Memorie di Angelina

Spring is a special time of year. There’s nothing that lifts a body’s spirits quite like the green shoots and gentle sun of spring. And then there’s the wonderful produce that starts to appear in our markets—tiny peas, artichokes, slender green asparagus, fava beans in their hefty pods, plump strawberries… Even in this age when […]

It seems like the artichoke was designed for stuffing. That huge cavity in the middle surrounded by all those layered leaves make it a perfect receptacle for all sort of savories. No wonder there is an  almost endless variety of stuffed artichoke recipes. Here is the way that Angelina made her stuffed artichokes: as always, […]

One of my fondest taste memories from my childhood was a bread we used to call “Anzogna bread” (the name, I am told, is a dialect word for lard). My grandparents would buy it at a local bakery in the Italian neighborhood they lived in. These days, sadly, you can’t buy it any more. Italian […]

 For a quick and easy, but elegant, starter or even a light main course, these little roll-ups of asparagus and pancetta (Italian bacon) are hard to beat. And it’s tasty, too!  Cured pork and asparagus is one of those taste combinations that were just meant to be. This is just one of any number of […]

Fish and vegetables are a fabulous combination. We’ve already posted about fish and potatoes—a classic–as well as the less well-known fish and fennel. Now that spring is here, let’s take a look at another great pairing: fish and artichokes. Like the other combinations we’ve seen, the method is very simple: braise the vegetables on top […]

Well, Spring is finally here! All those lovely seasonal vegetables that are just beginning to arrive in the markets, the kind that Italians call primizie—asparagus, baby artichokes, fresh peas in their pods—are beginning to make their appearance in the local markets. There are so many ways to enjoy these vegetables, but one of the loveliest […]

Asparagi alla milanese, or Milanese-style asparagus, might just be the best known asparagus dish in the Italian repertoire. True to its Northern roots, it features butter and cheese, whose sweetness is the perfect offset to the somewhat astringent, slightly grassy taste of asparagus. A ‘sunny side up’ fried egg completes the dish. When eating, I […]