June Celebrations | Peach Torte

(Photo Credit: http://www.siliconvalleyandbeyond.com)
Memorial Day has come and gone and the unofficial start to summer  is here in the USA, Italy celebrates their independence holiday in the summer.  Festa della Repubblica (Festival of the Republic), is celebrated each year in Italy on June 2 (this year on Saturday).  It is also known as the Italian National Day. The Italian people celebrate the day in 1946 when the citizens voted for a republic, rather than a monarchy for their government.  With only a couple million votes difference, a republic was favored.   This holiday is important to the Italian citizens because they were able to express their views of that government their country would be ruled by after the fall and hard times of Fascism in the Second World War.  Today, they commemorate this day with a grand parade in Rome and several military traditions.  Another important national holiday in Italy is Festa della Liberazione, which is an annual national holiday that commemorates the end of WWII in Italy back in 1945 (celebrated in April).

(Photo Credits: http://www.web2.comune.piacenza.it)
The month of June is not host to a lot of Italian Holidays, but upcoming June holidays besides Festa della Repubblica, are San Giovanni Battista on June 24 and San Pietro and San Paolo on June 29.  San Giovanni is the patron saint of Firenze, also known as Florence.  He is also known as John the Baptist in the Catholic religion.  June 24 is a feast day that includes medieval tournaments, music, drinking, dancing, and fireworks at night.  It is also celebrates in Turin, Genoa, and other cities throughout Italy.  San Pietro and San Paolo are the patron saints of Rome, also known as Saint Peter and Saint Paul.  This day is also observed similarly to San Giovanni Feast Day, with celebrations that include fun festivals, delicious food, and more in Rome and other cities in Italy.
With so many national holidays in Italy, there are so many opportunities to celebrate like the Italians do.. Whether it be a feast day for a patron saint or to celebrate the Italian Republic’s birth, we can cook great meals for our families and have a great time this month!
Celebrate with peaches or blueberries and this easy torte!
Peach Torte

(Photo credits: http://www.uktvassets.co.uk)
(from The Basic Art of Italian Cooking copyright  2012 Art of Living, PrimaMedia,Inc)
(6 servings)
*1 package of puff pastry
*16 ounces  fresh peaches washed, peeled or fresh blueberries
*1/2 cup sugar
*juice of 1/2 fresh lemon
*1 egg yolk
*2 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 tblsp to butter pie pan)
*1 tablespoon flour (to flour pie pan)
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Butter and flour a pie pan. Remove puff pastry from package. Place puff pastry on bottom of pie pan.  Place fresh fruit in bowl squeeze lemon juice on top, place in sugar and toss till coated with sugar. Top with fruit mixture. Top fruit with butter. Top with remaining layer of puff pastry and bake for 40 minutes or until crust is golden. Serve with freshly whipped cream.
* June 18th-Hope to see you at  Davios Restaurant for my Celebrity Chef Dinner and book signing. For more info email: events@marialiberati.com
For more recipes, get your copy of the Gourmand World Cookbook Award winning book The Basic Art of Italian Cooking: Holidays & Special Occasions-2nd edition at Amazon or exclusively at Kindle