With all the focus today on trendy vegetables like kale and Brussels sprouts, we tend to forget about good old fashioned cabbage. It’s cheap and tasty and—just like its more fashionable cousins—good for you. And while most people associate cabbage with northern European cooking, Italians enjoy cabbage, too. Braised Savoy … Read More
Trippa alla romana (Roman-Style Tripe)
Tripe was once a common part of the Italian diet, and no where more so than Rome. The inhabitants of the Eternal City are famous for their love of offal, which they jocularly call the quinto quarto, or the ‘fifth fourth’, a butcher’s term for those humble parts of the … Read More
Spezzatino di vitello con piselli (Veal Stew with Peas)
You might not know it from the weather around here, but spring is finally here. And one of the great delights of this time of year in Italy is the appearance of tiny young vegetables the Italians call primizie. While in this era of year-round asparagus the seasons are not quite so discernible in … Read More
Pollo alla panna (Italian Creamed Chicken)
One of the hallmarks of Italian cooking is its utter simplicity, and few dishes exemplify this quality as well as this one. As the named implies, Italian creamed chicken is essentially just chicken simmered in cream, the other ingredients do nothing more than provide a subtle enhancement for this heavenly marriage … Read More
Quaglie coi piselli (Braised Quail with Peas)
I love chicken, but I find it a shame that so many people overlook all the other edible birds out there: duck, goose, turkey, pigeon, guinea fowl, Cornish hens and—last but not least—quail, just to name a few. Most of these can be hard to find these days, as supermarkets … Read More
Peposo (Peppery Tuscan Beef Stew)
This Tuscan beef stew has a long history. The story goes that it was invented by the furnace workers (fornaciai) who baked the terracotta tiles for the Brunelleschi’s famous Duomo in Florence. They mixed roughly cut up beef shank, salt, lots of black pepper and red wine—Chianti, of course—in terracotta … Read More
Carote al latte (Braised Carrots in Milk)
Braised carrots in milk are fine side dish for roasted or braised meats, and they’re a snap to make. Just combine baby carrots, milk, butter and seasonings and let them simmer together until the carrots are tender and the milk is fully absorbed. The milk brings out the natural sweetness … Read More
Pollo al vino bianco con funghi (Chicken in White Wine with Mushrooms)
I love recipes that combine meat (or fish) with vegetables like this chicken in white wine with mushrooms. In Italian cooking terms, it combines secondo and contorno in a single dish, and if you serve the dish with some good bread, it becomes a one-pot meal, especially appreciated after the … Read More
