Italian Sauce Recipe: Authentic Family-Style Bolognese Meat Sauce

Italian Sauce Recipe: Authentic Family-Style Bolognese Meat Sauce

Italian Sauce Recipe: Bolognese Meat Ragù

This famous Italian sauce from the city of Bologna is actually a “ragù” (similar to the French “ragout”) because all of the ingredients are gradually combined and then simmered in a large saucepan for hours, until the flavors have beautifully melded and a thick sauce is created. Pair this delicious sauce with thick spaghetti or tubular macaroni that has ridges for the sauce to cling to. For a special dinner, this sauce is wonderful with homemade wide-ribbon pasta, such as tagliatelle or pappardelle. And remember, a little sauce goes a long way in Italy—a generous ladle of sauce on top of a nest of pasta in each plate makes a wonderful meal—top with freshly grated Parmesan cheese and enjoy! —Kathryn Occhipinti

Ingredients
(Serves 4 with 1 lb. of pasta)

3 Tbsp butter (plus more to finish sauce at end if desired)
2 Tbsp olive oil
½ cup chopped pancetta or ¼ cup chopped bacon
1 medium onion, chopped finely
1 stalk of celery, chopped finely
1 carrot, peeled and chopped finely
¾ cup ground beef
¾ cup ground pork
¼ cup ground Italian sausage (about 1 sausage removed from casing)
¾ cup dry white wine
1½ cups beef stock
4 tsp tomato paste
¼ cup whipping cream

Optional:¼ lb. cremini mushrooms, quartered and sautéed in 3 Tbsp olive oil and 1 Tbsp butter

Procedure

Heat 3 Tbsp of butter with 2 Tbsp of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.

Add the finely chopped onion, celery, and carrot, and cook with a pinch of salt until vegetables have softened.

Add the chopped pancetta or bacon and cook to render out the fat. Remove meaty parts of bacon.

Add the ground beef, ground pork, and Italian sausage meat, and stir with a wooden spoon to break up meat as it browns.

Add dry white wine and raise heat to high to boil off.

Mix a little of the beef stock with the tomato paste to thin, and then stir into the skillet with the other ingredients.

Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Add ¼ cup of the beef stock and cover the skillet.

Cook over medium-low heat for an additional 1 to 1½ hours, stirring intermittently and adding more stock gradually to keep the meat moist.

All the ingredients should come together to form a gravy-like sauce, or ragù.

Optional: While the meat ragù is cooking, quarter and sauté the mushrooms in a separate small frying pan in 1 Tbsp butter and 3 Tbsp olive oil and reserve.

To complete the sauce, remove the ragù from the heat, stir in the mushrooms and their juices, and then stir in the whipping cream.

Add additional tablespoons of cream and 1–2 Tbsp of butter as desired.

Serve immediately, with a generous ladle of sauce in the center of each plate of pasta.

(Leftover sauce can be stored in the refrigerator or for longer periods in the freezer. Add a little water to the sauce as needed and reheat over low heat.)

—Adapted from the cooking classes given by the Italian-American Society of Peoria, by Kathryn Occhipinti

Conversational Italian for Travelers Just the Important Phrases (with Restaurant Vocabulary and Idiomatic Expressions) is YOUR traveling companion in Italy! All the Italian phrases you need to know to enjoy your trip to Italy are right here and fit right into your pocket or purse.

Available on amazon.com and Learn Travel Italian.com

Kathryn Occhipinti, MD, is the author of the
Conversational Italian for Travelers series of books and a teacher of Italian for travelers to Italy in the Peoria and Chicago area.
“Everything you need to know to enjoy your visit to Italy!”

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Visit learntravelitalian.com/download.html to purchase/download Conversational Italian for Travelers and find more interesting facts and helpful hints about getting around Italy! Learn how to buy train tickets online, how to make international and local telephone calls, and how to decipher Italian coffee names and restaurant menus, all while gaining the basic understanding of Italian that you will need to know to communicate easily and effectively while in Italy. —From the staff at Stella Lucente, LLC

Italian Sauce Recipe: Authentic Family-Style Bolognese Meat Sauce

Venice: Arriving in Venice for Your Italian Adventure

December 1, 2015 Italian Travel and Cultural Notes About Venice , About Venice Transportation , About Venice Water Taxi , About Venice water travel , Conversational Italian for Travelers books , Conversational Italian series of books , Follow Caterina in Italy , Free Italian dialogue , Gondola , Gondolas , How to use the public water taxi , How to use Venice public boat system , How to use Venice public boats , How to use Venice Transportation , How to use Venice water taxi , italian adventure , Italian dialogues , Italian transportation , Italian Travel , Italian travel planning , Italian vacation , Italy , Stella Lucente , Travel free tips about Venice , travel Italy , Venice , Venice ACTV boat , Venice Alilaguna system , Venice boats , Venice lagoon transportation , Venice public boats , Venice transportation , Venice water system , Venice water taxi Kathryn Occhipinti

Arriving in Venice for Your Italian Adventure

Arriving in Venice

One of the first things Caterina must do after her plane lands in Italy at Milan’s Malpensa Airport is find her way to the city of Milan. You can learn about how to do this at learntravelitalian.com/interactive.html from one of the many free, interactive dialogues on this site.

But what if we want to begin our Italian adventure in Venice and land instead at the Marco Polo Airport on mainland Italy just outside that magical city of islands? Read on and find out all about transportation to and along the waterways of Venice!

If you would like more images of how to navigate the waterways of Venice, visit our Pinterest site at Stella Lucente Italian .
—Kathryn Occhipinti

Cultural Note: Arriving in Venice

Venice baot: Alilaguna — Venice Alilaguna transport boat from the airport on the mainland to the islands of Venice

The Marco Polo Airport serves the city of Venice and is located on the mainland, near the town of Mestre, just across the lagoon. The major island of Venice (Venezia)is connected by a bridge to the mainland and is served by a local train station and a large bus station. A city bus or taxi can be taken over this bridge directly into Venice from the airport. You can also take a taxi ride to the train station in the nearby town of Mestre on the mainland. The trains in Mestre connect with towns on the mainland and to the Santa Lucia station in Venice.

Unique to Venice are the water ferry and water taxi. Take the yellow Alilagunawater ferry to Saint Mark’s Square in the main island of Venice or to the beaches of the island of Lido from the Marco Polo Airport by following the covered walkway from the arrivals desk to the nearby dock. The walk takes about 10 minutes, so it may be necessary to hire a taxi if you have a lot of baggage or have difficulty walking. Tickets can be purchased at the arrivals desk in the airport or at the dock once you arrive and are about 15€ one way. The trip takes 1–1½ hours, depending on the number of stops made along the route. Also along the same dock are smaller, private water taxi boats that can take travelers directly to their destination.

Once in Venice proper, purchase an imob.venezia card for the length of your stay (4 days, 7 days, or longer) for the public ACTVwater bus system to get to all of the major sites on the islands. This card can also be used on the local bus system on the Lido Island. Private water taxis are also available at most docks on all the islands of Venice. And of course, for a leisurely ride through the smaller canals, try the classic sleek black gondolapiloted by one oar by one of the trained gondolieriin their black-and-white striped uniforms!

Available on amazon.com and Learn Travel Italian.com

YouTube videos to learn Italian are available from © Stella Lucente, LLC.
Learn Conversational Italian.

Venice: Arriving in Venice for Your Italian Adventure

Speak Italian: All About… Me!

Speak Italian: All About… Me!

Speak Italian: All About… Me!

Can you speak Italian? By now, many of you have passed the beginning stages of learning how to speak Italian and can read and comprehend quite a bit of the language. Meraviglioso!

But have you tried to take the next step to speak Italian fluently? Can you introduce yourself and talk about yourself in Italian? Can you speak Italian the way you would speak in your native language, with complex and varied sentences? This is more difficult that it may seem at first, and it’s something that I am always working on!

This series will focus on the situations that come have come up most frequently in my everyday conversations with Italian instructors and friends. The “Speak Italian” blog series willfocus on the type of sentence structure and vocabulary we all need to remember to be more fluent when we speak Italian!

To take that giant step from simple beginning sentences to more complex and fluid sentences in Italian, we must know many things; in this segment, we will discuss the grammar of complex sentences, prepositions, topic-related grammar, and present and past tense verbs!

Speak Italian: All About… Me!

In the “Speak Italian” blog series, a short essay or dialogue in Italian will be presented about a commonly used topic of conversation. Then, we will review the Italian grammar that is necessary to talk about the particular topic in detail. And finally, the same material will be presented in Italian and English, with blanks for the reader to fill in with descriptions from his or her own life!

Remember these examples about yourself as “anchors” in your knowledge for when you must speak Italian in your next conversation!

Enjoy the first topic in this series, “Speak Italian: All About…Me!”
—Kathryn Occhipinti

This material is adapted from our textbook, Conversational Italian for Travelers © 2012 by Stella Lucente, LLC, found on www.learntravelitalian.com . Special thanks to Italian instructor Simona Giuggioli.

Speak Italian: All About… Me!

Here is a short description of my origins, family, and work. Note some names/places have been changed to protect privacy. The essay is meant to be an example piece for others, rather than a complete biography.

While reading my history, think about yourself and what you would like other people to know about you. Read the grammar section if you like. Then, use the blank spaces in the form that follows to fill in the Italian for your own life!

Mi chiamo Caterina Occhipinti.

Io sono italo-americana.

Sono (una) madre e (una) scrittrice.

Dove sono nata e ho vissuto.*
Where was born and have lived:

La mia famiglia viene dall’Italia. Sono venuti in America nel 1916.My family is from (lit. comes from) Italy. They came to America in 1916.

Vengo dalgli Stati Uniti. Abito in America. Sono di Brooklyn.I am from the United States. I live in America. I am from Brooklyn.

Sono nata a Brooklyn, a Long Island, vicino a New York City. Ora, abito a Chicago.I was born in Brooklyn, on Long Island, near to New York City. Now, I live in Chicago.

Ho anche vissuto* a Boston, in California, e in Florida.I have also lived in Boston, in California, and in Florida.

*In the past, “ho vissuto”was commonly used in Italy and can still be heard today to describe where one has lived. It is now felt by some Italian linguists that the helping verb essere should be used to express this idea – in other words, that “sono vissuto(a)”is more correct. However, please keep in mind that language is a “living thing” and often the line between right and wrong depends mostly on what people actually say every day. Even among linguists which form to use is controversial!

La mia educazione:
My education:

Mi sono trasferita da New York a Boston per l’università.I moved from New York to Boston for college.

Ero una studentessa all’Università di Boston.I was a student at Boston University.

Ho frequentato l’Università di Boston per un programma speciale per gli studenti di medicina.I went to Boston University for a special program for medical students.

Ho ricevuto una laurea in “medical science” ed inglese dall’Università di Boston.I received a degree in “medical science” and in English from Boston University.

Ho frequentato la scuola di medicina all’Univeristà di Boston per due anni ed anche a Mount Sinai a New York.I went to medical school at Boston University for two years and also at Mount Sinai in New York.

Ho ricevuto una laurea in medicina dal Mount Sinai a New York nel 1987.I received a degree in medicine from Mount Sinai in New York in 1987.

I miei figli:
My children:

Sono la madre di due figli, Maria e Giovanni.I am the mother of two children, Mary and John.

Maria ha diciannove anni e Giovanni ha quattordici anni.Mary is 19 years old and John is 14 years old.

Maria studia affari all’università di Urbana in Illinois e Giovanni studia alla scuola superiore a Peoria in Illinois.Mary studies business at the University of Urbana in Illinois and John studies at middle school in Peoria in Illinois.

Il mio lavoro—instruttrice e scrittrice:
My work – instructor and writer

Sono un’istruttrice d’italiano.I am an Italian language instructor.

Ero l’insegnante d’italiano per l’Italian-American Society of Peoria (la Società Italo-Americana di Peoria). Ed ora insegno anche l’italiano nella zona di Chicago.I was the Italian teacher for the Italian-American Society of Peoria. And now I also teach Italian in the Chicago area.

Insegno l’italiano agli americani che vogliono viaggiare in Italia. Offro lezioni di gruppo e lezioni private.I teach the Italian language to Americans that want to travel to Italy. I offer group lessons and private lessons.

Ho scritto un libro che si chiama Conversational Italian for Travelers. Questo libro è un libro di testo e ha quattrocentosessantasei pagine!
I have written a book called Conversational Italian for Travelers. This book is a textbook and has 466 pages!

Ho anche scritto un libro di esercizi, intitolato Audio Dialogue Practice Book. Gli esercizi sono per gli studenti principanti (Vol. 1) ed anche per gli studenti intermedi (Vol 2).
I have also written a book of exercises entitled Audio Dialogue Practice Book. The exercises are for beginning students (Vol. 1) and also for intermediate students (Volume 2).

Gli studenti principanti dovrebbero usare Vol. 1 e gli studenti intermedi dovrebbero usare Vol. 2 dell’ Audio Dialogue Practice Book.
The beginning students should use Vol. 1 and the intermediate students should use Vol.2 of the ’Audio Dialogue Practice Books.

Dal mio libro di testo, ho scritto tre brevi libri, si chiamano Just the Grammar , Just the Verbs , e Just the Important Phrases.
From my textbook, I have written three short books called Just the Grammar , Just the Verbs , e Just the Important Phrases.

Il mio lavoro—medico:
My work – physician:

Sono (un) medico. Sono (una) radiologa.I am a physician. I am a radiologist.

Mi occupo di medicina. Mi occupo di radiologia.My work is medicine. My work is radiology.

Faccio medicina. Faccio radiologia.I practice medicine. I practice radiology.

Inoltre io leggo/interpreto gli esami di MRI (risonanza magnetica) per una società che si trova in California. La società in California mi manda gli esami di MRI da interpretare via computer.Furthermore, I read/interpret MRI exams for a company from California. The company in California sends me the MRI exams for interpretation on my computer.

Speak Italian: Grammar You Will Need to Know…

How to Make Complex Sentences with “and” and “at” in Italian

(1) The English word “and”is the letter “e”in Italian.

When speaking in Italian, and linking one phrase to another using e, if the first word of the second phrase begins with the letter eas well, add the letter dto the Italian “and”to make “ed.”

(2) This rule is also used for the Italian word “a,”which means “to.”

If the word that follows the Italian aalso begins with the letter a, add the letter dto the Italian word for “to”make “ad.”

(3) It is optional to use this rule if the Italian words eor acome before Italian words that begin with other vowels (i.e., vowels that are not identical to the Italian words for “and”or “to”).

That said, the letter dis commonly added to eor abefore words that begin with any vowel in the next phrase.

Grammar Rules for Anche, Sempre, and Inoltre

Use of anche (also)and sempre (always):

(1) Present tense: ancheand sempre follow the verb.

(2) Past tense imperfetto: ancheand sempre follow the imperfettoverb.

(3) Past tense passato prossimo: ancheand sempre can follow the compound verb of the passato prossimo.

Example: Ho detto anche che la ragazza era bella.

(4) Option with the passato prossimoor any other compound verb tense:

ancheand sempre can go between avere/essereand the past participle.

Example: Ho anche detto che la ragazza era bella.

(5) Ancheand semprebelong before a person’s name if you are starting a sentence with their name or a pronoun (she = lei, he = lui).

Example: Anche Franco viene al cinema stasera.

Use of inoltre(also, furthermore, moreover):

When starting a sentence, begin with inoltrefor emphasis.

Grammar Rules for the Prepositions a (to) and in (in) Regarding Cities, Regions/States, Islands, and Countries

When Americans travel, we travel to a place: to Italy, to Rome, to the northeast. Italians travel directly in (in)a country, region, or large island, but to (a)a city, town, or small island. (In Italian, the word for inis the same as in English… in!) For instance, one may live in America, but a Chicago. By convention, the definite article (the) (il, la, gli,or l’)is used to refer to countries, except when talking about traveling directly into them!

How to Describe where You Are from

There are two ways to ask/tell where someone is from in Italian:

di + dove + essere

from + where + to be

Da + dove + venire

from + where + to come

In Italian, when the verb to be (essere)is used, the idea of fromis expressed with di, as in, “From where are you?” In proper English, of course, we would say, “Where are you from?” The answer in Italian will also use di and will usually be followed by the town of one’s birth. Notice that the subject pronoun io (I)is usually left out of the answer, as it is understood from the ending of the verb.

Di dov’è Lei?	Where are you (pol.) from?
Di dove sei?	Where are you (fam.) from?
Sono di Chicago.	(I) am from Chicago.

The action verb venireis usually used in conversation when someone is visiting or has moved to a new place. When replying to a question that uses this phrase, use the ioform of venire, which is vengoand dafor from, followed by a city, town, region/state, or country. Also, remember that when speaking of a region, state, or country, the definite article (il, lo, la, l’, gli)must be used. The preposition dais then combined with the definite article to make dal, dallo, dall’, dalla, or dagli, which means “from the.” For now, don’t worry about these rules. Just look up and remember the correct way to say where you are living in case you are asked!

Da dove viene?/Da dove vieni?	Where do you come from? (pol.)/(fam.)
Vengo dall’America.	(I) come from America./I am from America.
Vengo dagli Stati Uniti.	(I) come from the United States.
Vengo dall’Illinois.	(I) come from Illinois.
Vengo dalla California.	(I) come from California.
Vengo dal New Jersey.	(I) come from New Jersey.
Vengo da Chicago.	(I) come from Chicago.

Your Nationality

To explain where we are from, we must use adjectives that identify our country of origin. For men, adjectives of nationality end in –oand change to an –iin the plural, and for women, these same adjectives end in –aand change to –ein the plural. So, a man from Italy is italiano, but a woman is italiana.

Adjectives of nationality that have only one form for both men and women usually end in –ese.

What to do if the adjective describing nationality ends in an –e? Well, use the same –eending for both men and women, and for the plural, change the letter –eto an –i.

Adjectives of nationality always follow the noun and are not capitalized. Or you can just state your nationality directly after the verb sono to make the sentence “I am…”

Da dove viene?/Da dove vieni?	Where do you come from? (pol.)/(fam.)
Vengo dall’America.	(I) come from America./I am from America.
Vengo dagli Stati Uniti.	(I) come from the United States.
Sono americano(a).	(I) am American.

How to State Your Age in Italian

Perhaps the most commonly asked question of someone is how old they are. In English, we say, “How old are you?”using the verb to be, as a statement of fact. But Italians look at this question as the number of years accumulated during a lifetime (and maybe the wisdom accumulated during these years?), so they use the verb to have, avere. The question in Italian is, “Quanti anni hai?”or literally, “How many years do you have?” This is not really an idiomatic expression, but just another way of looking at things.

Quanti anni hai?

How old are you?(lit. How many years do you have?)

After this question is asked of you, the response will also use the verb avere, and you will respond:

Io ho anni.

I have years.

There are a couple of rules that are necessary to make conversation flow more easily in Italian:

The tens (20, 30, 40, etc.) drop their last vowel before the word anni . In this case, the expression would be:

Io ho vent’anni.	I have 20 years.
Io ho trent’anni.	I have 30 years.
Io ho quarant’anni.	I have 40 years.

All numbers that end in uno (21, 31, 41, etc.) drop the final –o before a noun that starts with a vowel . So, if you are 21, 31, or 41 years old, your reply would be as follows:

Io ho ventun’anni.	I have 21 years.
Io ho trentun’anni.	I have 31 years.
Io ho quarantun’anni.	I have 41 years.

No need to remember all these rules—just look up and commit to memory your age and the ages of your immediate family members for now!

Present Tense Verbs

Endings for Regular –are, –ere, –ire, and –ire (isco)* Verbs

Drop the – are, -ere,and -ireendings from the Italian infinitive verb and add the endings below for the present tense. Reflexive verbs drop their – arsi, ersi,and -irsiendings and then are conjugated in the same way. Always add the corresponding reflexive pronoun before each conjugated form of a reflexive verb.

Infinitive Present	Reflexive Pronouns	–are	–ere	–ire	ire (isco) capire finire *preferire
io	mi	o	o	o	isc o
tu	ti	i	i	i	isc i
Lei/lei/lui	si	a	e	e	isc e

noi	ci	iamo	iamo	iamo	iamo
voi	vi	ate	ete	ite	ite
loro	si	ano	ono	ono	isc ono

*Common –ire (isco)verbs are listed—there are many others!

Present Tense Verbs

Conjugated Forms of Auxiliary Verbs Essere and Avere

Auxiliary Verbs	Essere (to be)		Avere (to have)
io	sono	I am	ho	I have
tu	sei	you (fam.) are	hai	you (fam.) have
Lei/lei/lui	è	you (pol.) are he is/she is	ha	you (pol.) have he has/she has

noi	siamo	we are	abbiamo	we have
voi	siete	you all are	avete	you all have
loro	sono	they are	hanno	they have

Past Tense: Passato Prossimo

Auxiliary Verbs	Essere (to be)	Essere Passato Prossimo	Avere (to have)	Avere Passato Prossimo
io	sono	+ stato(a)	ho	+ avuto
tu	sei	+ stato(a)	hai	+ avuto
Lei/lei/lui	è	+ stato(a)	ha	+ avuto

noi	siamo	+ stati(e)	abbiamo	+ avuto
voi	siete	+ stati(e)	avete	+ avuto
loro	sono	+ stati(e)	hanno	+ avuto

Past Tense Passato Prossimo	Avere (to have)	–are past participle	–ere past participle	–ire past participle
io	ho	+ ato	+ uto	+ ito
tu	hai	+ ato	+ uto	+ ito
Lei/lei/lui	ha	+ ato	+ uto	+ ito

noi	abbiamo	+ ato	+ uto	+ ito
voi	avete	+ ato	+ uto	+ ito
loro	hanno	+ ato	+ uto	+ ito

Past Tense Passato Prossimo	Essere (to be)	–are past participle	–ere past participle	–ire past participle
io	sono	+ ato(a)	+ uto(a)	+ ito(a)
tu	sei	+ ato(a)	+ uto(a)	+ ito(a)
Lei/lei/lui	è	+ ato(a)	+ uto(a)	+ ito(a)

noi	siamo	+ ati(e)	+ uti(e)	+ iti(e)
voi	siete	+ ati(e)	+ uti(e)	+ iti(e)
loro	sono	+ ati(e)	+ uti(e)	+ iti(e)

Past Tense: Imperfetto

Drop the – re ending from the Italian infinitive verb and add the endings below for the imperfettopast tense. Reflexive verbs drop their – rsi,ending and then are conjugated in the same way. Remember to always add the corresponding reflexive pronoun before each conjugated form of a reflexive verb.

Verb Endings	Past Tense Imperfetto
io	vo
tu	vi
Lei/lei/lui	va

noi	vamo
voi	vate
loro	vano

The auxiliary verb avereis regular but essereis irregular in the imperfettopast tense.

Auxiliary Verb Avere	Past Tense Imperfetto (used to have)
io	avevo
tu	avevi
Lei/lei/lui	aveva

noi	avevamo
voi	avevate
loro	avevano

Auxiliary Verb Essere	Past Tense Imperfetto (used to be)
io	ero
tu	eri
Lei/lei/lui	era

noi	eravamo
voi	eravate
loro	erano

Speak Italian: All About… YOU!

Everyone has a story to tell about themselves. What would you like others to know about you and your family? Fill in the blanks in the Italian sentences in the exercise below, using examples from your own life.

Mi chiamo (name) ________________________________.

Io sono (nationality) _______________________________.

Sono (parent/occupation) __________________________.

******************************

Dove sono nato(a) e ho vissuto:

La mia famiglia viene da(country of origin with definite article l, ll’,or lla)

_____________________________________________________.

(Loro) Sono venuti in America nel(year family came to America) _________.

(Io)Sono di (town/city of birth) _____________________________________________________.

Vengo da (country of birth with definite article l, ll’, gli or lla) _____________________________________________________.

Abito in (country where you live ) _____________________________________.

Sono nato(a) a (town/city of birth) ________________________________________________________________.

vicino a (nearest large city) _________________________________________.

Ora, vivo a (city currently living in )____________________________________.

Ho anche vissuto/Sono anche vissuto(a)** a (other town/city you have lived in )_____________________________________________. in (other state/region you have lived in) _____________________________________________.

** Choose the past tense form you feel most comfortable with, as which form to use is controversial, as mentioned in the first section of this blog.

******************************

Il mio/La mia educazione:

Ho ricevuto un diploma dalla scuola superiore (name of high school) ________________________________________________________________.

Ho ricevuto la mia certificazione di (name of trade) _______________________________________________.

Mi sono trasferito(a) da (town/city) a (town/city)
per (college/university/work, marriage, etc.) ____________________________________________________________.

Ero uno studente/una studentessa all’Università di (town/city) _______________________________________________________.

Ho frequentato l’Università di (town/city)

per (major) _______________________________________________________.

Ho ricevuto una laurea in (university degree)

dall’Università di (name of university/town/city) nel (year) _____________________________.

Ho frequentato la scuola di (higher education/professional school)_
al (university name)
per (number of years attended) anni
ed anche a (any other school attended) _______________________________________________________________.

Ho ricevuto una laurea in (profession)
dal (professional school)
nel (year) _______________________________.

******************************

I miei figli:

Sono la madre/il padre di (number of children)_ figli: (names of children) :________________________________________________________

(Name of child) ha (age of child) _____ anni/mesi
(un anno/ un mese)
e (names and ages of additional children)

_________________________________________________________________.

(Name of child in college) studia (college major) _______________________________________.

all’università di (name of college) in (U.S. state/region) ______________________.

e (name of child in high school)
studia alla scuola superiore

a (city) in (U.S. state/region) ________________________________________________.

(Name of child in grammar school) studia alla scuola elementare.

******************************

Il mio lavoro

Sono (job description/profession)* _____________________________________.

*Remember that the indefinite article (un, uno, una, un’) is optional when describing a profession/what it is that you do!

******************************

Tell a little bit about what you have done and what you do in Italian!____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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Available on amazon.com and Learn Travel Italian.com

Speak Italian: All About… Me!

Dessert Recipe from Italy: Make Our Famous Tiramisù

November 2, 2015 Italian and Italian-American Recipes About Italian desserts , Dessert recipes , Famous Italian tiramisu , famous recipe tiramisu , famous tiramisu recipe , Free Italian dessert recipe , free recipe tiramisu , Free tiramisu recipe , How to make Tiramisu , Italian cakes , Italian Desserts , Italian Food , Italian Recipes , Recipe for Tiramisu , Recipes for Italian desserts , Stella Lucente , Tiramisù , Tiramisu Dessert , Tiramisu in Italy , Tiramisu recipe Kathryn Occhipinti

Dessert Recipe from Italy: Make Our Famous Tiramisù

Dessert Recipe from Italy: Make Our Famous Tiramisù

This famous Italian layered dessert, which literally means “pick-me-up,” was said to have originated when Italian ladies wanted a snack to get them through a long night of entertaining. Try our version, and we think you will agree that a piece of this dessert will add sparkle to any get-together or special celebration, whether for lunch, dinner, or the wee hours of the evening… Just follow our step-by-step instructions on how to make each component of the dessert, and assemble it all into the delicious layers that will form a kind of cake when refrigerated overnight. —Kathryn Occhipinti

Make the zabaglione* custard:
*Italian custard made with Marsala wine
6 egg yolks¼ cup sugar
¼ cup Marsala wine

Off heat, beat the egg yolks and sugar on the top pot of a double boiler with a whiskuntil combined and the yolks become pale yellow.

Fill the bottom pot ⅓ of the way up with water and heat to a simmer on the stove.

Place the pot with the egg yolk mixture over the pot with the simmering water.

Stir the beaten egg yolks constantly with a whisk while slowly pouring in the Marsala wine.

Continue to stir, scraping the bottom of the pot often, for about 5 to 6 minutes.

When the mixture has thickened, transfer to a bowl and chill for 30 minutes.

Make the cream filling:
1 cup whipping cream (cold)
4 Tbsp sugar
1 lb. Mascarpone cheese
chilled zabaglione custard

Beat the whipping cream and sugar together in a large bowl with an electric mixer until soft peaks form.

Fold in the Mascarpone cheese, and then the chilled zabaglione custard, into the whipped cream until well blended.

Make the coffee syrup mixture:
2 cups espresso coffee (cooled)
¼ cup Marsala wine
1 tsp vanilla

Combine the espresso coffee, Marsala wine, and vanilla in a measuring cup.

Assemble the tiramisu (have the following ready):

Cream filling
Coffee syrup
2 (7 oz.) packages of lady finger cookies
Cocoa powder for dusting

Arrange 16 lady finger cookies in a 9″ x 13″ baking pan.

Pour 1 Tbsp. of the coffee syrup on each cookie.

Spread 1/2 of the cream filling mixture over the cookies.

Dust with cocoa powder.

Repeat cookie layer, coffee syrup, cream filling mixture, and cocoa powder, finishing with a layer of cream and a dusting of the cocoa powder on top.

Cover and refrigerate at least 5 hours or overnight to allow the cookies to absorbmoisture and flavor.

Cut into squares to serve and enjoy with a cup of espresso coffee!

—Adapted from the cooking classes given by the Italian-American Society of Peoria. Thanks to Rudy Litwin, IAS President in 2012, for this recipe!

Available on amazon.com and Learn Travel Italian.com

Dessert Recipe from Italy: Make Our Famous Tiramisù

Train Travel in Italy for Your Dream Vacation

October 25, 2015 Italian Travel and Cultural Notes All about Italian trains , All about train travel , Conversational Italian for Travelers books , Conversational Italian series of books , dream vacation in Italy , Follow Caterina in Italy , Free Italian dialogues , Italian dialogues , Italian dream vacation , Italian railway , Italian railway system , Italian train , Italian Train travel , Italian Travel , Italian travel for vacation , Italian vacation , italiarail , Italy vacation , Stella Lucente , Ticket validating , travel Italy , Trenitalia , Vacation in Italy Kathryn Occhipinti

Train Travel in Italy for Your Dream Vacation

Train Travel in Italy for Your Dream Vacation

One of the first things Caterina must do after her plane lands in Italy and she passes through customs is find her way on the Italian railway system. To listen to dialogues from Chapters 4 and 5 about Caterina’s encounters as she buys a ticket and boards a train in Italy, go to the interactive dialogues on our website at learntravelitalian.com/interactive.html .

For more images of Train Travel in Italy, visit our Pinterest site Stella Lucente Italian .

The Cultural Note below, also from the textbook, gives a bit of insight into how the Italian railway system works. —Kathryn Occhipinti

Taking the train in the Abruzzo region, Italy. — Taking the train through the mountains of Abruzzo in Italy

After Caterina arrives in Italy at Malpensa Airport, about 50 km northwest of Milan, she must then make her way into the city. First, she takes a taxi to the nearby town of Gallarate to get onto the local train system, called Trenitalia( www.raileurope.com/Trenitalia-Italy ). This local railway cannot be accessed directly from the Malpensa Airport, but until recently, it was the only way to catch a train after flying into Malpensa. The train line from Gallarate goes to the largest terminal in Milan, the Stazione Centrale. Gallarate can also be reached by bus from Malpensa Airport for a small fee, about 1–2 euros, and buses leave regularly from the airport all day. Of course, there are also bus routes to many other nearby cities from the Malpensa bus terminals, including to Milan, for those who prefer to take a bus for the entire trip.

When at the Gallarate train station, Caterina asks for a train that will take her directly to Stazione Centrale, avoiding the possibility of having to change trains along the way. A typical train ticket from Gallarate to Milan should actually cost less than we have noted in the dialogue, and it takes between 40 and 60 minutes to reach Milan.

A newer, separate train system called the Malpensa Express, which opened in 1999, leaves directly from Malpensa’s Terminal 1, underground floor, every 30 minutes. As the name suggests, this train goes directly into Milan, but it ends at a smaller station, the Stazione Cordona. The Malpensa Express trains are new trains with only first-class seats and luggage areas between compartments. Nonstop trains are available in the mornings and late at night, but during the day, there are a few additional stops along the way to Milan for the 40-minute trip. To learn more about the Malpensa Express trains or to view a train schedule and current ticket prices, go to www.malpensaexpress.it .

In our dialogue, the ticket agent Rosa very kindly reminds Caterina to validate her train ticket before boarding the local train. In Italy, when using the local train system, it is possible to buy an “open” ticket, which can be used at any time within a 2-month period. Stamping each ticket with the date and time before entry on the train prevents this type of ticket from being used more than once. The name of the machine that is used to stamp the date and time onto the ticket is translated by the makers of the machine as a “ticket canceling machine”or macchina obliteratrice. The older machines are yellow, but the new machines now in common use have a green and white face with the Trenitalia logo and name along the top. These small machines are usually found attached to the wall at the entrances of the individual train tracks, which are usually on the lower level of the train station. When referring to what the machine actually does, you can use the verb timbrare, which means to stamp, or convalidare, which means to validate. The verb obliterare, which means to cancel, also means to stampor to punchwhen referring to tickets. In effect, all three verbs apply, because the ticket is literally stamped, which validates it for travel, and is canceled for further use at the same time.

After boarding the train, the ticket inspector (il controllore)will come through each car and ask to see each passenger’s ticket. If the date and time have not been stamped on the ticket, that passenger will be asked to pay a cash fine before leaving the train. Signs are sometimes posted on the interior doors of the trains warning of the fine to be paid if the ticket has not been convalidato (validated)—in Italian, with no English translation! Tickets for the Malpensa Express also need to be validated. So remember to look for those little yellow or green and white machines each time you board a train in Italy and stamp your ticket the way Caterina did. It takes only a second but can save a good deal of money!

A word about the other major airports in Italy: Alitalia flights into Milan used to land primarily at Linate Airport, but nowadays, most passenger airlines land in Malpensa, which is the second largest international airport in Italy.

Rome’s Leonardo da Vinci Airport remains the largest international airport in Italy. It is located 26 km west of Rome, and the nearest city is Fiumicino (which is the old name the airport used to go by and is still used for the airport code: FCO). It is very simple to take the train from this airport to downtown Rome. Just follow the signs to the ticket counter, or buy a ticket at the on-site Alitalia office or from an automatic ticket machine. After a 30-minute ride, the train ends at Roma Termini, which is Rome’s central station.

The Marco Polo Airport serves the city of Venice and is on the mainland, near the town of Mestre, just across the lagoon. The major island of Venice (Venezia)is connected by a bridge to the mainland and is served by a local train station and a large bus station. A city bus or taxi can be taken over this bridge directly into Venice from the airport. A taxi ride to the nearby town of Mestre to the train station is possible and will connect you to points north of Venice on the mainland and to the train station in Venice, the Santa Lucia.

Available on amazon.com and Learn Travel Italian.com

Train Travel in Italy for Your Dream Vacation

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Dessert Recipe from Italy: Make Our Famous Tiramisù

Dessert Recipe from Italy: Make Our Famous Tiramisù

Dessert Recipe from Italy: Make Our Famous Tiramisù

Train Travel in Italy for Your Dream Vacation

Train Travel in Italy for Your Dream Vacation

Train Travel in Italy for Your Dream Vacation

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