After last week’s magnum opus, I want to share a simple, easy to prepare recipe with you this week. If you’re a seafood lover, this will be pure comfort food: polpo in umido con le patate, or Octopus and Potato Stew. The dish is often associated with the region of … Read More
Arrosto di maiale con cipolline (Roast Pork with Pearl Onions)
While as we saw last week a traditional Italian Christmas Eve dinner is fish based, Christmas Day dinner is a carnivore’s delight. Capon is perhaps the most classic secondo (main course), but roast pork is also a popular choice. And an ancient one. The ancient Romans ate roast pork for … Read More
Baccalà alla piastra su purè di ceci (Pan Seared Salt Cod with Chickpea Purée)
Baccalà con i ceci (salt cod stewed with chickpeas) is one of the classic cucina povera dishes of traditional Roman cookery. Although not particularly well known among tourists, it’s a typical Friday special in homes and home style trattorias catering to a more local clientele. So when I came across … Read More
Tagliata di manzo con rucola e parmigiano
Like many people, we do a lot of grilling in the summertime. More often than not, especially when I’m grilling for a crowd, I opt for a grigliata mista or mixed grill, with its tempting spread of sausages, pork, lamb, chicken and more. But when I’m grilling for myself and … Read More
Parmigiana bianca di zucchine
The Italian dish we all know and mostly love called la parmigiana is world famous. But did you know that you can make a parmigiana with vegetables other than eggplant? Regular readers may have already read about making parmigiane with zucchini and artichokes. Today I want to share yet another … Read More
Orata alla barese (Sea Bream Bari Style)
The sea is never too far away in Puglia, and seafood is everywhere—nowhere more so than its capital and principal port of Bari. So it should come as no surprise that orata alla barese or Sea Bream Bari Style, is one of the city’s signature dishes. Orata alla barese riffs … Read More
Agnello brodettato (Roman Easter Lamb Stew)
In Italy, as elsewhere, lamb—especially the milk-fed baby lamb called abbacchio—is strongly associated with the spring. Roman cookery in particular has a wonderful assortment of lamb dishes like the grilled rib chops known as scottadito, the lamb roasted with potatoes known as abbacchio al forno con le patate, as well … Read More
Cacciucco (Tuscan Fish Soup)
One of the most iconic dishes in Tuscan cookery, cacciucco is a fish soup made in the costal areas of Tuscany, most famously in and around the port city of Livorno. Like many Italian fish “soups”, cacciucco is really more of a stew, made from a large variety of fish, … Read More
