Michelle Damiani
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Michelle Damiani
  • Buy my books/
  • Blog/
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    • Spello
    • Visiting Umbria
    • Travel in Italy
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    • Italian Cats and Hidden Madonnas
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aperol spritz, spello, umbria, italy
Michelle Damiani

writing with Italy at heart

Food and Drink

Michelle Damiani
  • Buy my books/
  • Blog/
  • Travel/
    • Spello
    • Visiting Umbria
    • Travel in Italy
    • Around the World
  • What I Love/
    • Books and Movies
    • Food and Drink
    • Gabe's Blog
    • Italian Cats and Hidden Madonnas
  • Coaching/
  • About/

Explore the best of Italian food and drink—classic recipes, regional specialties, and culinary travel stories from across Italy. Get even more tips and inspiration delivered straight to your inbox by signing up for the Grapevine.


August 11, 2020

Sausage Sugo

August 11, 2020/ Michelle Damiani
Sausage Sugo

Welcome to Italy! It’s time to feast.

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August 11, 2020/ Michelle Damiani/ 2 Comments
food, recipe
recipe, food, Spello
November 28, 2018

Four Secrets to an Extraordinary Ragù

November 28, 2018/ Michelle Damiani
Four Secrets to an Extraordinary Ragù

Here’s what I learned from living in Italy about how to make a profoundly good meat sauce.

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November 28, 2018/ Michelle Damiani/ 8 Comments
recipe, food
Spello, Umbria, recipe
November 18, 2018

Vin Brulé (Italian mulled wine)

November 18, 2018/ Michelle Damiani
Vin Brulé (Italian mulled wine)

Vin brulé is Italy’s answer to mulled wine. Warm, and flush with intriguing spices it’ll be your new cold-weather go-to.

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November 18, 2018/ Michelle Damiani/ Comment
food, recipe
drink, Spello, celebration
July 24, 2018

Focaccia Pizza

July 24, 2018/ Michelle Damiani
Focaccia Pizza

It’s easy to make a soft, delicious focaccia pizza. Let me tell you how, and let you get creative with toppings!

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July 24, 2018/ Michelle Damiani/ Comment
food, recipe
Spello, food, party
January 07, 2016

Ditching Your Pasta Machine

January 07, 2016/ Michelle Damiani
Ditching Your Pasta Machine

Making pasta doesn't require a fancy metal machine. All you need is a wood surface and a wooden rolling pin for the best pasta you've ever had. Here's how.

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January 07, 2016/ Michelle Damiani/ 2 Comments
food, recipe
pasta, food, recipe, Spello
  • Buy my books/
  • Blog/
  • Travel/
    • Spello
    • Visiting Umbria
    • Travel in Italy
    • Around the World
  • What I Love/
    • Books and Movies
    • Food and Drink
    • Gabe's Blog
    • Italian Cats and Hidden Madonnas
  • Coaching/
  • About/

Michelle Damiani

Website for Michelle Damiani, author of Il Bel Centro: A Year in the Beautiful Center, the funny and heartfelt memoir of an American family living in Spello, as well as Santa Lucia, a page-turner set on the Umbria border. 

Rumors. Romance. And more than a little espresso.

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Funny that as many posts I see about Japan, few mention the jaw-dropping, staggering beauty of the countryside. If you want views for days, Nagano prefecture is worth considering. Plus, a guy from New Zealand I ran into at the convenience store told
Arrived at Shibu Onsen, a hot springs town where you can buy eggs cooked in the hot springs water. More importantly, a stay gets you a key to the nine public bathhouses. You can buy a towel for a few dollars that you stamp at each of the nine bathhou
Scenes from a morning in Nagano 🇯🇵
I’ve already started eating all the things 😂🇯🇵😂 Picked up this bento box at the train station for less than $7 USD and happily ate on the train to… well, you’ll see tomorrow!
Tokyo bound 🇯🇵
Photos from our 2016 family trip to Asia. I have a feeling next week’s photos will be quite different. Check stories for a link to my post about how to survive a long haul flight. I know I’ll be revisiting those tips!
When I moved to Italy, I had to relearn the calendar — not by months, but by vegetables.
Somewhere along the way I’d convinced myself artichokes were a summer thing (why? who knows). And then February arrived and the markets exploded with
A year ago we toasted Valentine’s Day with this view, our feet plunged in warm sand after swimming around enormous starfish and before kayaking to a bioluminescent bay under a canopy of stars. This year we’re surrounded by the dregs of la
🙋🏻‍♀️Raise your hand if Angelo is your favorite “character” in my memoir of living in Italy. PS, did any of you note the dedication in my last book? I can’t wait to bring it to him in October ❤️ PS check out the video in my st

A trip to Italy is better with language basics! Here’s my recommended course to learn Italian and make your trip fantastico!


Festival participant, speaking about “Il Bel Centro: A Year in the Beautiful Center”

Festival participant, speaking about “Il Bel Centro: A Year in the Beautiful Center”

Featured speaker on panel discussing Romance for “Santa Lucia”

Featured speaker on panel discussing Romance for “Santa Lucia”