It’s a shame to throw away leftover polenta. There are so many delicious ways to use it. As mentioned in an earlier post on how to make polenta, it hardens as it cools and can be sliced into squares or other shapes, then grilled or fried. But my favorite way … Read More
Agnello e patate al forno (Oven-Roasted Lamb and Potatoes)
Lamb and potatoes have a natural affinity, as we saw in the elegant côtes d’agneau Champvallon. Here is a more rustic dish, made with seasoned chunks of lamb and potatoes baked in the oven until nicely browned on top. Simple, hearty and satisfying. Ingredients Serve 4-6 1 kilo (2 lbs) … Read More
Côtes d’agneau Champvallon (Lamb Chop and Potato Casserole)
Lamb chops Champvallon brings me back to my Paris days, when I took a couple of years off from the law to teach English. Hearty but easy on the pocketbook, it was just the ticket for a temporary bohemian. These days my pocket are a bit deeper, but I still … Read More
Lasagne alla bolognese (Bolognese Lasagna)
There are many types of lasagna dishes in Italian cookery, and in each is wonderful in its own way. But to my mind there are two “Ur-lasagne“, each typifying the northern and southern poles of Italian cuisine: Lasagna for Carnival, or lasagna di carnevale from Campania—the kind of lasagna that nonna Angelina … Read More
Tiella pugliese (Puglia Potato and Mussel Casserole)
Even though my paternal grandfather was from Grumo Appula, a small town outside Bari in the southeastern Italian region of Puglia, I don’t remember eating much pugliese food growing up. Other than a few dishes—orcecchiette with cime di rape (also known as broccoletti), that wonderful calzone di cipolla (onion pie) … Read More
Zitoni al forno con le polpettine (Baked Ziti with Tiny Meatballs)
If baked pappardelle with radicchio is a good example of a northern Italian baked pasta dish, baked ziti, as this dish is known in English, typifies the southern Italian approach, and more specifically the Neapolitan approach, so much so, in fact, that this dish is sometimes called pasta al forno … Read More