Cassata Cake for My One Year Blog Anniversary!!

    This is a special post for me...........It's the one year anniversary of the start of "The Italian Next Door"  food blog!  (Well, technically, it was yesterday, but let's not get too picky.)  Yes, it was just one year ago that I decided to launch out on "A New Adventure" ; an adventure that would allow me to indulge my love of cooking and baking in a whole new way......an adventure that would encourage me to be creative in new areas.  I have to say that, over the past year, my computer and I have developed quite a close relationship.  Yes, there have been bumps along the road, but, any relationship that means anything to you will require a high level of commitment and willingness to work it out, no matter what, right?

      Last, but not least, this adventure has been a way to connect to all of you!  I've made some new friends in the blogging world and have really appreciated their help and encouragement.  I've loved sharing some family memories and a little bit of who I am with all of you that read and follow "The Italian Next Door".  I'm looking forward to sharing more recipes, stories, etc. in the coming year but, for now, let's just celebrate with an Italian Cassata Cake!!

Rigatoni alla Toscanini

    As I've mentioned before, Italians are pretty frugal.  If at all possible, nothing goes to waste.  Well, I recently found myself with some fresh ricotta in the fridge, left over from a recent trip to an Italian market.  I'd already used some of it to bake an orange ricotta cheesecake but still had a little bit left.
    After looking over my shelves of cookbooks, I decided to pull out one that the hubby had brought home for me quite awhile back and see what I could find.  The cookbook is called La Cucina di Andrea's. It has recipes from a well-known Northern Italian restaurant in New Orleans.  I pretty quickly found a pasta dish that happened to use the same amount of ricotta that I had left, so.....that would be dinner.  The recipe actually used penne, but rigatoni was in my cupboard so that's what I used.  A little side note.....apparently this dish was named after the famous Italian conductor Arturo Toscanini.  This is some rich, delicious tasting pasta, whoever it's named after.