One of things that most fascinates me about cooking is how a very slight change in technique, even using the same ingredients, will produce a very different end result. We’ve already explored on this blog the ripassare technique, perhaps the most common in central and southern Italian vegetable cookery, in … Read More
Roman Style Lamb Shanks
Baby milk-fed lamb or abbacchio is one of the wonders of Roman cooking, in particular in the spring. Lamb that young is not often found in markets in our neck of the woods, but the same techniques work well with mature lamb as well. So the other day I ‘invented’ Roman … Read More
Bignè di san Giuseppe (St. Joseph’s Day Cream Puffs)
Being a Catholic country, Italians celebrate Father’s Day on March 19, the feast of St. Joseph. The feast is associated with a number sweet and savory dishes, but none more so perhaps than the fancy, sweet version of zeppole usually called, appropriately enough, zeppole di san Giuseppe. Romans make their … Read More
Fagioli con le cotiche (Roman-Style Pork and Beans)
Tuscans are known for being the biggest bean-eaters in Italy, so much so that they are sometimes called mangiafagioli in Italian. But Romans are no slouches in the legume department, either. They love fava beans, of course, and they make a mean pasta e lenticchie, for example, even if the … Read More
Slow Cooker Polenta with Sausage Ragù
Some of you will have read in a recent post that I finally broke down and bought a slow cooker, a kitchen device also known in the States—to those of you who are old enough—as a ‘Crock Pot’. The thought of owning one had never really occurred to me before. … Read More
Pomodori ripieni di riso (Baked Tomatoes with Rice)
A staple of summer picnics and tavole calde, pomodori ripieni di riso, or Baked Tomatoes with Rice, make for a simple and relatively quick weekend dinner, a buffet item or a tasty summer antipasto. Here’s the recipe: Ingredients Serves 4-6 Optional: Directions Take as many tomatoes as you have dining companions, … Read More
How to Make Homemade Tonnarelli
Tonnarelli is the Roman name for the pasta you may know by its more popular Abruzzese name, spaghetti alla chitarra. It is a fresh pasta that looks like square spaghetti. In Rome, this pasta is sold in any supermarket but elsewhere, you may find you have to make it yourself. Due to its … Read More
Spaghetti con pomodoro crudo (Spaghetti with Fresh Tomatoes)
Summertime is fast approaching, the temperature is climbing, and my culinary imagination is starting to turn to dishes that quick but tasty and require minimal cooking. Here’s one of the ‘go to’ summer pasta dishes in our house: Spaghetti with Fresh Tomatoes. Ingredients Serves 4-6 500g (1 lb) spaghetti 500-750g … Read More
