Steer wrestling, a practice credited to legendary cowboy and rodeo star Bill Pickett, usually involves leaping onto a steer from the back of a specially trained horse. At the Madison
Put ramekins on a baking sheet. Bake for 25-35 minutes, until puffed and golden. Remove from oven, and let stand for 5 minutes. With a flexible spatula, remove strata to
Tomato Topper You can take Neal McTighe out of Italy, but you can’t take Italy out of Neal “Nello” McTighe — or his tomato sauce. The Raleigh entrepreneur is the
Tomato Topper You can take Neal McTighe out of Italy, but you can’t take Italy out of Neal “Nello” McTighe — or his tomato sauce. The Raleigh entrepreneur is the
Tomato Topper You can take Neal McTighe out of Italy, but you can’t take Italy out of Neal “Nello” McTighe — or his tomato sauce. The Raleigh entrepreneur is the
Despite the 5,000 miles between us, our state shares a few things in common with Italy: beautiful beaches; warm, sunny summers;
and a profound love of tomatoes.
Tomato Topper
You can take Neal McTighe out of Italy, but you can’t take Italy out of Neal “Nello” McTighe — or his tomato sauce. The Raleigh entrepreneur is the father of Nello’s Sauce, which promises “Italy in a jar.” A lofty claim, but Nello has the roots to back it up. “I have beautiful memories of my great-grandmother, who came over from Italy when she was 16,” he says. Fast-forward to 2010, when, inspired by meals made by his great-grandmother, Nello and his future wife, Heather, “spent the whole afternoon in the kitchen experimenting, recipe after recipe. From that point on,” he says, “it all came together.” Among Nello’s three flavors — marinara, hot pepper, and Piedmont Pomodoro — the common denominator is the whole plum tomato. Nello’s goes through about 10,000 pounds of them every month. “The result is something that’s in a jar, but there’s nothing jarred about the flavor,” Nello says. “It’s something I think my great-grandmother would be very proud of.”
nellositaly.com
Southern Meets Italian
Her heritage is Italian, but her home is in Durham. Which explains how Carmella Alvaro, owner of Melina’s Fresh Pasta, concocted such Southern-inspired pastas as Country Ham & Collards Ravioli, Pimento Cheese Ravioli, and Sweet Potato Ravioli. “I really enjoy the food traditions of the South, so I decided to blend Italian and Southern food traditions,” says Alvaro, who began Melina’s in 2010, after traveling to Bologna, Italy, to learn to make pasta by hand. “When I came back, I thought it would be fun to teach others how to make pasta by hand, and to sell my pasta at the farmers market,” she says. “The first weekend, I sold out in an hour.” She began with traditional fresh pastas and quickly expanded. Alvaro also teaches monthly pasta-making classes. “We make pasta dough and ravioli,” she says, “and then we eat everything we make. It’s so much fun.”
Western North Carolina is at its most stunning when autumn arrives and the leaves burst into color. Before you head out leaf-peeping this fall, check in weekly to see what colors our experts are seeing at 22 of our favorite mountain spots.
We’ve picked a bushel of North Carolina apples in every form — from pies to pottery to cider — to enjoy from the first perfect, blue-sky day of October through chilly Halloween. That’s one for each day of the month!
