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
Risotto al radicchio e Saint-André (Risotto with Radicchio and Saint-André Cheese)
Risotto with Radicchio and Saint André Cheese is a dish that should prove that vegetarian dishes can be perfectly satisfying, even indulgent: a risotto made with vegetable broth, and flavored with a wonderful combination of bitter radicchio with the creamy savor of Saint-André cheese. Ingredients Serves 4-6 500g (1 lb) rice … Read More
Brodo vegetale (Vegetable Broth)
With the increased interest in vegetarian and vegan diets in recent times, you will find more and more recipes calling for vegetable broth instead of, or as alternative to, the more traditional meat broths. Ingredients When I make vegetable broth, I always begin with the usual aromatic vegetables that go … Read More
Funghi trifolati (Sautéed Mushrooms)
This is one of the easiest and most versatile vegetable dishes in the Italian repertoire: funghi trifolati, or ‘truffled’ mushooms, so called because the thinly sliced and sautéed mushrooms are said to resemble that other, more highly prized tuber. I use two methods to make funghi trifolati, and both are … Read More
Pasta a risotto (Pasta Cooked in the Manner of Risotto)
One of the guilty pleasures that I have never, up to now, revealed to a living soul is my penchant for late-night pasta snacks. But not just any pasta, but pasta a risotto, or pasta risottata: pastina of the kind usually used for soups, cooked like a risotto, in just enough … Read More
Lasagna di Carnevale (Angelina’s Lasagna)
Among Angelina’s generation, each of the female family members had a special dish that she was known for. My great-aunt, Angelina’s sister, who we called zi’-zi’ (loosely translated, ‘auntie’), was the ravioli specialist. Another great-aunt, zi’ Annin’, was known as “the little pie-maker” and yet another specialized in calzone pugliese, … Read More
Frittura di verdure miste (Italian Fried Vegetables)
I was feeling sort of nostalgic today for the Italian fried vegetables my grandmother used to make. They were almost always the start of our family’s six-hour Sunday dinners, laid out (along with a big wedge of provolone) on the table to pick on as we played cards and waited for … Read More
Gnocchi al gorgonzola (Potato Gnocchi with Gorgonzola Sauce)
It’s Thursday, and the Romans out there will know that Thursdays in Rome (and perhaps in the rest of Italy, I’m not entirely sure…) is gnocchi day: giovedi’ gnocchi as the saying goes. Today’s offering is gnocchi with gorgonzola sauce. Here’s how you make this incredibly rich and unctuous … Read More