Shaye's Italian Kitchen

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Shaye's Italian Kitchen Life is full of opportunities to celebrate and a Tuesday lunch can be just as exciting as a Saturday supper.

Shaye | An American cook with an Italian appetite
🍝 Simple Italian countryside cooking for real home cooks
👩‍🍳 500+ from-scratch recipes in The Cooking Community
🇮🇹 Cook with me in Umbria on our Che Vita getaways Here on our small farm, we find ways to celebrate each other, our quiver of children, gardens full of flowers, ironed linens, and life on the farm. My hope is to encourage others to thrive in their own homes. We live on two acres in Washington State and on that land, we raise our dairy cow Cece, a flock of laying hens, ducks, hogs, sheep, geese, and a variety of produce in our large, organic gardens. From this ground, we're able to grow food and celebrate the tastes, flavors, and motions of life. The table is always open to visitors, strangers and friends alike. The plates are full, the music is loud, the fellowship is rich, and the wine glasses are rarely empty. The laundry hanging on the line may cause some to think we’re old fashioned – and maybe that’s true. But whether we're pulling weeds, smoking ham, reading to the children, or milking the cow, you're always welcome to join in.

10/14/2026

She cut it in bunches, hung it upside down in the pantry, and never once used a measuring spoon. Squeeze it between your palms right over the pot. That's the measurement 🫠

Fresh bread day is a good day in our house. I hope you had a beautiful (and bread filled) Monday, my friends!
10/13/2026

Fresh bread day is a good day in our house. I hope you had a beautiful (and bread filled) Monday, my friends!

Friday pizza night, the Italian way. 🍕If you have nothing planned for dinner, you can make this. Promise. Pizzette are l...
10/09/2026

Friday pizza night, the Italian way. 🍕

If you have nothing planned for dinner, you can make this. Promise. Pizzette are little rounds of dough fried until golden and piled with whatever toppings you love. They remind me of walking the ancient streets of Sicily with dear friends, devouring every Italian food within arm's reach. I'm partial to zucchini and goat cheese myself.

PIZZETTE

For the dough:
2 cups warm water
4 teaspoons salt
3 teaspoons instant yeast
6 cups flour
4 cups oil, tallow or lard, for frying (or shallow-fry in a pan with olive or avocado oil)

For the toppings:
Mozzarella, salami, cherry tomatoes, zucchini, goat cheese, prosciutto... whatever the heck you want!

1. Mix the water, salt and yeast in a bowl and let sit 5 minutes. Add the flour and mix well.
2. Knead on a lightly floured surface until smooth. Cover and let rise about 45 minutes, until roughly doubled.
3. Prep your toppings while the dough rises.
4. Heat the oil in a heavy Dutch oven to 375°F.
5. Divide the dough into pieces (about 100 grams each) and roll each into a round.
6. Fry one at a time, about 2 minutes per side, until golden and cooked through. Drain on paper towels.
7. Top and serve right away.

What are you putting on yours?

Want more like this? There are 475+ from-scratch recipes (with step-by-step videos) waiting inside The Cooking Community, my online kitchen for home cooks. Try it free for 14 days — you'll find it on my Page. 🇮🇹

Dreaming of Italy? 🇮🇹Picture slow mornings in Città della Pieve, a little hilltop village in Umbria. Market baskets full...
10/08/2026

Dreaming of Italy? 🇮🇹

Picture slow mornings in Città della Pieve, a little hilltop village in Umbria. Market baskets full of zucchini flowers. Rolling pici by hand with our dear friends at Bistrot del Duca. A glass of something sparkling as the sun goes down, and a table full of new friends.

This is Che Vita, the small-group getaways Stuart and I host in Umbria. I put together a free 2027 trip guide that walks you through a week there with us: the village, the food, and what our days together really look like.

Grab your free copy here: https://stan.store/shayesitaliankitchen/p/free-2027-che-vita-trip-guide-a-week-in-umbria

Who would you bring with you?

The Italian kitchen in three sentences. 🍅Which one do you live by?
10/08/2026

The Italian kitchen in three sentences. 🍅

Which one do you live by?

10/07/2026

Tutto fa brodo - everything makes broth! And it is SO GOOD for us (Nonna knew all along). Link in my profile to download my ebook, Comforting Soups and Stews of the Italian Winter.

When all else fails, make pasta. 🍝When life is moving too fast, I turn to something I can make with my hands. More often...
10/07/2026

When all else fails, make pasta. 🍝

When life is moving too fast, I turn to something I can make with my hands. More often than not, it's pasta. One mustn't make pasta with a bad attitude; the slow, gentle kneading is meant to transform the maker. Rather than mixing my worries into the dough, I let the dough work the worries out of me.

My family has a name for this sauce: grief bolognese. It offers me the greatest comfort of any food.

THE BEST BOLOGNESE

4 tablespoons butter
2 carrots, minced
1 small onion or 2 shallots, minced
1 pound ground beef
1 pound ground pork
1 bottle white w**e
4 cups whole milk*
2 (18-ounce) jars crushed tomatoes
½ cup heavy cream*
*Dairy-free? Swap in a little olive oil.

1. Melt the butter in a heavy pot over medium heat. Sauté the carrots and onion for 5 minutes.
2. Add the beef and pork and cook gently (don't brown), breaking it up as you go.
3. Pour in the w**e and simmer 20 minutes.
4. Pour in the milk and simmer another 20 minutes.
5. Add the tomatoes and simmer about an hour, until thick.
6. Turn off the heat, stir in the cream, and season with salt and pepper. It's even better the next day.

SIMPLE EGG PASTA (per person)
90 grams flour (all-purpose or "00") + 1 egg. Make a well, mix, knead 5 to 10 minutes until soft, rest under a damp towel, roll to 1/8 inch, cut, and boil 1 to 2 minutes. Embrace the knobby imperfections; that's the really good stuff.

What do you cook when you need to settle your heart?

Want more like this? There are 475+ from-scratch recipes (with step-by-step videos) waiting inside The Cooking Community, my online kitchen for home cooks. Try it free for 14 days — you'll find it on my Page. 🇮🇹

Address

PO Box 369
Malaga, WA
98828

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