Sweet, fresh peas in their pods can be hard to find, but when I spotted some in a local market I grabbed them up to make a delicious Springtime dish from the Veneto: risi e bisi, or rice and peas in Venetian dialect. Although it resembles a risotto, the technique … Read More
For a May Day Picnic: Fave e pecorino (Fava Beans and Pecorino)
Fave e pecorino —fava beans and pecorino— is not really a “dish” at all, you just set out the fava beans, in their pods, and a hunk of pecorino cheese. Each diner opens the pods for themselves and eats the raw fava beans they find inside with a bit of pecorino, washed … Read More
La vignarola (Roman Spring Vegetable Medley)
A Springtime Roman treat, la vignarola is a vegetable ‘medley’ made from spring onions, fava beans, artichokes, peas and tender lettuce. It comes in an entirely vegan/vegetarian version and one that uses a bit of guanciale or pancetta to lend flavor. Ingredients Serves 4-6 1 kilo (2 lbs) mixture of artichokes, … Read More
Aïoli with Spring Vegetables
While versions of it are made around the rim of the western Mediterranean, from Spain all the way to Sicily, this garlic sauce is best known in its Provençale incarnation known as aïoli. It is a commonplace to refer to aioli in English as garlic mayonnaise, but it is really … Read More
Tagliata d’agnello (Lamb Tagliata)
One of my favorite ways to make steak is called tagliata or, to be more precise, tagliata di manzo. The word ‘tagliato‘ means simply ‘cut’ or ‘sliced’, and manzo means beef. The dish is, quite simply, sliced steak, grilled rare, arranged over a bed of arugula and dressed with olive … Read More
Spargel mit Sauce Hollandaise und Kartoffeln (Asparagus and Potatoes with Hollandaise Sauce)
This dish brings me back to my Vienna days: white asparagus and potatoes with hollandaise sauce. The appearance of asparagus in the markets of Vienna, as elsewhere, is a harbinger of Spring. Austrians (and Germans) have a thing for white asparagus. They prefer it to the green kind that is … Read More
Frittata ai carciofi (Artichoke Frittata)
The frittata is one of those categories of dishes, like risotto, where the main ingredient, in this case egg, can act as a foil to an almost infinite variety of flavors, being it meat, fish or vegetable. So by learning a single technique, you open up a whole new culinary … Read More
Carciofi alla romana (Roman-Style Artichokes)
Dear readers, I am back from my travels, at my blogging post just in time for the first day of Spring. Artichokes are back in season! And is there any vegetable more typical of Roman cooking, perhaps of all Italian cuisine, than the artichoke? What better way to get back … Read More
