the Spirit is a a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization, and your contribution is tax deductible.

More Italian Easter recipes for your Easter Day menu. As we told you yesterday, the Easter Dove is one of they key symbols of the Italian Pasqua, both in religious iconography and in holiday food tradition.

Symbolizing both peace and the Holy Spirit, the Dove, has become the shape of the famous traditional Easter cake, Colomba Pasquale (Easter Dove), a classic dessert at any Easter meal in Italy. Here is the recipe for our Italian Food Lovers readers!

Ref: The source of the image above is Iginio Massari and Achille Zoia’s cookbook “Cresci - L’arte della pasta lievitata” (Grow - The art of baking dough), edited by Pavoni, and available at the Academia Barilla Gastronomic Library in Parma, Italy.

COLOMBA PASQUALE
(serves 8-10)

INGREDIENTS - for the dough

- 11.6 oz flour
- 1 oz yeast
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 8 oz of lukewarm milk
- 3 oz butter
- 1.3 sugar
- 4 egg yolks
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2.7 oz candy lemon zest finely minced
- 1/2 grated zest of fresh lemon

INGREDIENTS - for the syrup

- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 2 tablespoons water

OTHER INGREDIENDS

- flour to the base
- margarine to grease aluminum foil
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 oz sifted powdered sugar
- 1.4 oz peeled almonds
- 2 raisins

PREPARATION

Preheat the oven to 360 °F

For the dough

Place the flour in a large bowl, forming it into a mound. Add the yeast, sugar, 4 oz of lukewarm milk in the middle of the mound and knead the dough.

When completely incorporated, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rise in a warm place for 15 minutes so that the dough is puffy.

While the dough is rising, melt the butter in a small pan or microwave it in a microwave safe container. In another small bowl, beat the yolks with the sugar.

When the sugar is completely mixed with the yolks, add the melted butter to the mixture and mix. Add the mixture of the yolks, sugar and butter and the remaining milk and flour to the dough, and continue to knead vigorously until the dough is firm and compact, making sure it is not sticky.

Subsequently, add the fresh lemon zest and candied lemon to the dough, and form a ball. Set aside and let the dough rise for approximately 30 minutes in a warm place.

For the syrup

In a small pot, bring the 2 tablespoons of water and 2 tablespoons of sugar to a boil; remove from heat and let cool.

For the dough

When the dough is ready, divide it in half and make 2 rolls (approximately 7 to 8 inches in size). Shape each roll into a dove. You may also choose to place each roll in a dove-shaped mold.

Cover the dough and let each dove-shaped roll rise for about 20 to 30 minutes until each is double in size. When the dough is ready, brush the surface with the syrup mixture and sift the powdered sugar over the top. Top each dove-shaped roll with almonds, pressing them in slightly.

Add one raisin to each dove-shaped roll in order to make the eyes of the dove. To preserve the shape, wrap the cake with greased aluminum foil. Place the dove-shaped rolls in the preheated oven on the lower rack for 40 minutes.

When ready, gently remove the aluminum foil and allow the Colomba Pasquale cool before serving.

Buon Appetito and again Buona Pasqua from Academia Barilla!

Academia Barilla’s Italian Culinary specialist Francesco Zimone is very busy this week with a series of gourmet tasting events in California.

We just received an email from Francesco, who was very excited about the success of last Monday’s dinner at the Palmeri Restaurant in Brentwood, LA.

Those who follow our blog with regularity already know that Academia Barilla partners Chef Ottavio Palmeri and his LA Restaurant for a series of themed Italian dinners that take place every first Monday of each month, with Chef Palmeri designing the entire menu getting inspiration from the Academia Barilla range of Italian gourmet products.

Let me quote Francesco for more details on last Monday’s dinner at Ristorante Palmeri.

Last night event at Palmeri was amazing, thank you so much for the support with recipes and the blog coverage.

The formula of the event is getting better and better. I was dressed in Academia Barilla Chef’s attire and we started dinner with a shot of Pomodorini pelati (peeled cherry tomatoes), black olive salt, Monti Iblei extra virgin olive oil and basil.

Next on the Palmeri menu was Pesce crudo con un tocco di Riviera Ligure (raw fish with Riviera Ligure extra virgin olive oil), followed by Involtino di melenzane (stuffed eggplant) with a touch of Monti Iblei extra virgin olive oil, Peperonata (Bell Peppers salad) and Involtino di pescespada (stuffed swordfish) covered with Balsamic Must (with additional Balsamic Must on a side for Balsamic tasting).

We closed dinner with one of Ottavio Palmeri’s top Sicilian specialties, a Cannolo Siciliano served with some Hand-Cut Pears with Balsamic Vinegar on the side.

Every client got great attention and then they left with a can of peeled cherry tomatos and a recipe. Everybody asked and signed on my business card the products they loved. I told everybody they could find the products at Bay City Stores and soon also at Bristol Farms - and Chef Palmeri already started working on next month’s menu!

If you live in the LA area you should absolutely try to join the Academia Barilla and Palmeri teams at the next gourmet dinner, scheduled for Monday April 1, 2008.

You can refer to our blog post from last month to get all the restaurant contact info, including a Google Map for your driving directions.