Baccalà, or dried salt cod, is a favorite meal around our house, even if it only appears occasionally on the dinner table. One of the most delicious ways to make baccalà has got to be baccalà alla vicentina, or in the style of the northern Italian city of Vicenza, slowly … Read More
Anguilla alla bisentina (Braised Eel from Northern Lazio)
One of the best kept culinary secrets in Italy is the cuisine of northern Lazio in and around the city of Viterbo, an area known as the Tuscia. The style of cooking in this area is a kind of fusion between the lusty cooking of Roman to its south with … Read More
Spaghetti alle vongole (Spaghetti with Clam Sauce)
A Friday night favorite at our place—and a classic summer dish and traditional Christmas Eve primo piatto—is spaghetti with clam sauce, one of the signature dishes of Neapolitan cuisine. It is surprisingly easy to make, fun (if a bit messy) to eat and—if you have some good, fresh clams on … 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
Moules au curry (Curried Steamed Mussels)
Here’s a wonderfully rich but yet light supper dish— Curried Steamed Mussels —from Belgium, the world capital of mussel dishes. With a crusty baguette to sop up the delicious sauce, you have a one-way ticket to culinary nirvana. Ingredients Serves 4-6 2 kilos (4 lbs) mussels 4 shallots, peeled and finely minced … Read More
Tagliatelle al tonno e panna (Tagliatelle with Tunafish and Cream)
Here’s a dish for iconoclasts: tagliatelle with tunafish simmered in butter, cream and parmesan cheese—a dish that violates one of the cardinal rules of Italian cooking: never mix fish and aged cheese. But this may be one of those exceptions that prove the rule, as the result is really very … Read More
Pasta al tonno (Pasta with Tuna Sauce)
Here’s a quick note on another staple weeknight dinner: pasta al tonno. Very fast and almost as easy as opening a can. Ingredients Serves 2-3 200g (7 oz) spaghetti, linguine, penne or other pasta of your choice For the soffritto: 1 or 2 garlic cloves, slightly crushed and peeled 1 … Read More
Whitefish brandade
Salt cod can be hard to find. It takes some considerable time to prepare and, plus, codfish stocks are dangerously depleted. So what is a brandade maven like myself to do? Well, I recently “invented” a new dish by using smoked whitefish–something you can fish in almost any grocery … Read More
