Regular readers of this blog will know that lentils are my favorite legume. I adored my grandmother Angelina’s pasta e lenticchie as a kid, and I still love just about anything made with lentils, including of course soup. Zuppa di lenticchie or lentil soup is a winter standby in Italian … Read More
Passatelli in brodo
The region of Emilia-Romagna in north-central Italy is home to some of the most exquisite fresh egg pastas in the country: tortellini, tagliatelle, lasagne, cappelletti, gramigna, garganelli… as well also many more you probably haven’t heard of. The region boasts 23 different shapes of pasta in all! No wonder that, … Read More
Zuppa alla canavesana (Piedmontese Bread and Cabbage Soup)
When the weather starts to turn really cold, as it’s beginning to do around these parts, we naturally turn to warming dishes like the one we’re offering up this week: Zuppa alla canavesana, a hearty cabbage and bread soup from the Canavese area near Torino in the region of Piemonte … Read More
Stracciatella alla romana
One usually associates Roman cookery with hearty and robustly flavored dishes and, by and large, the image holds true. But there are some exceptions, like today’s offering: stracciatella, a light and delicately flavored ‘egg drop soup’. Stracciatella is utterly simple and—if you have the broth at hand—very quick to make. Beaten … Read More
Wedding Soup
As regular readers know, every October, which is Italian-American Heritage Month here in the US, we feature an Italian-American dish. This year’s entry is the famously misnamed Wedding Soup. A mistranslation of minestra maritata, a classic Neapolitan soup whose name means “married soup”, the marriage in question doesn’t involve a … Read More
Cacciucco di ceci (Tuscan Chickpea and Swiss Chard Soup)
Those of you who know a bit about Italian cooking may recognize the name cacciucco. A speciality of Livorno in the region of Tuscany, cacciucco is one of the many fish soups that you’ll find up and down the Italian peninsula, and one of the most famous. I’ve been meaning … Read More
Scrippelle ‘mbusse (Crepes in Broth)
This lovely dish comes to us from the province of Teramo on the eastern slopes of the Gran Sasso in the region of Abruzzo. Scrippelle ‘mbusse, literally meaning ‘wet crepes’ in local dialect, are just that: light crepes (crespelle in standard Italian) that are filled with grated cheese, rolled up … Read More
Crema di lenticchie ai funghi trifolati
I love all kinds of legumes, but lentils are probably my favorite. Pasta e lenticchie was my favorite pasta growing up, and even now, into my sixth decade of this mortal coil, the love affair hasn’t cooled one bit. There’s something about that earthy taste I find tremendously satisfying and … Read More